Madison County, Montana Territory, was first created in the Territory of Idaho on January 16, 1864. Local government was organized on April 22, 1864 went the commissioners took the oath of office and began work. Montana Territory was admitted to the Union on May 26, 1864 and Madison County became officially recognized as part of the new jurisdiction on February 2, 1865. Although formal government operations came long after the discovery of gold in the Alder Gulch area first led to a massive influx of prospectors, the need to establish the legal rights of those who sought to stake claims was immediate. Claim books, administered by representatives of the first miners themselves, recorded the first holdings of prospectors and later became part of the county records.
From the guide to the Madison County Commissioners Records, 1863-1875, (Montana State University-Bozeman Library, Merrill G Burlingame Special Collections)
