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                               [KPMG LETTERHEAD}

                                                                    EXHIBIT 23.1



                          Independent Auditors' Consent




The Board of Directors
First Interstate BancSystem, Inc.:

We consent to incorporation by reference in the registration statements (No.
333-53011 and No. 333-76825) on Form S-8 of First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. of
our report dated February 6, 1998, relating to the consolidated balance sheets
of First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. and subsidiaries as of December 31, 1997
and 1996, and the related consolidated statements of income, stockholders'
equity, and cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended
December 31, 1997, which report appears in the December 31, 1997 annual report
on Form 10-K of First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. Our report, dated February 6,
1998, except for note 21 which is as of January 26, 2001, contains an
explanatory paragraph indicating that First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. has
restated its 1997 consolidated financial statements to account for its stock
option plan as a variable plan under APB Opinion 25, "Accounting for Stock
Issued to Employees".


/s/ KPMG LLP


Billings, Montana
May 4, 2001