Montana: An Uncommon Land

by Kenneth Ross Toole

Perhaps once in a generation it is possible for a historian to reinterpret the long sweep of an area and a period in our history. K. Ross Toole has chosen Montana for this purpose, and the brilliant success of his achievement must be apparent to all who read these pages. He has consciously avoided a systematic presentation of the history of this "uncommon land," Instead, he has chosen to put the great and many of the smaller but significant episodes of a century and a half into new perspective. The record, in its colorful and romantic aspects, stretches from the days of Lewis and Clark; and in its more recent aspects, from the subjugation of the Indian to the predominance of big mining and timber enterprises. The resulting portrait is sharply drawn by a man who knows not only how to interpret the remote and recent past but how to write with great effect. Montana is best remembered by most Americans as the state in which the Indian played his last dramatic role with the annihilation of General George Armstrong Custer. But it was also the area in which the fur trade had its roots; where the sheepherders and the cattlemen vied with each other for the right to graze the land; where the "honyockers" tried-and often failed to master the land and the seasons; where copper interests have played a powerful role in politics and in the lives of the people; and where, only recently, the oil industry has followed the boom-and-bust cycle so well known in the state. This story of Montana points up particularly the position which is and has been occupied by the state in relation to the nation as a whole. 

Genres: Nonfiction, History, American History

288 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1984

Reviews

[Bryce Johnston · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very middling history book in my view. Has some great chapters - particularly the introduction and the Lewis and Clark chapter. But ultimately it's far too focused on territorial/early statehood politics, focusing on two or three main characters to the point of boredom, or it's talking in depth about mining companies. I don't feel like I really even learned a tenth of Montana history - no talk about the culture, different ethnic groups, daily life, history of major towns. Very much an 'old white man' history of the state.

[Kevin Giles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid Montana history by a well-known UM history professor. Read it first for his class, then two or three times over the years and loved it.

[Bob Koeller · Rating 4 out of 5]

The exploration section might be a little too pilfered from Devoto's Journals of Lewis and Clark but this was an entertainingly written, compartmentalized overview.

[Steve E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

We own a first edition of this 1959 classic (salvaged from the discard pile at the Riverton Library a number of years ago). I was shocked at the poor proofreading of the final text - I counted nearly 30 mistakes, and it makes me wonder if they were corrected in subsequent editions.

Toole is Montana's most celebrated historian - he writes with remarkable clarity and does not pull any interpretive punches. His anti-corporate stance, and his excoriations of the extractive industries that ruined many Montana lives and scarred much of its landscape feel remarkably contemporary. Taking on the Anaconda Company even in 1958 was still quite a bold move, and professionally dangerous - "The Company" continued to control much of Montana political and economic life through the 1970's.

A great book.

[Greg Strandberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book to read if you want to know Montana's history from the earliest days (around 1800) to 1920. I will say that after 1900 it gets a bit sparse, with only a few chapters. You'll have to read Toole's next book, Twentieth Century Montana: A State of Extremes, to learn more about that period.

I've read this book about 2 to 3 times now and it's good. It's great for a survey class for Montana history and goes into detail on quite a bit. I'd say if you want a bit more detail check out Michael P. Malone's Montana: A History of Two Centuries.

I certainly will think about reading Toole's biographies of other figures after this. I do believe he wrote one on Dixon.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Approaching our 1 year anniversary in Montana, I thought I ought to read a bit about the state's history. This book is consider a classic on Montana history. It tells the story of how Montana was essentially wilderness until the arrival of the mining industry. Then the mining industry dominated the economy and corrupted state politics for at least a hundred years.

[Woody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-read this book that I once read for an inspiring history class at U. of Montana taught by the author. This is a marvelous book about the mining barons, the unscrupulous politicians and industrialists, the Honyockers, and the others who shaped Montana's history in the last century.

[Harry Child · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic telling of the extremes that shaped, and seemingly continue to shape Montana even into the 21st century.