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.

Mountain goat, official park symbol, above Hidden Lake, with Dragons Tail in the distance

Glacier National Park is an American national park located in northwestern Montana, on the Canada–United States border, adjacent to Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada—the two parks are known as the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. The park encompasses more than 1 million acres (4,000 km²) and includes parts of two mountain ranges (sub-ranges of the Rocky Mountains), more than 130 named lakes, more than 1,000 different species of plants, and hundreds of species of animals. This vast pristine ecosystem is the centerpiece of what has been referred to as the "Crown of the Continent Ecosystem," a region of protected land encompassing 16,000 sq mi (41,000 km²).

The region that became Glacier National Park was first inhabited by Native Americans. Upon the arrival of European explorers, it was dominated by the Blackfeet in the east and the Flathead in the western regions. Under pressure, the Blackfeet ceded the mountainous parts of their treaty lands in 1895 to the federal government; it later became part of the park. Soon after the establishment of the park on May 11, 1910, a number of hotels and chalets were constructed by the Great Northern Railway. These historic hotels and chalets are listed as National Historic Landmarks and a total of 350 locations are on the National Register of Historic Places. By 1932 work was completed on the Going-to-the-Sun Road, later designated a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, which provided motorists easier access to the heart of the park. (Full article...)

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Brian David Schweitzer (born September 4, 1955) is an American farmer and politician who served as the 23rd Governor of Montana from 2005 to 2013. Schweitzer served for a time as chair of the Western Governors Association as well as the Democratic Governors Association. He also served as President of the Council of State Governments. (Full article...)

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

Image 1Swedish gold panners in 1860s Montana. The Montana gold rush began in 1862. (from History of Montana)
Image 2Assiniboine family, Montana, 1890–91 (from Montana)
Image 3Main Street in Red Lodge, 2000, showing iron facades on buildings (from History of Montana)
Image 4Missouri Breaks region in central Montana (from Montana)
Image 5Temperature and precipitation for Montana's capital city, Helena (from Montana)
Image 6Mining headframes in Butte, MT (from History of Montana)
Image 7From Frank Bond, "Louisiana" and the Louisiana Purchase.
Government Printing Office, 1912 Map No. 4. (from History of Montana)
Image 8Pretty Nose at Fort Keogh, 1879 (from History of Montana)
Image 9Treemap 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 10Clark Fork River, Missoula, in autumn (from Montana)
Image 11Stump Horn and family (Northern Cheyenne); showing home and horse-drawn travois. (from History of Montana)
Image 12First Interstate Center, in downtown Billings, is the tallest building in Montana. (from Montana)
Image 13Joseph M. Dixon, Congressman (1903–1913) and Governor of Montana (1921–1925) (from History of Montana)
Image 14Map of Williston Basin oil fields with reservoirs in Bakken Formation (from History of Montana)
Image 15Lone Mountain at Big Sky Ski Resort (from Montana)
Image 16Map of domestic flights available from the largest airport in Montana (Click to enlarge) (from Transportation in Montana)
Image 17The Empire Builder in Essex (from Transportation in Montana)
Image 18Montana Territory in 1865 (from Montana)
Image 19Ethnic origins in Montana (from Montana)
Image 20100 pound native Montana wolf taken in 1928 (from Montana)
Image 21Map of Montana (from Montana)
Image 22Buffalo Soldiers, Ft. Keogh, Montana, 1890. The nickname was given to the "Black Cavalry" by the Native American tribes they fought. (from Montana)
Image 23The Big Sky Resort (from Montana)
Image 24Missoula, the second-largest city in Montana (from Montana)
Image 25Guided snowmobile tours in Yellowstone Park (from Montana)
Image 26Montana ranks 2nd nationally in craft breweries per capita. (from Montana)
Image 27The Palisades area on the north end of the ski area at Red Lodge Mountain Resort (from Montana)
Image 28Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site, Deer Lodge, MT, date unknown (from History of Montana)
Image 29Montana State Bobcats football at Bobcat Stadium (Montana State University), Bozeman (from Montana)
Image 30Dancers at Crow Fair in 1941 (from Montana)
Image 31Köppen climate types of Montana, using 1991-2020 climate normals (from Montana)
Image 32Quake Lake was created by a landslide during the 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake. (from Montana)
Image 33Montana population density map (from Montana)
Image 34Early tribal treaty territories in Montana (from History of Montana)
Image 35Mennonite family in Montana, c. 1937 (from Montana)
Image 36Yellowstone Airport, West Yellowstone, Montana (from Montana)
Image 37Mountain Line buses queue to pick up passengers in Missoula. (from Transportation in Montana)
Image 38Montana Rail Link freight haulage in 2005 (from Transportation in Montana)
Image 39General locations of Indian reservations in Montana (from Montana)
Image 40Relief map of Montana (from Montana)
Image 41Chief Joseph (from History of Montana)
Image 42Chief Joseph and Col. John Gibbon met again on the Big Hole Battlefield site in 1889. (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 44The Scout in Winter, Crow, 1908 by Edward S. Curtis (from History of Montana)
Image 45Jeannette Rankin, August 1916 (from History of Montana)
Image 46Population of Montana 1870–2018 (from Montana)
Image 47Early Indian treaty territories in Montana (from Montana)
Image 48Pompeys Pillar National Monument (from Montana)
Image 49An Airbus A319 waits at Billings Logan International Airport. (from Transportation in Montana)
Image 50U.S. Route 93 in Montana (from Transportation in Montana)
Image 51Click to enlarge detailed map (from Transportation in Montana)
Image 52Saint Mary Lake in Glacier National Park (from Montana)

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... that Absaroka was a proposed U.S. state that would have included parts of Wyoming, South Dakota, and Montana?
... 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 Montana television station KOPR-TV brought forward its start date by several months, only to last just one year?
... that campaign literature in the 1894 Montana capital referendum accused Helena residents of copious Manhattan consumption?
... 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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