This session is part of the Montana History Conference. Due to Chinese cultural traditions that discouraged women from migrating combined with American legal obstacles that excluded Chinese women from entering the nation, Chinese communities in Montana had a severe gender imbalance. The scarcity of women made family formation difficult. The few Chinese women in the region suffered negative stereotypes and assumptions about their character from non-Chinese Montanans and experienced confinement and oppression within patriarchal Chinese cultural traditions. Despite these obstacles, several extraordinary Chinese women emerge in the documentary record, exhibiting perseverance and a strength of spirit that helped them carve out influential roles in Montana’s Chinese communities and beyond.