Portal:Montana

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The Montana Portal

East face of the Crazy Mountains in the northern Rocky Mountains of Montana (2015)

Montana (/mɒnˈtænə/ ^ⓘ mon-TAN-ə) is a landlocked state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It borders Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan to the north. It is the fourth-largest state by area, the eighth-least populous state, and the third-least densely populated state. Its capital is Helena, while the most populous city is Billings. The western half of the state contains numerous mountain ranges, while the eastern half is characterized by western prairie terrain and badlands, with smaller mountain ranges found throughout the state.

Most of Montana first came under American sovereignty with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and was explored by the Lewis and Clark Expedition shortly thereafter. Fur trappers followed and were the main economic activity in the area until gold was discovered in 1852. The ensuing gold rush, along with the passage of the Homestead Acts in 1862, brought large numbers of American settlers to Montana. Rapid population growth and development culminated in statehood on November 8, 1889. Mining, particularly around Butte and Helena, would remain the state's main economic engine through the mid-20th century.

Montana has no official nickname but several unofficial ones, most notably "Big Sky Country", "The Treasure State", "Land of the Shining Mountains", and "The Last Best Place". Its economy is primarily based on agriculture, including ranching and cereal grain farming. Other significant economic resources include oil, gas, coal, mining, and lumber. The health care, service, defense, and government sectors are also significant to the state's economy. Montana's fastest-growing sector is tourism, with 12.6 million tourists (as of 2019) visiting the state each year. (Full article...)

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Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.

Missoula (/mɪˈzuːlə/ ^ⓘ mih-ZOO-lə; Séliš: Nłʔay, lit. 'Place of the Small Bull Trout'; Kutenai: Tuhuⱡnana) is a city in and the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, United States. It is located along the Clark Fork River near its confluence with the Bitterroot and Blackfoot Rivers in western Montana and at the convergence of five mountain ranges, thus it is often described as the "hub of five valleys". The 2020 United States Census shows the city's population at 73,489 and the population of the Missoula Metropolitan Area at 117,922. Missoula is the 2nd largest city and metropolitan area in Montana. Missoula is home to the University of Montana, a public research university.

The Missoula area began seeing settlement by people of European descent in 1858 including William T. Hamilton, who set up a trading post along the Rattlesnake Creek, Captain Richard Grant, who settled near Grant Creek, and David Pattee, who settled near Pattee Canyon. Missoula was founded in 1860 as Hellgate Trading Post while still part of Washington Territory. By 1866, the settlement had moved east, 5 miles (8 km) upstream, and had been renamed Missoula Mills, later shortened to Missoula. The mills provided supplies to western settlers traveling along the Mullan Road. The establishment of Fort Missoula in 1877 to protect settlers further stabilized the economy. The arrival of the Northern Pacific Railway in 1883 brought rapid growth and the maturation of the local lumber industry. In 1893, the Montana Legislature chose Missoula as the site for the state's first university. Along with the U.S. Forest Service headquarters founded in 1908, lumber and the university remained the basis of the local economy for the next 100 years. (Full article...)

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Aerial view of Bozeman

Bozeman (/ˈboʊzmən/ BOHZ-mən) is a city and the county seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States. Located in southwest Montana, the 2020 census put Bozeman's population at 53,293 making it the fourth-largest city in Montana. It is the principal city of the Bozeman, Montana, Micropolitan Statistical Area, consisting of all of Gallatin County with a population of 118,960. It is the fastest growing micropolitan statistical area in the United States in 2018, 2019 and 2020, as well as the second-largest of all Montana's statistical areas. (Full article...)

