Montana Trivia & Tidbits - Page 6

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

The Grant-Kohrs Ranch in Deer Lodge (pop. 3,421) was started by Canadian fur trader John Grant in the mid-1800s and later was expanded by cattle baron Conrad Kohrs. Today, 1,500 acres and 90 structures are maintained as a working cattle ranch by the National Park Service. The site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

first appeared: 8/13/2006

Country grain elevators have been called "prairie cathedrals," a description that clicks with photographer Bruce Selyem, who has taken thousands of photos of grain elevators throughout America. Selyem founded the Country Grain Elevator Historical Society, based in Bozeman (pop. 27,509), to promote their preservation.

first appeared: 7/30/2006

With 493 residents, Petroleum County is the smallest county by population in Montana, according to the 2000 U.S. Census.

first appeared: 7/30/2006

To make ends meet when she moved to Terry (pop. 611) in the 1880s, Evelyn Cameron took up photography, traveling on horseback with her Graflex camera to photograph neighbors, cowboys and sheep-shearing crews. When she died in 1928, Cameron left thousands of photographs that provide a vivid account of the hardscrabble life on the Great Plains. Her images were compiled into a book, Photographing Montana, 1894-1928: The Life and Work of Evelyn Cameron, by an editor who discovered the photos in the basement of the home of Cameron's best friend.

first appeared: 7/16/2006

Yankee Jim Canyon near Gardiner (pop. 851) was named for James George, an enterprising pioneer who lived at the mouth of the canyon and charged travelers a toll in the 1870s to use the canyon's narrow road on their way to Yellowstone Park. "Yankee Jim" was such a character that famous folk, including British poet Rudyard Kipling, stopped to visit him on their travels. Kipling affectionately described the yarn-spinning Yankee Jim as "the biggest liar I've ever met."

first appeared: 7/2/2006

French immigrant Pierre Wibaux became one of the state's biggest cattle barons in his 20s after arriving in present-day Montana in 1883. Wibaux established a ranch in the Beaver Valley, where it's reported that he owned up to 75,000 head of cattle. The town of Wibaux (pop. 567) is named for him, as is the county in which it's located.

first appeared: 6/25/2006

Homesteaded in 1910, the Skalkaho Poor Farm in Hamilton (pop. 3,705) was one of the first farms on the east side of the Bitterroot Valley. Through the years, the farm's orchard has produced apples, apricots, pears and plums. Today, it's an Arabian horse farm and also serves as a hostel.

first appeared: 6/25/2006

The Heritage Museum in Libby (pop. 2,626) is located in a 12-sided log building that's 130 feet in diameter. Opened in 1978 and run by volunteers, the museum focuses on the people of the area—from the Kootenai Indians to trappers, miners, and lumber and forest workers—and has a Shay Locomotive among its exhibits. The museum is open from June to August.

first appeared: 6/4/2006

Between the 1930s and 1950s, the Ninemile Remount Depot in Huson, near Alberton (pop. 374), was home to the workers and pack animals that battled fires in the northern Rocky Mountains. Today, the depot houses a visitor's center that chronicles the early days of forest firefighting, and remains home to pack horses and mules still used in the backcountry.

first appeared: 5/21/2006

Despite a late-blooming career that began in his 40s, Bob Scriver (1914-1999) is a recognized artist whose works include more than 1,000 sculptures of subjects such as the rodeo, Blackfoot Indians and Montana's wildlife. Born in Browning (pop. 1,065), Scriver studied music and practiced taxidermy early in his career. He founded the Museum of Montana Wildlife in Browning in 1956.

first appeared: 5/21/2006

In 1910, the Great Northern Railroad built the Belton Chalet and filled the Swiss-style hotel with Arts & Crafts-style furniture for visitors arriving by train to Glacier National Park. The chalet later fell into disrepair but, thanks to a major restoration, is operating again and listed as a National Historic Landmark.

first appeared: 5/14/2006

In 1990, animal trainers Doug and Lynne Seus founded Vital Ground, a nonprofit land trust, to assist North America's grizzly bear populations by conserving wildlife habitat. To date, the trust, which moved its headquarters to Missoula (pop. 57,053) last year, has helped to protect land in Alaska, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, including 240 acres in Montana's Pine Butte Preserve.

first appeared: 4/23/2006

The state's first large, utility-scale wind energy project came online last November, producing electricity from the breezes that blow near Judith Gap (pop. 164). The wind farm features 90 turbines that are 260 feet tall and can provide 135 megawatts of power for NorthWestern Energy's customers in central and western Montana. Each turbine can generate enough electricity to power more than 350 homes.

first appeared: 4/23/2006

Highway 38 runs for about 50 miles through the Sapphire Mountains, near the towns of Hamilton (pop. 3,705) and Philipsburg (pop. 914). The road, also known as the Skalkaho Highway, is named for Skalkaho Pass, which reaches an elevation of 7,260 feet and is only open to wheeled vehicles after the snow melts. In the wintertime, the region provides miles of snowmobile trails.

first appeared: 4/9/2006

It took Russ and Connie Schlievert 18 months between 1995 and 1997 to transform their two-story brick building in Reed Point (pop. 185) into Hotel Montana. Built in 1909, the building originally was a mercantile store. Today, it features a Wild West saloon on the ground floor and period costumes that guests are welcome to wear.

first appeared: 3/26/2006

Members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, which explored the Upper Missouri River 200 years ago, would still recognize the area named the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument in 2001. The center of the 377,346-acre area is the Missouri Breaks—149 miles of the Missouri River between Fort Benton (pop. 1,594) and the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge. It was named a National Wild and Scenic River in 1976.

first appeared: 3/26/2006

Returning from the Pacific Coast in 1806, Capt. Meriwether Lewis hoped to prove the Marias River extended north of the 49th parallel, which would have expanded the boundaries of the Louisiana Purchase. After discovering that the river flows south of the latitudinal line, Lewis named his campsite "Camp Disappointment." The spot is near present-day Browning (pop. 1,065) and the northernmost point reached by his expedition.

first appeared: 3/12/2006

At the Montana Tavern on Main Street in Lewistown (pop. 5,813), patrons can look down and see fish swimming under their feet—courtesy of a Plexiglas-covered floor opening that reveals an underground portion of Big Spring Creek.

first appeared: 2/26/2006

The most recent recipients of the George R. Stibitz Award, which honors living pioneers of the computer, communications and Information Age, include Ross Perot, for data processing; Paul Baran, for technology that helped establish the Internet; and John Blankenbaker, for one of the first personal computers. The award is presented by the American Computer Museum in Bozeman (pop. 27,509) and the Department of Computer Science at Montana State University-Bozeman.

first appeared: 2/26/2006

Jesuit missionaries established St. Paul’s Mission in Hays (pop. 702) in 1886. In 1931, a small shrine was built next to the church and dedicated to Our Lady of the Little Rockies. Inside the shrine stands a statue of the Virgin Mary, a hand-carved copy of a statue in Einsiedeln, Switzerland, that is reported to have miraculous powers.

first appeared: 2/12/2006

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