Bozeman Library

Extreme History Series

Gallatin City: A Place of Promise

Registered architect Lesley M. Gilmore discusses the rise and fall of Gallatin City once a promising city located at the Missouri Headwaters.

Gallatin City II, located at the headwaters of the Missouri River, represents early speculative town planning in Montana. The first city – one of the earliest settlements in Montana - was located in 1862 on the west side of the combined Jefferson and Madison Rivers. It was officially planned and intended to serve as a supplier for mining camps such as Virginia City, Last Chance Gulch, and Bannack. Various impediments prevented this, promoting instead Gallatin City II, a relocated version on the east side of the Madison River. Subsequently, other events led to the decline of this promising city, and the concomitant rise of Bozeman instead. This site, a lovely riparian area visited twice by the Lewis & Clark Expedition, with views of the Bridger, Tobacco Root, and Big Belt Mountains, was bypassed by the railroad and is now our highly significant Missouri Headwaters State Park, a National Historic Landmark. This talk explores the history and outcome of this early settlement, and the two buildings that remain from the city.

Lesley M. Gilmore is a registered architect who has focused on historic preservation for more than thirty years. She has been fortunate to work on historic properties throughout the Rocky Mountain West, including buildings in Yellowstone National Park, Glacier National Park, Montana State University, Bannack, Fort Owen, and the Missouri Headwaters State Park. She serves as secretary on the board of The Extreme History Project.

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