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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A "mermaid" at the Sip 'n Dip

The Sip 'n Dip Lounge is a tiki bar in Great Falls, Montana, US, opened in 1962, when Polynesian themes were popular. It has survived to the present day with its tiki theme intact. Located inside a local motel that was considered modern and trendy at the time it was built, the Sip 'n Dip is known for having people dressed as mermaids swimming underwater in an indoor swimming pool visible through a window in the bar. Decorated with a bamboo ceiling and a South Seas theme, the bar featured "Piano Pat" Spoonheim, noted for her unique "jazzy" style, who played piano there from 1963 until her death in May 2021.

The mermaid concept was introduced in 1995 when there was a revival of the tiki fad and was the brainchild of the bar's current owner who wanted to add a "fun factor". It became popular, particularly for Montana, a landlocked northern state where a tropical tiki theme is unexpected. Beginning in 2003, the bar began to gain prominence outside Montana, when the magazine GQ listed the lounge in its list of the top ten bars in the world, ranking it as the "#1 bar...worth flying for". The bar usually employs six women, who wear mermaid outfits designed and hand-made by the bar's manager, Sandra Johnson-Thares. Mermen were brought back in 2016, having previously appeared on occasion from the late 1990s to 2004. (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 1Montana ranks 2nd nationally in craft breweries per capita. (from Montana)
Image 2Mennonite family in Montana, c. 1937 (from Montana)
Image 3Pretty Nose at Fort Keogh, 1879 (from History of Montana)
Image 4Temperature and precipitation for Montana's capital city, Helena (from Montana)
Image 5Map of domestic flights available from the largest airport in Montana (Click to enlarge) (from Transportation in Montana)
Image 6The Big Sky Resort (from Montana)
Image 7Jeannette Rankin, August 1916 (from History of Montana)
Image 8Pompeys Pillar National Monument (from Montana)
Image 9Missoula, the second-largest city in Montana (from Montana)
Image 10Treemap 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 11Mountain Line buses queue to pick up passengers in Missoula. (from Transportation in Montana)
Image 12Relief map of Montana (from Montana)
Image 13Chief Joseph and Col. John Gibbon met again on the Big Hole Battlefield site in 1889. (from Montana)
Image 14Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site, Deer Lodge, MT, date unknown (from History of Montana)
Image 15Lone Mountain at Big Sky Ski Resort (from Montana)
Image 16Stump Horn and family (Northern Cheyenne); showing home and horse-drawn travois. (from History of Montana)
Image 17An Airbus A319 waits at Billings Logan International Airport. (from Transportation in Montana)
Image 18Click to enlarge detailed map (from Transportation in Montana)
Image 19Ethnic origins 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 21Köppen climate types of Montana, using 1991-2020 climate normals (from Montana)
Image 22Montana population density map (from Montana)
Image 23First Interstate Center, in downtown Billings, is the tallest building in Montana. (from Montana)
Image 24Quake Lake was created by a landslide during the 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake. (from Montana)
Image 25Joseph M. Dixon, Congressman (1903–1913) and Governor of Montana (1921–1925) (from History of Montana)
Image 26Early tribal treaty territories in Montana (from History of Montana)
Image 27Guided snowmobile tours in Yellowstone Park (from Montana)
Image 28Missouri Breaks region in central Montana (from Montana)
Image 29The Empire Builder in Essex (from Transportation in Montana)
Image 30Clark Fork River, Missoula, in autumn (from Montana)
Image 31The Scout in Winter, Crow, 1908 by Edward S. Curtis (from History of Montana)
Image 32100 pound native Montana wolf taken in 1928 (from Montana)
Image 33Mining headframes in Butte, MT (from History of Montana)
Image 34Map of Williston Basin oil fields with reservoirs in Bakken Formation (from History of Montana)
Image 35Saint Mary Lake in Glacier National Park (from Montana)
Image 36From Frank Bond, "Louisiana" and the Louisiana Purchase.
Government Printing Office, 1912 Map No. 4. (from History of Montana)
Image 37Montana Rail Link freight haulage in 2005 (from Transportation in Montana)
Image 38Main Street in Red Lodge, 2000, showing iron facades on buildings (from History of Montana)
Image 39The Palisades area on the north end of the ski area at Red Lodge Mountain Resort (from Montana)
Image 40Montana Territory in 1865 (from Montana)
Image 41Assiniboine family, Montana, 1890–91 (from Montana)
Image 42General locations of Indian reservations in Montana (from Montana)
Image 43U.S. Route 93 in Montana (from Transportation in Montana)
Image 44Yellowstone Airport, West Yellowstone, Montana (from Montana)
Image 45Map of Montana (from Montana)
Image 46Swedish gold panners in 1860s Montana. The Montana gold rush began in 1862. (from History of Montana)
Image 47Early Indian treaty territories in Montana (from Montana)
Image 48Buffalo Soldiers, Ft. Keogh, Montana, 1890. The nickname was given to the "Black Cavalry" by the Native American tribes they fought. (from Montana)
Image 49Dancers at Crow Fair in 1941 (from Montana)
Image 50Population of Montana 1870–2018 (from Montana)
Image 51Montana State Bobcats football at Bobcat Stadium (Montana State University), Bozeman (from Montana)
Image 52Chief Joseph (from History of Montana)

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... 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 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 the Acoustic Atlas at Montana State University Library helped to create a public domain archive of sounds from Yellowstone National Park?
... 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?

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