If you grew up in Montana, you probably learned quite a bit about local history in school — the year it became a state, details about our mining history, and more. You might have even learned some quirky facts. But we’re fairly certain the standard curriculum never mentioned anything about these little tidbits.
- We had a fully functioning brothel that stayed open until 1982.
Jimmy Emerson, DVM / Flickr The Dumas Brothel in Butte was founded by two French Canadian brothers in 1890, and for over a century, it was a popular place for the local miners. It has since become a museum and some even claim it’s haunted.
- The Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman actually has the largest collection of fossils in the country (and one of the largest in the world).
Tim Evanson / Flickr We all know Montana is chock full of dinosaur fossils. You may have even heard of the Dinosaur Trail. But if you visit this museum, the extent of it all becomes clear.
- Montanans are all sitting practically on top of a supervolcano that could kill us all.
josephmccowie / Flickr We share the beautiful Yellowstone National Park with Wyoming, and below the surface sits the Yellowstone supervolcano, which would kill as many as 90,000 people immediately and spread a 10-foot layer of molten ash as far as 1,000 miles from the park if it erupted. The damage would be catastrophic, but here’s the good news: an eruption of this scale isn’t likely in any of our lifetimes. The likelihood of an eruption is about 0.00014 percent each year.
- Montana has the largest population of grizzly bears in the lower 48 states.
Princess Lodges / Flickr When you start hiking in Montana, it becomes second nature to find out if your area of choice has had any recent grizzly sightings – and we’re always told to carry bear spray. That’s because these majestic and dangerous creatures are abundant here. To learn more about them, just visit the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone.
- One of the worst mining disasters in American history happened in Montana in 1943.
Wikipedia The Smith Mining Disaster was a dark day in Montana’s history. On the morning of February 27, an explosion ripped through Smith Mine No. 3, a coal mine near Bear Creek. Of the 77 men working that day, only three got out of the mine alive, and one of the rescue workers died soon after. The cause of the explosion remains unknown, although some think it was because someone lit a cigarette in the mine.
- You may have learned of the Fort Peck Dam in school, but did you know it’s the largest earth-filled dam in the world?
OmahaUSACE / Flickr The Fort Peck Dam is the largest hydraulically filled dam in the United States, and it creates Fort Peck Lake, the fifth largest man-made lake in the country.
- Montanans have spotted quite a few UFOs hovering over the Treasure State skies.
Jonas Bengtsson / Flickr One of the most famous UFO sightings happened in 1950 at the Malmstrom Air Force Base. There were several witnesses to this sighting, most notably Nick Mariana, the general manager of the Great Falls Electrics minor-league baseball team. While many skeptics have claimed it was a hoax, no one has ever been able to prove what really happened.
Were any of these facts surprising to you? Sometimes we learn the most outside of our classroom walls.
Jimmy Emerson, DVM / Flickr
The Dumas Brothel in Butte was founded by two French Canadian brothers in 1890, and for over a century, it was a popular place for the local miners. It has since become a museum and some even claim it’s haunted.
Tim Evanson / Flickr
We all know Montana is chock full of dinosaur fossils. You may have even heard of the Dinosaur Trail. But if you visit this museum, the extent of it all becomes clear.
josephmccowie / Flickr
We share the beautiful Yellowstone National Park with Wyoming, and below the surface sits the Yellowstone supervolcano, which would kill as many as 90,000 people immediately and spread a 10-foot layer of molten ash as far as 1,000 miles from the park if it erupted. The damage would be catastrophic, but here’s the good news: an eruption of this scale isn’t likely in any of our lifetimes. The likelihood of an eruption is about 0.00014 percent each year.
Princess Lodges / Flickr
When you start hiking in Montana, it becomes second nature to find out if your area of choice has had any recent grizzly sightings – and we’re always told to carry bear spray. That’s because these majestic and dangerous creatures are abundant here. To learn more about them, just visit the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone.
Wikipedia
The Smith Mining Disaster was a dark day in Montana’s history. On the morning of February 27, an explosion ripped through Smith Mine No. 3, a coal mine near Bear Creek. Of the 77 men working that day, only three got out of the mine alive, and one of the rescue workers died soon after. The cause of the explosion remains unknown, although some think it was because someone lit a cigarette in the mine.
OmahaUSACE / Flickr
The Fort Peck Dam is the largest hydraulically filled dam in the United States, and it creates Fort Peck Lake, the fifth largest man-made lake in the country.
Jonas Bengtsson / Flickr
One of the most famous UFO sightings happened in 1950 at the Malmstrom Air Force Base. There were several witnesses to this sighting, most notably Nick Mariana, the general manager of the Great Falls Electrics minor-league baseball team. While many skeptics have claimed it was a hoax, no one has ever been able to prove what really happened.
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Address: Dumas Brothel, 45 E Mercury St, Butte, MT 59701, USAAddress: Museum of the Rockies, 600 W Kagy Blvd, Bozeman, MT 59717, USAAddress: Fort Peck Dam, Nashua, MT 59248, USAAddress: Yellowstone National Park, United States
