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Plan your family vacation around Montana recreation and  while you're enjoying the scenery, why not check out available properties and homes in the area? Montana is truly the "Last Best Place" and you can become a part of it.
Montana comes to mind as premier ski country, but that's not all there is to this big state. There are summer and winter vacation packages emphasizing quality amenities as well as programs focusing on the discovery and appreciation of nature. Horseback riding, fly fishing naturalist programs, and children's activities are offered in the warmer months. Where better to hike than the vast backcountry of Yellowstone Park, the Gallatin National Forest, and the Bob Marshall Wilderness?
For water lovers, there are float trips,  water skiing, rafting, and fishing. That's blue-ribbon trout fishing! Montana offers excellent guides for all of these and more. For land lovers, there are pack trips, mountain climbing, ice climbing, guided horseback tours, and programsfor specific interests such as birds, rocks, and astronomy. Where better to study the stars than beneath the Big Sky of Montana? There are thousands of miles of trails for backpacking and mountain biking. Montana also offers the best in big game hunting and, don't forget, rodeos are a big part of Montana entertainment.
For the culturally inclined, Montana offers more than 125 historical/art museums. There are over a hundred public libraries and almost that many institutional libraries, the two largest located in the state universities in Bozeman and Missoula.
Montana has something for everyone, and you can bet your bottom dollar you've never seen a sunset like a Montana sunset. So make Montana a part of your next vacation and round up some experiences you will never forget. And remember to stop in and say hello to Bonnie and the gang at Montana Homes & Land!
The Montana state seal is designed to portray Montana's history and natural beauty. A sunrise peeks over snowy mountains and waterfalls, the Missouri River, mountains, hills, trees, and cliffs. These features are placed behind three tools; a pick, a shovel, and a plow. These tools are symbols of Montana's mining and farming, past and present. Montana's farming history includes crops of apples, wheat, mint, sugar beets, cherries, and others.
The seal changed when Montana became a state in 1889. Montana's first seal had a buffalo where the trees are now, and the falls and river were different, but it was very similar to the design today.
The Montana flag shows the state seal against a blue rectangle with yellow edging. The appearance of the flag was copied from a flag carried into battle during the Spanish-American War in 1898 by Montana Volunteers. The name "MONTANA" at the top was not added until 1981.
The bitterroot (Lewisia rediviva) was a logical historical choice. In 1805, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark "discovered" the plant in the western Montana valley that now bears its name. 
Long before the exploration of Lewis & Clark, Montana's Native Americans had been using the bitterroot as an important part of their diet. Tribes timed their spring migrations with the blooming of the bitterroot on the gravel river bars and hillsides. Dug, cleaned, and dried, the root provided a lightweight, nutritious supplement to a wild-game diet. One ounce of dried root provided sufficient nourishment for a meal, but the plant was seldom eaten raw, for its bitter taste and resultant swelling caused great discomfort. More traditionally, Native American women boiled the root, then mixed it with meat or berries. Pulverized and seasoned with deer fat and moss, the cooked root could be molded into patties and carried on hunting expeditions or war parties.
A Native American story tells how the bitterroot came to be. The story says the sun heard a mother crying because she couldn't find food for her family. The sun changed her tears into the bitterroot so she would always have food for her children.
You can find the bitterroot growing near the mountains and boulders of western Montana in spring and summer.
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The magnificent ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) is the most common tree in Montana and early settlers used it to make most of their buildings. Ponderosa timber served everywhere, from railroad ties and telegraph poles to mine bracing and homes.
Montana's lumbermen have seconded the praise over the years, harvesting millions of board feet from public and private lands throughout the state. In a recent year, the value of ponderosa pine harvested from public land alone was more than four million dollars.
Today the ponderosa pine may be found in most parts of western Montana. Its range includes the entire West, from the plains to the Pacific Coast. On the average, the tree reaches maturity around 150 years of age and stands from 60 to 125 feet tall with some approaching 180 feet, approximately 20 to 30 inches in diameter. Wild turkeys feed on its seeds.
The beauty and value of the ponderosa pine makes it truly representative of Montana.
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State Animal - Grizzly Bear Montana is really the only one of the "lower" forty-eight states that has a grizzly population. By its very size, strength, and beauty, the grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) represents an awesome spectacle. Montana itself shares that same characteristic. 
The grizzly has historical significance. Lewis and Clark made numerous references to grizzly spottings and episodes in their journals.
Adult grizzlies can grow to weigh 1,500 pounds and eight feet long. Grizzlies like fish, and they have been seen killing and eating over 100 fish in one day. They can run as fast as a horse for short distances. They are the largest meat-eating land animals in America. Wildlife experts say fewer than 1000 grizzlies are left in the western United States. When grizzlies are seen in northwestern Montana, it's usually in places like the Cabinet and Mission Mountains, or Glacier National Park.
