Saturday, August 2, 2014

Montana Trivia

Helena, MT  High 84  Low 62

Okay, so I’m bored. How about some fun Montana Trivia to liven up the conversation.

According to the 2010 census Montana has 130 incorporated towns with Billings being the most populous with 106,954 people and Ismay being the smallest with 19 folks.

The largest snowflake ever observed was almost 15 inches wide and recorded in Montana on January 28, 1887.

Giant Springs, MT is home to the largest fresh water spring in the U.S.

In Montana, the word "ditch” can be used to order a drink. It means "with water."  "I'd like a Jack Daniel's ditch, please" means, "I'd like a Jack Daniel's and water." This is not a joke. In fact, all you really have to ask for is a "Jack ditch."

It is illegal to have a sheep in the cab of your truck without a chaperone.

It is illegal for married women to go fishing alone on Sundays, and illegal for unmarried women to fish alone at all.

The average square mile of land contains 1.4 elk, 1.4 pronghorn antelope, and 3.3 deer.

The Roe River is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's shortest river. The Roe flows 200 feet between Giant Springs and the Missouri River near Great Falls. The Roe River competes with the D River in Lincoln City, Oregon for the title of the shortest river. Both rivers have been measured on different occasions, with lengths varying from 58 feet to 200 feet.

In 1888 Helena had more millionaires per capita than any other city in the world.

The Montana Yogo Sapphire is the only North American gem to be included in the Crown Jewels of England.

46 out of Montana’s 56 counties are considered "frontier counties" with an average population of 6 or fewer people per square mile.

Every spring nearly 10,000 white pelicans with a wingspan of nine feet migrate from the Gulf of Mexico to Medicine Lake in northeastern Montana. 

The "Going to the Sun Road" in Glacier Park is considered one of the most scenic drives in America.

In Whitehall it is illegal to operate a vehicle with ice picks attached to the wheels.

In 1884, the citizens of Montana were fed up with lawlessness and forming a large vigilante force, they executed thirty-five horse and cattle thieves that year.

 

Okay – this gives you several good reasons to visit  Montana or maybe it will make you want to avoid it altogether.

22 comments:

  1. I'd visit except I have to take the ice picks off my wheels.

    Fun post!

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  2. All very useful facts, I'm sure. Sorry you're bored. Good thing you're married so you can go fishing.

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  3. Love the sheep in the cab of the truck!!!

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  4. Some of those old laws really are funny, but probably had meaning in their time.

    Gerry and I really enjoyed our visit to Montana a few years back and got to Glacier Nat'l Park just as they opened the road to the top. We took the Red Bus up there and I am glad I did since I got the opportunity to enjoy the view and get some great photos. Beautiful and wild area.

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  5. It's Okay, Sandie, you'll be on the road soon.
    I'm surprised that I remembered the millionaire's stories from our Helena tour.

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  6. I love to hear the crazy laws that have been enacted in our states....and to speculate on what must have triggered them. Fun. Miss you guys.

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  7. So maybe there didn't use to be a lot of women there and those sheep needed a chaperone?

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  8. Very interesting--I knew some of them. When I started dating Michael, he drank Jim Beam whiskey and would walk up to the bar and order a "Beam ditch"--I found that so different!

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  9. I'll be visiting Montana as soon as I can find a chaperone for my sheep... :cD

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  10. Aw shucks! Guess I'll have to skip the fishing in Montana.

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  11. Sounds like an interesting place to visit, especially for the Jack Ditch !

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  12. I LOVE Montana ..hope to visit again one day. That's pretty cool trivia. When we were in Polson last July, we saw a bumper sticker that said..."Montana is full, go home!" We heard it just hit one million in population.

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  13. When I was in high school in Illinois there was a law on the books that women could not wear a skirt that exposed their ankles. Right!

    One of the things that Jesse Ventura did right when he was governor of Minnesota was to get a bunch of those laws off the books.

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  14. 15" snowflake? Amazing.

    Houston needs to send some of their population in Montana.

    Cute post!

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  15. I love Montana...even before reading your post! :) Love the special laws for women (and the sheep 'rule' was interesting) and the 15" snowflake!

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  16. Loved this post! Very informative, most of which I didn't know. LOL

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  17. I love stuff like this Sandy. Thanks for posting it.

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  18. Cool trivia! The 15" snowflake is mighty hard to believe though.

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  19. Montana sounds a great place. Love reading your blog.

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  20. 15 inch snowflake? Maybe they were drinking too many Jack Ditches? And illegal for women to fish alone? I'm very disappointed in that one! Might have to skip MT now :-(

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  21. A 15 inch wide snowflake??? get out ~ I really really like Montana… I 100% agree that the Going to the Sun Road is indeed a knockout…. an absolute knockout

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Thanks for visiting today. I look forward to reading your comments. Have a beautiful day.