Gallatin City, 1863
courtesy of lewis-clark.org
n 1863 a settlement proudly and optimistically named Gallatin City (the first of three) sprang to life opposite the mouth of the Gallatin River under the hands of twenty-five pioneers, including James (eventually Probate Judge) Gallaher and Major J. B. Campbell, by authorization of the first Territorial legislature.
All were inspired by the prospect that river commerce would be extended to the Three Forks valley as soon as a government-chartered shortline railroad was built around the Great Falls. They expected that their market area would include all the gold camps from Virginia City to the south and Helena to the north, as well as the Yellowstone Valley via Clark's "high dry firm road" between the Big Bend and the head of the Gallatin River.
Second thoughts dictated the moving of the first Gallatin City's legal domain to a new location on the bank of the Madison River about two miles south, on the stage route. Hope survived in Gallatin City (No. 2) until the Northern Pacific Railroad laid its main line several miles to the south, and new options—the foundations of another phase of Western history—emerged.
A third Gallatin City briefly came to mind, but no farther
Gallatin City
courtesy of montana genealogy.com
Located near the three forks of the Missouri River, a town not now in existence, was the first county seat of Gallatin County, being so named by the legislative assembly when the county was created. An act authorizing the people of the county to vote at the general election in 1867 to locate the county seat was approved by the territorial legislature on December 14, 1866. The election was held on Christmas day, 1867, when Bozeman was chosen as the county seat by 475 votes, nearly 200 majority over Farmington, the other principal candidate, with a few votes for Gallatin City.
The act of the legislature granting the people permission to vote for the county seat, provided that it should be named Farmington, this being a plan of C. P. Blakely, representative to the legislature, who aimed to have the county seat on his Middle Creek farm. Bozeman was therefore known officially for a few months as Farmington, but the legislative assembly adjusted the matter at the next session, and Bozeman has continued as the county seat.