Billings is the largest city in Montana. It is the main city
along freeway I-90. It’s also the center of the upper Yellowstone Valley in
south-central Montana. Not just that it’s a trade center; it’s also a medical and
entertainment center for the whole east side of Montana including the Bighorn
Basin in Wyoming.
The great economy change occurs around 1882, when the
Northern Pacific Railroad has been decided to be build there. At that time,
there are no buildings build yet. It was ever since the railroad was built, the
settlement in Billings increase to more than two thousand buildings not long
after a few months. The place was once a trading point for wool throughout the
United States. Soon after that, natural resources such as the oil fields,
natural gas and coal reserves were discovered. Other than the natural resources that support
their economy, industries like agriculture, energy, healthcare, and mining also
help the growth of Billings’ economy. The population growth in the city
increase was so fast that it became the sixth fastest growing community in the
United States. The region was also suitable for raising livestock, since it
have plenty of large prairie lands. Many people that settle in the city during
the 1900s were immigrant laborers that came for farming. Ethnic groups that
came to start their own farmland include Japanese, Russo-Germans, and Mexicans.
