Beginning Frontier Trains

Until the arrival of the railroad in 1883, Montana was difficult to reach.  One had to travel either over the mountains from California or across the plains from St Louis.  Moreover, travel within the territory was slow.  In 1869, it took 3 days by wagon to get from Fort Benton to Helena, a distance of 200 miles!

Railroaders in the far Northwest were likened to a modern plane that goes down in some inaccessible mountain pass which strands the rescue workers for days and even weeks.  Likewise the frontier trains stranded in snow could take weeks or months to dig out, only to be buried under another blizzard.