Most of Montana first came under Americansovereignty with theLouisiana Purchase from France in 1803 and was explored by theLewis and Clark Expedition shortly thereafter.[9] Fur trappers followed and were the main economic activity in the area until gold was discovered in 1852. The ensuing gold rush, along with the passage of theHomestead Acts in 1862, brought large numbers of American settlers to Montana.[9] Rapid population growth and development culminated in statehood on November 8, 1889. Mining, particularly aroundButte andHelena, would remain the state's main economic engine through the mid-20th century.
Montana has no officialnickname but several unofficial ones, most notably "Big Sky Country", "The Treasure State", "Land of the Shining Mountains", and "The Last Best Place".[10] Its economy is primarily based onagriculture, includingranching andcereal grain farming. Other significant economic resources includeoil,gas,coal,mining, andlumber. The health care, service, defense, and government sectors are also significant to the state's economy. Montana's fastest-growing sector is tourism, with 12.6 million tourists (as of 2019) visiting the state each year.[11]
The name Montana comes from the Spanish wordmontaña, which in turn comes from the Latin wordmontanea, meaning "mountain" or more broadly "mountainous country".[12][13]Montaña del Norte ('Northern Mountain') was the name given by early Spanish explorers to the entire mountainous region of the west.[13] The name Montana was added in 1863 to a bill by theUnited States House Committee on Territories (chaired at the time byJames Ashley ofOhio) for the territory that would becomeIdaho Territory.[14]
The name was changed by representativesHenry Wilson (Massachusetts) andBenjamin F. Harding (Oregon), who complained that "Montana" had "no meaning".[14] Alternative names included Jefferson.[15] When Ashley presented a bill to establish a temporary government in 1864 for a new territory to be carved out of Idaho, he again choseMontana Territory.[16] This time, representativeSamuel Cox, also of Ohio, objected to the name.[16] Cox complained that the name was amisnomer given that most of the territory was not mountainous, and thought aNative American name would be more appropriate than a Spanish one.[16] Other names, such asShoshone, were suggested, but the Committee on Territories decided that they had discretion to choose the name, so the original name of Montana was adopted.[16]
For thousands of years, variousindigenous peoples have inhabited the land that is now Montana. Historic tribes encountered by Europeans and settlers from the United States included theCrow in the south-central area, theCheyenne andLakota in the southeast, theBlackfeet,Assiniboine, andGros Ventres in the central and north-central area, and theKootenai andSalish the (Séliš or "Flathead") in the west. The (Ql̓ispé orPend d'Oreilles) andKalispel tribes lived nearFlathead Lake and the western mountains, respectively. A part of southeastern Montana was used as a corridor between the Crows and the relatedHidatsas in North Dakota.[17]
As part of theMissouri River watershed, all of the land in Montana east of theContinental Divide was part of theLouisiana Purchase in 1803, except for a tiny portion in the northeast that is part of theHudson Bay drainage. Subsequent to and particularly in the decades following theLewis and Clark Expedition, European, Canadian and American traders operated afur trade, trading with indigenous peoples in both western and eastern portions of the area. Though the increased interaction between fur traders and indigenous peoples frequently proved to be a profitable partnership, conflicts broke out when indigenous interests were threatened, such as the conflict between American trappers and theBlackfeet. Indigenous peoples in the region were also decimated by diseases introduced by fur traders to which they had no immunity.[18][19] The trading postFort Raymond (1807–1811) was constructed in Crow Indian country in 1807.[20] Until theOregon Treaty of 1846, land west of the continental divide was disputed between theBritish andU.S. governments and was known as theOregon Country. The first permanent settlement by Euro-Americans in what today is Montana wasSt. Mary's, established in 1841 near present-dayStevensville.[21] In 1847,Fort Benton was built as the uppermost fur-trading post on the Missouri River.[22] In the 1850s, settlers began moving into theBeaverhead andBig Hole valleys from theOregon Trail and into the Clark's Fork valley.[23]
The first gold discovered in Montana was atGold Creek near present-dayGarrison in 1852. The Gold rush in the region commenced in earnest starting in 1862. A series of major mineral discoveries in the western part of the state found gold, silver, copper, lead, and coal (and later oil) which attracted tens of thousands of miners to the area. The richest of all gold placer diggings was discovered at Alder Gulch, where the town ofVirginia City was established. Other rich placer deposits were found at Last Chance Gulch, where the city of Helena now stands,Confederate Gulch, Silver Bow, Emigrant Gulch, andCooke City. Gold output between 1862 and 1876 reached $144 million, after which silver became even more important. The largest mining operations were at Butte, with important silver deposits and expansive copper deposits.
As settlers began populating Montana from the 1850s through the 1870s, disputes with Native Americans ensued, primarily over land ownership and control. In 1855, Washington Territorial GovernorIsaac Stevens negotiated theHellgate Treaty between the United States government and the Salish, Pend d'Oreille, and Kootenai people of western Montana, which established boundaries for the tribal nations. The treaty was ratified in 1859.[27] While the treaty established what later became theFlathead Indian Reservation, trouble with interpreters and confusion over the terms of the treaty led settlers to believe theBitterroot Valley was opened to settlement, but the tribal nations disputed those provisions.[28] The Salish remained in the Bitterroot Valley until 1891.[29]
The first U.S. Army post established in Montana wasCamp Cooke in 1866, on the Missouri River, to protect steamboat traffic to Fort Benton. More than a dozen additional military outposts were established in the state. Pressure over land ownership and control increased due to discoveries of gold in various parts of Montana and surrounding states. Major battles occurred in Montana duringRed Cloud's War, theGreat Sioux War of 1876, and theNez Perce War and in conflicts withPiegan Blackfeet. The most notable were theMarias Massacre (1870),Battle of the Little Bighorn (1876),Battle of the Big Hole (1877), andBattle of Bear Paw (1877). The last recorded conflict in Montana between the U.S. Army and Native Americans occurred in 1887 during theBattle of Crow Agency in the Big Horn country. Native survivors who had signed treaties were generally required to move ontoreservations.[30]
Chief Joseph and Col. John Gibbon met again on the Big Hole Battlefield site in 1889.
Simultaneously with these conflicts,bison, akeystone species and the primary protein source that Native people had survived on for many centuries, were being destroyed. Experts estimate that around 13 million bison roamed Montana in 1870.[31] In 1875, GeneralPhilip Sheridan pleaded to a joint session ofCongress to authorize the slaughtering of bison herds to deprive Native people of their source of food.[32] By 1884, commercial hunting had brought bison to the verge of extinction; only about 325 bison remained in the entire United States.[33]
Buffalo Soldiers, Ft. Keogh, Montana, 1890. The nickname was given to the "Black Cavalry" by the Native American tribes they fought.
Tracks of theNorthern Pacific Railroad (NPR) reached Montana from the west in 1882 and from the east in 1883. However, the railroad played a major role in sparking tensions with Native American tribes in the 1870s.Jay Cooke, the NPR president, launched major surveys into the Yellowstone valley in 1871, 1872, and 1873, which were challenged forcefully by theSioux under chiefSitting Bull. These clashes, in part, contributed to thePanic of 1873, a financial crisis that delayed the construction of the railroad into Montana.[40] Surveys in 1874, 1875, and 1876 helped spark theGreat Sioux War of 1876. The transcontinental NPR was completed on September 8, 1883, atGold Creek.
Tracks of theGreat Northern Railroad (GNR) reached eastern Montana in 1887 and when they reached the northern Rocky Mountains in 1890, the GNR became a significant promoter of tourism to Glacier National Park region. The transcontinental GNR was completed on January 6, 1893, atScenic, Washington[42] and is known as theHi Line, being the northernmost transcontinental rail line in the United States.
