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, but 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 from France 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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Plews in 1959

Herbert Eugene Plews (June 14, 1928 – December 12, 2014) was an American Major League Baseball second baseman. He played four years in the majors, from 1956 to 1959 with the Washington Senators and in 1959 for the Boston Red Sox. In the minor leagues he played for Kansas City, Binghamton, Norfolk, and Denver before reaching the majors in 1956, and Toronto, Birmingham, Hawaii, Tacoma, and Arkansas after his major league career ended. During his playing career he served in the military from 1951 to 1952, during the Korean War. Plews batted left-handed and threw right-handed; he was listed as 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) tall and 160 pounds (73 kg).

Born in East Helena, Montana, Plews would be (at the time of his death) the only player from the Helena area to reach the major leagues. After four years at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, he signed with the New York Yankees in 1950. Plews's time in the minor leagues was interrupted by his military service, but he had made it to the Denver Bears (the top affiliate of the Yankees' system) by 1955. After the season, though, he was sent to the Senators in a multi-player trade. Plews debuted with Washington in 1956 and started at second base for them over much of the next three years. Mostly a part-time player in 1959, he was traded to the Red Sox in July, appearing in just 13 more games before being sent to the minors. He played six more years of professional baseball before retiring at the end of 1965. After his baseball career, Plews worked in cement plants, first in Montana and then in the Denver area. He died in 2014. (Full article...)

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Billings and Surrounding Area

Billings is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Metropolitan Area, which had a population of 184,167 in the 2020 census. With one of the largest trade areas in the United States, Billings is the trade and distribution center for much of Montana east of the Continental Divide. Billings is also the largest retail destination for much of the same area. The Billings Chamber of Commerce claims the area of commerce covers more than 125,000 square miles (320,000 km²). In 2009, it was estimated to serve over 500,000 people.

Billings was nicknamed the "Magic City" because of its rapid growth from its founding as a railroad town in March 1882. The nearby Crow and Cheyenne peoples called the city Ammalapáshkuua and É'êxováhtóva respectively, meaning 'where they cut wood', named as such because of a sawmill built in the area by early white settlers. The city has experienced rapid growth and maintains a strong economy. From 1969 to 2021, the Billings area population growth was 89%, compared to Montana's overall increase of 59%. Parts of the metro area are seeing hyper growth. From 2000 to 2010 Lockwood, an eastern suburb, saw growth of 57.8%, the largest growth rate of any community in Montana. In 2020, the area experienced its highest growth rate in a decade with a 2.3% increase. Billings avoided the economic downturn that affected most of the nation from 2008 to 2012 as well as the housing bust. With more hotel accommodations than any area within a five-state region, the city hosts a variety of conventions, concerts, sporting events, and other rallies. With the nearby Bakken oil development, the largest oil discovery in U.S. history, as well as the Heath Shale oil discovery north of Billings, the city's growth rate stayed high during the shale oil boom. (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)

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 3The Empire Builder in Essex (from Transportation in Montana)
Image 4Mountain Line buses queue to pick up passengers in Missoula. (from Transportation in Montana)
Image 5Population of Montana 1870–2018 (from Montana)
Image 6Clark Fork River, Missoula, in autumn (from Montana)
Image 7Dancers at Crow Fair in 1941 (from Montana)
Image 8Montana population density map (from Montana)
Image 9Missoula, the second-largest city in Montana (from Montana)
Image 10Köppen climate types of Montana, using 1991-2020 climate normals (from Montana)
Image 11An Airbus A319 waits at Billings Logan International Airport. (from Transportation in Montana)
Image 12The Big Sky Resort (from Montana)
Image 13Stump Horn and family (Northern Cheyenne); showing home and horse-drawn travois. (from History of Montana)
Image 14Missouri Breaks region in central Montana (from Montana)
Image 15Early tribal treaty territories in Montana (from History of Montana)
Image 16Pretty Nose at Fort Keogh, 1879 (from History of Montana)
Image 17The Scout in Winter, Crow, 1908 by Edward S. Curtis (from History of Montana)
Image 18Chief Joseph and Col. John Gibbon met again on the Big Hole Battlefield site in 1889. (from Montana)
Image 19General locations of Indian reservations in Montana (from Montana)
Image 20From Frank Bond, "Louisiana" and the Louisiana Purchase.
Government Printing Office, 1912 Map No. 4. (from History of Montana)
Image 21Early Indian treaty territories in Montana (from Montana)
Image 22The Palisades area on the north end of the ski area at Red Lodge Mountain Resort (from Montana)
Image 23Jeannette Rankin, August 1916 (from History of Montana)
Image 24Click to enlarge detailed map (from Transportation in 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 26Relief map of Montana (from Montana)
Image 27Joseph M. Dixon, Congressman (1903–1913) and Governor of Montana (1921–1925) (from History of Montana)
Image 28U.S. Route 93 in Montana (from Transportation in Montana)
Image 29Lone Mountain at Big Sky Ski Resort (from Montana)
Image 30Montana State Bobcats football at Bobcat Stadium (Montana State University), Bozeman (from Montana)
Image 31Montana Rail Link freight haulage in 2005 (from Transportation in Montana)
Image 32Map of domestic flights available from the largest airport in Montana (Click to enlarge) (from Transportation in Montana)
Image 33Swedish gold panners in 1860s Montana. The Montana gold rush began in 1862. (from History of Montana)
Image 34Guided snowmobile tours in Yellowstone Park (from Montana)
Image 35Treemap 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 36100 pound native Montana wolf taken in 1928 (from Montana)
Image 37Montana Territory in 1865 (from Montana)
Image 38Pompeys Pillar National Monument (from Montana)
Image 39Chief Joseph (from History of Montana)
Image 40Main Street in Red Lodge, 2000, showing iron facades on buildings (from History of Montana)
Image 41Quake Lake was created by a landslide during the 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake. (from Montana)
Image 42Yellowstone Airport, West Yellowstone, Montana (from Montana)
Image 43First Interstate Center, in downtown Billings, is the tallest building in Montana. (from Montana)
Image 44Map of Williston Basin oil fields with reservoirs in Bakken Formation (from History of Montana)
Image 45Temperature and precipitation for Montana's capital city, Helena (from Montana)
Image 46Saint Mary Lake in Glacier National Park (from Montana)
Image 47Ethnic origins in Montana (from Montana)
Image 48Assiniboine family, Montana, 1890–91 (from Montana)
Image 49Map of Montana (from Montana)
Image 50Mining headframes in Butte, MT (from History of Montana)
Image 51Mennonite family in Montana, c. 1937 (from Montana)
Image 52Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site, Deer Lodge, MT, date unknown (from History of 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 campaign literature in the 1894 Montana capital referendum accused Helena residents of copious Manhattan consumption?
... 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 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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