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The Power of Coal in Montana
How Montana Was Built with the Power of Coal
View of a young boy holding an American flag on a small pole and standing in an aerial tramway car, labeled No. 3, at the Montana Coal and Coke Co. operations at Electric, Park County, Montana. The tram car is partly filled with coal and suspended in the air by a cable in what appears to be a rocky area of a hillside.
From the beginning, before Montana was even a state, coal has been an inexpensive and reliable resource. Coal, found mostly in eastern Montana in open seam veins, became an accessible and cheap resource for homesteaders, railroad, and industry.
Once coal was discovered, settlers could move into the area and heat their homes and businesses. Steam engines used coal to make steam that powered boats and trains to transport people and goods across Montana.
As these settlers had better access to the land and other natural resources such as gold, silver, and copper, coal would help mining become the major commerce in the state. Montana rests comfortably on the foundation created from the strength of coal, as the primary resource for civilization, transportation, and industry.
The First Coal Sighting in Montana
Photo: Coal Outcrop, Cabin Creek Breaks.
View of man standing beside coal outcrop. Vintage negative number: 12.
This photograph taken in Fallon County in eastern Montana showing a large coal strip running through the landscape. This is the same area the Corps of Discovery explored when they came through present day Montana. Even today this area ranks 3rd in the state for producing oil and gas.
The first major exploration of the western United States, including modern day Montana, was conducted by the Corp of Discovery in 1804-1806. Also known as the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the Corp of Discovery was tasked by President Thomas Jefferson to map and explore the newly acquired Louisiana Purchase land west of the Mississippi River.
The Corp was also instructed to study the natural resources, meet native peoples, and find a water route to the Pacific Ocean. The Corp was led by Captain Meriwether Lewis and Second Lieutenant William Clark.
During this expedition across current day eastern Montana, Captain Lewis made the discovery of a large amount of coal seams along the banks of the Missouri River.
“The Lewis and Clark expedition journals contain the first reference to coal deposits in Montana. In 1805, Meriwether Lewis noted his observation of coal seams along the banks of the Missouri River.”
A Brief History of Coal
Photo: Geological map of the cretaceous bituminous coal region of central Montana.
Plate 50, Crazy Mountain sheet [shows area between Livingston and Martinsdale]. -- Plate 51, Judith River basin, southern sheet [shows area between approximately Martinsdale and Fort Maginnis]. -- Plate 52, Judith River Basin, northern sheet [show area between Fort Benton and approximately Fort Maginnis]. -- Plate 53, Upper Missouri River basin, southern sheet [shows area between Helena and Livingston]. -- Plate 54, Upper Missouri River basin, nothern sheet [shows area between approximately Helena and Fort Benton]. Relief indicated by contours. Geology indicated by color. Map dated 1883.
This 1883 geographical survey map shows how many lines of coal could be located and potentially mined in central and eastern Montana. Most of this coal was not made readily available until the railroads came into Montana and made it more economically feasible.
Before becoming one of the most successful resources in heating our homes and creating power in Montana, coal had its own creation story. The coal discovered here was once a dense thick forest of wetlands and swamps. During the Carboniferous Period, roughly 359 to 299 million years ago, these wetlands lacked the bacteria to break down lignin the tough polymer that gives wood its strength.
As these forests slowly aged and broke down, they created layer upon layer of carbon rich plant life. This decayed plant life combined with sediments and years of pressure formed the sedimentary rock we call Coal.
“This black, carbon-rich sedimentary rock, formed from the compressed remains of ancient plant life over millions of years, has powered industrial revolutions, built empires, and driven technological innovations that transformed society.” Coal: from Prehistory to Modern Civilization
Different Types of Coal
Photo: Missoula Coal and Transfer Company
CB&Q coal car is unloading coal at the Missoula Coal & Transfer Company coal dock.
