Sept. 2 – On this day in Montana history in 1911 Montana’s congressional delegation sent word back to the state that the federal government had decided to restore a large amount of land near Cut Bank back to public domain making it available for homesteading. The lands were taken off public domain when a small irrigation project was created. The subsequent uproar and economic logjam nearly killed the town local officials complained. “But for our railroad payroll we would have had the deadest town in all Montana,” a Cut Bank  official said.