Montana Trivia & Tidbits - Page 4

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

—At the Axmen store and the Montana Museum of Work History near Missoula (pop. 57,053), museum displays intermingle with woodstoves, farm tools and other merchandise for sale. The Hanson brothers, Guy and Grant, opened the eclectic hardware store in the early 1970s and, through swapping and collecting, added such museum items as vintage motorcycles and firearms. The state’s poet laureate is Greg Pape, a University of Montana creative writing professor from Stevensville (pop. 1,553). Pape is the second poet named to the position since it was created in 2005.

first appeared: 12/2/2007

—A 7-foot-6-inch grizzly bear weighing 750 pounds was captured and collared in May near Choteau (pop. 1,781) by a bear management specialist with the state Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks. The bear, weighed with the help of a crane, is the second-largest male grizzly on record in the northern Rockies. The largest male grizzly ever recorded in that area—8-feet, 800-plus pounds—was trapped near Choteau in 2003.

first appeared: 11/18/2007

—The historic yellow buses that were primarily used from the 1930s to the 1950s in national parks returned with fanfare to Yellowstone National Park this year. Eight of the touring buses were bought and refurbished for $1.9 million and are available for park tours. The park gateway communities of Livingston (pop. 6,851), Gardiner (pop. 851) and Cody, Wyo. (pop. 8,835), welcomed their return with celebrations in June.

first appeared: 11/4/2007

—Elbow Lake in Missoula County was renamed Lindbergh Lake after aviation hero Charles Lindbergh spent several days camping, fishing and canoeing on the remote natural lake in 1927.

first appeared: 10/21/2007

—Travelers’ Rest State Park in Lolo (pop. 3,388) marks the location of a centuries-old American Indian campsite used by the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1805 and 1806. Archaeologists found evidence of the Corps of Discovery’s latrine, making the area one of the few sites in the nation with physical evidence of the group’s visit. Significant amounts of mercury—used as medical treatment by the expedition—were found in the soil. Years ago, the National Park Service incorrectly located the campsite at the confluence of Lolo Creek and the Bitterroot River, about a mile and a half away.

first appeared: 10/7/2007

—Capitol Rock near Ekalaka (pop. 410) is a massive white limestone formation said to resemble the U.S. Capitol. The natural landmark inspired the name for the nearby town of Capitol.

first appeared: 9/30/2007

—Montana is the first state to adopt an official lullaby. Chinook (pop. 1,386) rancher and singer-songwriter Ken Overcast performed the song, Montana Lullaby, on the floor of the Montana Senate in April, after which the governor signed the lullaby bill into law. Montana Lullaby was co-written by Wylie Gustafson, a native of Conrad (pop. 2,753) and the familiar yodeler on the Yahoo! TV commercial.

first appeared: 9/9/2007

—Tumbleweeds rolled into a small neighborhood near Bozeman (pop. 27,509) in March, burying cars and sheds and blocking streets and driveways. Residents of Shooting Star Lane were forced to use snowplows and pitchforks to clear the windblown weeds, also known as Russian thistle, which dry out and snap off their stems, then roll at the whim of the wind.

first appeared: 8/26/2007

Built in 1920, the Tenth Street Bridge in Great Falls (pop. 56,690) is the longest and oldest open-spandrel, ribbed-arch, concrete bridge in Montana. The bridge is 1,130 feet long and has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1996.

first appeared: 8/26/2007

—Tyler Hoyt, a University of Montana psychology major and Blackfeet tribal member, was named this year’s Montana Indian College Student of the Year for his high grades, volunteerism and involvement in campus activities. The Montana Indian Education Association presented the Browning (pop. 1,065) native with the award in April.

first appeared: 8/12/2007

—William Kittredge of Missoula (pop. 57,053) has been awarded the 2006 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes’ Robert Kirsch Award for lifetime achievement. The award honors living authors with a connection to the American West. Kittredge, who taught creative writing at the University of Montana for 29 years, is known for his essays and short stories, as well as a memoir, Hole in the Sky. He also was a co-producer of the movie A River Runs Through It. His most recent work is a novel, The Willow Field.

first appeared: 7/29/2007

—In 1865, heavy snows prevented supplies from reaching Virginia City (pop. 130), resulting in a “flour riot.” When some merchants hoarded flour to drive prices to more than $100 for a 100-pound sack, rioters confiscated concealed supplies and paid the owners what they considered to be a fair price for the staple.

first appeared: 7/15/2007

—“Tough pilots, tough planes and tough flying” are honored at the Museum of Mountain Flying, housed in a hangar at the Missoula International Airport. The museum, established in 1993, displays artifacts and restored antique airplanes of pilots who pioneered aviation in the northern Rocky Mountains.

first appeared: 7/1/2007

—People can follow in the footsteps of prehistoric reptiles along the Montana Dinosaur Trail in eastern and central Montana. The “trail,” a map that links the state’s many dinosaur sites, weaves through archaeological stations and dinosaur museums in Ekalaka (pop. 410), Glendive (pop. 4,729), Jordan (pop. 364), Fort Peck (pop. 240), Malta (pop. 2,120), Havre (pop. 9,621), Harlowton (pop. 1,062), Choteau (pop. 1,781), Rudyard (pop. 275), Chinook (pop. 1,386), Bynum and Bozeman (pop. 27,509).

first appeared: 6/17/2007

—James McKusick, a University of Montana dean in Missoula (pop. 57,053), has helped identify a previously unknown work of the great British poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The work, a translation of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s 1808 landmark tragic play, Faust, previously was attributed to “Anonymous” before McKusick and his research partners determined that it was, in fact, translated by Coleridge.

first appeared: 6/3/2007

—Jack Reiner, 78, a retired mortician in Scobey (pop. 1,082), helped establish the Prairie Symphonette volunteer orchestra in 1977. Reiner organizes rehearsals for the 40-member rural orchestra around planting and harvesting season because many musicians are farmers. Other members are teachers, students and business professionals, and some travel 140 miles across rolling prairie to practice and perform. To spread the joy of music—and to enlarge the orchestra—Reiner gives free lessons on string instruments.

first appeared: 5/28/2007

—Fort Benton (pop. 1,594) is known as the “Birthplace of Montana” because of its role as a stepping-off point for fur traders, gold seekers and homesteaders from the 1860s through the 1880s. Situated on the uppermost navigable point of the Missouri River, Fort Benton became a busy port for steamboats until the arrival of the railroad in the late 1880s. Today, the town is recognized as a National Historic Landmark.

first appeared: 5/6/2007

—Cartoons drawn by movie star Gary Cooper (1901-1961), who grew up on a ranch outside Helena, are on exhibit at the Pioneer Museum in Bozeman (pop. 27,509). The museum, located in the old Gallatin County Jail, also displays American Indian artifacts, historic photos of tourism in the Yellowstone National Park region and a model of Fort Ellis, an Army outpost.

first appeared: 4/22/2007

The historic Baxter Hotel, now an office, retail and residential building in downtown Bozeman, flashes a blue light to notify local residents of fresh snow at nearby Bridger Bowl Ski Area.

first appeared: 4/22/2007

—The World Museum of Mining near Butte (pop. 33,892) re-creates the 1890s Hell Roarin’ Gulch mining town, including a Chinese laundry, sauerkraut factory, funeral parlor, ice house, school, general store and a saloon. The museum also offers a look at the history of mining technology, and sits on the site of the Orphan Girl Mine, a silver mine, which operated from the mid-1800s to the 1950s.

first appeared: 4/8/2007

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