Screened coal has been mechanically sorted through vibrating screens or trommels to separate it into specific, uniform sizes. As it passes through the trommel, lower grade coal attached to shale falls away from the rock but leaves the coal intact. This makes the screened coal burn more evenly and efficiently. “The three types of coal found in Montana are lignite, sub-bituminous, and bituminous coal.” Coal resources of Montana
Lignite
The youngest and softest coal. It’s brownish-black, crumbly, and contains a lot of moisture. Lignite produces the least heat of any coal type. It’s mainly used in power plants located near the mines where it’s found, since it’s not efficient to transport long distances.
Subbituminous
A step up from lignite. It’s darker, harder, and contains less moisture. Subbituminous coal is about 100 million years old and is the most commonly mined coal in the U.S., with most of it coming from Wyoming’s Powder River Basin. (Also found in Southeastern Montana)
Bituminous
The most widely used coal worldwide. It’s 100–300 million years old, dense, and black. Bituminous coal produces a lot of heat and is used for both electricity generation and making steel. Most coal mined in the eastern U.S. is bituminous.
Anthracite
The oldest, hardest, and highest-energy coal. Anthracite is shiny, jet-black, and burns very hot with little smoke. It’s rare — less than 1% of the coal mined in the U.S. is anthracite. Most of it is found in northeastern Pennsylvania.
Montana Homesteaders Utilized Coal for Heat
Photo: 03-16-1976 Paxson Pen and Ink drawing
Installation image of E.S. Paxson pen and ink drawing, Getting a Supply of Meat, 1906, from the exhibition "The Works of E.S. Paxson" at the Missoula Museum of the Arts in Missoula, Montana from 03-16-1976 to 05-02-1976.
Early homesteaders packed supplies they might need to set up a home on their new acreage. They needed to develop the land to grow food and be able to harvest game animals for survival. In addition to these supplies coal was vital in making homesteading possible. “The average farm or ranch used from five to ten tons of coal per year.” Even up into the 1950’s people living and working in Montana relied on coal brought up from small local mines.
The United States government in the mid 1800’s wanted to get more people homesteading in the western states. They passed several Homestead Acts between 1862 and 1912 to encourage settlers to come out west. These potential homesteaders had to be at least 21 years old.
At first they were offered 160 acres of land and had to show improvements to the land. If they showed meaningful improvements, they could earn more land.
These meaningful “Improvements to the land” included growing crops or raising cattle for a minimum of 5 years. While homesteading, settlers in Montana set up small local coal mines and used coal to heat their homes and cook their food. It was a hard life with little or no contact with outside merchants, stores, or modern conveniences.
Indigenous Tribes did not Burn Coal for Heat
Photo: Fish Camp on Two Medicine Creek, Blackfeet Reservation
View of a Blackfoot camp in a field lined with trees. The camp includes tipis, tent, two wagons, and tipi poles. A woman wearing a cloth dress stands near the entrance of each tipi. A young boy walks through the center of camp. Copied from Al Lucke Collection.
Unlike early European settlers, native peoples did not burn coal in their tipis. While surveying in the Alberta and Montana Territory area for the Hudson Bay Company in 1793, explorer Peter Fidler wrote about being scolded for bringing in coal he had found into a fire pit inside a tipi: “The Chief being absent at the time in another Tent, when he came home, just as he was stepping into the Tent his women told him what a heinous offence I had been doing by putting coal on the fire.”
According to First Nation peoples of Canada many stories circulated about whole families mysteriously dying in their sleep from carbon monoxide poisoning from the gas given off by coal fire.
Superstitions held by Blackfoot tribes link a possible association of coal with death spirits. Since coal comes from the ground burning it could release these terrible spirits.
Although coal was not used for heating purposes it was used by early artists as a medium to carve into bison sculptures. The warriors of the Blackfoot Confederacy also used coal dust to alter their appearance before a battle or an important ceremony.
Close Quarters for Early Settlers
Photo: Henry Syverud in the interior of his homestead shack, Valley County, Montana
View of Henry Syverud in the interior of his homestead shack on the Two Triangles Farm in Valley County, Montana. Henry describes the scene as follows, 'Interior of my shack, preparing dinner. Cupboard built in corner and every available space used for storage for supplies, trunk, bicycle, and small table is hinged on wall under the window.