Reporting statehood from Helena: Full article text ishere.
The official telegram:
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, D.C. November 7, 1889 To Hon. Joseph K. Toole, Governor of the State of Montana: The president signed and issued the proclamation declaring Montana a state of the union at 10:40 o'clock this morning.
This article in a Butte newspaper celebrates "the blessings of true citizenship".[44]
Under Territorial GovernorThomas Meagher, Montanans held a constitutional convention in 1866 in a failed bid for statehood. A secondconstitutional convention held in Helena in 1884 produced a constitution ratified 3:1 by Montana citizens in November 1884. For political reasons, Congress did not approve Montana statehood until February 1889 and PresidentGrover Cleveland signed anomnibus bill granting statehood to Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Washington once the appropriate state constitutions were crafted. In July 1889, Montanans convened their third constitutional convention and produced a constitution accepted by the people and the federal government. On November 8, 1889, PresidentBenjamin Harrison proclaimed Montana the union's 41st state. The first state governor wasJoseph K. Toole.[45] In the 1880s, Helena (the state capital) had more millionaires per capita than any other United States city.[46]
TheHomestead Act of 1862 provided free land to settlers who could claim and "prove-up" 160 acres (0.65 km2) of federal land in the Midwest and western United States. Montana did not see a large influx of immigrants from this act because 160 acres were usually insufficient to support a family in the arid territory.[47] The first homestead claim under the act in Montana was made by David Carpenter near Helena in 1868. The first claim by a woman was made near Warm Springs Creek by Gwenllian Evans, the daughter of Deer Lodge Montana pioneer, Morgan Evans.[48] By 1880, farms were in the more verdant valleys of central and western Montana, but few were on the eastern plains.[49]
TheDesert Land Act of 1877 was passed to allow settlement of arid lands in the west and allotted 640 acres (2.6 km2) to settlers for a fee of $.25 per acre and a promise to irrigate the land. After three years, a fee of one dollar per acre would be paid and the settler would own the land. This act brought mostly cattle and sheep ranchers into Montana, many of whom grazed their herds on the Montana prairie for three years, did little to irrigate the land and then abandoned it without paying the final fees.[48] Some farmers came with the arrival of the Great Northern and Northern Pacific Railroads throughout the 1880s and 1890s, though in relatively small numbers.[50]
In the early 1900s,James J. Hill of the Great Northern began to promote settlement in the Montana prairie to fill his trains with settlers and goods. Other railroads followed suit.[51] In 1902, theReclamation Act was passed, allowing irrigation projects to be built in Montana's eastern river valleys. In 1909, Congress passed theEnlarged Homestead Act that expanded the amount of free land from 160 to 320 acres (0.6 to 1.3 km2) per family and in 1912 reduced the time to "prove up" on a claim to three years.[52] In 1916, theStock-Raising Homestead Act allowed homesteads of 640 acres in areas unsuitable for irrigation.[53] This combination of advertising and changes in the Homestead Act drew tens of thousands of homesteaders, lured by free land, with World War I bringing particularly high wheat prices. In addition, Montana was going through a temporary period of higher-than-average precipitation.[54] Homesteaders arriving in this period were known as "honyockers", or "scissorbills".[50] The wordhonyocker possibly derived from the ethnic slurhunyak[55] and was applied in a derisive manner at homesteaders, who were perceived as being "greenhorns", "new at his business", or "unprepared".[56] However, most of these new settlers had farming experience, though many did not.[57]
Honyocker, scissorbill, nester ... He was the Joad of a [half] century ago, swarming into a hostile land: duped when he started, robbed when he arrived; hopeful, courageous, ambitious: he sought independence or adventure, comfort and security ... The honyocker was farmer, spinster, deep-sea diver; fiddler, physician, bartender, cook. He lived in Minnesota or Wisconsin, Massachusetts or Maine. There the news sought him out—Jim Hill's news of free land in the Treasure State ...
However, farmers faced a number of problems. Massive debt was one.[58] Also, most settlers were from wetter regions, unprepared for the dry climate, lack of trees, and scarce water resources.[59] In addition, small homesteads of fewer than 320 acres (130 ha) were unsuited to the environment. Weather and agricultural conditions are much harsher and drier west of the 100th meridian.[60] Then, the droughts of 1917–1921 proved devastating. Many people left, and half the banks in the state went bankrupt as a result of providing mortgages that could not be repaid.[61] As a result, farm sizes increased while the number of farms decreased.[60]
By 1910, homesteaders filed claims on over five million acres, and by 1923, over 93 million acres were farmed.[62] In 1910, the Great Falls land office alone had more than a thousand homestead filings per month,[63] and at the peak of 1917–1918 it had 14,000 new homesteads each year.[58] Significant drops occurred following the drought in 1919.[60]
AsWorld War I broke out,Jeannette Rankin, representative of Montana and the first woman in the United States to be a member of Congress, voted against the United States' declaration of war. Her actions were widely criticized in Montana, where support for the war andpatriotism was strong.[64] In 1917–1918, due to a miscalculation of Montana's population, about 40,000 Montanans, 10% of the state's population,[64] volunteered or weredrafted into the armed forces. This represented a manpower contribution to the war that was 25% higher than any other state on aper capita basis. Around 1,500 Montanans died as a result of the war and 2,437 were wounded, also higher than any other state on a per capita basis.[65] Montana'sRemount station inMiles City provided 10,000cavalry horses for the war, more than any other Army post in the country. The war created a boom for Montana mining, lumber, and farming interests, as demand for war materials and food increased.[64]
In June 1917, the U.S. Congress passed theEspionage Act of 1917, which was extended by theSedition Act of 1918.[66] In February 1918, the Montana legislature had passed the Montana Sedition Act, which was a model for the federal version.[67] In combination, these laws criminalized criticism of the U.S. government, military, or symbols through speech or other means. The Montana Act led to the arrest of more than 200 individuals and the conviction of 78, mostly of German or Austrian descent. More than 40 spent time in prison. In May 2006, then-GovernorBrian Schweitzer posthumously issued full pardons for all those convicted of violating the Montana Sedition Act.[68]
The Montanans who opposed U.S. entry into the war included immigrant groups of German and Irish heritage, as well as pacifistAnabaptist people such as theHutterites andMennonites, many of whom were also of Germanic heritage. In turn, pro-War groups formed, such as the Montana Council of Defense, created by GovernorSamuel V. Stewart and local "loyalty committees".[64]
War sentiment was complicated by labor issues. TheAnaconda Copper Company, which was at its historic peak of copper production,[69] was an extremely powerful force in Montana, but it also faced criticism and opposition fromsocialist newspapers and unions struggling to make gains for their members.[70] In Butte, a multiethnic community with a significant European immigrant population, labor unions, particularly the newly formed Metal Mine Workers' Union, opposed the war on grounds it mostly profited large lumber and mining interests.[64] In the wake of ramped-up mine production and theSpeculator Mine disaster in June 1917,[64]Industrial Workers of the World organizerFrank Little arrived in Butte to organize miners. He gave some speeches with inflammatory antiwar rhetoric. On August 1, 1917, he was dragged from his boarding house by maskedvigilantes, and hanged from a railroad trestle, considered alynching.[71] Little's murder and the strikes that followed resulted in theNational Guard being sent to Butte to restore order.[64] Overall, anti-German and antilabor sentiment increased and created a movement that led to the passage of the Montana Sedition Act the following February.[72] In addition, the Council of Defense was made a state agency with the power to prosecute and punish individuals deemed in violation of the Act. The council also passed rules limiting public gatherings and prohibiting the speaking of German in public.[64]
