Montana Flag on Our Flagpole

Montana – The Treasure State

USS Montana
USS Montana

Many individuals claiming conscientious objector status from throughout the U.S. were sent to Montana during the war as smokejumpers and for other forest fire-fighting duties.

Economy:

Montana is a relative hub of beer microbrewing, ranking third in the nation in number of craft breweries per capita in 2011.

There are significant industries for lumber and mineral extraction; the state’s resources include gold, coal, silver, talc, and vermiculite.  Ecotaxes on resource extraction are numerous.

Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park

Tourism is also important to the economy with over ten million visitors a year to Glacier National Park, Flathead Lake, the Missouri River headwaters, the site of the Battle of Little Bighorn and three of the five entrances to Yellowstone National Park.

Transportation:

Railroad:

Railroads have been an important method of transportation in Montana since the 1880s.  Amtrak’s Empire Builder train runs through the north of the state, stopping in Libby, Whitefish, West Glacier, Essex, East Glacier Park, Browning, Cut Bank, Shelby, Havre, Malta, Glasgow, and Wolf Point.

Air:

Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport is the busiest airport in the state of Montana, surpassing Billings Logan International Airport in the spring of 2013.

Bozeman Airport
Bozeman Airport

Montana’s other major airports include Missoula International Airport, Great Falls International Airport, Glacier Park International Airport, Helena Regional Airport, Bert Mooney Airport, and Sidney–Richland Municipal Airport.  The five following communities have airports designated for commercial service under the Essential Air Service program.

Roadways:

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 by Interstate 90 and Interstate 94 which roughly follow the same route as the Northern Pacific.  U.S. Routes 2 and 12 and Montana Highway 200 also traverse the entire state from east to west.

Transportation Map of Montana
Transportation Map of Montana

Montana’s only north-south Interstate Highway is Interstate 15.  Other major north-south highways include U.S. Routes 87, 89, 93 and 191.

Flag of Montana:

The flag of the state of Montana consists of the image of the Montanan state seal centered on a blue field.

Flag of Montana
Flag of Montana

Within the seal, a plow, shovel, and pick rest in a field in front of the Great Falls of the Missouri River.  The ribbon contains the state motto, Oro y plata (Spanish for “Gold and silver”).  The current flag was adopted in 1905, and the word “Montana” above the seal was added in 1981.

Montana State Flag 1905-1981
Montana State Flag 1905-1981
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