JSTOR

The Montana State Library is pleased to announce the addition of JSTOR to the digital resources that we offer State employees. JSTOR provides access to more than 12 million journal articles, books, images, and primary sources in 75 disciplines. It is available to users on the Montana State network. To access it, and other research databases, please visit Resources, or contact Marilyn Bennett at mbennett@mt.gov with questions.

Montana History Portal

The Montana History Portal encourages cultural institutions to digitize historic and contemporary resources reflecting Montana's rich cultural heritage and to make them freely available for lifelong learning.

Montana Livestock Brands

The Montana Historical Society collection titled,  Livestock Brand Registrations for Montana is one of the Montana History Portal's most popular collections.

This collection of 100,000+ pages of historical livestock brands encompasses the beginning of brand registrations in Montana and includes re-records, transfers, and new brand registrations. Livestock brands were first recorded in 1873 and new brands recorded as applications were submitted until 1910. Starting in 1911 brands were registered for a period of 10 years and had to be re-recorded within the first year of each new decade (1921, 1931, etc.). Within each decade a person could apply for a new brand or transfer their brand to someone else.

To get the most out of searching this collection we recommend you read the Livestock Brands Searching Guide. The brand organization is fully explained in this guide with a step-by-step tutorial on how to use the corresponding books to look up names and brands.