In the wake of the legislative action in 1918, emotions rose. U.S. AttorneyBurton K. Wheeler and several district court judges who hesitated to prosecute or convict people brought up on charges were strongly criticized. Wheeler was brought before the Council of Defense, though he avoided formal proceedings, and a district court judge fromForsyth wasimpeached. Burnings of German-language books and several near-hangings occurred. The prohibition on speaking German remained in effect into the early 1920s. Complicating the wartime struggles, the1918 influenza epidemic claimed the lives of more than 5,000 Montanans.[64] The suppression ofcivil liberties that occurred led some historians to dub this period "Montana's Agony".[70]
An economic depression began in Montana after World War I and lasted through theGreat Depression until the beginning ofWorld War II. This caused great hardship for farmers, ranchers, and miners.[73][74]
By the time the U.S. entered World War II on December 8, 1941, many Montanans had enlisted in the military to escape the poor national economy of the previous decade. Another 40,000-plus Montanans entered the armed forces in the first year following the declaration of war, and more than 57,000 joined up before the war ended. These numbers constituted about ten percent of the state's population, and Montana again contributed one of the highest numbers of soldiers per capita of any state. Many Native Americans were among those who served, including soldiers from the Crow Nation who becameCode Talkers. At least 1,500 Montanans died in the war.[75] Montana also was the training ground for theFirst Special Service Force or "Devil's Brigade", a joint U.S.-Canadian commando-style force that trained atFort William Henry Harrison for experience in mountainous and winter conditions before deployment.[75][76] Air bases were built in Great Falls, Lewistown, Cut Bank, andGlasgow, some of which were used as staging areas to prepare planes to be sent to allied forces in theSoviet Union. During the war, about 30 JapaneseFu-Go balloon bombs were documented to have landed in Montana, though no casualties nor major forest fires were attributed to them.[75]
In 1940,Jeannette Rankin was again elected to Congress. In 1941, as she had in 1917, she voted against the United States' declaration of war after theJapanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Hers was the only vote against the war, and in the wake of public outcry over her vote, Rankin required police protection for a time. Other pacifists tended to be those from "peace churches" who generally opposed war. Many individuals claimingconscientious objector status from throughout the U.S. were sent to Montana during the war assmokejumpers and for other forest fire-fighting duties.[75]
In 1942, the U.S. Army establishedCamp Rimini near Helena for the purpose of training sled dogs in winter weather.
During World War II, the plannedbattleshipUSSMontana was named in honor of the state but it was never completed. Montana is the only one of the first 48 states lacking a completed battleship being named for it.Alaska and Hawaii have both had nuclear submarines named after them. Montana is the only state in the union without a modern naval ship named in its honor. However, in August 2007, SenatorJon Tester asked that asubmarine be christened USSMontana.[77] Secretary of the NavyRay Mabus announced on September 3, 2015, thatVirginia Class attack submarineSSN-794 will become the second commissioned warship to bear the name.[78]
With an area of 147,040 square miles (380,800 km2),[1] Montana is slightly larger thanJapan orGermany. It is the fourth-largest state in the United States afterAlaska,Texas, andCalifornia,[80] and the largest landlocked state.[81]
The state'stopography is roughly defined by theContinental Divide, which splits much of the state into distinct eastern and western regions.[82] Most of Montana's hundred or more named mountain ranges are in the state's western half, most of which is geologically and geographically part of the northernRocky Mountains.[82][83] TheAbsaroka andBeartooth ranges in the state's south-central part are technically part of the Central Rocky Mountains.[84] TheRocky Mountain Front is a significant feature in the state's north-central portion,[85] and isolatedisland ranges that interrupt theprairie landscape common in the central and eastern parts of the state.[86] About 60 percent of the state is prairie, part of the northernGreat Plains.[87]
The area east of the divide in the state's north-central portion is known for theMissouri Breaks and other significantrock formations.[113] Threebuttes south ofGreat Falls are major landmarks: Cascade, Crown, Square, Shaw, and Buttes.[114] Known aslaccoliths, they formed whenigneous rock protruded through cracks in the sedimentary rock.[114] The underlying surface consists ofsandstone andshale.[115] Surface soils in the area are highly diverse, and greatly affected by the local geology, whether glaciated plain, intermountain basin, mountain foothills, or tableland.[116] Foothill regions are often covered in weathered stone or brokenslate, or consist of uncovered bare rock (usually igneous,quartzite, sandstone, or shale).[117] The soil of intermountain basins usually consists ofclay,gravel,sand,silt, andvolcanic ash, much of it laid down by lakes which covered the region during theOligocene 33 to 23 million years ago.[118] Tablelands are often topped withargillite gravel and weathered quartzite, occasionally underlain by shale.[119] The glaciated plains are generally covered in clay, gravel, sand, and silt left by theproglacialLake Great Falls or bymoraines or gravel-covered former lake basins left by theWisconsin glaciation 85,000 to 11,000 years ago.[120] Farther east, areas such asMakoshika State Park nearGlendive andMedicine Rocks State Park near Ekalaka contain some of the most scenicbadlands regions in the state.[121]
Montana has thousands of named rivers and creeks,[124] 450 miles (720 km) of which are known for"blue-ribbon"trout fishing.[125][126] Montana's water resources provide for recreation,hydropower, crop and forage irrigation, mining, and water for human consumption.
Montana is one of few geographic areas in the world whose rivers form parts of three majorwatersheds (i.e. where twocontinental divides intersect). Its rivers feed the Pacific Ocean, theGulf of Mexico, andHudson Bay. The watersheds divide atTriple Divide Peak in Glacier National Park.[127] If Hudson Bay is considered part of the Arctic Ocean, Triple Divide Peak is the only place on Earth with drainage to three different oceans.
All waters in Montana west of the divide flow into theColumbia River. TheClark Fork of the Columbia (not to be confused with theClarks Fork of the Yellowstone River) rises nearButte[128] and flows northwest toMissoula, where it is joined by theBlackfoot River andBitterroot River.[129] Farther downstream, it is joined by theFlathead River before entering Idaho nearLake Pend Oreille.[95][130] ThePend Oreille River forms the outflow of Lake Pend Oreille. The Pend Oreille River joined the Columbia River, which flows to the Pacific Ocean—making the 579-mile (932 km) long Clark Fork/Pend Oreille (considered a single river system) the longest river in the Rocky Mountains.[131] The Clark Fork discharges the greatest volume of water of any river exiting the state.[132] TheKootenai River in northwest Montana is another major tributary of the Columbia.[133]
The Northern Divide turns east in Montana at Triple Divide Peak, causing the Waterton,Belly, andSaint Mary Rivers to flow north into Alberta. There they join theSaskatchewan River, which ultimately empties intoHudson Bay.[96]
Montana has some 3,000 named lakes and reservoirs, includingFlathead Lake, the largest natural freshwater lake in the western United States. Other major lakes includeWhitefish Lake in the Flathead Valley and Lake McDonald and St. Mary Lake in Glacier National Park. The largest reservoir in the state isFort Peck Reservoir on the Missouri river, which is contained by the second largest earthen dam and largest hydraulically filled dam in the world.[158] Other major reservoirs includeHungry Horse on the Flathead River;Lake Koocanusa on the Kootenai River;Lake Elwell on the Marias River;Clark Canyon on the Beaverhead River;Yellowtail on the Bighorn River,Canyon Ferry,Hauser,Holter,Rainbow; andBlack Eagle on the Missouri River.