Most family homesteads started out as large one room cabins. Single men moving to Montana to work on farms or ranches usually lived in a small shack with basic necessities or were housed in a bunkhouse with several other men. Regardless of the building size, every inch of the cabin was utilized.
Some of the items settlers may have brought include hand tools, (axes, saws, guns, and shovels) seeds, linens, silverware, plates, cups, domestic livestock, flour, salt, lye soap, coffee, and warm clothing. The accessibility of coal allowed homesteaders to cook and heat their living space efficiently.
To be successful every homestead needed a cast iron cook stove. Coal was much easier to access than lumber and burned hotter and longer than wood. Without coal homesteaders could not heat their homes continuously during the harsh Montana winters.
Early Settlers to Montana Came by Steamboat
Photo: Steamer' Benton' built for T. C. Power and Bro.
View of the steamer 'Benton' on the river with passengers visible on the decks. The boat was built for T. C. Power and Bro. at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania about 1876, and was the first of the Power and Bro. Block P Line
Fort Benton became the gateway into Montana as steamboats from St. Louis brought travelers and goods from back east. The trip from St. Louis to Fort Benton was 2000 miles and took about 60-70 days. Powered by coal steamboats traveling to Montana could only travel on the Missouri in the spring and summer months when the ice had thawed and the water was high enough to navigate.
Leading the way for homesteaders into Montana were the Trappers and Fur Traders of the West. These hardy adventure seekers were also great explorers and mapped out many of the landmarks we know today. In 1845, Alexander Culbertson of the American Fur Company established Fort Lewis, a trading post just upstream from the town of Fort Benton. This fort was crucial to settlers because it was located next to the Missouri River.
Travelers headed to the Montana territory could book passage on a steamboat headed to Fort Lewis starting from St. Louis, Missouri. However, due to severe weather and ice jams in winter and spring, Fort Lewis was moved to its current location and renamed Fort Benton in honor of Senator Thomas Hart Benton, a patron of the American Fur Company.
“It soon became a boisterous “old west” town of legend. As Winfield Stocking wrote, “Although it continued to be a mere village in size, in a commercial way it was the Chicago of the plains.
It was the door through which all the gold hunters, adventurers, speculators, traders, land-seekers, big game hunters, fugitives from justice, desperadoes and all the bad Indians on the top of the earth entered the Northwest.” A sign on the levee states that the street along the river was the bloodiest block in the west.”
Coal Banks Landing was a low-water unloading site, as well as a refueling site, for steamboats headed up the Missouri River to Fort Benton. Steamboats plying the river consumed approximately 30 cords of wood every day, which quickly depleted the available supply of wood. To supplement their fuel, steamers used the low-grade coal dug near Coal Banks. The landing also served as the drop-off point for supplies headed to Fort Assinniboine near Havre. It is the site of an earlier post office called Rerger, known as Camp Otis to the U.S. Army. The landing is now a BLM recreation site.
“Coal served as the predominant source of fuel powering steam engines in the 1800s and well into the 1900s. Furnaces burned the coal, which fueled water boilers that generated steam. The pressure from the steam turned paddlewheels or propellers. A walking-beam engine, also called a vertical beam, used a pivoted beam to provide the force from a vertical piston to a connecting rod. Often visible from the top deck of ships, the walking-beam transferred force to a crankshaft that turned the paddlewheels on the side or rear (stern) of the vessel. The type of engine was common in American coastal and river steamers.”
The Railroads Come to Montana
Photo: Union Pacific 2-8-2 locomotive
Union Pacific 2-8-2 locomotive #2710, right, San Bernardino, California. Locomotive was built by Lima Locomotive Works.
By 1940 the Union Pacific Railroad had been firmly established in Montana for 60 years, first known as the Utah and Northern Railroad.
The first railroad to get within 500 miles of Montana was the Union Pacific. In 1869, the Union Pacific had completed the first Transcontinental railroad across the United States.
By 1872 the Union Pacific railroad began construction of a rail line from Utah to Montana. The first rail line to connect Utah and Montana was the Utah and Northern Railway, operated by the Union Pacific Railroad.
