50 Years of 50 States: Montana

Nickname: Treasure State
Date Ratified: November 8, 1889 (41st)
Capital: Helena

Map of Montana

• Montana was the first state to elect a female member to Congress. Jeannette Rankin was elected in 1916, and was a lifelong pacifist. Four days into her term as representative, she voted against the resolution to enter World War I (one of 50 representatives to do so). Subsequently, she was the only Congressperson to vote against entry into World War II. Despite this pioneering event, to this day Jeannette Rankin remains the only female congressperson from Montana.
• Montana was the first state to pass legislation against the federal government’s REAL ID Act.
• This past April, the Montana state legislature was one vote shy of approving House Resolution 3, which would have laid the groundwork for secession from the United States.
• Montana is the one of the lower 48 states not to have a battleship named after it, and the only state not to have a modern naval ship named after it (Alaska and Hawaii both have nuclear subs named after them).
• The current Montana state flag was adopted in 1905, and modified in 1981 to add the word “Montana” above the state seal:

Flag of Montana

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