Montana Trivia & Tidbits - Page 14

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

Singer, songwriter, and actor Hoyt Axton moved to Victor (pop. 859) in the Bitterroot Valley after he filmed the movie Disorganized Crime there in 1988. Axton was known for writing songs such as Joy to the World (Jeremiah was a bullfrog), which was a smash hit for Three Dog Night in 1971, and for his television and movie appearances, including The Black Stallion and Gremlins.

first appeared: 5/25/2003

The state designated the Maiasaura peeblesorum, or duck-billed dinosaur, as its official fossil in 1985. Maiasaura means “good mother lizard,” while peeblesorum gets its name from the Peeble family, whose ranch near Choteau (pop. 1,781) is the site of an ancient dinosaur nesting ground.

first appeared: 5/18/2003

The Ponderosa pine was adopted as the state tree in 1949 at the urging of the Montana Federation of Garden Clubs. It’s the most common tree in the state, and can grow up to 200 feet tall with a trunk 8 feet thick. Often used in construction by early settlers, the Ponderosa pine has been called the “king of the forests.” Lewis and Clark were introduced to the tree long before they saw it: Ponderosa pine cones had drifted hundreds of miles down the Missouri River.

first appeared: 5/11/2003

The Sleeping Buffalo Resort near Saco (pop. 224) marked its 70th anniversary in September 1999 by cooking the world’s largest burger. Made of pure Montana beef, the burger weighed 6,040 pounds and measured 24 feet across. It was assembled and cooked in a 25-foot, 12-burner cinder block oven.

first appeared: 5/4/2003

The hottest temperature recorded in the state was 117 degrees, and was reached in two places—Glendive (pop. 4,729) on July 20, 1893, and Medicine Lake (pop. 269) on July 5, 1937.

first appeared: 4/27/2003

Winter temperatures along the eastern slopes of the Continental Divide are often moderated by chinook winds. These occur when wind is forced over a mountain range—the air heats as it descends, creating strong, gusty winds that can increase temperatures by as much as 50 degrees in a few hours.

first appeared: 4/27/2003

Each Labor Day weekend in Reed Point (pop. 185), hundreds of sheep surge down the six blocks of Main Street in the annual Running of the Sheep. The event began in 1989 as a lighthearted response to the Great Centennial Cattle Drive, but proved so successful that it’s now held annually. Proceeds from the event fund community improvements, including fire department, school, and library projects.

first appeared: 4/20/2003

Quake Lake in southeast Montana was created in 1959 when an earthquake caused 80 million tons of dirt and rock to slide into and block the Madison River at the west end of Madison Canyon in only eight seconds. The area has been set aside as the 38,000- acre Madison River Canyon Earthquake Area.

first appeared: 4/13/2003

Bitterroot is the state flower, but you’ll need to look hard and fast to find one. In May, the ground-hugging plant first appears, then buds in June, revealing pink petals for a few hours each morning. By July, the flowers are gone. The Salish and Kootenai tribes celebrate the arrival of the edible bitterroot each spring.

first appeared: 4/6/2003

Public lands in Montana—state parks, recreation areas, national forests, wilderness areas, and national parks—occupy about 35 percent of the state’s 147,046 square miles.

first appeared: 3/30/2003

The images in Pictograph Cave State Park near Billings were created more than 4,500 years ago, and some 30,000 stone tools, weapons, and other artifacts have been found in or near the park’s three caves.

first appeared: 3/23/2003

The oldest territorial prison in the West was built in Deer Lodge (pop. 3,421) and locked up its first inmate on July 2, 1871. The prison remained in use until 1979 and is now operated as a museum.

first appeared: 3/16/2003

When it was established in 1907, the Savenac Historic Tree Nursery in Haugen was one of the oldest and largest U.S. Forest Service tree nurseries. At one time, it produced 12 million seedlings yearly for national forests.

first appeared: 3/16/2003

The falls of the Missouri River that gave Great Falls its name may be tamed today, but the waterfalls left a legacy in the form of electric power for the region. Great Falls is nicknamed “The Electric City.”

first appeared: 3/9/2003

The 1992 film A River Runs Through It, based on Norman Maclean’s book of the same name, traces the story of a family living in western Montana. Directed by Robert Redford, the movie starred Brad Pitt and Craig Sheffer and tells the story of Norman and Paul Maclean, sons of a Scottish Presbyterian minister.

first appeared: 3/2/2003

Four different mountain ranges are located within Beaverhead County: Tendoy, Beaverhead, Pioneer, and Centennial.

first appeared: 2/23/2003

Some trees in the Gallatin National Forest have stood for more than 35 million years—but they’re not alive. Unlike those found in other petrified forests, the Gallatin trees were buried and petrified in their upright positions and were not knocked down by lava flows.

first appeared: 2/16/2003

Roundup (pop. 1,931) was so named because ranchers found the valley near the Musselshell River a natural place to round up their cattle.

first appeared: 2/9/2003

Livingston (pop. 6,851) and Park County are famous for their 103 miles of “blue ribbon” trout fishing streams and rivers, some teeming with 3,000 fish per mile. The Federation of Fly Fishers is located in Livingston, as is the International Fly Fishing Center, a museum and educational center.

first appeared: 2/9/2003

David Thompson, an explorer for Canada’s Hudson Bay Company, mapped the Kootenai River in the 1800s and established Montana’s second trading post in 1808, just north of what is now Libby (pop. 2,626).

first appeared: 2/2/2003

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