It was a narrow-gauge line that ran north from Ogden, Utah, into Idaho, and officially entered Montana Territory at Monida Pass on May 9, 1880.
The Utah and Northern Railway continued to build the rail line. A year and a half later, the first train arrived in the city of Butte, in the Montana Territory on December 26th, 1881, providing the mining town a reliable year-round rail link (Montana became a state in 1889).
The Last Territory to get Railroad Services
Photo: 1750 (ditto) Yd 2/4/39 Frank Schlavin [Engr].
View of a Northern Pacific steam train engine 1750 W3 in the railyard at Livingston, Montana. Frank Schlavin is the engineer.
After the Utah and Northern Railway operated by the Union Pacific came to Montana other railroads followed such as the Northern Pacific, the Milwaukee and the Great Northern Railway. This Northern Pacific steam engine is powered by coal. The coal is located in a train car behind the cab called the tender. The tender has a coal bunker and a compartment for water to feed the boiler.
In the continental United States, the territory of Montana was the last to get railroad services. Building railroads was enormously expensive. Extreme weather, gaining financial support, and rugged terrain made building railways in Montana challenging.
“To help investors save money the first railway was a narrow gauge railroad line using less building materials. Instead of the standard 4 feet 8.5 inches rails, narrow gauges are typically between 2 feet and 3 feet 6 inches wide.”
This design helped the train navigate tighter sharper curves and steeper grades through the higher mountainous areas of Montana.
Coal and Railroads Bankroll Each Other
Photo: Roundup Milwaukee Railroad Depot
Photographic postcard of the Roundup Milwaukee Railroad Depot in Roundup, Montana. Some of the other businesses visible in the photograph are the Elk Hotel and Cafe and a Saloon next door. The photographer was Corliss Fairchild who had a studio at 209 First Street West in Roundup between the years of approximately 1908-1925.
The town of Roundup had a train depot and a local coal mine to support the Milwaukee Railroad and ensure continued success of the railway in the area.
As the railroads became more viable and connected more towns and mining communities, they needed a steady fuel source to power their steam engines. Coal was reliable and could be used to fuel steam locomotives effectively and inexpensively.
As coal was plentiful in Montana the railroads began investing in their own company mines. “The Northern Pacific Railroad developed coal mines east of Bozeman, near Red Lodge, and later at Colstrip, which became its most productive mine. The Great Northern Railway mined coal from a large deposit in Cascade County, near the communities of Stockett and Sand Coulee. The Milwaukee Road mined coal near Roundup.”
Many railroad owners invested in mining and lumber industries as they could profit from the freight traffic these businesses would generate.
Coal Strengthens Silver Mining
Photo: 100 Stamp Mill, BiMetallic Mining Co.
View of the Bi-Metallic Mining Company's 100-Stamp Mill just south of Philipsburg, Montana. Two large smokestacks rise on the hill behind the main mill building.
The Bi-Metallic Mill built in 1888 had 100-stamp mills. It was located just south of Philipsburg and processed silver ore from the surrounding Flint Creek Mountain Range with use of a gravity tramway.
With an endless supply of coal to power the steam locomotives, the railroads would soon establish a stable infrastructure starting in the early 1880’s in the Montana Territory. Railroads could bring food, supplies, fuel, and equipment to towns and mining camps as well as carry raw goods out. This would be the start of a new era of industrialization.
Once the Northern Pacific Railroad reached the gold mining town of Helena, lode mining began to expand all across the territory. Railroads could facilitate new technology which made silver mining now accessible.
Heavy new machines like the Stamp Mill weighing 500 to 1000 pounds could be brought into mining areas saving miners from extracting precious metals by hand. “A stamp mill could crush silver ore into a fine sand so the valuable metal could be extracted.”
