A BRIEF HISTORY OF MEXICAN IMMIGRATION IN MONTANA
Long before Montana attained statehood, some of the region’s first explorers, miners, trappers, and vaqueros came from Mexico. While no population estimates exist for the 19th century, it can be assumed that settlers from Mexico gradually trickled into the state, lured by job prospects in the above-mentioned trades. The 1920s witnessed the largest influx of Mexican immigrants to the Yellowstone Valley. Due in part to the repercussions of the Mexican Revolution, Mexico’s rapid population expansion, and the boom in the U.S. economy, people from Mexico arrived in Montana in large numbers. Many sought work in the sugar beet fields in eastern Montana. Sugar companies recruited them to work in the sugar beet fields and factories in Sidney and Billings to thin, cultivate, and harvest the roots. To meet this need, some companies, like the Great Western Sugar Company, traveled to Mexico and to other states to bring back mostly Mexican workers. In 1924, over 3,600 Mexicans helped harvest 31,000 acres of sugar beets. Many Mexican farmworkers returned home, but some stayed. By 1930, over one thousand Montanans of Mexican descent came to the Yellowstone Valley to work in the sugar beet fields and factories.
Other Mexican and Mexican American farmworkers became migrant workers, who moved from place to place with their families, pursuing the harvest. Some companies like the Great Western and Holly Sugar companies wanted a stable workforce, so they built houses to encourage Mexican workers and their families to stay in the Yellowstone Valley during the winter. These farmworker neighborhoods, called colonias, were usually located behind the sugar beet factories; the Mexican colonia in Billings had over 40 small one-bedroom houses. After WWII, agriculture became more industrialized so it required fewer workers. Many Mexicans left farm work to find better paying jobs or start their own businesses in Billings.
In the late 1980s, labor migration in Montana shifted west as Mexican men began to migrate on H2A guest visas to work on cattle and sheep ranches. More recently, Mexicans have migrated seasonally from Texas to work on potato farms near Bozeman and from Washington to work in the cherry orchards near Glacier National Park. Many unauthorized Mexican immigrants from Idaho, Washington, and California maintain Montana’s dairy industry. Although agriculture is still Montana’s largest industry and is the foundation of the longest-standing migrant stream into the state, tourism and the second-home market are attracting a much larger migrant influx.
While Montana still appears predominantly white, the official demographics of the region indicate change. Montana’s new culture and economy are intertwined with an increasing Mexican labor migrant presence. Various farms and ranches in Montana continue to depend on Mexican agricultural workers. Similarly, many of southwest Montana’s new exclusive homes and resorts are built and maintained by Mexican laborers. Mexican immigrants are playing an increasingly crucial role in Montana’s evolving economy.
CHARACTERIZING IMMIGRATION IN MONTANA
Population
According to the Montana census of 2000, Mexicans in the total population numbered 11,735, or 1.3 percent. This number, however, refers to all individuals of Mexican origin, including more than those from Mexico. The Latino population—which includes Mexicans—grew from 1.5 percent in 1990, to 2.0 percent in 2000, to 3.3 percent (or 33,181 people) in 2013. In 2013, the estimate of Mexican born in the population totaled 2,265 individuals.
Labor
The vast majority of Mexican laborers in Montana working in agriculture, ranching, maintenance, and construction are men. Since the Great Recession, a significant number of Mexican women have engaged the low-wage service industry. Women clean private homes and hotel rooms as well as work in fast food kitchens. In 2014, the purchasing power of Latinos in Montana totaled $727 million, which is an increase of 775 percent since 1990. As mentioned above, while agriculture still plays a prominent role in attracting Mexican migrant labor, dairy, tourism, and the second-home market are increasingly appealing to Mexican immigrants.
LINKS TO CULTURE