Montana is a large state with considerable variation in geography, topography and elevation, and the climate is equally varied. The state spans from below the45th parallel (the line equidistant between the equator andNorth Pole) to the49th parallel, and elevations range from under 2,000 feet (610 m) to nearly 13,000 feet (4,000 m) above sea level. The western half is mountainous, interrupted by numerous large valleys.Eastern Montana comprises plains and badlands, broken by hills and isolated mountain ranges, and has asemi-arid,continental climate (Köppen climate classificationBSk). TheContinental Divide has a considerable effect on the climate, as it restricts the flow of warmer air from the Pacific from moving east, and drier continental air from moving west. The area west of the divide has a modified northern Pacific Coast climate, with milder winters, cooler summers, less wind, and a longer growing season.[172] Low clouds and fog often form in the valleys west of the divide in winter, but this is rarely seen in the east.[173]
Average daytime temperatures vary from 28 °F or −2.2 °C in January to 84.5 °F or 29.2 °C in July.[174][verification needed] The variation in geography leads to great variation in temperature. The highest observed summer temperature was 117 °F or 47.2 °C atGlendive on July 20, 1893, and Medicine Lake on July 5, 1937. Throughout the state, summer nights are generally cool and pleasant. Extreme hot weather is less common above 4,000 feet or 1,200 meters.[172] Snowfall has been recorded in all months of the year in the more mountainous areas of central and western Montana, though it is rare in July and August.[172]
The coldest temperature on record for Montana is also the coldest temperature for the contiguous United States. On January 20, 1954, −70 °F or −56.7 °C was recorded at a gold mining camp nearRogers Pass. Temperatures vary greatly on cold nights, andHelena, 40 miles (64 km) to the southeast had a low of only −36 °F or −37.8 °C on the same date, and an all-time record low of −42 °F or −41.1 °C.[172] Winter cold spells are usually the result ofcold continental air coming south from Canada. The front is often well defined, causing a large temperature drop in a 24-hour period. Conversely, air flow from the southwest results in "chinooks". These steady 25–50 mph (40–80 km/h) (or more) winds can suddenly warm parts of Montana, especially areas just to the east of the mountains, where temperatures sometimes rise up to 50–60 °F (10.0–15.6 °C) for 10 days or longer.[172][175]
Loma is the site of the most extreme recorded temperature change in a 24-hour period in the United States. On January 15, 1972, achinook wind blew in and the temperature rose from −54 to 49 °F (−47.8 to 9.4 °C); a 103 °F (49.4 °C) degree difference.[176]
Clark Fork River, Missoula, in autumn
Average annual precipitation is 15 inches (380 mm), but great variations are seen. The mountain ranges block the moist Pacific air, holding moisture in the western valleys, and creatingrain shadows to the east.Heron, in the west, receives the mostprecipitation, 34.70 inches (881 mm). On the eastern (leeward) side of a mountain range, the valleys are much drier;Lonepine averages 11.45 inches (291 mm), andDeer Lodge 11.00 inches (279 mm) of precipitation. The mountains can receive over 100 inches (2,500 mm), for example theGrinnell Glacier inGlacier National Park gets 105 inches (2,700 mm).[173] An area southwest of Belfry averaged only 6.59 inches (167 mm) over a 16-year period. Most of the larger cities get 30 to 50 inches or 0.76 to 1.27 meters of snow each year. Mountain ranges can accumulate 300 inches or 7.62 meters of snow during a winter. Heavysnowstorms may occur from September through May, though most snow falls from November to March.[172]
The climate has become warmer in Montana, with the average temperature rising almost 2.5 °F (1.3 °C) since 1900 at a rate higher than the continental U.S. average, and continues to do so.[177] The glaciers in Glacier National Park have receded and are predicted to melt away completely in a few decades.[178] Many Montana cities set heat records during July 2007, the hottest month ever recorded in Montana.[179][180] Winters are warmer, too, and have fewer cold spells. Previously, these cold spells had killed offbark beetles, but these are now attacking the forests of western Montana.[181][182] The warmer winters in the region have allowed various species to expand their ranges and proliferate.[183] The combination of warmer weather, attack by beetles, and mismanagement has led to a substantial increase in the severity of forest fires in Montana.[179][182] According to a study done for theU.S. Environmental Protection Agency by the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Science, parts of Montana will experience a 200% increase in area burned by wildfires and an 80% increase in related air pollution.[184][185]
The table below lists average temperatures for the warmest and coldest month for Montana's seven largest cities. The coldest month varies between December and January depending on location, although figures are similar throughout.
Average daily maximum and minimum temperatures for selected cities in Montana[186]
Montana is one of only twocontiguous states (along withColorado) that areantipodal to land. TheKerguelen Islands are antipodal to the Montana–Saskatchewan–Alberta border. No towns are precisely antipodal to Kerguelen, thoughChester andRudyard are close.[187]
Collectively all of these areas (excluding Havre) are known informally as the "big seven", as they are consistently the seven largest communities in the state (their rank order in terms of population is Billings, Missoula, Great Falls, Bozeman, Butte, Helena and Kalispell, according to the 2010 U.S. census).[190] Based on 2013 census numbers, they contain 35 percent of Montana's population,[191] and the counties in which they are located are home to 62 percent of the state's population.[192]
Ethnic origins in MontanaPopulation of Montana 1870–2018
TheUnited States Census Bureau states that the population of Montana was 1,132,812 on July 1, 2023, a 4.5% increase since the2020 census.[194] The 2020 census put Montana's population at 1,084,225. During the first decade of the new century, growth was mainly concentrated in Montana's seven largest counties, with the highest percentage growth inGallatin County, which had a 32.9% increase in its population from 2010 to 2020. The city having the largest percentage growth wasKalispell, with 40.1%, and the city with the largest increase in actual residents wasBillings, with an increase in population of 12,946 from 2010 to 2020.
