Montana

I spent a while going through my photos of Montana landscapes, thinking I would do a shot centering around "Big Sky Country" but then I got to looking at the Library of Congress archives and found this photo in 1943 (see it on Flickr) and I just loved it. I regret having to crop out the dog, though, because he makes the photo so much better.

Some fun Montana facts while I'm at it:
* We were the first state to elect a woman to Congress (our neighbors to the south, Wyoming were the first to give women the right to vote.)
* We have the only platinum/paladium mine in the United States (my brother works there as an electrician)
* Our state abbreviation ("MT") aptly describes the state when pronounced as letters ("empty")
* We average 1.4 elk, 1.4 antelope and 3.3 deer per square mile of the state (plus or minus, depending on the success of Rogie's hunting trip)
* The sign of the vigilantes ("3-7-77") was painted on fences and buildings as a warning to outlaws and it still is on the seal of the Montana State Highway Patrol. Some say the numbers were the dimensions of a grave (3 feet wide, 7 feet down, 77 inches long) or how long someone had to leave town (3 hours, 7 minutes, 77 seconds)
* Driving east/west on Interstate 90, the state is just over 550 miles wide
* When the Federal government mandated a 55 mile per hour speed limit to conserve fuel consumption, Montana thumbed its' collective nose at the Feds by making violation of that limit a non-moving violation for "Failure to Conserve Natural Resources" and the ticket was $5. People commonly drove across the state with a supply of $5 bills ready to go. In the 90s, when the Federal limit was removed, the state effectively had no speed limit besides the "Basic Rule" to drive "reasonably and prudent for conditions." (I would drive Billings to Bozeman in as little as an hour and 20 minutes, which is averaging around 90mph.) We now have a 75mph speed limit on highways. We also have trouble keeping under it.

Enough boring you about the state where I hang my hat!