Statehood

Updated: February 2, 2026

For about sixty years before Congress created the Territory of Montana in 1864, different U.S. territories governed the land that would become the state. The portion of Montana located east of the Continental Divide belonged at different times to Louisiana Territory (after the 1803 purchase from France), Missouri Territory (1812-1821), the so-called "Indian Country" (1821-1854), Nebraska Territory (1854-1861), and Dakota Territory (1861-1863). The western portion, acquired from Great Britain in 1846 by the Oregon Treaty, belonged to Oregon Territory (1848-1853) and then Washington Territory (1853?1863) until the entire future state was included in Idaho Territory in 1863.

Montana Territory and Early Government

Congress created Montana Territory in May 1864, separating it from Idaho Territory and uniting eastern and western Montana under one territorial government. After Congress made Montana a territory, delegates to the First Legislative Assembly gathered in December of that year in a dirt?roofed cabin in Bannack City. During the next sixty days, the assembly passed about seven hundred pages of laws and chose nearby Virginia City as the new capital of Montana Territory. The capital later moved to Helena as population and mining activity shifted.

Steps Toward Statehood

A second constitutional convention was convened at Helena in January 1884, and the resulting document was ratified by the people in November of that year. Congress, however, did not act on Montana's admission to the Union, partly because of national political maneuvering over whether new western states would send more Democrats or Republicans to Congress, and partly because of competing interests among railroads and mining companies across the Great Plains and Intermountain West.

Montana remained a territory for twenty-five years. The turning point came with the federal Enabling Act of 1889, which allowed the people of Montana and several other territories to draft new constitutions and form state governments. After Montana voters ratified a new constitution written under the Enabling Act, President Benjamin Harrison issued a proclamation admitting Montana to the Union on November 8, 1889, as the 41st state.

From the 1889 Constitution to the 1972 Constitution

State and county governments evolved under the original 1889 Constitution, but by the 1960s the document had been amended many times and contained much that was considered outdated. In 1969, at the request of the Legislature, a special commission studied the Constitution and concluded that large portions needed revision or repeal. Rather than trying to patch the old document, Montana voters called for a constitutional convention.

One hundred elected delegates met in Helena from January to March 1972 and drafted a new constitution, which voters approved later that year. The 1972 Montana Constitution is often described as one of the most progressive state constitutions in the nation. It strengthens the Declaration of Rights with protections such as the rights to privacy, to know and participate in government, and to a clean and healthful environment; it calls for a system of free quality public education; and it recognizes the distinct and unique cultural heritage of American Indians in Montana. It also requires open legislative sessions and creates an independent districting and apportionment commission to draw legislative districts as the state changes.

Updated: February 2, 2026