At three times the size of Pennsylvania, with a county bigger than the whole state of Connecticut, Montana is a large place, once described as "bounded on the west by the Japan current, on the north by the aurora borealis, on the south by Price's Army, and on the east by the Day of Judgement."

Montana has a rich story, in which different people have sought both great fortune and modest prosperity. How well they succeeded is part of the story told in this engaging history.