Montana Trivia & Tidbits - Page 10

Looking for Montana trivia? Try our list Montana little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

When Meriwether Lewis and William Clark arrived at the Marias River—which begins south of Cut Bank (pop. 3,105)—in 1805, they explored the area to determine if the river was the Missouri, which would take them west toward the Pacific Ocean. They confirmed that it wasn’t, and Lewis named the river after his cousin, Maria Wood.

first appeared: 8/8/2004

Covering more than 11,530 acres, Makoshika State Park near Glendive (pop. 4,729) is Montana’s largest state park. Its name comes from a Lakota Indian phrase that means “bad land” or “bad spirits.” The park’s geology features oddly shaped geologic formations created by wind and water erosion.

first appeared: 8/1/2004

Charles Conrad, who helped found Kalispell (pop. 14,223) in 1891, built a 13,000-square-foot mansion there four years later, complete with 26 rooms, 11 panels of Tiffany-style stained glass windows, eight sandstone fireplaces and practical features such as built-in fire hoses on each level. His daughter, Alicia, gave the house—now a museum—to the city in 1974.

first appeared: 7/25/2004

Concerned that bison were disappearing from the American plains, Charles Conrad bought about 50 of the animals in the 1890s. In 1908, 34 head of Conrad’s stock were sold to the American Bison Society, which gave them to the National Bison Range near Ravalli (pop. 119). Today, the 18,500-acre range is home to more than 350 bison.

first appeared: 7/25/2004

Oil has been pumped from the Elk Basin field near Belfry (pop. 219) since 1915, making it the state’s earliest significant oil field. The state produces about 16 million barrels of oil a year, or about 45,000 barrels a day, ranking Montana among the nation’s top 15 oil-producing states.

first appeared: 7/18/2004

The Montana Wildlife Rehabilitation Center moved into new facilities in September 2002, close to Spring Meadow Lake State Park near Helena (pop. 25,780). Run by the state Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, the center cares for injured and orphaned animals such as black bear, white-tailed deer, mule deer and elk, with the goal of returning the animals to the wild.

first appeared: 7/11/2004

Considered by the Smithsonian Institution to be one of the nation’s most architecturally valuable theaters, the Washoe Theater in Anaconda (pop. 9,417) was built in 1936 at a cost of $200,000, with ornamentation that includes silver, copper and gold leaf. Designed by theater architect B. Marcus Priteca, it is one of the few art deco-style theaters still standing.

first appeared: 6/27/2004

Capt. Meriwether Lewis first noted the Western meadowlark on June 22, 1805, when he wrote in his journal of a bird with a yellow breast and a black spot on its throat. In 1930, the state’s schoolchildren chose it as the bird that best represented the state. The following year, it became Montana’s official bird.

first appeared: 6/20/2004

After a Kansas City, Mo., radio station contacted residents of Ismay (pop. 26) in 1993, they agreed to temporarily change the town’s name to Joe, in recognition of the Kansas City Chiefs’ then-new quarterback, Joe Montana.

first appeared: 6/13/2004

Opened in 2002, the “Walk in the Treetops” at Big Mountain Resort near Whitefish (pop. 5,032) is an 800-foot-long boardwalk suspended up to 60 feet above the forest floor in the tree canopy. The boardwalk accommodates up to 12 people at a time, and offers potential sightings of many types of birds.

first appeared: 6/6/2004

Three Forks (pop. 1,728) is named for its location near the three rivers that converge to form the Missouri. When explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark first encountered the rivers in 1805, they named them the Gallatin, Madison and Jefferson after the then-U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of State and the President, respectively.

first appeared: 5/30/2004

Actress, singer and comedienne Martha Raye, born in 1916 in Butte (pop. 33,892), had a career that included vaudeville, Bing Crosby movies and television. In 1969, she received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for her volunteer work with U.S. troops overseas during World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars.

first appeared: 5/23/2004

Tizer Lake Gardens near Jefferson City (pop. 295) were created in 1998, when the owners of a three-acre piece of land planted poppies and other wildflowers—including 1,200 square feet of cosmos—to control the spread of noxious weeds. Despite an elevation of 5,000 feet, the gardens feature thousands of clematis, rose and herb blooms, along with native plants that explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark would have seen two centuries ago.

first appeared: 5/16/2004

Born in Missoula (pop. 57,053) in 1955, comedian Dana Carvey is best known for his roles on TV’s Saturday Night Live, including Garth, the character that he took to the big screen in the Wayne’s World movies. Carvey earned an Emmy in 1993 for his performance as Ross Perot in SNL’s “Presidential Bash.”

first appeared: 5/9/2004

The state adopted Montana sapphires—which are included in England’s Royal Crown Jewel collection—and Montana agates as its official gemstones in 1969. Unlike most sapphires, those from the Yogo mines in Judith Basin County (pop. 2,329) retain their blue brilliance under artificial light. The agates, meanwhile, are usually creamy to almost clear, with varying colors embedded in them, and are often found in gravel river deposits.

first appeared: 5/2/2004

Glacier National Park is the only location in the Lower 48 states where grizzly bear, mountain lion and wolf populations still occur naturally. With more than a million acres of wilderness that span the Continental Divide, the park features some 60 glaciers and more than 200 lakes, 900 miles of rivers and streams, and 700 miles of hiking trails.

first appeared: 4/25/2004

More than 1,400 species of plants have been found in Glacier National Park, including 28 species found nowhere else in Montana.

first appeared: 4/18/2004

Hands-on displays at the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Interpretive Center in Great Falls (pop. 56,690) suggest what Meriwether Lewis and William Clark faced during their epic 1804-1805 trek to the Pacific Ocean. Displays include a simulation of pulling a loaded boat on land to bypass rough waters, replicas of boats used by the expedition, and a maze-like map tracing the expedition’s route.

first appeared: 4/18/2004

The Range Riders, formed in the 1930s to promote and preserve Montana history, created a monument to the life of homesteading cowboys and pioneers in Miles City (pop. 8,487). The Range Riders Museum and Memorial Hall consists of nine buildings containing thousands of artifacts from the 1800s, including antique firearms and clothing.

first appeared: 4/11/2004

More than 200 species of birds—including bald eagles, sharp-tailed grouse, and herons—nest in the spring and summer at the Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge near Malta (pop. 2,120).

first appeared: 4/11/2004

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