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.

A 0.65-carat (0.130 g) cornflower blue Yogo sapphire

Yogo sapphires are blue sapphires, a colored variety of corundum, found in Montana, primarily in Yogo Gulch (part of the Little Belt Mountains) in Judith Basin County, Montana. Yogo sapphires are typically cornflower blue, a result of trace amounts of iron and titanium. They have high uniform clarity and maintain their brilliance under artificial light. Because Yogo sapphires occur within a vertically dipping resistive igneous dike, mining efforts have been sporadic and rarely profitable. It is estimated that at least 28 million carats (5.6 t or 5.5 long tons or 6.2 short tons) of Yogo sapphires are still in the ground. Jewelry containing Yogo sapphires was given to First Ladies Florence Harding and Bess Truman; in addition, many gems were sold in Europe, though promoters' claims that Yogo sapphires are in the crown jewels of England or the engagement ring of Princess Diana are dubious. Today, several Yogo sapphires are part of the Smithsonian Institution's gem collection.

Yogo sapphires were not initially recognized or valued. Gold was discovered at Yogo Creek in 1866, and though "blue pebbles" were noticed alongside gold in the stream alluvium by 1878, it was not until 1894 that the "blue pebbles" were recognized as sapphires. Sapphire mining began in 1895 after a local rancher named Jake Hoover sent a cigar box of gems he had collected to an assay office, which in turn sent them to Tiffany's in New York, where an appraiser pronounced them "the finest precious gemstones ever found in the United States". Hoover then purchased the original mother lode from a sheepherder, later selling it to other investors. This became the highly profitable "English Mine", which flourished from 1899 until the 1920s. A second operation, the "American Mine", was owned by a series of investors in the western section of the Yogo dike, but was less profitable and bought out by the syndicate that owned the English Mine. In 1984, a third set of claims, known as the Vortex mine, opened. (Full article...)

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Location in the United States

Deer Lodge is a city in and the county seat of Powell County, Montana, United States. The population was 2,938 at the 2020 census. (Full article...)

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

Image 1Dancers at Crow Fair in 1941 (from Montana)
Image 2Early tribal treaty territories in Montana (from History of Montana)
Image 3Map of Williston Basin oil fields with reservoirs in Bakken Formation (from History of Montana)
Image 4Montana population density map (from Montana)
Image 5Montana ranks 2nd nationally in craft breweries per capita. (from Montana)
Image 6Chief Joseph (from History of Montana)
Image 7The Big Sky Resort (from Montana)
Image 8Missoula, the second-largest city in Montana (from Montana)
Image 9Early Indian treaty territories in Montana (from Montana)
Image 10General locations of Indian reservations in Montana (from Montana)
Image 11Jeannette Rankin, August 1916 (from History of Montana)
Image 12An Airbus A319 waits at Billings Logan International Airport. (from Transportation in Montana)
Image 13Stump Horn and family (Northern Cheyenne); showing home and horse-drawn travois. (from History of Montana)
Image 14Map of domestic flights available from the largest airport in Montana (Click to enlarge) (from Transportation in Montana)
Image 15Köppen climate types of Montana, using 1991-2020 climate normals (from Montana)
Image 16Guided snowmobile tours in Yellowstone Park (from Montana)
Image 17Pompeys Pillar National Monument (from Montana)
Image 18Pretty Nose at Fort Keogh, 1879 (from History of Montana)
Image 19Lone Mountain at Big Sky Ski Resort (from Montana)
Image 20The Palisades area on the north end of the ski area at Red Lodge Mountain Resort (from Montana)
Image 21The Scout in Winter, Crow, 1908 by Edward S. Curtis (from History of Montana)
Image 22Mining headframes in Butte, MT (from History of Montana)
Image 23Montana Rail Link freight haulage in 2005 (from Transportation in Montana)
Image 24The Empire Builder in Essex (from Transportation in 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 26Population of Montana 1870–2018 (from Montana)
Image 27Relief map of Montana (from Montana)
Image 28Clark Fork River, Missoula, in autumn (from Montana)
Image 29Click to enlarge detailed map (from Transportation in Montana)
Image 30Assiniboine family, Montana, 1890–91 (from Montana)
Image 31Buffalo Soldiers, Ft. Keogh, Montana, 1890. The nickname was given to the "Black Cavalry" by the Native American tribes they fought. (from Montana)
Image 32Montana Territory in 1865 (from Montana)
Image 33Chief Joseph and Col. John Gibbon met again on the Big Hole Battlefield site in 1889. (from Montana)
Image 34Swedish gold panners in 1860s Montana. The Montana gold rush began in 1862. (from History of Montana)
Image 35Map of Montana (from Montana)
Image 36Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site, Deer Lodge, MT, date unknown (from History of Montana)
Image 37Treemap 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 38Missouri Breaks region in central Montana (from Montana)
Image 39U.S. Route 93 in Montana (from Transportation in Montana)
Image 40Temperature and precipitation for Montana's capital city, Helena (from Montana)
Image 41Mountain Line buses queue to pick up passengers in Missoula. (from Transportation in Montana)
Image 42Joseph M. Dixon, Congressman (1903–1913) and Governor of Montana (1921–1925) (from History of Montana)
Image 43100 pound native Montana wolf taken in 1928 (from Montana)
Image 44Saint Mary Lake in Glacier National Park (from Montana)
Image 45From Frank Bond, "Louisiana" and the Louisiana Purchase.
Government Printing Office, 1912 Map No. 4. (from History of Montana)
Image 46Montana State Bobcats football at Bobcat Stadium (Montana State University), Bozeman (from Montana)
Image 47Yellowstone Airport, West Yellowstone, Montana (from Montana)
Image 48Main Street in Red Lodge, 2000, showing iron facades on buildings (from History of Montana)
Image 49First Interstate Center, in downtown Billings, is the tallest building in Montana. (from Montana)
Image 50Ethnic origins in Montana (from Montana)
Image 51Quake Lake was created by a landslide during the 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake. (from Montana)
Image 52Mennonite family in Montana, c. 1937 (from Montana)

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... that one owner of Montana radio station KXGF went from owning a stake in a waterbed dealership to liquidating his assets in a span of six months?
... 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?
... that the Acoustic Atlas at Montana State University Library helped to create a public domain archive of sounds from Yellowstone National Park?
... that Montana television station KOPR-TV brought forward its start date by several months, only to last just one year?
... 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"?

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