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Montana Trivia
Montana Trivia
The moose, now numbering over 8,000 in Montana, was thought to be extinct in the
Rockies south of Canada in the 1900s.
At Egg Mountain near Choteau, dinosaur eggs have been discovered supporting the
theory some dinosaurs were more like mammals and birds than like reptiles.
In Whitehall, Montana it is illegal to operate a vehicle with ice picks attached to the
wheels.
In 1884, the citizens of Montana Territory were fed up with lawlessness and forming a
large-scale vigilante force, they executed thirty-five horse and cattle thieves that
year.
The Continental Divide runs along the crests of the Rocky Mountains from Canada to
Mexico, literally dividing the waters of the North American Continent. Montana is
known as the headwaters state because much of the water which flows to the rest of
the nation comes from the mountains of Montana.
No state has as many different species of mammals as Montana.
In Deer Lodge, Montana, in the Old West days, a cowboy evangelist angered over a
snoring parishioner once fired a bullet over the head of the dozing man.
The Battle of the Little Bighorn also known as Custer's Last Stand took place on June
25, 1876. Lieutenant Colonel Custer's forcesincluding more than 200 of his men
were wiped out in less than 20 minutes.
In Fort Benton, Montana a cowboy once insisted on riding his horse to his room in the
Grand Union Hotel. When the manager objected, they exchanged gunfire. The
horseman was killed before reaching the top of the stairs; fourteen .44 slugs were
later dug out of his body.
Flathead Lake in northwest Montana contains over 200 square miles of water and 185
miles of shoreline. It is considered the largest natural freshwater lake in the west.
Buffalo in the wild can still be viewed at the National Bison Range in Moiese, south of
Flathead Lake and west of the Mission Mountains.
Montana is the fourth largest state with the forty-fourth largest population.
Montana has 43 state parks and 25 scenic byways.
Montana has the largest grizzly bear population in the lower 48 states.
Montana mountain goats will butt heads so hard their hooves fall off.
Montana is nicknamed the Treasure State.
The highest point in the state is Granite Peak at 12,799 feet.
Virginia City was founded in 1863 and is considered to be the most complete original
town of its kind in the United States.
Three bandits who robbed the Adams Express car in a passenger train near Bannack,
Montana were rounded up by vigilantes and promptly hanged, a fate that became all
too familiar in the lawless West when citizens, angered over vacillating courts, meted
out their own brand of swift and self-satisfying justice.
The most visited place in Montana is Glacier National Park, known as the crown jewel
of the continent. It lies along Montana's northern border and adjoins Waterton Lakes
National Park in Canada, forming the world's first International Peace Park.
In Montana the elk, deer and antelope populations outnumber the humans.
Montana's first territorial capital, Bannack, has been preserved as a ghost town state
park along once gold-laden Grasshopper Creek. This old town is also said to be
haunted by several ghostly spirits.
Montana is home to seven Indian reservations.
The state's official animal is the grizzly bear.
Grasshopper Creeks gold at Bannack, Montana was 99-99.5% pure, compared to
most gold at 95%. When the strike was found in 1862 it led to the greatest rush to
the West since the California Gold Rush in 1848.
Glacier National Park has 250 lakes within its boundaries.
Hill County has the largest county park in the United States. Beaver Creek Park
measures 10 miles long and 1 mile wide.
A Helena, Montana law states that a woman cannot dance on a saloon table unless
her clothing weighs more than three pounds, two ounces.
Drinking while driving in Montana was legal. However, it was illegal to drive while
intoxicated. Drinking while driving in Montana became illegal on October 1, 2005
The Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman gained fame through the work of its chief
paleontologist, Jack Horner. Horner was the prototype for the character Dr. Alan Grant
in the best-selling novel/movie, Jurassic Park. We still refuse to go there.