Montana
Presentation is made by
Anna Zinchenko,
4th year student
Group INP-42
LVIV-2015
General Information
Capital of the state: Helena
State motto: “Oro y plata” (Spanish for: “Gold and silver”)
State’s official animal: grizzly bear
State’s official bird: western meadowlark
State’s official flower: bitterroot
Montana was admitted to Union at November 8, 1889 as a 41st state.
The flag of the state of Montana consists of the image of the Montanan state seal centered on a blue field. 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”. The current flag was adopted in 1905.
North American Vexillological Association (NAVA) declared the flag of Montana to be the third worst state/provincial flag, 70th in a field of 72 in a list that contained all the provinces of Canada, U.S. states and U.S. territories. Georgia's flag was named the worst, but has since been changed, and Nebraska's flag was named second worst. The NAVA stated that about half of U.S. states used blue fields making them difficult to distinguish and the survey ranked flags with words and complex seals the lowest.
The state's name is derived from the Spanish word montaña (mountain). Montana has several nicknames, although none official, including “Big Sky Country” and “The Treasure State”, and slogans that include “Land of the Shining Mountains” and more recently “The Last Best Place”.
Treasure State
In 1895 “Treasure State” became the first nickname to gain wide appeal. It appeared on the cover of a promotional booklet published by the Montana Breau of Agriculture, Labor, and Industry. “Treasure State” was chosen because of Montana’s status as the country's foremost producer of metallic treasures — gold, silver, and copper.
Land of Shining Mountains
“Land of Shining Mountains” also appeared in 1895 in the same promotional booklet published by the Montana Bureau of Agriculture, Labor, and Industry that introduced “Treasure State”. This motto had its origins with brothers Pierre and Chevalier Verendrye, French Canadian fur traders and explorers, who gazed upon the northern Rockies and upped them the “Shining Mountains”. According to Joaquin Miller’s 1894 history Montana, Native tribes also referred to the Rockies as “the Shining” because of their snow caps.
Stubbed-Toe State
First seen in the 1922 edition of the World Almanac, the only explanation for Montana as the “Stubbed-Toe State” comes from the Dictionary of Americanisms, which asserts that the nickname refers to the mountainous region of western Montana where the multitude of rocks might pose a hazard to the novice hiker.
Location and Size
With a total area of 147,040 square miles (380,800 km2), Montana is slightly larger than Japan. It is the fourth largest state in the United States after Alaska, Texas, and California; the largest landlocked U.S. state; and the 56th largest national state/province subdivision in the world. To the north, Montana shares a 545-mile (877 km) border with three Canadian provinces: British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, the only state to do so. It borders North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south and Idaho to the west and southwest.