MONTANA FUN FACTS & TRIVIA
For those of you who have wondered about such things!
The Ponderosa Pine is the official Montana State Tree
The State Flower is the Bitterroot
The State Bird is the Western Meadowlark
The State Animal is the Grizzly Bear
Montana has more cows than people. There are 3 cows for every person in the state.
"Montana" comes from the Spanish word meaning "mountain".
Montana is the nations fourth-largest state with a land area of more than 147,000 square miles. But with less than a million people, its the country's sixth least-populated state.
Montana is home to the largest fresh water spring (Giant Spring's) in the United States.
Montana has the largest migratory elk herd in the nation.
People with Montana roots include daredevil Evel Knievel, actor Gary Cooper, author Norman Maclean, director David Lynch and Myrna Loy.
The State Butterfly is the Mourning Cloak.
The State Fish is Cutthroat Trout.
The State Gemstones are Agate and Sapphire.
Montana holds the world record for the greatest temperature change in 24 hours. On January 14-15 1972, the temperatures went from -54F to 49F, a whopping 103 degrees in Loma!
The average square mile of land contains 1.4 elk, 1.4 pronghorn antelope, and 3.3 deer.
46 of Montana's 56 counties are considered "frontier counties", with an average population of 6 or fewer people per square mile.
The Continental Divide runs along the crests of the Rocky Mountains from Canada to Mexico, literally dividing the waters of the North American Continent. Montana is known as the headwaters state because much of the water which flows to the rest of the nation comes from the mountains of Montana.
The Battle of the Little Bighorn also known as Custer's Last Stand took place on June 25, 1876. Lieutenant Colonel Custer's forces—including more than 200 of his men were wiped out in less than 20 minutes.
Montana has the largest Grizzly Bear population in the lower 48 states.
Montana is nicknamed the treasure state.
Yellowstone National Park in Southern Montana and Northern Wyoming is the first National Park in the nation.
The most visited place in Montana is Glacier National Park, known as the crown jewel of the continent. It lies along Montana's northern border and adjoins Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada, forming the world's first International Peace Park.
Montana's first territorial capital, Bannack, has been preserved as a ghost town state park along once gold-laden Grasshopper Creek. This old town is also said to be haunted by several ghostly spirits.
The first inhabitants of Montana were the Plains Indians.
Montana is home to seven Indian reservations.
The moose, now numbering over 8,000 in Montana, was thought to be extinct in the Rockies south of Canada in the 1900s.
In 1888 Helena had more millionaires per capita than any other city in the world.
Some strange laws:
In Helena, Montana it is illegal to throw an item across the street.
It is a felony for a wife to open her husband's mail.
It is illiegal for a married woman to go fishing alone on Sunday's, and illegal for an unmarried woman to fish alone at all.
It is illegal to have a sheep in the cab of your truck without a chaperone
In Salisbury, Montana it is illegal to throw pop bottles on the ground.
In Whitehall, Montana it is illegal to operate a vehicle with ice picks attached to the wheels.
