Rural Shepherds Network

Frontier History Minute

As Broadcast on YNOP - Your Network of Praise

Serving Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, North Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado & Utah

The six episodes in this section are focused on the life

of Learner & Melinda Stateler. Their ministry took place in present day Colorado and Wyoming, leading up to their long fruitful ministry in Montana. Rev. Learner Blackman Stateler served as a Circuit Rider for over 60 years! Mr. & Mrs. Stateler arrived in the new Montana Territory just 6 weeks

after it was established by Abraham Lincoln.

Constant Territorial Changes Happening!

Special Note on Statehood: Colorado 8/1/1876 North & South Dakota 11/2/1889 Montana 11/8/1889 Washington 11/11/1889

Idaho 7/3/1890 Wyoming 7/10/1890 Utah 1/4/1896 New Mexico 1/6/1912

Developing Map - 1850s

September 9, 1850 - New Mexico Territory
September 9, 1852 - Utah Territory
March 2, 1853 - Washington Territory
May 30, 1854 - Nebraska Territory
May 30, 1854 - Kansas Territory
Developing Map - Early 1860s

January 29, 1861 - State of Kansas
February 28, 1861 - Colorado Territory
March 2, 1861 - Dakota Territory
March 2, 1861 - Nevada Territory
Changes to Map - by 1864

February 24, 1863 - Arizona Territory
March 4, 1863 - Idaho Territory
May 26, 1864 - Montana Territory
October 31, 1864 - State of Nevada

Later in the 1860s

March 1, 1867 - State of Nebraska
July 25, 1868 - Wyoming Territory

Down the Trail, Hot or Cold, Wind, Rain or Snow...

Historical Reference Books Used for Research

- Life of Rev. L.B. Stateler or Sixty-Five Years on the Frontier, by Rev. E.J. Stanley

Publishing House of the M.E. Church, South 1907

- Montana 1864: Indians, Emigrants and Gold in the Territorial Year, by Ken Egan Jr.