Montana Trivia & Tidbits - Page 13

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

More than a quarter million people visit Giant Springs, one of the world’s largest freshwater springs, each year. Located in Great Falls (pop. 56,690), the water in the springs flows at up to 338 million gallons a day, stays at a constant temperature of 54 degrees, and has been carbon-dated to 3,000 years old.

first appeared: 9/7/2003

The Missouri River, known as the “Big Muddy,” once drained into Hudson Bay. During the last Ice Age, however, a massive glacier flowing south from Canada diverted the river. The Missouri—the nation’s longest river—now runs from the confluence of the Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin rivers in Montana’s Rocky Mountains some 2,500 miles to the Mississippi River.

first appeared: 8/31/2003

One of the nation’s quickest temperature changes happened in Great Falls (pop. 56,690) on Jan. 11, 1980, when the mercury rose 47 degrees, from minus 32 to 15 degrees, in just seven minutes. Another dramatic change occurred in Browning (pop. 1,065) between Jan. 23 and 24, 1916, when the temperature dropped 100 degrees, from 44 degrees to minus 56 degrees, in 24 hours.

first appeared: 8/24/2003

In the Bitterroot National Forest, some scarred, centuries-old ponderosa pines—including the Alta Pine—are known as “Indian Trees.” The cuts were made by the Salish, Kootenai, Nez Perce, and Shoshone as they stripped the trees’ outer bark to access the chewy, sweet cambium layer (a delicacy). The trees survived because the cuts didn’t circle the entire tree.

first appeared: 8/17/2003

Montana ranks fourth in the nation for wool production. The state’s 432,000 sheep and lambs produce 4.1 million pounds of wool a year, enough to make a sweater for every person in the state.

first appeared: 8/10/2003

The Lewis Range in Glacier National Park defies the natural law that says the youngest rock is on the Earth’s surface. Because of the fault line along which the mountains formed, the rock on top is 1,300 million years older than the rock below.

first appeared: 8/10/2003

Country singer Charley Pride was discovered in Helena (pop. 25,780) in 1963. At the time, he was playing semi-pro baseball in the Pioneer League and working at a local zinc smelting plant. When he sang Lovesick Blues for Red Foley and Red Sovine backstage at the Helena Civic Center, however, they were so impressed that they urged him to head to Nashville, Tenn., to pursue a music career—which he did.

first appeared: 8/3/2003

More than 10,000 American white pelicans spend their summers at the Medicine Lake National Wildlife Refuge, making it one of the country’s largest colonies of the birds. The refuge, near Medicine Lake (pop. 269), also features stone teepee rings (which mark locations where American Indian lodges once were built) reported to be 4,000 years old.

first appeared: 7/27/2003

Troy (pop. 957), a mining and logging town founded in the late 1800s, was named for the Troy ounce, a weight measurement used for precious metals such as gold.

first appeared: 7/27/2003

The Norwegian Fjord horse is celebrated each year in Libby (pop. 2,626) with the International Fjord Horse Show, one of North America’s largest shows dedicated to the ancient breed. Renowned for its gentle nature, the Fjord was domesticated more than 4,000 years ago, and traces its origins to the Central Asian wild horse, the Przewalski.

first appeared: 7/20/2003

In 1999, the Montana Department of Transportation plowed 3 million miles of highway—equivalent to almost seven trips to the moon and back. The department also deposited more than 1.8 million gallons of liquid de-icer and almost 302,595 cubic yards of sand on Montana’s roads.

first appeared: 7/13/2003

Montana has about 70,000 miles of public highways and roads, more than all the interstate highway miles in the nation.

first appeared: 7/13/2003

Rodeo champion Dan Mortensen, who grew up in the Billings suburb of Lockwood (pop. 4,306), was the World Saddle Bronc Riding Champion from 1993 to 1995 and from 1997 to 1998, and earned the World All-Around Champion title in 1997. He was inducted into the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum’s Rodeo Hall of Fame in 1997.

first appeared: 7/6/2003

Established in 1908, the National Bison Range is one of the oldest wildlife refuges in the nation. Located at Moiese, near Dixon (pop. 216) and Ravalli (pop. 119), the 18,500-acre refuge is home to 350 to 500 bison, along with elk, deer, black bears, coyotes, and ground squirrels. More than 200 species of birds also can be found here.

first appeared: 6/29/2003

Harold C. Urey, the scientist who discovered the heavy form of hydrogen known as deuterium, received a bachelor of science degree from Montana State University (now the University of Montana) in Missoula in 1917, and taught there for two years. He received the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1934.

first appeared: 6/22/2003

Quake Lake, created in 1959 when an earthquake caused 80 million tons of dirt and rock to slide into and block the Madison River, is located in the 38,000-acre Madison River Canyon Earthquake Area in southwest Montana, not southeast Montana. Thanks to reader Rusty Smith for catching our mistake.

first appeared: 6/22/2003

Almost 25 percent of the state, or 23 million acres, is covered by forest, and more than 14 million acres of this is categorized commercial—with the manufacturing of lumber and wood products the state’s leading industry. Montana produces more than 1.2 billion board feet of lumber and about 580 million square feet of plywood annually, along with log homes and Christmas trees.

first appeared: 6/15/2003

More than 800 golden eagles have been counted during one migration season at the Rocky Mountain Front Eagle Migration Area east of Lincoln (pop. 1,100).

first appeared: 6/8/2003

Many of Montana’s common loons can be found on lakes north of Missoula. The black and white birds are about the size of a goose, have a haunting call, and spend most of their days on water. They can dive to depths of 200 feet, thanks to their solid (not hollow) bones.

first appeared: 6/8/2003

The 20th Anniversary Edition of the board game Trivial Pursuit features a question on the NILE ProRodeo in Billings. The sports-category question asks what Montana’s annual NILE rodeo calls its sheep-riding competition—Lamb Scrammin’, Mutton Bustin’, or Sheep Leapin’? The answer: Mutton Bustin’. The sheep-riding contest is open to children ages 4 to 6.

first appeared: 6/1/2003

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