MONTANA, the "Treasure State," is situated in the north western part of the United States of America between lat. 44° 26' and 49° N. and long. 204° and 116° W. of Greenwich. It is bounded north by the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan; east by North Dakota and South Dakota; south by Wyoming and Idaho; west by Idaho. In size it ranks third among the States of the Union, having a land area of 146,131 sq.m. and a water area of 866 sq. miles. Its greatest length is 556 m., and its width is about one-half as much. The Territory was organized in 1864, and admitted to the Union in 1889. Its name, given to it by James M. Ashley, who sponsored the bill for its territorial organization, means "mountainous regions." Physical Rocky Mountains cross the State from north-west to south-east, and with their spurs and outlying ranges occupy two-fifths of its area in the west and south-west ; the remaining portion is occupied chiefly by the Great Plains. The continental divide f ollows the boundary line between Montana and Idaho west and north-west from Yellowstone Park in Wyom ing to Ravalli county, then turns southeast through Deer Lodge and Silver Bow counties, then northward to Lewis and Clark county, and from there extends north-north-west into Canada.
The great Bitter Root range of mountains, formed by a great fault, rises abruptly from the Bitter Root basin, and between its long rocky ridges with peaked or saw-toothed crest lines glaciers have cut canyons with high and often precipitous walls. North beyond the Bitter Root mountains is the Cabinet range, and in the extreme north-west are the Kootenai mountains. East of Flat head lake the Mission range rises sheer from the valley floor to sharp magnificent peaks. Between these ranges are broad valleys whose waters flow by the Clark's fork of the Columbia to the Pacific ocean. The north branch of the Clark's fork, the Flathead river, gathers its waters from the Swan and Mission ranges and the western slope of the main range, and flowing south through Flathead lake, the largest in the State, joins the Missoula in Para dise valley to form the Clark's fork. The Missoula comes from the south-east, where, near the town of Missoula, it is formed by the union of the Bitter Root, draining the Bitter Root valley from the south, and the Hell Gate coming down through Hell Gate pass from Deer Lodge valley to the eastward. Through the latter valley the transcontinental lines of the Northern Pacific and Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railways are built. The continental divide
contains peaks more than i o,000 ft. in altitude, but in general it is low, with several passes less than 6,000 feet. Along this divide, just south of the Canadian border, and embracing spurs of the divide with a total area of 915,000 ac., is Glacier National park, containing some of the most rugged scenery in the United States. Deep between the precipitous mountains are long, narrow moun tain lakes, fed by glaciers hung on the shoulders of the peaks above them. The State also contains one of the favourite en trances to Yellowstone Park. Just north of Yellowstone Park are the Absarokas and Beartooth ranges, the latter containing Granite peak (12,85o ft.), the highest elevation in the State.
The Great Plains slope from about 4,000 ft. above the sea at the foothills of the mountains to 2,000 ft. in the north-east section of the State. Rising from them like islands are a number of iso lated mountain groups, such as the Highwoods, Bear Paws, Little Big Snowy mountains and well named Sweet Grass hills. The valleys of the principal streams are deeply eroded, and in their bottom lands contain a black clayey loam, making excellent farm lands which can be irrigated. Between the valley floor and the dry bench lands a fringe of steep bluffs with intersecting coulees is found. The bench lands usually have a thick layer of sandy loam resting on gravel, and it is here that the so-called "dry-land farm ing" of the State is done. With the exception of a small part of Glacier park and Teton county, which is drained by the Belly and St. Mary's rivers into Hudson bay, the State east of the divide is drained by the Missouri river and its tributaries into the Gulf of Mexico. The Missouri is formed by a union of the Jefferson, Madison and Gallatin rivers. Flowing north from Three Forks, it is joined from the west by the Sun and Teton rivers, and from the north-west by the Marias river. Turning then to the eastward and flowing across the State, it is joined from the south by the Judith and the Musselshell and from the north by the Milk rivers. Finally, just beyond the eastern boundary, it is joined by the Yellowstone, which with its tributaries, the Big Horn, Powder and Tongue rivers, drains the whole southeastern quarter of the State. The channel of the Missouri is generally erratic and its bed sandy and shifting. Its waters are muddy. The Yellowstone, in contrast, is a stream of bright, clear water running over a gravelly bed.