Red Lodge, Montana

The area where Red Lodge now sits was given to the Crow Nation under a treaty signed on September 17, 1851. Then coal was discovered on the property in 1866 and gold in 1870. The US Government renegotiated the treaty with the Crows and opened the area around Red Lodge for settlement starting on April 11, 1882. The Red Lodge Post Office opened for business on December 9, 1884 and a rail line was built into town shortly after that. Coal shipments began in June, 1889. The boundaries of the Crow Reservation were redrawn again on October 15, 1892 and the whole area was opened for settlement. By that time, the population of Red Lodge was officially 1,180.

Work on the Beartooth Highway, a paved route linking Red Lodge with the northeastern corner of Yellowstone National Park was begun in 1931 and completed in 1936. Later on, the Red Lodge Mountain Resort was built outside of Red Lodge.