Bozeman

History

For many years, indigenous people of the United States, including the Shoshone, Nez Perce, Blackfeet, Flathead, Crow, and Sioux traveled through the area, called the "Valley of the Flowers." The Gallatin Valley in particular, in which Bozeman is located, was primarily within the territory of the Crow people. William Clark visited the area in July 1806 as he traveled east from Three Forks along the Gallatin River. The party camped east of what is now Bozeman, at the mouth of Kelly Canyon. The journal entries from Clark's party briefly describe the future city's location. In 1863, John Bozeman, a pioneer and frontiersman from Pickens County, Georgia, along with a partner named John Jacob, opened the Bozeman Trail, a new northern trail off the Oregon Trail leading to the mining town of Virginia City through the Gallatin Valley and the future location of the city of Bozeman. John Bozeman, with Daniel Rouse and William Beall, platted the town in August 1864, stating "standing right in the gate of the mountains ready to swallow up all tenderfeet that would reach the territory from the east, with their golden fleeces to be taken care of." Red Cloud's War closed the Bozeman Trail in 1868, but the town's fertile land still attracted permanent settlers. Bozeman's death has been the source of much controversy. For years, the story was circulated that Bozeman and one of his friends, Tom Cover, were hiking to a neighboring town when Blackfeet attacked and killed Bozeman. Recent speculation has that Cover committed the murder and blamed the Blackfeet for it. In 1866, Nelson Story, a successful Virginia City, Montana, gold miner originally from Ohio, entered the cattle business. Story braved the hostile Bozeman Trail to successfully drive some 1,000 head of Longhorn cattle into…

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• Gallatin High School
  High · Bozeman · 1,351 students · 16.9:1 ratio
• Bozeman High School
  High · Bozeman · 1,280 students · 15.8:1 ratio
• Belgrade Middle School
  Middle · Belgrade · 1,052 students · 15.2:1 ratio
• Belgrade High School
  High · Belgrade · 994 students · 14.8:1 ratio
• Sacajawea Middle School
  Middle · Bozeman · 826 students · 15.9:1 ratio
• Chief Joseph Middle School
  Middle · Bozeman · 752 students · 14.5:1 ratio
• Emily Dickinson School
  Elementary · Bozeman · 519 students · 15.7:1 ratio
• Hyalite Elementary
  Elementary · Bozeman · 512 students · 15.1:1 ratio