Montana Reading Comprehension Lesson

The Land of Shining Mountains

Montana is located in the western United States. There are many mountains in this state — in fact, seventy-seven named ranges of the Rocky Mountains are located in Montana. This fact is reflected in the name of the state. The name “Montana” comes from the Spanish word montaña, which means mountain. Montana has several different nicknames, including “Land of Shining Mountains,” “The Treasure State,” “Big Sky Country,” and “The Last Best Place.”

The state capital is Helena, even though the largest city in Montana is Billings. Montana is bordered by Canada in the north. The western and southwestern border is shared with Idaho, and Wyoming is located to the south. The state’s eastern border is shared with North Dakota and South Dakota. Montana was admitted to the Union in 1889 as the forty-first state. The state flower is the bitterroot, and the state animal is the grizzly bear.

The economy of Montana varies between the eastern and western halves of the state. In the eastern part, the economy is mainly based on wheat farming, ranching, oil, and coal. In the western part, the economy is mainly based on hard rock mining, lumber, and tourism. Montana is home to Glacier National Park, which has two mountain ranges and more than 130 lakes. The park is part of the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, the world’s first international peace park, shared with Canada.

Triple Divide and Famous Battles

One of Montana’s most fascinating geographic features is the Triple Divide. From a single point in Glacier National Park, water can flow toward three different oceans — the Pacific, the Atlantic (via the Gulf of Mexico), and the Arctic (via Hudson Bay). This is the only place in the United States where water from a single point can reach three separate oceans. It also makes Montana one of the most important watersheds on the continent.

Montana is also famous for the Battle of Little Bighorn, sometimes called “Custer’s Last Stand,” which took place in the eastern part of the state in June 1876. Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer and his troops from the U.S. 7th Cavalry were defeated by a combined force of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors led in part by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. The battlefield is now a national monument that visitors can tour to learn the history of the Plains Indian Wars.

Montana is the fourth-largest state in the country by area but one of the least densely populated. There is so much open land that Montana is sometimes called “Big Sky Country” because the sky truly seems to stretch forever. Yellowstone National Park — the world’s first national park — lies just across the Wyoming border, and visitors often travel through Montana to reach it. The state’s combination of mountains, rivers, prairies, and history makes it a popular destination for hiking, fishing, hunting, and skiing.

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