On January 3, 2012, the Census and Economic Information Center (CEIC) at the Montana Department of Commerce estimated Montana had hit the one million population mark sometime between November and December 2011.[195]
According to the 2020 census, 88.9% of the population was White (87.8% non-Hispanic White), 6.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 4.1% Hispanics and Latinos of any race, 0.9% Asian, 0.6% Black or African American, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander, and 2.8% from two or more races.[199] The largest European ancestry groups in Montana as of 2010 were: German (27.0%), Irish (14.8%), English (12.6%), Norwegian (10.9%), French (4.7%), and Italian (3.4%).[200]
Montana has a larger Native American population, both numerically and as a percentage, than most U.S. states. Ranked 45th in population (by the 2010 census) it is 19th in native people,[204] who are 6.5% of the state's population—the sixth-highest percentage of all fifty states.[204] Of Montana's 56 counties, Native Americans constitute a majority in three:Big Horn,Glacier, andRoosevelt.[205] Other counties with large Native American populations includeBlaine,Cascade,Hill,Missoula, andYellowstone Counties.[206] The state's Native American population grew by 27.9% between 1980 and 1990 (at a time when Montana's entire population rose 1.6%),[206] and by 18.5 percent between 2000 and 2010.[207]
Map of counties in Montana by racial plurality, per the 2020 U.S. census
Legend
Non-Hispanic White
50–60%
60–70%
70–80%
80–90%
90%+
Native American
50–60%
60–70%
70–80%
As of 2009, almost two-thirds of Native Americans in the state live in urban areas.[206] Of Montana's 20 largest cities, Polson (15.7%), Havre (13.0%), Great Falls (5.0%), Billings (4.4%), and Anaconda (3.1%) had the greatest percentages of Native American residents in 2010.[208] Billings (4,619), Great Falls (2,942), Missoula (1,838), Havre (1,210), and Polson (706) have the most Native Americans living there.[208] The state's seven reservations include more than 12 distinct Native Americanethnolinguistic groups.[209]
While the largest European American population in Montana is German (which may also include Austrian and Swiss, among other groups), pockets of significantScandinavian ancestry are prevalent in some of the farming-dominated northern and eastern prairie regions, parallel to nearby regions of North Dakota and Minnesota. Farmers of Irish, Scots, and English roots also settled in Montana. The historically mining-oriented communities of western Montana such as Butte have a wider range of European American ethnicity;Finns,Eastern Europeans and especially Irish settlers left an indelible mark on the area, as well as people originally from British mining regions such asCornwall,Devon, andWales. The nearby city of Helena, also founded as a mining camp, had a similar mix in addition to a small Chinatown.[209]
TheHutterites, anAnabaptist sect originally from Switzerland, settled in Montana, and today is second only toSouth Dakota in U.S. Hutterite population, with several colonies across the state. Beginning in the mid-1990s, the state also had an influx ofAmish, who moved to Montana from increasingly urbanized areas of Ohio and Pennsylvania.[210]
Montana'sHispanic population is concentrated in the Billings area in south-central Montana, where many of Montana's Mexican Americans have been in the state for generations. Great Falls has the highest percentage of African Americans in its population, although Billings has more African American residents than Great Falls.[208]
The Chinese in Montana, while a low percentage today, have been a historically important presence. About 2,000–3,000 Chinese miners were in the mining areas of Montana by 1870, and 2,500 in 1890. However, public opinion grew increasingly negative towards them in the 1890s, and nearly half of the state's Asian population left by 1900.[211] Today, the Missoula area has a largeHmong population[212] and the nearly 3,000 Montanans who claimFilipino ancestry are the largest Asian American group in the state.[209]
In the 2015 United States census estimates, Montana had the second-highest percentage of U.S. military veterans living there. Only the state ofAlaska had a higher percentage, with roughly 14 percent of Alaska's population over 18 being veterans, with Montana having roughly 12 percent of its population over 18 being veterans.[213]
Montana's Constitution specifically reads, "the state recognizes the distinct and unique cultural heritage of the American Indians and is committed in its educational goals to the preservation of their cultural integrity."[218] It is the only state in the U.S. with such a constitutional mandate. The Indian Education for All Act was passed in 1999 to provide funding for this mandate and ensure implementation.[219] It mandates that all schools teach American Indian history, culture, and heritage from preschool through college.[220] For kindergarten through 12th-grade students, an "Indian Education for All" curriculum from theMontana Office of Public Instruction is available free to all schools.[221] The state was sued in 2004 because of lack of funding, and the state has increased its support of the program.[219]South Dakota passed similar legislation in 2007, andWisconsin was working to strengthen its own program based on this model—and the current practices of Montana's schools.[219] Each Indian reservation in the state has a fully accreditedtribal college. TheUniversity of Montana "was the first to establish dual admission agreements with all of the tribal colleges and as such it was the first institution in the nation to actively facilitate student transfer from the tribal colleges."[220]
Since 2016, data for births ofWhite Hispanic origin are not collected, but included in oneHispanic group; persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race.
English is theofficial language in the state of Montana. According to the2000 census, 94.8% of the population aged five and older speak English at home.[235] Spanish is the language next most commonly spoken at home, with about 13,040 Spanish-language speakers in the state (1.4% of the population) in 2011.[236] Also, 15,438 (1.7% of the state population) were speakers of Indo-European languages other than English or Spanish, 10,154 (1.1%) were speakers of a Native American language, and 4,052 (0.4%) were speakers of an Asian or Pacific Islander language.[236]
Other languages spoken in Montana (as of 2013) include Assiniboine (about 150 speakers in Montana and Canada), Blackfoot (about 100 speakers), Cheyenne (about 1,700 speakers), Plains Cree (about 100 speakers), Crow (about 3,000 speakers), Dakota (about 17,800 speakers with 700 in Montana in 2010),[237] German Hutterite (about 5,600 speakers), Gros Ventre (about 10 speakers), Kalispel-Pend d'Oreille (about 64 speakers), Kutenai (about six speakers), and Lakota (6,000 speakers in Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota).[238]
TheUnited States Department of Education estimated in 2009 that 5,274 students in Montana spoke a language at home other than English. These included a Native American language (64%), German (4%), Spanish (3%), Russian (1%), and Chinese (less than 0.5%).[239]
According to thePew Research Center in 2014, the religious affiliations of the people of Montana were predominantly Christian; in the state,Christianity was 65% of the total adult population.[243] At the 2020Public Religion Research Institute's (PRRI) study, 57% of the adult population were Christian. WhileCatholicism was the largest single Christian group in the state,mainline andevangelical Protestantism dominated the Christian landscape collectively.[244] By the Public Religion Research Institute's 2022 survey, Christianity grew to 62% of the population altogether, with 43% Protestant, 17% Catholic, and 2% Restorationist through Mormonism.
The largest Christian denominations in Montana as of 2010 were the Catholic Church with 127,612 adherents,the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with 46,484 adherents,Evangelical Lutheran Church in America with 38,665 adherents, and non-denominational evangelical Protestants with 27,370 adherents.[245] In 2020, the largest Christian denominations by adherents were the following: the Catholic Church (112,389), non-denominational Protestantism (54,540), and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (50,552).[246]
In 2014, 30% of the population was irreligious, and in 2020's separate study, 34% of the population were irreligious. Among its non-Christian population in 2022's PRRI study, the unaffiliated made up 32% of the population.New Age spirituality was 2% of the population,Judaism 1%, andBuddhism 1%. Other faiths accounted for 2% of the state's population.
Tourism is also important to the economy, with more than ten million visitors a year to Glacier National Park, Flathead Lake, the Missouri River headwaters, the site of theBattle of Little Bighorn, and three of the five entrances to Yellowstone National Park.[251]
Montana's personalincome tax contains seven brackets, with rates ranging from 1.0 to 6.9 percent. Montana has nosales tax, and household goods are exempt fromproperty taxes. However, property taxes are assessed on livestock, farm machinery, heavy equipment, automobiles, trucks, and business equipment. The amount of property tax owed is not determined solely by the property's value. The property's value is multiplied by a tax rate, set by the Montana Legislature, to determine its taxable value. The taxable value is then multiplied by themill levy established by various taxing jurisdictions—city and county government, school districts, and others.[252]
In the 1980s the absence of a sales tax became economically deleterious to communities bound to the state's tourism industry, as the revenue from income and property taxes provided by residents was grossly insignificant in regards to paying for the impact of non-residential travel—especially road repair. In 1985, the Montana Legislature passed a law allowing towns with fewer than 5,500 residents and unincorporated communities with fewer than 2,500 to levy a resort tax if more than half the community's income came from tourism. The resort tax is a sales tax that applies to hotels, motels and other lodging and camping facilities; restaurants, fast-food stores, and other food service establishments; taverns, bars, night clubs, lounges, or other public establishments that serve alcohol; as well as destination ski resorts or other destination recreational facilities.[253]
It also applies to "luxuries"- defined by law as any item normally sold to the public or to transient visitors or tourists that does not include food purchased unprepared or unserved, medicine, medical supplies and services, appliances, hardware supplies and tools, or any necessities of life.[254] Approximately 12.2 million non-residents visited Montana in 2018, and the population was estimated to be 1.06 million. This extremely disproportionate ratio of residents paying taxes vs. non-residents using state-funded services and infrastructure makes Montana's resort tax crucial in order to safely maintain heavily used roads and highways, as well as protect and preserve state parks.
