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State Symbols |
Flag:
The Montana flag shows the state seal on a blue rectangle with yellow edges. The look of the flag was copied from one taken into battle during the Spanish-American War in 1898 by Montana Volunteers. The name "MONTANA" at the top wasn't added until 1981.
Seal:
The Montana state seal is a round picture designed to show Montana's history and natural beauty. At the top, a sunrise shines over snowy mountains. Waterfalls, the Missouri River, mountains, hills, trees, and cliffs are shown behind three tools. A pick, a shovel, and a plow are symbols of Montana's mining and farming, past and present. The plow stands for Montana's farming history. Montana farmers grow apples, wheat, mint, sugar beets, cherries, and other crops.
When Montana changed from a territory to a state in 1889, the seal changed, too. Montana's first seal had a buffalo where the trees are now, and the falls and river were different, but it was very close to this one.
Song:
"Montana", the state song, was written in one night by a Montana newspaper editor and a famous songwriter in 1910.
Flower: Bitterroot
Long before explorers Lewis and Clark wrote about the beautiful purplish-pink flower of the bitterroot, Native Americans were using its roots for food and trade. Tribes dug up the roots and dried them so they could be kept and used for months. The root was too bitter to eat unless it was cooked, and it was usually mixed with berries or meat.
An Indian story tells how the bitterroot came to be. It says the sun heard a mother crying because she couldn't find food for her family. The sun changed her tears into the bitterroot so she would always have food for her children. You can find the bitterroot growing near the mountains and boulders of western Montana in spring and summer. Mice love its leaves and seeds.
Tree: Ponderosa Pine
The ponderosa pine is the most common tree in Montana and early settlers used it to make most of their buildings. The ponderosa can grow 200 feet tall and eight feet thick. Wild turkeys eat its seeds. It can be seen almost everywhere along the roads of western Montana.
Animal: Grizzly Bear
Adult grizzlies can grow to weigh 1,500 pounds and be eight feet long. Their claws are sharp as knives and about four inches long. Their back feet leave pawprints as big as magazines. Grizzlies have been seen killing and eating over 100 fish in one day. They can run as fast as a horse for short distances. They are the biggest meat-eating land animals in America. Wildlife experts say fewer than 1000 grizzlies are left in the western United States. When grizzlies are seen in northwestern Montana, it's usually in places like the Cabinet and Mission Mountains, or Glacier National Park.
Fossil: Maiasaura (Duck-billed Dinosaur)
Some of the most important fossils in the world came from Montana. Scientists digging in Choteau, Montana, found "Egg Mountain." The mountain, and the area surrounding it, was filled with fossilized eggs, babies, and adult dinosaurs from 80 million years ago. It was the first proof that some dinosaurs took care of their babies the way birds do now. That's how the Maiasaur got its name, which means "good mother lizard." Their round nests were six or seven feet wide and could hold 25 eggs.
The hatched babies weighed about as much as a phonebook and were about one foot long. Adult Maiasaurs weighed almost 6,000 pounds (or about the same as a car with six people in it) and were almost 30 feet long (about as long as the inside of most movie theaters).
Gemstone: Sapphire and Agate
Montana's sapphires look like bright, blue glass and are cut like diamonds to make jewelry. They are mostly found in western Montana. There are Montana sapphires in the Royal Crown Jewels of England. Montana sapphires weren't always valuable, though. In the gold rush days, miners threw the sapphires away because they clogged up the screens they used to separate gold from sand and dirt. Now sapphires are the most valuable jewels found in America.
Agates are found in southern and eastern Montana. They're polished, not cut, to make gemstones and jewelry. Agates are usually white with swirls of grey and black spots.
Fish: Blackspotted Cutthroat Trout
Trout are the favorite fish to catch in Montana. There are many kinds, but the blackspotted cutthroat trout was chosen as state fish to let people know it was in trouble. Changes in the environment and too much fishing had made the blackspotted cutthroat hard to find. The name comes from the black spots that run down its back and a pinkish-red splotch on its jaw. The cutthroat trout is a favorite food for grizzly bears.
Bird: Western Meadowlark
This bird is known for its loud, cheerful chirps. It is about as big as a robin with a bright yellow chest and throat under a black collar. It builds its nest on the ground and lays between three and seven white eggs with purple and brown spots. The eggs only take two weeks to hatch. It can be found in spring and summer along most dirt roads, sitting on fence posts singing to other meadowlarks nearby. Lewis and Clark were the first to write about the western meadowlark in 1805 and it was chosen for state bird in 1931.
Grass: Bluebunch Wheatgrass
Bluebunch is found all over the state and all through the West. It can be found mostly in flat areas and below mountains. It's important to cattle and sheep ranchers as food for their animals.
Nickname: Treasure State
Montana is also known as "Big Sky Country," "Land of Shining Mountains," "Mountain State," and "Bonanza State."
Montana State History
The United States through the Louisiana Purchase acquired the territory that would become Montana in 1803. The acquisition included the region of west central North America between the Mississippi River & the Rockies, approximately 885,000 square miles (2,301,000 square kilometers), at the time an unexplored wilderness. Thomas Jefferson, exercising questionable constitutional authority, paid Napoleon Bonaparte $15 million dollars for the entire area, about three cents an acre. The sum was nearly twice the entire federal budget. Thirteen states or parts of states have been carved from the Louisiana Purchase. They are as follows: Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Wyoming, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Colorado and Montana. Lewis & Clark and the Corps of Discovery conducted the first organized expedition into the area.
