Table of Contents

Montana

Native Americans

Montana has around 70,000 Native People and eight Native Nations.1)

4th Largest State

Montana is the fourth biggest state in the United States, behind Alaska, Texas, and California. Despite its size, it has the third lowest population density of any state.2)

Treasure State

Many of the frontiersmen who settled Montana were gold prospectors. The land's mineral wealth gave it the moniker “Treasure State”.3)

Wildlife

Several enormous species call Montana home: grizzly bears, moose, bighorn sheep, and bison, to mention a few.4)

Public Land

Approximately 30% of Montana has public land, the 12th largest percentage among the US states.5)

Helena

Helena, Montana's capital city, began as a mining town in 1864, when four miners struck gold in “Last Chance Gultch”.6)

Crown Of The Continent

Glacier National Park in Montana, known as the “Crown of the Continent”, has some of the most beautiful panoramas in North America and over 700 miles of hiking trails.7)

Buffalo Soldiers

From 1888 to 1898, the “Buffalo Soldiers” were a group of African American soldiers who helped protect Montana settlements from Native American attacks.8)

Battle of the Little Bighorn

The renowned “Battle of the Little Bighorn” took place in Montana Territory in 1876. The conflict was between US government forces and a group of Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne Native People.9)

25th Infantry Bicycle Corps

Black Montanan troops organized the 25th Army Bicycle Corps in the 1890s to test the practicality of bike-mounted warriors.10)

A.B. Guthrie

A.B. Guthrie remarked on the majesty of the Montana sky in a letter to his son. In his novel of the same name, A.B. Guthrie Jr. established one of the state's nicknames, “Big Sky Country”.11)

First Woman In US Congress

Jeannette Rankin of Missoula, Montana, was the first woman elected to the United States Congress in 1916.12)

Gallatin River

Montana's Gallatin River is the setting of the iconic fly-fishing scene in the movie A River Runs Through It.13)

Triple Divide

Montana is the only state in the United States that has a “triple divide” where three drainage basins intersect. Montana's water goes to the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, as well as the Hudson Bay.14)

Custer's Last Stand

The Battle of the Little Bighorn is also known as “Custer's Last Stand,” since the defeat infuriated white Americans, leading to increased bloodshed against native tribes and the eventual incarceration of many native peoples on reservations.15)

George Armstrong Custer

Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer led the US forces at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, while Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull led the Native American warriors.16)

Plains Indians War

The native tribes' triumph over US forces was the biggest single victory by Native Americans in the Plains Indians War.17)

State Motto

Montana's state motto is “Oro y Plata,” which translates as “Gold and Silver,” and refers to the state's prospecting days.18)

Largest Snowflake

Montana has the biggest recorded snowfall, measuring 15 inches in diameter.19)

Animal Species

Montana has the most native mammal animal species of any state in the United States.20)

Tyrannosaurus Rex

The “Tufts-Love Rex”, one of just 15 entire Tyrannosaurus Rex bones ever discovered, was discovered in Hell's Creek, Montana, in 2016.21)

State Animal

The grizzly bear is the state animal of Montana.22)

State Bird

The western meadowlark is its state bird.23)

State Fish

The blackspotted cutthroat trout is the state fish.24)

Yogo Sapphires

Montana Yogo sapphires are very uncommon gemstones found in the state's Yogo Gulch. In the late 1800s, they were discovered by chance by a gold prospector named Jake Hoover.25)

41st State

Montana became the 41st state of the United States in 1889.26)

Vigilante Groups

Early Montana Territory settlers frequently established vigilante organizations to deal with horse and livestock thefts.27)

Heart Monitor

Norman Montanans In 1962, Jeff Holter and Bruce Del Mar devised the cardiac monitor.28)