Montana Trivia & Tidbits - Page 12

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

The state had no upper speed limit until 1972, when the federal government mandated a 55 mph maximum because of the energy crisis. Montana objected, favoring an upper limit that was “reasonable and prudent” for conditions, and responded to the law with a token $5 fine for speeders.

first appeared: 12/28/2003

Grizzly bears, not uncommon in Montana, can stand 8 feet tall, be 4 feet wide at the shoulder, and weigh up to 800 pounds. Despite their enormous size, the bears can run at speeds of 35 mph. Their diet ranges from bugs and fish to grasses. Grizzly cubs are only about 8 inches long and weigh less than 2 pounds.

first appeared: 12/21/2003

Bannack State Park near Dillon (pop. 3,752) includes the ghost town of Bannack, site of Montana’s first major gold strike in 1862 and the state’s first territorial capital. It lies in an open valley along Grasshopper Creek, which yielded millions of dollars in gold by 1863 when the town’s population reached 3,000. Many buildings sprang up that still stand today. Bannack’s first sheriff, Henry Plummer, was also among the first to meet his end on the gallows he’d ordered built, after it was learned he was actually a highwayman.

first appeared: 12/14/2003

Actor Dirk Benedict was born Dirk Niewoehner on March 1, 1945 in Helena (pop. 25,780). He is best known for his television roles as Starbuck on Battlestar Galactica and Templeton “Face” Peck on The A-Team, and has also authored two books: Confessions of a Kamikaze Cowboy and And Then We Went Fishing.

first appeared: 12/7/2003

Miles City (pop. 8,487) has the state’s highest average number of frost-free days per year, at 150. Polson (pop. 4,041) is second with 142, followed by Glendive (pop. 4,729) with 139, and Havre (pop. 9,621) at 138. Great Falls (pop. 56,690) and Kalispell (pop. 14,223) are tied for fifth with 135 frost-free days annually.

first appeared: 11/30/2003

In 1980, Eric and Marc Pierce founded Big Sky Carvers in Manhattan (pop. 1,396), focusing on ornamental wooden wildlife decoys. Today, the company works with more than 50 designers, artists and sculptors to offer more than 1,500 products reflecting the Montana lifestyle—from home and lodge signs to bronze sculptures and dinnerware.

first appeared: 11/23/2003

Up to 100 bighorn sheep can be seen in November and December at the Koo-Koo-Sint Bighorn Sheep Viewing Site in the Lolo National Forest near Thompson Falls (pop. 1,321). As winter approaches, the sheep leave higher elevations to forage for grasses and leaves.

first appeared: 11/16/2003

Lolo National Forest reportedly was named for “Lou Lou,” the American Indian pronunciation of “Lawrence,” which was the name of a local fur trapper. “Lou Lou” first appears in 1831, when fur trader John Work referred to it in his journal as the name of a creek. It appears again on an 1853 railroad survey and map, but became “Lolo” by 1865.

first appeared: 11/16/2003

R.D. "Mac" McCurdy began collecting seashells in 1927 on a trip to Dover, Del., eventually collecting some 22,000 shells from around the world, including Korea and the Philippines. Today, the shells are displayed at Mac’s Museum within the Powder River Historical Society Museum in Broadus (pop. 451).

first appeared: 11/9/2003

Lester C. Thurow, economist and author of the 1999 book Building Wealth, was born in Livingston (pop. 6,851) in 1938. Thurow served on President Lyndon Johnson’s Council of Economic Advisers from 1964 to 1965, taught at Harvard University from 1965 to 1968, and was dean of the Sloan School of Management at MIT from 1987 to 1993.

first appeared: 11/2/2003

Only three states—Alaska, California, and Texas—have a larger land area than Montana’s 145,552 square miles.

first appeared: 11/2/2003

The character of Forrest Gump in the movie of the same name ran through Montana in two scenes. One scene is reported to feature golden wheatfields near Cut Bank (pop. 3,105), and the other shows a stone bridge with mountain peaks in the background, near the St. Mary entrance to Glacier National Park.

first appeared: 10/26/2003

Often referred to as the “Smithsonian of the West,” the Miracle of America Museum near Polson (pop. 4,041) charts America’s progress from the walking plow to walking on the moon. The museum’s 100,000 artifacts range from harps to Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

first appeared: 10/19/2003

The Rocky Mountain Laboratory in Hamilton (pop. 3,705) began in the early 1900s in tent camps and an old schoolhouse, as researchers attempted to find the cause of Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Scientists, including Howard Ricketts and Robert Cooley, determined that it was a tick-borne disease, allowing for vaccine development. The lab now is part of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

first appeared: 10/12/2003

The five wettest places in Montana are: 12 miles northeast of Bozeman (pop. 27,509), 18 miles north of Troy (pop. 957), Hungry Horse (pop. 934), two miles northwest of Heron (pop. 149), and Hebgen Dam. Annual precipitation ranges from 30.11 inches at Hebgen Dam to a high of 35.15 inches near Bozeman.

first appeared: 10/5/2003

In 1885, a group of pioneers in the Melville area, located in Sweet Grass County (pop. 3,609), founded the state’s first Lutheran congregation. In November 1914, the congregation dedicated the Melville Lutheran Church, which remains one of Montana’s oldest churches.

first appeared: 9/28/2003

The Bucking Horse Sale in Miles City (pop. 8,487) began in 1950, when a group of stock contractors gathered in the spring to purchase horses. Rodeo stock contractors from across North America now attend the sale each May, watching hundreds of bucking horses try to throw their riders. The horses are sold at auction after the rides.

first appeared: 9/28/2003

Montana has the nation’s second-largest farming area, with farmland covering 62 percent of the state’s total land area of 93 million acres. Two-thirds of the farmland is considered rangeland and pasture, while almost one-third is cropland, and the remainder is woodland. The state’s 22,000 farms average 2,714 acres in size.

first appeared: 9/21/2003

NBA basketball veteran Larry Krystkowiak, a native of Shelby (pop. 3,216), played for the University of Montana from 1982 to 1986. Records that he set there included the most points (709) in a single season, and career records for the most points (2,017) and the most rebounds (1,105). Krystkowiak played in the NBA from 1987 to 1997, and was named head coach of the Idaho Stampede, a Continental Basketball Association team, last May.

first appeared: 9/14/2003

Author L. Ron Hubbard, who founded the subjects of dianetics and scientology, spent part of his childhood in Kalispell (pop. 14,223) and Helena (pop. 25,780). He launched his writing career in 1927 as an editor on Helena High School’s newspaper.

first appeared: 9/7/2003

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