Montana

Montana is a landlocked state in the Mountain West region of the western United States. It ranks as the fourth-largest state by area, yet it is the eighth-least populous and the third-least densely populated. Helena serves as its capital, while Billings is its largest city. The western half of Montana is dominated by mountain ranges, especially the Rockies, whereas the eastern half features prairie landscapes and badlands, with smaller mountains scattered throughout. Most of the state became U.S. territory through the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, and the Lewis and Clark Expedition explored it soon after. The discovery of gold in 1852 at Gold Creek triggered a rush, and the Homestead Acts of 1862 encouraged settlement, leading to statehood on November 8, 1889.

The name "Montana" comes from the Spanish word *montaña*, which traces back to the Latin *montanea*, meaning "mountain" or "mountainous country." Early Spanish explorers called the entire mountainous western region *Montaña del Norte* ("Northern Mountain"). The name was added to a bill in 1863 by the U.S. House Committee on Territories, chaired by James Ashley of Ohio, for what would become Idaho Territory. Representatives Henry Wilson and Benjamin F. Harding objected, claiming "Montana" had "no meaning," and suggested alternatives like Jefferson. When Ashley proposed a new territory carved from Idaho in 1864, he again chose Montana Territory. Representative Samuel Cox, also of Ohio, argued the name was a misnomer since most of the territory wasn't mountainous and preferred a Native American name over a Spanish one. Suggestions like Shoshone were made, but the committee decided they could choose the name, so Montana was adopted.

For thousands of years, Indigenous peoples lived in what is now Montana. Historic tribes encountered by European and American settlers included the Crow in the south-central area, the Cheyenne and Lakota in the southeast, the Blackfeet, Assiniboine, and Gros Ventres in the central and north-central region, and the Kootenai and Salish (also called Séliš or "Flathead") in the west. The Ql̓ispé (Pend d'Oreilles) and Kalispel tribes lived near Flathead Lake and the western mountains. Part of southeastern Montana served as a corridor between the Crow and the related Hidatsa in North Dakota.