Destination AMERICA~MONTANA~by rldubour

Monday!!! time to journey (in alpha order) across America this week we visit the great state of:

 

MONTANA

The name comes from the Spanish
And the meaning is “mountainous.”
The nickname is the “Treasure State,”
And that vote was unanimous.

The motto is, “Gold and Silver,”
The residents are called Montanans.
Every spring from the Gulf of Mexico
Is the migration of over 10,000 pelicans.

Thomas Simpson moved from Scotland
And grew wheat they called fife.
The state’s animal is the grizzly bear
A reason to fear for someone’s life

The bird is the western meadowlark.
The Ponderosa pine is the state tree
The flower is the bitterroot and the
The agate and the sapphire are the gems to be.

Towns like Comet and Combination,
Pony, Black Pine and Keystone.
These are Montana’s official Ghost towns
Do not visit them alone!

And just south of Billings, Custer and
His men had made their last stand.
One-hundred and ninety-seven men
All in 20 minutes lay dead upon the land.

The first inhabitants was the Plains Indians,
Today there are seven different reservations.
And Yellowstone National Park is the
First National Park in the Nation.

At Freezout Lake over 300,000 snow geese

And 10,000 tundra swans during migration.

North of Missoula is the largest population

Of nesting loons in the nation.

 

No other place where one can find

The largest migratory Elk herd

And on Egg Mountain near Choteau

Dinosaur eggs were discovered.

 

Dorothy Baker, Will and George Montgomery

Evel Knievel, Gary Cooper and Alfred Guthrie.

Jeannette Rankin, Myna Loy and Dave McNally

Jerry Kramer, Dirk Benedict and Chet Huntley.

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Statehood, November 8, 1889 the 41st state

Capital is Helena

 

AUTHOR NOTES:

Sioux chief, Gall attacked and over ran the rear guard, L and I Companies while Crazy Horse attacked the offensive commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Custer himself. In the end all 197 men on the hill were killed that day in less than 20 minutes In all the final totals not including civilians and scouts were estimated to be as follows: Lieutenant Colonel Custer’s Cavalry battalion of 197 men killed, Major Reno’s Cavalry battalion of 134 had 36 men killed and 26 wounded, Captain Benteen’s Cavalry battalion of 125 had 11 men killed and 29 wounded