Coal Supports Montana Royalty
Photo: Interior view of the wire mill at the Anaconda Copper Mining Company of Great Falls
View of the interior of an industrial building, wire wound on different sized spools visible on the floor and more wire in piles. 'Interior of rod and wire mill owned and operated by the Anaconda Copper Mining Company at Great Falls. This is the only rod and wire mill of consquence west of the Mississippi. Since the discovery of copper at Butte fifty-one years ago, Butte hill has turned out one-sixth of the world's supply and one-third of all produced in the United States. Montana produces one-half of all the copper of the United States. In 1926 the rod mill rolled 168,306,000 pounds of copper and 41,527,000 pounds were drawn into wire. The operation of this plant gives the A.C.M. company clear title to the slogan 'From Mine to Consumer.''
During the 1880’s the Montana Territory was experiencing huge successes in mining.
To support its continued economic growth the United States needed precious metals and Montana had them in bulk. “By 1883 the territory had become the second-largest producer of silver in the nation. By 1889, 25 percent of the silver mined in the United States came from Montana.” The largest producer of Silver was the town of Philipsburg, earning the nickname “The Silver Queen”.
If Silver is the queen, then Copper is the King.
Two new inventions at this time, electricity and the telephone, began to drive up the need for copper wiring throughout the United States and World markets. Copper is an excellent conductor for electrical current, heat, and voice transmissions. “By 1900 Butte and Anaconda were producing 61 percent of the Copper in the United States and 23 percent of the Copper in the world.”
Many historians believe the copper mined from the Butte and Anaconda region made such an impact to the Industrial Revolution, it made the United States a modern superpower.
The Classic Collier’s Work Attire
Photo: Typically Dressed Early Miners
Two miners with oil lamps on their helmets and holding pails. The lamps on their helmets were used until about 1912 when carbide lamps came into existence.
Before they were called miners they were called colliers. Colliers can be either a coal miner or a coal merchant. Colliers or Miners often wore hats made of hard felt to absorb sweat and keep coal dust out of their eyes.
You could also attach a candle or oil wick head lamp. Shirts were collarless and made of cotton or flannel. Pants were made of durable moleskin or canvas. Boots were laced up and made of leather, sometimes with hobnails on the bottom for a better grip on mining floors. Miners wore belts made of thick leather called a breeching belt. A rope or chain passed between the legs and connected to the front of the belt, allowing them to drag heavy corves of coal while keeping their hands free.
“A corf (plural: corves) is a historical mining term for a large, heavy-duty basket or a small human—or horse—powered cart used to haul and transport coal out of a mine.”
First Electricity in Montana
Photo: Alice Mine and Mill, Walkerville, Montana
View of Alice Mine and Mill in Walkerville, Montana, with two unidentified men in horse-drawn wagon or carriage in foreground and wooden mine and mill buildings and equipment in background.
The Alice Silver Mine and Mill was the first place in the Montana Territory to have electricity in 1880. In 1882 like New York City, Butte was one of the first cities in the United States to have street lights powered by electricity. In 1884 Butte built its first commercial power plant providing lighting to the central business district.
How Coal is Used to Make Electricity
Coal is a sedimentary rock we burn in power plants. The burning coal creates intense heat, which boils water into steam. Steam pushes a giant fan (called a turbine), which spins a magnet inside a generator to make the electricity. Here is how it works-
1. The Delivery: Chunks of coal are dug up from the ground and brought to a power plant, usually by giant trains.
2. The Powder: First, heavy machines crush the coal into a super-fine powder, just as powdery as talcum makeup. This helps it burn easily and super fast.
3. The Fire: This coal powder is blown into a giant furnace called a boiler and set on fire. It burns at incredibly high temperatures, making the furnace glow red hot.
4. Making Steam: The walls of the furnace are lined with pipes full of water. The intense fire boils the water, turning it into super-strong, high-pressure steam.
5. Spinning the Turbine: This steam shoots through pipes and pushes against the blades of a giant fan, called a turbine. The steam blows so hard that it makes the turbine spin incredibly fast.
6. Making Electricity: The spinning turbine is connected to a special magnet inside a generator. When the turbine spins the magnet around coils of wire, it pushes electricity out through the wires!
