1938: Montana

Area and Population.

Admitted to the Union November 8, 1889, Montana ranks third in size among the states, with an area of 146,997 square miles, approximately one-third lying west of the Continental Divide. The average mean altitude is 3,400 feet above sea level, the extremes being the Kootenai River in the northwest corner of the state, 1,800 feet above, and Granite Peak, north of Yellowstone National Park, 12,850 feet. Forty million acres are classified as agricultural land.

In population, Montana ranks 39th, numbering 537, 606 (1930 census), of whom 517,327 are whites, and of these 444,366 are natives. There are 14,798 Indians, 2,571 Mexicans, 1,256 Negroes. The Federal estimate in July 1, 1937, gave Montana a population of 539,000. Butte, the largest city, has a population of 39,532 (1930 census); Helena, the capital, 11,803. Other important cities are Great Falls, 28,822; Billings, 16,380; Missoula, 14,657; Anaconda, 12,494.

Industry.

Agriculture and livestock yield about $100,000,000 annually; mines, about $55,000,000. In addition to the latter, gas and oil wells in fourteen of the fifty-six counties produce about 24,000,000 M cubic feet of natural gas annually, valued at over $6,000,000, and about 5,500,000 barrels of petroleum with a value of more than $7,000,000. Lumbering, hydroelectric power production, and out-of-state tourist trade are also notable sources of income. Dude ranching, fur trapping and fur farming also contribute materially. Manufacturing plants include three large smelters, five beet sugar mills, several oil refineries, flour mills, breweries, brick and tile factories, and many creameries.

Mineral Products.

Of the total value of Montana's metals for 1937, which amounted to $58,402,016, copper, in which the state ranks third in the Union, accounted for nearly 60 per cent. With an increase for the year of 32 per cent over 1936, or 289,056,000 pounds, compared with 219,088,000, copper values were $34,975,776 in 1937 as against $20,156,096 in the preceding year. Gold production, too, increased substantially, from 180,209 oz. to 202,252 oz., a rise of 12 per cent, chiefly from lode mines. Silver, in which Montana ranks second, or next to Idaho, remained much the same in amount and value as in 1936; production being 11,812,093 oz., valued at $9,136,654. The state also produced 5,805,000 bbl. of petroleum; and 39,168 tons of zinc (value, $5,091,840). This was a decrease in amount for the latter of about 20 per cent from the preceding year, but with a slight rise in value.

Education.

A total of about 105,000 children are enrolled in the public schools of Montana, including grade and high schools. In 1935-36 enrollment in private and parochial schools totaled 8,073. In 1937 there were 3,433 pupils enrolled in vocational education classes.

Events of the Year.

As a result of the general election of November 8, the majority in both houses of the Legislative Assembly will continue to be Democratic. A referendum vote sustained an act of the 1937 session of the Assembly which provided for the sale of liquor by the glass for consumption upon the premises.

Ranking as a major disaster in 1938 was the wreck of the 'Olympian,' a westbound train of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad on June 19, when forty-seven lives were lost. The wreck occurred about thirty miles east of Miles City, at Custer Creek where a cloudburst had weakened the railroad bridge. Earlier in the year, on January 10, a Northwest Airlines plane crashed fourteen miles northwest of Bozeman, killing ten persons.

Notwithstanding a damaging earthslide, continued progress was made in the construction of the great Fort Peck Dam on the Missouri River, a Federal project being built by army engineers. The Montana Power Company completed its Polson Dam on the Flathead river, a hydro-electric project, the dam being 200 feet high and 800 feet long. Several large gold-dredging enterprises operated successfully in Montana during the year.

State Officers.

The chief state officers are: Governor, Roy E. Ayers; Lieutenant Governor, Hugh R. Adair; Secretary of State, Sam W. Mitchell; Treasurer, Ray Shannon; Auditor, John J. Holmes; Superintendent of Public Instruction, Ruth Reardon.

Judiciary.

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Howard A. Johnson; Associate Justices: Leif Erickson, S. V. Stewart, C. F. Morris, and A. H. Angstman, Clerk of the Court, A. T. Porter. Members of the Court are elected upon a nonpartisan ballot.

United States Senators:

Burton K. Wheeler and James E. Murray.