Montana Trivia & Tidbits - Page 18

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

The Freezeout Lake Wildlife Management Area near Great Falls attracts up to 300,000 snow geese and 10,000 tundra swans during peak migration periods in spring and fall.

first appeared: 3/17/2002

Flathead Lake near Polson (pop. 4,041) is considered the largest natural freshwater lake in the West. It contains 200 square miles of water and 185 miles of shoreline.

first appeared: 3/17/2002

The first church in the Northwest was built in what is now Stevensville (pop. 1,553) at the request of the Flathead Indian tribe. Curious about Jesuit priests, the Flatheads sent delegates to St. Louis to ask that a Catholic mission be established in what is now the Bitterroot Valley. St. Mary’s Mission was built in 1841 but was turned into a trading post in 1850. The mission was rebuilt in 1866 and still stands.

first appeared: 3/10/2002

A gold nugget weighing about 2 pounds is the largest gold nugget found in Montana during the last 80 years. The Highland Centennial Gold nugget was recovered in September 1989 from a mine south of Butte.

first appeared: 3/3/2002

Bison, the symbol of the American West, were on the verge of extinction in 1908 when the federal government created the National Bison Refuge near Dixon (pop. 216). Today, more than 400 bison roam the refuge’s 19,000 acres.

first appeared: 2/24/2002

The University of Montana in Missoula boasts the country’s second-oldest creative writing program, started in 1919 by Professor H.G. Merriam. Only the creative writing department at Harvard is older.

first appeared: 2/17/2002

The Taft Tunnel Bike Trail is a 15-mile trail built on the remains of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad line that linked Montana and Idaho. Its centerpiece is the 8,771-foot Taft Tunnel, which begins in Montana and ends in Idaho.

first appeared: 2/17/2002

The Cathedral of St. Helena in Helena (pop. 25,780) took 16 years to complete once construction began in 1908. The structure has twin spires capped with gilded crosses and reaches 230 feet into the sky, dwarfing most of the city’s other buildings.

first appeared: 2/10/2002

Columbia Falls (pop. 3,645) has no waterfalls. When the community was founded in the 1890s, residents wanted to call it Columbia. But the name was already taken, so the word falls was added.

first appeared: 2/10/2002

Early every summer, residents of Glendive (pop. 4,729) hold “Buzzard Day” to celebrate the return of Makoshika State Park’s resident population of 60 to 100 turkey vultures from winter migration. The celebration includes an early morning bird walk and pancake breakfast.

first appeared: 2/3/2002

Glacier National Park gets its name from the more than 50 perennial ice fields within its 1.4 million acres of wilderness.

first appeared: 1/27/2002

Researchers hit a paleontological jackpot on a hill near Choteau (pop. 1,781) in the 1970s. When dinosaur remains found in the area were excavated, researchers found nests of dinosaur eggs. The find led researchers to believe the dinosaurs that laid the eggs were nurturing mothers that protected their nests from predators. In honor of the discovery, the hill where the nests were found has been named Egg Mountain.

first appeared: 1/20/2002

No one is sure if the statue on top of Montana’s Capitol building was meant to be there. Shortly after Helena (pop. 25,780) was selected as the state’s capital in 1894, the statue (dubbed “Goddess of Liberty”) arrived at the Helena train station from a foundry in Ohio. The books of the state Capitol Commission had disappeared, and the foundry’s records were destroyed in a fire—so no one knew who had ordered the statue or why. Builders needed something for the top of the Capitol, so that’s where the statue ended up.

first appeared: 1/13/2002

Much of a movie profiling one of Montana’s most famous natives was filmed in his hometown of Butte (pop. 33,892). Evel Kneivel, the first of several movies focusing on the life of the legendary motorcycle stuntman, starred George Hamilton in the title role.

first appeared: 1/6/2002

Montana’s motto refers to the minerals that brought settlers to the state in the late 1800s. The motto Oro y Plata means “gold and silver.”

first appeared: 1/6/2002

The grizzly bear is the state’s official animal. This huge carnivore, found in large numbers around Yellowstone National Park, can grow 6 to 8 feet tall and weigh up to 700 pounds.

first appeared: 12/30/2001

The world’s largest steer is stuffed and on display at the O’Fallon Historical Museum in his hometown of Baker (pop. 1,695). Steer Montana, born in 1923, reached a height of 5 feet 9 inches and weighed 3,980 pounds at the time of his death.

first appeared: 12/30/2001

Given its numerous “boomtowns” created by gold and silver rushes of the 1800s, it’s not surprising that Montana has a Ghost Town Hall of Fame. The hall, located in the Granite County Museum and Cultural Center in Philipsburg (pop. 914), features photos and stories from abandoned mining towns in the area.

first appeared: 12/23/2001

Frontier Town is a full-size replica of an Old West town near Helena (pop. 25,780). John Quigley single-handedly created buildings for the town for 33 years before his death in 1979, erecting structures including a church, general store, restaurant, and brewery.

first appeared: 12/16/2001

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

first appeared: 12/16/2001

jump to page: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22

newspaper partner login create account

Recent

Popular

Recipes

Below are the most recent American Profile articles:

Below are the most recent, highest rated American Profile articles:

Below are the most recent, highest rated American Profile recipes:

Relish

Spry

Below are the most recent articles from our Relish sister site. Click on the "Spry" tab above to see the most recent articles from our other sister site.

Below are the most recent articles from our Spry sister site. Click on the "Relish" tab above to see the most recent articles from our other sister site.