7. Out to You: That electricity travels through the wires you see on utility poles and flies straight into your house.
The World Revolves Around Coal
View of the Anaconda Copper Mining Company blast furnace at the Washoe Smelter, in Anaconda, Montana. Published by R. M. Greig, Anaconda, Mont. Handwritten note on front of card says 'Write soon.' Verso is addressed to Miss E. Moreau, Race Track, Mont. Postmarked Nov. 9, 1907, Anaconda, Mont., with postage stamp affixed with Ben Franklin for one cent.
Unlike traditional blast furnaces where fuel and ore mixed directly, the reverberatory furnace bounced heat from a burning firebox off an arched roof and down onto the ore. This prevented fuel ash from contaminating the copper and made the metal easier to refine. The reverberatory furnace transformed the Butte copper industry by allowing smelters to process massive, quantities of finely crushed copper ore as never seen before. This technological advancement increased smelting yields and turned the region into a global success.
In addition to the high demand for silver and copper, there was another reason why Butte mining became such a powerhouse industry.
A new technology called the reverberatory furnace was available to smelt ore at high temperatures without directly mixing the fuel (coal) with the metal. “This process first tested in Wales, isolated the copper ore from the burning coal, allowing the intense, radiating heat to melt and separate the metal without the coal's impurities (like sulfur and ash) contaminating the copper.”
Before this furnace was invented smelters would need to be build and operated next to a large, forested area to burn wood as a heat source. In Montana with its unlimited coal supply, these smelters could set up next to or near a coal source and have the ore sent directly to their facility.
When the Washoe Reduction Works in Anaconda opened in 1902 it initially installed fourteen 50-foot-long reverberatory furnaces before adapting even longer furnaces up to 116 feet.
Coal vs. Other Natural Resources
Photo: Construction of Yellowtail Dam, Big Horn County, Montana
View of construction of Yellowtail Dam, Big Horn County, Montana. A large crane operates while laborers work on concrete forms.
“Yellowtail Dam is a dam across the Bighorn River in south central Montana in the United States. The mid-1960s era concrete arch dam serves to regulate the flow of the Bighorn for irrigation purposes and to generate hydroelectric power.”
Up until 1950 coal maintained regular usage for railroads and residential heating needs especially after coming out of World War II. However things began to decline in the late 1950’s as steam engines were retired and replaced by diesel fuel engines.
New technological advances in hydroelectric power as well as federal and tribal funding allowed more dams to be built on Montana’s major waterways. You’ll find dams on waterways like the Missouri, Flathead, Clark Fork, Big Horn, and Kootenai rivers.
Coal and the 1970s Clear Air Act
Photo: Coal Keeps the Lights On - Colstrip United magnet
Colstrip United sponsored sign. Colstrip United is a pro-coal grassroots movement created by local town members.
In 1970 the U.S. congress passed the Clean Air Act. “The Clean Air Act limits on sulfur dioxide mandated emissions reductions, making Montana's naturally low-sulfur Powder River Basin coal highly attractive to power plants across the country.
This caused an explosion in strip-mining; Montana's annual coal production soared from 1 million tons in the late 1960s to nearly 30 million tons by 1980. Simultaneously, the Staggers Rail Act of 1980 deregulated the railroad industry.
This combination allowed cheaper, low-sulfur coal from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and Montana to be transported efficiently across the country, displacing traditional Appalachian coal markets.”
The End of a Coal Dynasty
Resource: Anaconda Place Name Profile
Although strip mining had a rejuvenation in manufacturing other coal facilities did not fare as well. The historic Anaconda Copper Company after losing its foreign assets in Chile, could not recoup its losses back here in the US.
Following the Clean Air Act, the Anaconda Copper Mining Company had to drastically reduce sulfur dioxide emissions from its smelters, which required installing industrial scrubbers. The company could not afford these operation cost and sold the Anaconda Copper Mines to the Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) in 1977.
While the buyout kept operations going briefly, ARCO ultimately ceased all mining in Butte and shut down the Anaconda smelter in the early 1980s. After decades of unchecked emissions and mining waste poisoning the surrounding ecosystems, the site was declared a massive Superfund Cleanup Site.
Coal's Legacy
Photo: Master Builder Mine Display
Learners today reflecting on the historical intricacies of a working copper mine.