Montana was admitted to the Union (became a state) on November 9, 1889, by presidential proclamation, the 41st state. Prior to becoming a state Congress made Montana a territory (a part of the U.S. not included within any state but organized with a separate legislature) in May 1864. In December the first legislative assembly met in a dirt-roofed cabin in Bannack City. Virginia City was selected as the territorial capitol. Montana remained a territory for 25 years. In 1894 Helena out bid Anaconda to become the state capitol, the result of a infamous battle in the "War of the Copper Kings."
The original state constitution was ratified in 1889. By 1969 the document had become outdated. Montana voters called for a constitutional convention. One hundred elected delegates met in 1972 to rewrite the document.
The Montana Legislature has 50 senators and 100 representatives elected from single-member districts. The legislature meets at regular biennial sessions for 90 days in odd-numbered years.
Montana is governed by its constitution, and its laws are administered by its executive branch officers and various boards and commissions. Executive officers include Governor Brian Schweitzer (D), Lt. Governor John Bohlinger (R), Attorney General Mike McGrath (D),Secretary of State Brad Johnson (R), and Superintendent of Public Instruction Linda McCulloch (D). All were elected to four-year terms beginning January 2005.
Montana Climate
Generally, Montana's weather is milder than many visitors might expect. After hearing about record low temperatures from some of our more notorious recording stations, like West Yellowstone and Cut Bank, some nonresidents may think of Montana as an icebox. Unlike many areas of the nation, however, where winter settles in for keeps, Montana's cold spells are frequently interrupted by Chinook winds (warm winds) and mild periods.
The beauty of Montana's weather system is that whether it is hot or cold, Montana is dry, and therefore, neither oppressively hot nor oppressively cold. Average annual precipitation is 15 inches, varying from 9.69 to more than 100 inches. Average daytime temperatures vary from 28 degrees in January to 84.5 degrees in July.
Visitors to the state might want to bring a variety of clothes to stay abreast of the quickly changing weather in Montana. Montana is seldom consistently hot or cold. Every season holds surprises. Montanans dress in layers so they can peel clothes off or add them on.
Montana is a vast and varied state of mountains, canyons, river valleys, forests, grassy plains, badlands, and caverns. Its Big Sky covers a land area of more than 147,000 square miles, making Montana the fourth largest state in the nation. In area, it can accommodate Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New York, and still have room for the District of Columbia. Yet, Montana's population is just 935,670 (2005 estimate), making it the sixth least populated state. There are fewer people living in the entire state of Montana than in the city of Phoenix.
Montana is a word derived from the Latin word meaning "mountainous". It is often termed the "Treasure State" and "Big Sky Country". All these nicknames refer to the beautiful and divergent landscapes encompassed within the boundaries of Montana. The highest point in Montana is Granite Peak in the Beartooth Mountains at 12,799 feet. The lowest point is in northwestern Montana, where the Kootenai River leaves Montana at 1,800 feet. The Indians called the Continental Divide the "backbone of the world." 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 a headwaters state because much of the water that flows to the rest of the nation comes from the mountains of Montana. Two of the nation's major river systems the Missouri and the Columbia are born high in the Rocky Mountains of Montana. Montana's two largest lakes are the Flathead (largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi) and Fort Peck, a manmade lake with over 1,500 miles of shoreline!
The eastern third of the state is plains country where the sky seems to find no limits. The central third is plains surrounding what are called "island" mountain ranges, and the western third, mountain ranges and valleys. In the southern central portion of the state is Yellowstone National Park with the world's most extensive area of geyser activity, harboring more than 10,000 thermal features. In the northwestern corner is Glacier National Park where spectacular mountain peaks were cut by glaciers. In the far eastern part of the state is Makoshika State Park where there are mysterious badland formations for visitors to see and enjoy. Throughout all of Montana are geographic treasures to be discovered.
POPULATION
2005 Resident Population Estimate: 935,670
2000 Resident Population Census: 902,195
Population percent change, 2000-2005: 3.7%
Density, Persons per square mile: 6.2
Male Population: 49.9%
Female Population: 50.1%
White: 91.1%
Black/African American: 0.4%
Native American (American Indian/Alaska Native): 6.5%
Hispanic or Latino: 2.4%
Asian: 0.5%
Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander: 0.1%
Two or more races: 1.5%
Under 18 years old: 21.95%
Age 18 years and over: 78.1%
65 years old and over: 13.8%
Median Age: 39.9
Total housing units: 428,357
Total households: 368,530
Average family size: 3.03
EDUCATION
High school graduates, 2005: 92.1%
College graduates, 2005: 25.4%
LABOR FORCE
Unemployment Rate: 4.0%
Civilian Labor Force: 493,407
Employed: 473,636
Unemployed: 19,771
ECONOMIC
Per capita personal income, 2005: $28,906
Median household income $36,200
Median family income: $47,959
Persons below poverty: 14.0%
All data compiled by the Census and Economic Information Center, Montana Department of Commerce, 12/6/2006
