Events in 1898.?

I'm writing a story about a girl age fourteen. It is in Western Montana in 1898.


Are there any events that happened that may have affected the area?


Also, in that area and time, were they more sophisticated, or were they still like pioneers? I was guessing pioneers.





Thanks for your help! =D

Events in 1898.?
Yes actually but you need to keep in mind that at this time Montana was only a US territory not a state. It became a state in 1899 (Nov. 8th). The Spanish American War began in Feburary of 1898 (though that would have had more of effect on the south west, it would still have been widely covered by the newspapers at that time)
Reply:Montana did not become a state until November 8, 1889, so, yes, it was pioneers.





First explored for France by François and Louis-Joseph Verendrye in the early 1740s, much of the region was acquired by the U.S. from France as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Before western Montana was obtained from Great Britain in the Oregon Treaty of 1846, American trading posts and forts had been established in the territory.





The major Indian Wars (1867–1877) included the famous 1876 Battle of the Little Big Horn, better known as “Custer's Last Stand,” in which Cheyenne and Sioux defeated George A. Custer and more than 200 of his men in southeast Montana.





Much of Montana's early history was concerned with mining, with copper, lead, zinc, silver, coal, and oil as principal products. Butte is the center of the area that once supplied half of the U.S. copper.





Fields of grain cover much of Montana's plains. It ranks high among the states in wheat and barley, with rye, oats, flaxseed, sugar beets, and potatoes as other important crops. Sheep and cattle raising make significant contributions to the economy.