During the 1970’s the United States was examining how to manage our natural resources more responsibly. “The Montana Coal Severance Tax Trust Fund was initially created in 1975 when the Montana Legislature passed the state's coal severance tax.
However, the permanent, constitutionally protected trust fund was officially established on November 2, 1976, when over 70% of Montana voters approved the Coal Tax Trust Fund Amendment.”
The trust was designed to save a portion of the revenue generated from coal mining to benefit future generations. A significant portion of the revenue generated by the tax is directed into the state's School Facilities Fund.
This fund specifically supports the School Major Maintenance Aid Account, providing direct grants to school districts across the state for critical infrastructure projects, structural repairs, and facility upgrades.
Coal Use Today
This photo shows Units I-IV of the Colstrip power plant, the focal point of much of the controversy that Colstrip United formed to respond to. The power plant is just across the road from Rye Park
“Montana's Spring Creek Coal mine is the eighth-largest U.S. coal-producing mine and the largest coal mine outside of the state of Wyoming.The state's Rosebud surface mine supplies almost all of its production to Montana's largest electricity generating plant—the Colstrip coal-fired power plant located next to the mine. Two of the plant's 4 generating units were retired in early 2020, reducing the plant's generating capacity to about 1,500 megawatts.”
While Coal has historically been an important source of energy, many people today are choosing to use cleaner fuel sources such as wind, solar, hydro, and natural gas.
These opinions are based on the past extraction of Coal being hard on the environment by causing soil erosion and water pollution as well as hurting certain fragile ecosystems. However, coal is making a significant comeback.
“Montana has the largest estimated recoverable coal reserves among the states, accounting for about 30% of the U.S. total. Montana is the fifth-largest coal-producing state. In 2024, the state produced 5% of the nation's coal, with production declining by 7% from the previous year.
Most of Montana's coal production comes from four large surface mines in the Powder River Basin in the southeastern corner of the state and one underground mine in the south-central part of the state. The state was the second-largest coal exporter in the western United States after Wyoming.”
Author: Mary Greil
Bibliography
Government & Institutional Documents
Montana Department of Environmental Quality. "Abandoned Hard Rock Mine Reclamation Guide." Accessed May 31, 2026. https://deq.mt.gov/files/land/abandonedmines/documents/recguide.pdf.
Montana Legislative Finance Division. "Coal Tax Trust Fund Brochure 2021." Montana Legislature, September 2021. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://archive.legmt.gov/content/Committees/Interim/2021-2022/Revenue/Meetings/September-2021/LFD-coal-trust-brochure-2021.pdf.
Montana Legislature. Senate Exhibit: Coal Severance Tax Trust Fund. Helena, MT: Montana Legislature, 2007. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://archive.legmt.gov/bills/2007/Minutes/Senate/Exhibits/tas18a05.pdf.
U.S. Energy Information Administration. "Montana State Energy Profile." Washington, DC: EIA, 2024. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://www.eia.gov/states/MT/analysis.
University of Montana Extension. "Fallon County Agriculture Profile." Bozeman: University of Montana Extension, 2024. Accessed May 31, 2026. https://www.montana.edu/extension/aboutus/2024/fallon/.
Gunderson, J. "Coal Resources of Montana." Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology. Accessed May 31, 2026. https://mbmg.mtech.edu/pdf/geologyvolume/Gunderson_CoalGeologyFInal.pdf.
Montana Office of Public Instruction. Montana: Stories of the Land, Chapter 9. Helena: Montana OPI. Accessed May 31, 2026. https://mhs.mt.gov/education/textbook/chapter9/Chapter9.pdf.
Websites & Online Articles
Colwell, Brian D. "A Complete History of Coal: From Prehistory to Modern Civilization." Brian D. Colwell, August 14, 2025. Accessed May 15, 2026. https://briandcolwell.com/a-complete-history-of-coal-from-prehistory-to-modern-civilization/.
Electric Choice. "Coal Power for Kids." Electric Choice. Accessed May 14, 2026. https://www.electricchoice.com/kids/coal/.
