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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The Mission Mountain Wood Band, abbreviated M2WB, is an American bluegrass and country rock band formed in Missoula, Montana, US in 1971. They were noted for their vocal harmonies, multi-instrumental talent, and charismatic stage presence, particularly at Woodstock style regional concerts of the era such as the University of Montana's Aber Day Kegger. They spent time in New York City to further build their career, appeared on national television and toured 47 of the lower 48 states in a unique 1955 Greyhound Scenicruiser, performing up to 320 times a year both solo and as an opening act for other bands. The original five members were Rob Quist, Steve Riddle, Christian Johnson, Greg Reichenberg, and the late Terry Robinson, all of whom were UM students and born in Montana. Johnson was replaced with Kurt Bergeron after the band released their first album, In Without Knocking, in 1977. The band recorded two studio albums in their heyday, a third album after the band revamped as ‘’Montana’’, released a compilation of their older work in 2005, and put out two albums with new content in 2011 and 2014.

Personnel changes resulting from the departure of several original band members resulted in Quist, Robinson, Reichenberg, and Bergeron reforming the group as The Montana Band in 1981. They had some national success and, described as "well-adapted to today's modern country sound," were being favorably compared to major groups of the time such as Alabama and the Oak Ridge Boys. After the departure of Quist, Terry Robinson was the only remaining original band member when a plane crash killed all then-members of The Montana Band in 1987. (Full article...)

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Montana State University (MSU) is a public land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana. It enrolls more students than any other college or university in the state. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's degrees in 68 fields, and doctoral degrees in 35 fields through its nine colleges. More than 16,700 students attended MSU in the fall 2019, taught by 796 full-time and 547 part-time faculty. In the Carnegie Classification, MSU is placed among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity", one of only two universities to receive this distinction with a "very high undergraduate" enrollment profile. The university had research expenditures of $129.6 million in 2017.

Located on the south side of Bozeman, the university's 1,170 acres (470 ha) campus is the largest in the state. The university's main campus in Bozeman is home to KUSM television, KGLT radio, and the Museum of the Rockies. MSU provides outreach services to citizens and communities statewide through its agricultural experiment station and 60 county and reservation extension offices. The elevation of the campus is 4,900 feet (1,500 m) above sea level. (Full article...)

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

Image 1Köppen climate types of Montana, using 1991-2020 climate normals (from Montana)
Image 2An Airbus A319 waits at Billings Logan International Airport. (from Transportation in Montana)
Image 3Ethnic origins in Montana (from Montana)
Image 4Dancers at Crow Fair in 1941 (from Montana)
Image 5Population of Montana 1870–2018 (from Montana)
Image 6Mountain Line buses queue to pick up passengers in Missoula. (from Transportation in Montana)
Image 7Main Street in Red Lodge, 2000, showing iron facades on buildings (from History of Montana)
Image 8The Scout in Winter, Crow, 1908 by Edward S. Curtis (from History of Montana)
Image 9Missoula, the second-largest city in Montana (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 11From Frank Bond, "Louisiana" and the Louisiana Purchase.
Government Printing Office, 1912 Map No. 4. (from History of Montana)
Image 12Guided snowmobile tours in Yellowstone Park (from Montana)
Image 13Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site, Deer Lodge, MT, date unknown (from History of Montana)
Image 14Lone Mountain at Big Sky Ski Resort (from Montana)
Image 15The Big Sky Resort (from Montana)
Image 16Chief Joseph (from History of Montana)
Image 17Montana State Bobcats football at Bobcat Stadium (Montana State University), Bozeman (from Montana)
Image 18U.S. Route 93 in Montana (from Transportation in Montana)
Image 19First Interstate Center, in downtown Billings, is the tallest building in Montana. (from Montana)
Image 20Early tribal treaty territories in Montana (from History of Montana)
Image 21Treemap 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 22Map of Montana (from Montana)
Image 23Pompeys Pillar National Monument (from Montana)
Image 24Mennonite family in Montana, c. 1937 (from Montana)
Image 25Buffalo Soldiers, Ft. Keogh, Montana, 1890. The nickname was given to the "Black Cavalry" by the Native American tribes they fought. (from Montana)
Image 26The Palisades area on the north end of the ski area at Red Lodge Mountain Resort (from Montana)
Image 27Early Indian treaty territories in Montana (from Montana)
Image 28Quake Lake was created by a landslide during the 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake. (from Montana)
Image 29The Empire Builder in Essex (from Transportation in Montana)
Image 30Relief map of Montana (from Montana)
Image 31Map of domestic flights available from the largest airport in Montana (Click to enlarge) (from Transportation in Montana)
Image 32General locations of Indian reservations in Montana (from Montana)
Image 33Yellowstone Airport, West Yellowstone, Montana (from Montana)
Image 34Montana ranks 2nd nationally in craft breweries per capita. (from Montana)
Image 35Map of Williston Basin oil fields with reservoirs in Bakken Formation (from History of Montana)
Image 36Pretty Nose at Fort Keogh, 1879 (from History of Montana)
Image 37Montana population density map (from Montana)
Image 38Stump Horn and family (Northern Cheyenne); showing home and horse-drawn travois. (from History of Montana)
Image 39100 pound native Montana wolf taken in 1928 (from Montana)
Image 40Click to enlarge detailed map (from Transportation in Montana)
Image 41Mining headframes in Butte, MT (from History of Montana)
Image 42Chief Joseph and Col. John Gibbon met again on the Big Hole Battlefield site in 1889. (from Montana)
Image 43Assiniboine family, Montana, 1890–91 (from Montana)
Image 44Missouri Breaks region in central Montana (from Montana)
Image 45Saint Mary Lake in Glacier National Park (from Montana)
Image 46Montana Rail Link freight haulage in 2005 (from Transportation in Montana)
Image 47Swedish gold panners in 1860s Montana. The Montana gold rush began in 1862. (from History of Montana)
Image 48Temperature and precipitation for Montana's capital city, Helena (from Montana)
Image 49Clark Fork River, Missoula, in autumn (from Montana)
Image 50Joseph M. Dixon, Congressman (1903–1913) and Governor of Montana (1921–1925) (from History of Montana)
Image 51Jeannette Rankin, August 1916 (from History of Montana)
Image 52Montana Territory in 1865 (from Montana)

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... 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 campaign literature in the 1894 Montana capital referendum accused Helena residents of copious Manhattan consumption?
... that Absaroka was a proposed U.S. state that would have included parts of Wyoming, South Dakota, and Montana?
... that one owner of Montana radio station KXGF went from owning a stake in a waterbed dealership to liquidating his assets in a span of six months?
... that Montana television station KOPR-TV brought forward its start date by several months, only to last just one year?
... that the Acoustic Atlas at Montana State University Library helped to create a public domain archive of sounds from Yellowstone National Park?

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