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State Fossil - Maiasaura (Duck-billed Dinosaur) Some of the most important fossils in the world came from Montana. Scientists digging in Choteau, Montana, found what they termed "Egg Mountain."  The mountain, and the area surrounding it, was filled with fossilized eggs, infants, and adult dinosaurs from 80 million years ago. It was the first proof that some dinosaurs took care of their babies the way birds do now. That's how the Maiasaura got its name which means "good mother lizard." Their round nests were six or seven feet wide and could hold 25 eggs. The hatched babies weighed about as much as a phonebook and were about one-foot long. Adult Maiasauras weighed almost 6,000 pounds and were almost 30 feet long.
State Gems - Sapphire & Agate 
Found mostly in the western part of the state, Montana's sapphires look like brilliant blue glass. They are cut just like diamonds are to make jewelry. There are Montana sapphires in the Royal Crown Jewels of England. Montana sapphires were not always  considered valuable. In fact, during the gold rush days, miners threw them away because they clogged up the screens used to separate gold from sand and dirt. Now sapphires are the most valuable jewels found in America. The Yogo Gulch Deposit located near historic Utica, Montana, is the only source of Yogo sapphires. Other sapphires found in Western Montana (known as "Montana Sapphires") do not have the Yogo's cornflower blue color and brilliance and usually are heat-treated by man to attain their color.
Agates are found in southern and eastern Montana. They are polished, not cut, to make gemstones and jewelry. Agates are usually white with swirls of grey and black spots.
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State Fish - Blackspotted Cutthroat Trout 
There are many kinds of trout, but the blackspotted cutthroat trout was chosen as state fish to let people know it was in trouble. Changes in the environment and too much fishing have made the blackspotted cutthroat hard to find. Its name comes from the black spots that run down its back and a pinkish-red splotch on its jaw. The cutthroat trout is a favorite food for grizzly bears and a favorite catch of fishermen.
State Bird - Western Meadowlark 
Chosen as the Montana state bird in 1805, the western meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta) is known for its loud, cheerful chirps. About as large as a robin with a bright yellow chest and throat under a black collar, the western meadowlark builds its nest on the ground. It lays between three and seven white eggs with purple and brown spots. The eggs only take two weeks to hatch. The western meadowlark can be found sitting on fence posts in spring and summer along most dirt roads. Lewis and Clark were the first to write about the western meadowlark in 1805.
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 State Grass - Bluebunch Wheatgrass Bluebunch wheatgrass (Agropyron spicatum) is found all over the state of Montana and all through the West. Found mostly in flat areas and below mountains, bluebunch wheatgrass is important to cattle and sheep ranchers as forage for their livestock.
Montana's state motto is Oro y Plata, from Spanish for gold and silver.
Montana is also known as the "Big Sky Country," "Land of Shining Mountains," the "Mountain State," and the "Bonanza State."
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"Montana," the state song, was written in one night by a Montana newspaper editor and a famous songwriter in 1910.
Tell me of that Treasure State
Story always new,
Tell of its beauties grand
And its hearts so true.
Mountains of sunset fire
The land I love the best
Let me grasp the hand of one
From out the golden West.
Montana, Montana,
Glory of the West
Of all the states from coast to coast,
You're easily the best.
Montana, Montana,
Where skies are always blue
M-O-N-T-A-N-A,
Montana, I love you.
Each country has its flow'r;
Each one plays a part,
Each bloom brings a longing hope
To some lonely heart.
Bitter Root to me is dear
Growing in my land
Sing then that glorious air
The one I understand.
Montana, Montana,
Glory of the West
Of all the states from coast to coast,
You're easily the best.
Montana, Montana,
Where skies are always blue
M-O-N-T-A-N-A,
Montana, I love you.
Written by Charles C. Cohan
Composed by Joseph E. Howard
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State Ballad - Montana Melody
in the pictures of my dreams
Where there's mountains full of trees,
meadows carpeted in green
Silent, snow-fall, clear running streams.
Where the bear-grass blooms
In the spring-time of the year,
And the larch turn gold in the Fall
Where there's deer, elk and antelope
Beaver, bears and birds and the yippin'
coyotes serenade them all.
Chorus:
Yes, there's no place like Montana,
the Big Sky country, my home.
A place to set my spirit free,
a Rocky Mountain melody,
These things are a part of me,
Montana, Montana, my home.
Charlie Russell clouds paint sunsets in the West,
in colors of red, blue and gold.
Snow-capped peaks reach endless to the sky,
and the grain-fields with gentle breezes flow.
There's high mountain lakes, Missouri river breaks
and the open plains, where the buffalo used to roam.
It's a cowboy song, it's where Indians belong
God's country, my home sweet home.
I had a dream, of how Heaven's s'posed to be,
and when I die, that's where I want to go.
'Cause there's mountains full of trees, meadows
carpeted in green, silent snowfall, clear running streams.
Chorus:
Written by LeGrande and Carleen Harvey
Composed by LeGrande Harvey
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The Fine Print: The information contained herein has been provided by the owners and other sources deemed to be reliable. However, this information is not guaranteed by the Broker nor by the Agents. Prospective buyers should rely on their own independent investigation and judgment. Note: This site links to other sites and is not responsible for the content on such sites.
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