Alberta Culture and Tourism. "Taboos, Charms, and Face Dust." Energy Heritage: Early Coal History to 1900. Government of Alberta. Accessed May 31, 2026. https://history.alberta.ca/energyheritage/coal/early-coal-history-to-1900/albertas-first-discoveries/taboos-charms-and-face-dust.aspx.
Coalpail.com. "Anthracite Coal Sizes." Accessed May 31, 2026. https://www.coalpail.com.
Digital Desert. "Stamp Mill – Gold Mining." Accessed May 31, 2026. https://digital-desert.com/gold-mining/stamp-mill.html.
Johns Hopkins University Press. "Swansea Copper: A Global History." JHU Press Newsroom. Accessed May 31, 2026. https://www.press.jhu.edu/newsroom/swansea-copper-global-history.
Montana Kids. "Railroads in Montana." Montana Kids. Accessed May 31, 2026. https://montanakids.com/history_and_prehistory/transportation/railroad.htm.
Ship History. "Marine Engineering." Ship History, September 25, 2017. Accessed May 31, 2026. https://shiphistory.org/2017/09/25/marine-engineering/.
Story of Butte. "Item #3510." Story of Butte. Accessed May 31, 2026. https://storyofbutte.org/items/show/3510.
University of Montana. "Fort Benton: The World's Innermost Port." This Is Montana. Accessed May 31, 2026. https://www.umt.edu/this-is-montana/columns/stories/fort_benton1of2.php.
Wikipedia Articles
Wikipedia contributors. "Corf (Mining)." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Accessed May 31, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corf_(mining).
Wikipedia contributors. "Narrow-Gauge Railway." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Accessed May 31, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrow-gauge_railway.
Wikipedia contributors. "Yellowtail Dam." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowtail_Dam.
Montana History Portal – Digital Archive
Cameron, Evelyn (1868–1928). Mabel Williams Handing Water to Threshers on Her Family Farm. Photograph, September 1909. Montana History Portal. Accessed May 31, 2026. https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/72802.
Colamaria, Dave. 032 – Master Builder Mine Display. Photograph, December 9, 2023. Montana History Portal. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/113423.
Huffman, L. A. (Laton Alton) (1854–1931). Coal Outcrop, Cabin Creek Breaks. Photograph, between 1879–1930. Montana History Portal. Accessed May 31, 2026. https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/72449.
McKay, R. H. (Rollin H.). Missoula Coal and Transfer Company. Photograph, date unknown. Montana History Portal. Accessed May 31, 2026. https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/18828.
Paxson, E. S. (1852–1925). Paxson Pen and Ink Drawing. Illustration, March 16, 1976. Montana History Portal. Accessed May 31, 2026. https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/127041.
Stout, Tom (b. 1879). Montana, Its Story and Biography: A History of Aboriginal and Territorial Montana and Three Decades of Statehood, vol. 1. 1921. Montana History Portal. Accessed May 31, 2026. https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/5088.
Truden, John. Coal Keeps the Lights On – Colstrip United Magnet. Photograph, July 15, 2019. Montana History Portal. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/4872.
Truden, John. Colstrip Power Plant. Photograph, July 15, 2019. Montana History Portal. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/4878.
Unidentified photographer. Aerial Tram Bucket on No. 1 Line, Montana Coal and Coke Co., Electric, Mont. Photograph, between 1900–1920. Montana History Portal. Accessed May 31, 2026. https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/98335.
Unidentified photographer. Blackfeet Indians at Sun Dance and Medicine Dance, Browning Area. Photograph, circa 1900. Montana History Portal. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/73909.
Unidentified photographer. [Construction of Yellowtail Dam, Big Horn County, Montana]. Photograph, between 1962–1963. Montana History Portal. Accessed June 10, 2026. https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/101994.
Unidentified photographer. [Montana History Portal item 104447]. Photograph. Montana History Portal. Accessed May 31, 2026. https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/104447.
Photo Credit
Montana Historical Society Library and Archives
University of Montana Mansfield Library
Montana Place Names from Alzada to Zortman
Carbon County Historical Museum
Bicentennial Library of Colstrip
Bicentennial Library of Colstrip