As of November 2024[update], the state's unemployment rate is 3.2%.[255] The lowest rate was 2.5% in March 2023 and the highest was 12.0% in April 2020.[255]
The Montana Territory was formed on April 26, 1864, when the U.S. passed theOrganic Act.[256] Schools started forming in the area before it was officially a territory as families started settling into the area. The first schools were subscription schools that typically met in the teacher's home. The first formal school on record was at Fort Owen in Bitterroot valley in 1862. The students were Indian children and the children of Fort Owen employees. The first school term started in early winter and lasted only until February 28. Classes were taught by Mr. Robinson.[257] Another early subscription school was started by Thomas Dimsdale in Virginia City in 1863. In this school students were charged $1.75 per week.[258] The Montana Territorial Legislative Assembly had its inaugural meeting in 1864.[259] The first legislature authorized counties to levy taxes for schools, which set the foundations for public schooling.[260] Madison County was the first to take advantage of the newly authorized taxes and it formed the first public school in Virginia City in 1886.[258] The first school year was scheduled to begin in January 1866, but severe weather postponed its opening until March. The first school year ran through the summer and did not end until August 17. One of the first teachers at the school was Sarah Raymond. She was a 25-year-old woman who had traveled to Virginia City via wagon train in 1865. To become a certified teacher, Raymond took a test in her home and paid a $6 fee in gold dust to obtain a teaching certificate. With the help of an assistant teacher, Mrs. Farley,[261] Raymond was responsible for teaching 50 to 60 students each day out of the 81 students enrolled at the school. Sarah Raymond was paid $125 per month, and Mrs. Farley was paid $75 per month. No textbooks were used in the school. In their place was an assortment of books brought by various emigrants.[262] Raymond quit teaching the following year, but she later became the Madison County superintendent of schools.[261]
Many well-known artists, photographers and authors have documented the land, culture and people of Montana in the last 130 years. Painter and sculptorCharles Marion Russell, known as "the cowboy artist", created more than 2,000 paintings ofcowboys, Native Americans, and landscapes set in theWestern United States and inAlberta, Canada.[263] TheC. M. Russell Museum Complex inGreat Falls, Montana, houses more than 2,000 Russell artworks, personal objects, and artifacts.
Pioneering feminist author, film-maker, and media personalityMary MacLane attained international fame in 1902 with her memoir of three months in her life inButte,The Story of Mary MacLane. She referred to Butte throughout the rest of her career and remains a controversial figure there for her mixture of criticism and love for Butte and its people.
Evelyn Cameron, a naturalist and photographer fromTerry documented early 20th-century life on the Montana prairie, taking startlingly clear pictures of everything around her: cowboys, sheepherders, weddings, river crossings, freight wagons, people working, badlands, eagles, coyotes and wolves.[264]
Many notable Montana authors have documented or been inspired by life in Montana in both fiction and non-fiction works.Pulitzer Prize winnerWallace Earle Stegner from Great Falls was often called "The Dean of Western Writers".[265]James Willard Schultz ("Apikuni") fromBrowning is most noted for his prolific stories about Blackfeet life and his contributions to the naming of prominent features in Glacier National Park.[266]
Montana hosts numerous arts and cultural festivals and events every year. Major events include:
Bozeman was once known as the "Sweet Pea capital of the nation" referencing the prolific edible pea crop. To promote the area and celebrate its prosperity, local business owners began a "Sweet Pea Carnival" that included a parade and queen contest. The annual event lasted from 1906 to 1916. Promoters used the inedible but fragrant and colorfulsweet pea flower as an emblem of the celebration. In 1977 the "Sweet Pea" concept was revived as an arts festival rather than a harvest celebration, growing into a three-day event that is one of the largest festivals in Montana.[267]
Montana Shakespeare in the Parks has been performing free, live theatrical productions of Shakespeare and other classics throughout Montana and the Northwest region since 1973. The organization is an outreach endeavor that is part of the College of Arts & Architecture at Montana State University, Bozeman.[268] The Montana Shakespeare Company is based in Helena.[269]
Since 1909, theCrow Fair and Rodeo, nearHardin, has been an annual event every August inCrow Agency and is the largest Northern Native American gathering, attracting nearly 45,000 spectators and participants.[270] Since 1952, North American Indian Days has been held every July in Browning.[271]
Lame Deer hosts the annual Northern Cheyenne Powwow.
A variety of sports are offered at Montana high schools.[274] Montana allows the smallest—"Class C"—high schools to utilizesix-man football teams,[275] dramatized in the independent 2002 filmThe Slaughter Rule.[276]
Maggie Voisin, of Whitefish, competed in the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics as a skier. She also qualified for the 2014 Winter Olympics but was unable to play as she broke her ankle during training.[284]
In 1904 abasketball team of young Native American women fromFort Shaw, after playing undefeated during their previous season, went to theLouisiana Purchase Exposition held in St. Louis in 1904, defeated all challenging teams and were declared to be world champions.[287]
Montana provides year-round outdoor recreation opportunities for residents and visitors. Hiking, fishing, hunting, watercraft recreation, camping, golf, cycling, horseback riding, and skiing are popular activities.[289]
Montana has been a destination for its world-class trout fisheries since the 1930s.[290]Fly fishing for several species of native and introducedtrout in rivers and lakes is popular for both residents and tourists throughout the state. Montana is the home of theFederation of Fly Fishers and hosts many of the organization's annual conclaves. The state has robust recreationallake trout andkokanee salmon fisheries in the west,walleye can be found in many parts of the state, whilenorthern pike,smallmouth andlargemouth bass fisheries as well ascatfish andpaddlefish can be found in the waters of eastern Montana.[291]Robert Redford's1992 film ofNorman Mclean's novel,A River Runs Through It, was filmed in Montana and brought national attention to fly fishing and the state.[292] Fishing makes up a sizeable component of Montana's total tourism economic output: in 2017, nonresidents generated $4.7 billion in economic output, of which, $1.3 billion was generated by visitor groups participating in guided fishing experiences.[293]
Big Sky Resort and Whitefish Mountain Resort aredestination resorts, while the remaining areas do not have overnight lodging at the ski area, though several host restaurants and other amenities.[296]
Montana also has millions of acres open to cross-country skiing on nine of its national forests and in Glacier National Park. In addition to cross-country trails at most of the downhill ski areas, there are also 13 private cross-country skiing resorts.[297] Yellowstone National Park also allows cross-country skiing.[298]
Snowmobiling is popular in Montana, which boasts over 4,000 miles of trails and frozen lakes available in winter.[299] There are 24 areas where snowmobile trails are maintained, most also offering ungroomed trails.[300]West Yellowstone offers a large selection of trails and is the primary starting point for snowmobile trips into Yellowstone National Park,[301] where "oversnow" vehicle use is strictly limited, usually to guided tours, and regulations are in considerable flux.[302]
Snow coach tours are offered at Big Sky, Whitefish, West Yellowstone and into Yellowstone National Park.[303] Equestrianskijoring has a niche in Montana, which hosts the World Skijoring Championships in Whitefish as part of the annualWhitefish Winter Carnival.[304]
Montana has twoTrauma I hospitals, both in Billings. The Billings Clinic hospital became the first in Montana and neighboring Wyoming.[305] In 2024, Intermountain Health's St. Vincent Regional Hospital also received verification.[306][307] There areTrauma II hospitals in Missoula and Great Falls.[308] In 2013,AARP The Magazine named theBillings Clinic one of the safest hospitals in the United States.[309]
Montana is ranked as the least obese state in the U.S., at 19.6%, according to the 2014 Gallup Poll.[310]
Montana had asuicide rate of 26.1 per 100,000 in 2020, which is the 3rd-highest among U.S. states; high suicide rates are common among sparsely-populated states in the United States.[311][312]
Railroads have been an important method of transportation in Montana since the 1880s. Historically, the state was traversed by the main lines of three east–west transcontinental routes: theMilwaukee Road, theGreat Northern, and theNorthern Pacific. Today, theBNSF Railway is the state's largest railroad, its main transcontinental route incorporating the former Great Northern main line across the state.Montana RailLink, a privately heldClass II railroad, operated former Northern Pacific trackage in western Montana before being bought out by BNSF.
