Travelers looking for some solitude or a place to discover and enjoy the great outdoors will do well to spend time in Montana, where the wildlife still outnumbers the people.
Whether visitors prefer to camp out under the stars or tuck in at a luxurious lodge, Montana can accommodate any taste. Regardless of where you stay, however, do spend some time outdoors, whether it's backpacking, camping, skiing, hiking, horseback riding, rafting or hunting. Glacier National Park, Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument and the Lewis and Clark Trail appeal to history fans, as well.
Other attractions of Montana include Native American culture, gambling and ghost towns. As visitors go from one point to the next, the spectacular scenery will disappoint no one.
The western portion of Montana is mountainous (the Rockies), with striking alpine vistas. The eastern portion contains some small island mountain ranges but is largely made up of prairie grasslands. The state has an abundance of rich agricultural farmland and large cattle ranches.
In the mid-1700s, the tribes that called this area home—the Blackfeet, Northern Cheyenne, Sioux, Crow and Assiniboine—were primarily bison hunters who followed the migrating herds that occupied the region. They traded with early French fur traders.
Even after the Louisiana Purchase (of which Montana was part) and the ensuing exploration by Lewis and Clark, Montana remained a remote territory. As was so often the case in the American West, it took the discovery of gold to really spark Easterners' interest. By 1862, prospectors were trying their luck in Montana. They were soon followed by farmers and ranchers. By the mid-1860s, the cattle industry was well-established, and in 1866, the first drive of Texas longhorns to Montana took place. Huge die-offs during the extremely cold winter of 1886-87 marked the end of the great cattle drives and the open range.
Extensive settlement of Montana was hampered by continuing conflicts between new settlers and Native Americans, who fiercely resisted the encroachment on their homeland. These conflicts led to the bloody encounter of June 1876, when Lt. Col. George Custer and his men were wiped out in the battle of Little Bighorn. This Indian victory spurred the U.S. military to send more forces to the region, and Native American resistance was eventually overcome. One of the most dramatic defeats suffered by the Indians, the surrender of the Nez Perce led by Chief Joseph, took place in Montana in 1877.
With the completion of the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1883, the flood of new settlers became unstoppable and Montana joined the Union just six years later, in 1889. Today, tourism, agriculture, wood production and mining are the mainstays of Montana's economy.
Montana's chief attractions are spectacular scenery, Glacier National Park, trout fishing, skiing, camping, hiking, Native American culture, gambling, Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, ghost towns, dude ranches, horseback riding, hunting and white-water rafting.
Travelers interested in the great outdoors and the history of the West—or who feel that dramatic high-mountain scenery is reward enough for long drives—will love Montana. Those who prefer big-city attractions may be surprised at the breadth of cultural offerings there and might find the slower pace a refreshing change.
Missoula native Jeannette Rankin was the first woman elected to Congress. She took office in 1917, before women in some states even had the right to vote.
Located north of Great Falls on the Missouri River, the tiny town of Loma holds the national record for the greatest 24-hour temperature change. On 14-15 January 1972, a Chinook wind caused the temperature to rise from -54 F/-47 C to 49 F/9 C.
Shelby native and respected paleontologist Jack Horner discovered and named the Maiasaura dinosaur in Montana in the 1970s. Horner was in large part responsible for the revised theories of dinosaurs as nurturing, social creatures.
It's true: The town of Joe, Montana, is named for football star Joe Montana. Fans in the tiny town of Ismay had the name officially changed in July 1993 as a tribute to the former NFL quarterback, although residents still call the town Ismay.
Some sheep ranchers in Montana are using "guard llamas" to protect their flocks from coyotes. Llamas, it seems, will fight prowling coyotes, making them good guardians for the sheep.
Big Sky Resort was the brainchild of news anchor and native Montanan Chet Huntley. Other Montanans of note are Gary Cooper, Myrna Loy, Evel Knievel, Lester Thurow and Dana Carvey.
