WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - State Facts: Montana

Episode Date: February 15, 2024

Nate is joined by Andrew Hawken to talk all about Montana.

Welcome to State Facts, the show where I, State Facts, about the U.S. States. Today I'm joined by Hillsdale's resident at Montana, Andrew Hawkins. How you doing today, Andrew? I'm good, thanks. So where are you from in Montana? I'm from Whitefish, Montana, which is in the northwest corner of the state by Glacier National Park. Interesting. What is the capital of Montana?

You're going to make me remember geography. You said I didn't have to study, but it's Helena. When was Montana admitted to the Union? Ooh, I think it was 1889. Yeah, November 8th, 1889. Hey, I got it. Montana was the blank state admitted to the union. Like, what number was it?

I have no idea, so I'm going to go with 43. 41st. It's pretty close. Yeah, closer than I thought. What's the population of Montana as of 2021? That's about 1.2 million. Man, you're really getting these. A lot of times people struggle with the population.

Well, the funny thing is Montana has one area code for the whole state, which is 406. And when we first moved there, we were kind of surprised by the local fascination with the number 406. And when we found out it was an area code, we looked up the population, and that's when we kind of found out. So, yeah, it's pretty surprising. What's the nickname of the state? Montana is the Treasure State. Yeah, I also found out of my research. It's also the Big Sky State.

Ooh, it is. Especially when you're not in the mountains. you can just see forever. It's amazing. Do you guys like, what's the origin you think? Like, why are you guys the treasure state? Do you guys have a lot of gold or? Yeah, so one of the reasons Montana was first settled

was for the gold and the silver mines. I believe we also had some copper. And lately, they've also been finding a lot of sapphires there. So all in all, a lot of stuff comes out of the ground. A lot of treasure. What's the state bird? State bird. You know, I would hope it would be something cool like the bald eagle, but I don't think it is, so I have no idea.

It's the Western Meadowlark. Isn't that just like an average bird that, like, sits on a tree outside your window? I'm not the one who made the state bird. Yeah, I'm not either. I don't know. What's the state flower? The Columbine? The bitter root. Oh, the bitter root.

Oh, I shouldn't know. A columbine's a flower. Yeah, it is. I think that might be the one from Colorado, actually. What's the state motto? I don't know. Something in Latin. Actually, I think it's Spanish. Oroa plata?

No, it is? Oh, it is. And do you know what it means? Oro. I think plata's like a river. No, it's not. I don't know what it means. It means gold and silver.

Oh, it's gold and silver. We were talking about the treasure state earlier. Yeah, we were just talking about that. Yeah. How about the state fish? I'm going to go with cutthroat trout on that one. Nice. I like fishing.

The fish is also one that usually gets people. Yeah. You're crushing this. How about the state beverage? I'm just going to go with beer, because that's the obvious choice. It's actually whiskey ditch, which is whiskey with water. How about the state tree? Ponderosa pine.

Really? Nice, yeah. How about the state song? These ones usually have really uncreative names. Yeah. Ooh, the state song. Big Sky Country. It's actually just called Montana.

Oh, it is. That's about the most uncreative thing I could come up with. Yeah, they're usually a little bit like that. Yeah. How about the state animal? I think it's the grizzly bear. You guys have a lot of bears? Because I thought, isn't that a little bit south for bears? A little bit, yeah, but I believe we have the largest population of grizzly bears

if you don't count like Alaska. Yeah, no, we have a lot, especially around. Yellowstone, they preserve them in up in Glacian National Park. Note, don't go to Montana. There's too many bears. Exactly. If one of them catches you, brother, you're cooked. How about the state insect? State insect. That's a tough one. I'm going to go with a Mayfly.

The Morning Cloak Butterfly. I've never even heard of that. Yeah. A lot of not like people get the bug either. Yeah. I probably killed like a million of them, and I never even noticed. Oh, it's a butterfly? Oh, yeah. I hope not. Well, maybe I just sat on them.

I don't know. I mowed the grass and, like, wiped out a colony. Fair enough. Well, thanks for coming on the show, Andrew. Yeah, it's been a pleasure. Thanks for me.