A
magnificent US state filled with
friendly people,
cows, and a few famous
kooks. Located east of
Idaho, west of
North Dakota and
South Dakota, north of
Wyoming, and south of the
Canadian provinces of
British Colombia,
Alberta, and
Saskatchewan. The
capital is
Helena, other major
towns include
Missoula,
Butte,
Great Falls, and
Billings.
Montana's eastern and western parts are geographically and economically quite different: the western portion of the state is mountainous and forested, with timber, mining, and tourism (to see the magnicifent scenery as its main industries, while the eastern portion is flat and dry, a land of wheat farming and cattle ranching.
Montana is a huge state with a relatively small population. The area is 147,046 square miles and the state has a population of appox. 880,000, for a population density of 6.0 per square mile. While the population is overwhelmingly white, 6% of the state's residents are Native American. The Flathead (Federated Tribe of the Salish-Kootenai), Fort Peck (Assiniboine and Sioux, Rocky Boy's (Corruption of the Stone Child band of the Chippewa (Ojibwa)-Cree), and Crow Indian Reservations are found in the state.
Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park and a section of Yellowstone Park are to be found in the state. Flathead Lake is the largest freshwater lake in the country outside of the Great Lakes.
The Berkeley Pit, the largest CERCLA (superfund) site in the country, is a former mine and lifeless pool of mining wastes located outside of the sad old mining town of Butte.
Famous Montanans include painter Charles M. Russell, congresswoman Jeannette Rankin, and newscaster Chet Huntley. While the Unabomber (Ted Kaczynski) lived in a small cabin in the state, he was actually a product of U.C. Berkeley who moved to Montana because there would be nobody nearby to harass him.
Montana has repealed its old "Reasonable & Prudent" speed limit which garnered its highways the moniker "Montanabahn", and replaced it with a limit of 75mph.
The state has no sales tax.