Logging and Lobbying in the Gilded Age, 1882–1917

Between 1882 and 1886, the Montana Improvement Company engaged in wanton depredation of the public timberlands of western Montana to supply the construction of the Northern Pacific Railway Road and Butte’s mines. In his presentation,Princeton University PhD student William Brown will detail how the company’s prosecution by the federal government provides a unique window into the power, ideas, and practices of businesses during the early period of Montana’s economic development.