Historically,U.S. Route 10 was the primary east–west highway route across Montana, connecting the major cities in the southern half of the state. Still, the state's most important east–west travel corridor, the route is today served byInterstate 90 andInterstate 94 which roughly follow the same route as the Northern Pacific.U.S. Routes 2 and12 andMontana Highway 200 also traverse the entire state from east to west.
Montana andSouth Dakota are the only states to share a land border that is not traversed by a paved road. Highway 212, the primary paved route between the two, passes through the northeast corner of Wyoming between Montana and South Dakota.[326][327]
Montana is governed by a constitution. The first constitution was drafted by a constitutional convention in 1889, in preparation for statehood. Ninety percent of its language came from an 1884 constitution which was never acted upon by Congress for national political reasons. The 1889 constitution mimicked the structure of theUnited States Constitution, as well as outlining almost the same civil and political rights for citizens. However, the 1889 Montana constitution significantly restricted the power of state government, the legislature was much more powerful than the executive branch, and the jurisdiction of theDistrict Courts very specifically described.[328] Montana voters amended the 1889 constitution 37 times between 1889 and 1972.[329] In 1914, Montanagranted women the vote. In 1916, Montana became the first state to elect a woman,Progressive RepublicanJeannette Rankin, to Congress.[330][331]
In 1971, Montana voters approved the call for a state constitutional convention. A new constitution was drafted, which made the legislative and executive branches much more equal in power and which was much less prescriptive in outlining powers, duties, and jurisdictions.[332] The draft included an expanded, moreprogressive list of civil and political rights, extended these rights to children for the first time, transferred administration of property taxes to the counties from the state, implemented newwater rights, eliminatedsovereign immunity, and gave the legislature greater power to spend tax revenues. The constitution was narrowly approved, 116,415 to 113,883, and declared ratified on June 20, 1972. Three issues that the constitutional convention was unable to resolve were submitted to voters simultaneously with the proposed constitution. Voters approved the legalization of gambling, a bicameral legislature, and retention of the death penalty.[333]
The 1972 constitution has been amended 31 times as of 2015.[334] Major amendments include establishment of areclamation trust (funded by taxes on natural resource extraction) to restore mined land (1974); restoration of sovereign immunity, when such immunity has been approved by a two-thirds vote in each house (1974); establishment of a 90-day biennial (rather than annual) legislative session (1974); establishment of a coal tax trust fund, funded by a tax on coal extraction (1976); conversion of the mandatory decennial review of county government into a voluntary one, to be approved or disallowed by residents in each county (1978); conversion of the provision of public assistance from a mandatory civil right to a non-fundamental legislative prerogative (1988);[335] a new constitutional right to hunt and fish (2004); a now-defunct prohibition onsame-sex marriage (2004); a prohibition on new taxes on the sale or transfer of real property (2010), and a constitutional provision codifyingabortion rights (2024).[334][336] In 1992, voters approved a constitutional amendment implementingterm limits for certain statewide elected executive branch offices (governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state auditor, attorney general, superintendent of public instruction) and for members of theMontana Legislature. Extensive new constitutional rights for victims of crime were approved in 2016.[337]
The 1972 constitution requires that voters determine every 20 years whether to hold a new constitutional convention. Voters turned down a new convention in 1990 (84 percent no)[338] and again in 2010 (58.6 percent no).[339]
Montana has three branches of state government: legislative, executive, and judicial. The executive branch is headed by an elected governor. The governor isGreg Gianforte, a Republican elected in 2020. There are also nine other statewide elected offices in the executive branch: Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, State Auditor (who also serves as Commissioner of Securities and Insurance), and Superintendent of Public Instruction. There are five public service commissioners, who are elected on a regional basis. (The Public Service Commission's jurisdiction is statewide.)
There are 18 departments and offices which make up the executive branch: Administration; Agriculture; Auditor (securities and insurance); Commerce; Corrections; Environmental Quality; Fish, Wildlife & Parks; Justice; Labor and Industry; Livestock; Military Affairs; Natural Resources and Conservation; Public Health and Human Services; Revenue; State; and Transportation. Elementary and secondary education are overseen by the Office of Public Instruction (led by the elected superintendent of public instruction), in cooperation with the governor-appointed Board of Public Education. Higher education is overseen by a governor-appointed Board of Regents, which in turn appoints a commissioner of higher education. The Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education acts in an executive capacity on behalf of the regents and oversees the state-runMontana University System.
Independent state agencies not within a department or office include the Montana Arts Council, Montana Board of Crime Control, Montana Historical Society, Montana Public Employees Retirement Administration, Commissioner of Political Practices, the Montana Lottery, Office of the State Public Defender, Public Service Commission, the Montana School for the Deaf and Blind, the Montana State Fund (which operates the state's unemployment insurance, worker compensation, and self-insurance operations), the Montana State Library, and the Montana Teachers Retirement System.
TheMontana Legislature is bicameral and consists of the 50-memberMontana Senate and the 100-memberMontana House of Representatives. The legislature meets in theMontana State Capitol in Helena in odd-numbered years for 90 days, beginning the first weekday of the year. The deadline for a legislator to introduce a general bill is the 40th legislative day. The deadline for a legislator to introduce an appropriations, revenue, or referendum bill is the 62nd legislative day. Senators serve four-year terms, while Representatives serve two-year terms. All members are limited to serving no more than eight years in a single 16-year period.
The Montana Supreme Court is the court of last resort in the Montana court system. The constitution of 1889 provided for the election of no fewer than three Supreme Court justices, and one chief justice. Each court member served a six-year term. The legislature increased the number of justices to five in 1919. The 1972 constitution lengthened the term of office to eight years and established the minimum number of justices at five. It allowed the legislature to increase the number of justices by two, which the legislature did in 1979. The Montana Supreme Court has the authority to declare acts of the legislature and executive unconstitutional under either the Montana or U.S. constitutions. Its decisions may be appealed directly to the U.S. Supreme Court. TheClerk of the Montana Supreme Court is also an elected position and serves a six-year term. Neither justices nor the clerk is term-limited.
Montana District Courts are the courts of general jurisdiction in Montana. There are no intermediate appellate courts. District Courts have jurisdiction primarily over most civil cases, cases involving a monetary claim against the state, felony criminal cases, probate, and cases at law and in equity. When so authorized by the legislature, actions of executive branch agencies may be appealed directly to a District Court. The District Courts also havede novo appellate jurisdiction from inferior courts (city courts, justice courts, and municipal courts), and oversee naturalization proceedings. District Court judges are elected and serve six-year terms. They are not term-limited. There are 22 judicial districts in Montana, served by 56 District Courts and 46 District Court judges. The District Courts suffer from excessive workload, and the legislature has struggled to find a solution to the problem.
Montana Youth Courts were established by the Montana Youth Court Act of 1974. They are overseen by District Court judges. They consist of a chief probation officer, one or more juvenile probation officers, and support staff. Youth Courts have jurisdiction over misdemeanor and felony acts committed by those charged as a juvenile under the law. There is a Youth Court in every judicial district, and decisions of the Youth Court are appealable directly to the Montana Supreme Court.
