Editing Lewistown, Montana (section)

==History==
The area was the territory of the [[Blackfoot Confederacy|Blackfoot]] [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]]s. In 1874, Fort Lewis was established there by Company "F" of the 7th U.S. Infantry to provide military protection for people traveling on the Carroll Trail, then the shortest route between Carroll, [[Montana]] and [[Helena, Montana|Helena]]. Lewistown is named after this fort.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=27759|title= Profile for Lewistown, Montana, MT|publisher= ePodunk|access-date= October 27, 2012|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130125092810/http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=27759|archive-date= January 25, 2013|url-status= dead}}</ref>

The first permanent settlers of Lewistown were [[Métis people (United States)|Métis]]. The Metis established Lewistown in 1879.<ref>Jacqueline Peterson and Jennifer S. H. Brown, ''The New Peoples: Being and Becoming Metis in North America'' (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2001) p. 7</ref> Pierre Berger is credited with being the founder of Lewistown. Berger, along with his wife Judith Wilkie Berger, son Isadore Berger, Isaie Berger, Jean Baptiste Berger and Jacques Berger, as well as several other families made the trek into the Lewistown area in 1879. Francis Janeaux came with the second group. Janeaux founded the first [[state school|public school]] house in 1883. Lewistown became an incorporated city in 1899.

Lewistown was the site of a [[gold rush]] when [[gold]] was discovered in the nearby [[Judith Mountains]] in 1880. Before the gold rush, [[Maiden, Montana|Maiden]] was the largest city in central Montana. When the gold supply ran out, many of the miners gained new employment in Lewistown and settled there permanently.

Lewistown was the eastern terminus of the [[Montana Railroad]] which connected with [[Lombard, Montana]], a distance of approximately {{convert|157|mi|km}}. The railroad connected with the national railway network via a connection with the [[Northern Pacific Railway]] at Lombard. The Montana Railroad line was constructed between 1895 and 1903, and operated independently until 1908, when it was acquired by the [[Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad]] ("the Milwaukee Road").<ref name="Baker">{{cite book|last=Baker|first=Don B.|title=The Montana Railroad: Alias : The Jawbone|year=1990|location=Boulder, Colorado|publisher=Fred Pruett Books|isbn=978-0962386817}}</ref>

During [[World War II]], in 1942 the [[US Army Air Corps]] established a [[Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress]] training base just west of Lewistown to train aircrews for missions in North Africa and Europe. The former airbase is now the [[Lewistown Municipal Airport]], which is home to the last remaining [[Norden bombsight|Norden bombsight storage facility]], used to keep the device safe from theft by enemy spies during [[World War II]] .<ref>{{Cite web|title=Lewistown Satellite Airfield Historic District (U.S. National Park Service)|url=https://www.nps.gov/articles/lewistown-satellite-airfield-historic-district.htm|access-date=2021-05-29|website=www.nps.gov|language=en}}</ref> The city park displays a Minuteman III ballistic missile.