 Bozeman Trail Map Circa 1922.
During the winter of 1862, a Georgian entrepreneur named John Merian Bozeman discovered a shortcut to the Montana gold fields that would regional transportation in the Rocky Mountains, affecting its Indigenous inhabitants forever.
From MHP's own Connor McLeod, an intern with the University of Montana, learn the complex history and legacy of the infamous Bozeman Trail in this brand-new exhibit live on the Montana History Portal today.
If you have submitted a meme for this year's contest, please RESUBMIT to ensure your entry counts. There was an issue with the submission system that has since been FIXED. Don't risk it, make sure your entry gets through to the voting round.
2026 Meme Contest Details
Choose and caption any photo from the Montana History Portal for your chance to become a top meme like the one included here.
DEADLINE: Submit your entry at https://www.mtmemory.org/pages/memecontest by Wednesday, May 13, 2026.
SELECTION: On Friday, May 15, 2026, the finalists’ entries will be posted to a collection on the Portal site and opened for voting.
VOTING: The voting period will run from Friday, May 15 – Wednesday, May 20, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. (MST).
The winning memes will be the top two entries in each age group with the most “likes” at the time the voting period ends.
Voting is open to all and best of luck!
Recently, collection pages on the Montana History Portal were updated to include a new arrow-based navigation feature to scroll between pages (see photo below).

If users prefer to see the collection materials in a list format with larger thumbnails, simply click the 'collection' section on the far left (see photo below).
 Collection section will include the number of materials in parentheses
This will lead to a screen view like the one shown below. Happy researching!

Questions?
Contact
Jennifer Birnel, Montana History Portal Director
Zachary Coe, MHP Digital Content Specialist

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