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The following are images from various Montana-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Guided snowmobile tours in Yellowstone Park (from Montana)
Image 2Stump Horn and family (Northern Cheyenne); showing home and horse-drawn travois. (from History of Montana)
Image 3Chief Joseph and Col. John Gibbon met again on the Big Hole Battlefield site in 1889. (from Montana)
Image 4Clark Fork River, Missoula, in autumn (from Montana)
Image 5Early Indian treaty territories in Montana (from Montana)
Image 6Jeannette Rankin, August 1916 (from History of Montana)
Image 7Montana ranks 2nd nationally in craft breweries per capita. (from Montana)
Image 8Map of Williston Basin oil fields with reservoirs in Bakken Formation (from History of Montana)
Image 9Montana Territory in 1865 (from Montana)
Image 10Yellowstone Airport, West Yellowstone, Montana (from Montana)
Image 11Relief map of Montana (from Montana)
Image 12Map of domestic flights available from the largest airport in Montana (Click to enlarge) (from Transportation in Montana)
Image 13Population of Montana 1870–2018 (from Montana)
Image 14Map of Montana (from Montana)
Image 15The Scout in Winter, Crow, 1908 by Edward S. Curtis (from History of Montana)
Image 16General locations of Indian reservations in Montana (from Montana)
Image 17The Empire Builder in Essex (from Transportation in Montana)
Image 18Montana State Bobcats football at Bobcat Stadium (Montana State University), Bozeman (from Montana)
Image 19Pompeys Pillar National Monument (from Montana)
Image 20Saint Mary Lake in Glacier National Park (from Montana)
Image 21Ethnic origins in Montana (from Montana)
Image 22Montana population density map (from Montana)
Image 23Early tribal treaty territories in Montana (from History of Montana)
Image 24First Interstate Center, in downtown Billings, is the tallest building in Montana. (from Montana)
Image 25Dancers at Crow Fair in 1941 (from Montana)
Image 26The Big Sky Resort (from Montana)
Image 27Chief Joseph (from History of Montana)
Image 28Mountain Line buses queue to pick up passengers in Missoula. (from Transportation in Montana)
Image 29Temperature and precipitation for Montana's capital city, Helena (from Montana)
Image 30The Palisades area on the north end of the ski area at Red Lodge Mountain Resort (from Montana)
Image 31Lone Mountain at Big Sky Ski Resort (from Montana)
Image 32An Airbus A319 waits at Billings Logan International Airport. (from Transportation in Montana)
Image 33100 pound native Montana wolf taken in 1928 (from Montana)
Image 34Buffalo Soldiers, Ft. Keogh, Montana, 1890. The nickname was given to the "Black Cavalry" by the Native American tribes they fought. (from Montana)

Map of counties in Montana by racial plurality, per the 2020 U.S. census

Legend

Non-Hispanic White

50–60%

60–70%

70–80%

80–90%

90%+

Native American

50–60%

60–70%

70–80%

(from Montana)

Image 36Quake Lake was created by a landslide during the 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake. (from Montana)
Image 37Joseph M. Dixon, Congressman (1903–1913) and Governor of Montana (1921–1925) (from History of Montana)
Image 38Missoula, the second-largest city in Montana (from Montana)
Image 39Click to enlarge detailed map (from Transportation in Montana)
Image 40Main Street in Red Lodge, 2000, showing iron facades on buildings (from History of Montana)
Image 41U.S. Route 93 in Montana (from Transportation in Montana)
Image 42Pretty Nose at Fort Keogh, 1879 (from History of Montana)
Image 43Mennonite family in Montana, c. 1937 (from Montana)
Image 44Mining headframes in Butte, MT (from History of Montana)
Image 45Missouri Breaks region in central Montana (from Montana)
Image 46Swedish gold panners in 1860s Montana. The Montana gold rush began in 1862. (from History of Montana)
Image 47Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site, Deer Lodge, MT, date unknown (from History of Montana)
Image 48From Frank Bond, "Louisiana" and the Louisiana Purchase.
Government Printing Office, 1912 Map No. 4. (from History of Montana)
Image 49Assiniboine family, Montana, 1890–91 (from Montana)
Image 50Treemap of the popular vote by county, 2016 presidential election. Areas are in proportion to the number of votes cast in each county. (from Montana)
Image 51Montana Rail Link freight haulage in 2005 (from Transportation in Montana)
Image 52Köppen climate types of Montana, using 1991-2020 climate normals (from Montana)

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... that a "North Dakota joke of the mornin'" was a feature on Montana radio station KGRZ because the station's owner and morning show host hailed from that state?
... that Kane Ioane finished his playing career at Montana State as the Big Sky Conference's all-time tackles leader?
... that Absaroka was a proposed U.S. state that would have included parts of Wyoming, South Dakota, and Montana?
... that the owner of a Montana TV station changed the name of his company because he was asked why his license plate read "SUNBELT"?
... that 16 Montana youths are plaintiffs in the lawsuit Held v. Montana, the first constitutional climate change lawsuit to go to trial in the United States?
... that Montana television station KOPR-TV brought forward its start date by several months, only to last just one year?

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