4-26 The State of Montana

The great state of Montana became the 41^st state in the Union on November 8, 1889. The capital is Helena.  Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, known as the Corps of Discovery, covered almost 8,000 miles from St. Louis, Missouri, to the mouth of the Columbia River.  The journey took almost two years.  They journeyed westward across Montana from April 1805 to September of that year. On the return trip to St. Louis, in the summer of 1806, the leaders crossed Montana using two separate routes.

President Jefferson hoped that the fur trade might open the West to American settlement.  He was right. Manuel Lisa built the first fur trading post in Montana on the confluence of the Bighorn and Yellowstone Rivers in 1807; just one year after Lewis & Clark completed their journey.

Montana remained a territory for twenty-five years.  It was not until the federal government passed the Enabling Act of 1889 and the voters of Montana Territory ratified a new constitution that Montana was admitted into the Union as the 41st state President Benjamin Harrison.

Emblem/Symbol	Name of Emblem/Symbol	Adopted
Motto	"Oro y plata" - Gold and Silver
Nickname	Big Sky Country
State Seal		1865
State Bird	Western Meadowlark	1931
State Floral Emblem	Bitterroot	1895
State Song	"Montana"	1945
State Tree	Ponderosa Pine	1949
State Flag		1905
State Butterfly	Mourning Cloak	2001
State Ship	Black-spotted Cutthroat Trout	1977
State Animal	Grizzly Bear	1983
State Gemstones	Sapphire and Montana Agate	1969
State Grass	Bluebunch Wheatgrass	1973

Complete the questions below.

1.  Montana became the 41^st state in the Union on November 8, .

2.  The state floral emblem is .

3.  The state tree is the .

4.  The capital of Montana is .

5. "Oro y plata" means .

6.  The Mouring Cloak is the state .

7.  "Montana" is the state .

8.  The state nickname is .

9.  The state animal is the .

10.  built the first fur trading post in Montana.