Montana Trivia & Tidbits - Page 15

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

Among the plants collected during the 1803-1806 Lewis and Clark expedition was Montana’s current state flower, the bitterroot, which was given its scientific name, Lewisa rediviva, in honor of Meriwether Lewis.

first appeared: 2/2/2003

The Four Winds Historic Village and Trading Post in St. Ignatius (pop. 788) features curios, souvenirs, and even toy trains sold from inside historic buildings that have been collected from around the area and reassembled in St. Ignatius. Buildings include an 1885 train depot and an 1862 federal Indian Agency building.

first appeared: 1/26/2003

One million bricks made of area clay formed the St. Ignatius Mission on the Flathead Indian Reservation. The 1891 structure contains 58 stunning murals painted by the mission’s cook and handyman, who had no art training.

first appeared: 1/19/2003

The state is home to about 4,000 Hutterites—descendants of a German religious group who arrived in the early 1900s. They shun possessions, speak German in their 39 colonies, and are known as hard-working farmers.

first appeared: 1/12/2003

The town of Thompson Falls (pop. 1,321), as well as the nearby Thompson Falls on the Clark Fork River, are named for David Thompson, the fur trader and explorer who was the first person of European descent to explore the entire course of the Columbia River.

first appeared: 1/12/2003

The good trout fishing of southwestern Montana was behind The R.L. Winston Rod Co.’s move to Twin Bridges (pop. 400). The company, which began making fishing rods in San Francisco in 1929, moved to Montana in 1976.

first appeared: 1/5/2003

Kerr Dam near Polson (pop. 4,041) is 204 feet high—54 feet higher than Niagra Falls.

first appeared: 1/5/2003

Marcus Daly was mining for silver in Butte (pop. 33,892) when he struck one of the richest copper veins in the world. He opened a copper mine in 1881 that transformed Butte into a big city. So much copper came out of Butte Hill that it was called “The Richest Hill on Earth.”

first appeared: 12/29/2002

Montana’s first newspaper, the Montana Post, was started in 1864 in Virginia City (pop. 130) by John Buchanan.

first appeared: 12/29/2002

The area that is now Montana originally was part of the Idaho Territory created by Congress in 1863. But because the government of Idaho was west of the Rockies, it had trouble governing settlements in the mountains and to the east. So Congress carved the Montana Territory out of the eastern part of the Idaho Territory on May 26, 1864.

first appeared: 12/22/2002

Montana’s state flower is also a snack. The root of the “bitterroot,” found largely in western Montana, was considered a sort of luxury food by American Indians in the region.

first appeared: 12/15/2002

The only pitcher ever to hit a grand slam home run in the World Series is a native of Billings. Dave McNally hit a home run with the bases loaded for the Baltimore Orioles in 1970, helping them defeat the Cincinnati Reds for the Series victory.

first appeared: 12/8/2002

A road map reveals just how big Western states can be. The 774-mile trip from Yaak in northwestern Montana to Alzada in southeastern Montana is further than the distance from Denver to Las Vegas (750 miles).

first appeared: 12/8/2002

An area of Montana known for good wheat-growing conditions is nicknamed “The Golden Triangle.” The three points of the triangle in north-central Montana are Havre, Conrad, and Great Falls.

first appeared: 12/1/2002

Dashiell Hammett (1894-1961) used his experiences as a detective for the Pinkerton Agency in Montana in his first detective novel, Red Harvest. Hammett spent time in Butte investigating activities of the Industrial Workers of the World among striking miners.

first appeared: 12/1/2002

Crow Agency (pop. 1,552) becomes the “Teepee Capital of the World” during the annual Crow Fair on the Crow Indian Reservation, when hundreds of teepees (from the Sioux word for dwelling) spring up along the banks of the Little Bighorn River. The five-day festival features rodeos, parades, and dancing.

first appeared: 11/24/2002

North America’s first ice track for those daring riders of the luge was built in Montana in 1965 at Lolo Hot Springs near Lolo (pop. 3,388).

first appeared: 11/17/2002

Climbing out of the dense forests between Butte (pop. 33,892) and Dillon (pop. 3,752) are granite spires that have become a favorite for rock climbers and sightseers. The Humbug Spires reach up to 600 feet above the ground inside the Humbug Spires Primitive Area.

first appeared: 11/10/2002

The cowboy skills Frank Cooper acquired as a boy and teenager near Helena (pop. 25,780) eventually paid off. The Helena native broke into movies as a stunt rider in 1925. Before becoming a leading man to star in such classics as High Noon, he changed his first name to Gary.

first appeared: 11/10/2002

Hutterites, the modern-day representatives of an Anabaptist religious movement, settled in Montana in the early 1900s. About 4,000 still live in colonies around the state. They speak German in daily life, disapprove of personal possessions, and use no televisions or cameras. Most colonies only have one telephone.

first appeared: 11/3/2002

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