The Montana Worker's Compensation Court was established by the Montana Workers' Compensation Act in 1975. There is a single Workers' Compensation Court. It has a single judge, appointed by the governor. The Worker's Compensation Court has statewide jurisdiction and holds trials in Billings, Great Falls, Helena, Kalispell, and Missoula. The court hears cases arising under the Montana Workers' Compensation Act and is the court of original jurisdiction for reviews of orders and regulations issued by the Montana Department of Labor and Industry. Decisions of the court are appealable directly to the Montana Supreme Court.
TheMontana Water Court was established by the Montana Water Court Act of 1979. The Water Court consists of a chief water judge and four district water judges (Lower Missouri River Basin, Upper Missouri River Basin, Yellowstone River Basin, and Clark Fork River Basin). The court employs 12 permanent special masters. The Montana Judicial Nomination Commission develops short lists of nominees for all five Water Judges, who are then appointed by the Chief justice of the Montana Supreme Court (subject to confirmation by the Montana Senate). The Water Court adjudicates water rights claims under the Montana Water Use Act of 1973 and has statewide jurisdiction. District Courts have the authority to enforce decisions of the Water Court, but only the Montana Supreme Court has the authority to review decisions of the Water Court.
From 1889 to 1909, elections for judicial office in Montana were partisan. Beginning in 1909, these elections became nonpartisan. The Montana Supreme Court struck down the nonpartisan law in 1911 on technical grounds, but a new law was enacted in 1935 which barred political parties from endorsing, making contributions to, or making expenditures on behalf of or against judicial candidates. In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Montana's judicial nonpartisan election law inAmerican Tradition Partnership, Inc. v. Bullock, 567 U.S. ____ (Sup.Ct. 2012).Although candidates must remain nonpartisan, spending by partisan entities is now permitted. Spending on state supreme court races exponentially increased to $1.6 million in 2014, and to more than $1.6 million in 2016 (both new records).
The U.S. Constitution provides each state with two senators. Montana's two U.S. senators areSteve Daines, first elected in 2014 and later reelected in 2020, andTim Sheehy, elected in 2024. Both are Republicans. The U.S. Constitution provides each state with a single representative, with additional representatives apportioned based on population. From statehood in 1889 until 1913, Montana was represented in theUnited States House of Representatives by a single representative, elected at-large. Montana received a second representative in 1913, following the 1910 census and reapportionment. Both members, however, were still elected at-large. Beginning in 1919, Montana moved to district, rather than at-large, elections for its two House members. This createdMontana's 1st congressional district in the west andMontana's 2nd congressional district in the east. In the reapportionment following the 1990 census, Montana lost one of its House seats. The remaining seat was again elected at-large.
In the reapportionment following the 2020 census, Montana regained a House seat, increasing the state's number of representatives in the House to two after a thirty-year break, starting from 2023.[342] RepublicansTroy Downing andRyan Zinke are the current officeholders.
Montana's Senate district is the fourth largest by area, behind Alaska, Texas, and California. The most notorious of Montana's early senators wasWilliam A. Clark, a "Copper King" and one of the 50 richest Americans ever. He is well known for having bribed his way into the U.S. Senate. Among Montana's most historically prominent senators areThomas J. Walsh (serving from 1913 to 1933), who was President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt's choice for attorney general when he died;Burton K. Wheeler (serving from 1923 to 1947), an oft-mentioned presidential candidate and strong supporter of isolationism;Mike Mansfield, the longest-servingSenate majority leader in U.S. history;Max Baucus (served 1978 to 2014), longest-serving U.S. senator in Montana history, and the senator who shepherded thePatient Protection and Affordable Care Act through the Senate in 2010; andLee Metcalf (served 1961 to 1978), a pioneer of the environmental movement.
Montana's House district is the largest congressional district in the United States by population, with just over 1,023,000 constituents. It is the second-largest House district by area, after Alaska's at-large congressional district. Of Montana's House delegates,Jeannette Rankin was the first woman to hold national office in the United States when she was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1916.[343] Also notable is Representative (later Senator)Thomas H. Carter, the first Catholic to serve as chairman of theRepublican National Committee (from 1892 to 1896).[344]
Federal courts in Montana include theUnited States District Court for the District of Montana and the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Montana. Three former Montana politicians have been named judges on the U.S. District Court:Charles Nelson Pray (who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1907 to 1913),James F. Battin (who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1961 to 1969), andPaul G. Hatfield (who served as an appointed U.S. Senator in 1978).Brian Morris, who served as an associate justice of the Montana Supreme Court from 2005 to 2013, currently serves as a judge on the court.
This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(February 2025)
Treemap of the popular vote by county, 2016 presidential election. Areas are in proportion to the number of votes cast in each county.
Elections in the state had been historically competitive, particularly for state-level offices. TheDemocratic Party's strength in the state was gained from support among unionized miners and railroad workers, while farmers generally voted Republican.
Montana had a history of voterssplitting their tickets and filling elected offices with individuals from both parties. Through the mid-20th century, the state had a tradition of "sending the liberals to Washington and the conservatives to Helena". Between 1988 and 2006, the pattern flipped, with voters more likely to elect conservatives to federal offices. There have also been long-term shifts in party control. From 1968 through 1988, the state was dominated by the Democratic Party, with Democratic governors for a 20-year period, and a Democratic majority of both the national congressional delegation and during many sessions of the state legislature. This pattern shifted, beginning with the 1988 election when Montana elected aRepublican governor for the first time since 1964 and sent a Republican to the U.S. Senate for the first time since 1948. This shift continued with thereapportionment of the state's legislative districts that took effect in 1994, when the Republican Party took control of both chambers of the state legislature, consolidating a Republican party dominance that lasted until the 2004 reapportionment produced more swing districts and a brief period of Democratic legislative majorities in the mid-2000s.[346]
Montana has voted for the Republican nominee in all but two presidential elections since 1952.[347] The state last supported a Democrat for president in 1992, whenBill Clinton won a plurality victory. However, since 1889 the state has voted for Democratic governors 60 percent of the time, and Republican governors 40 percent of the time. In the2008 presidential election, Montana was considered aswing state and was ultimately won by RepublicanJohn McCain by a narrow margin of two percent.[348]
The state's congressional seats (now two districts, but until 2023, oneat-large district) have been Republican since 1996, and its Senate seats have been held by RepublicansSteve Daines since 2015 andTim Sheehy since 2025. The two chambers of the state's legislature had split party control from 2004 to 2010, when that year's mid-term elections decisively returned both branches to Republican control. TheMontana Senate is, as of 2021, controlled by Republicans 31 to 19, and theHouse of Representatives is currently 67 to 33. Historically, Republicans are strongest in the east, while Democrats are strongest in the west.
Montana hadonly one representative in the U.S. House after having lost its second district in the 1990 census reapportionment. Montana's population grew at about the national average during the 2000s, but it had failed to regain its second seat in 2010.[349] However, it regained its second district due to reapportionment following the2020 census. Before the 2020 reapportionment, Montana's at-large congressional district held the largest population of any district in the country, which means its one member in the House of Representatives represented more people than any other member of the U.S. House (seeList of U.S. states by population).[350]
In a 2020 study, Montana was ranked as the 21st easiest state for citizens to vote in.[351]
^However, the grizzly bear and Canadian lynx are listed as a threatened species only for the mainland 48 states. In general, the grizzly bear and Canadian lynx are not threatened species; the IUCN lists both as "least concern".
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