Missoula, Montana

"Missoula" redirects here. For a ship in the United States Navy, see USS Missoula.

City of Missoula, Montana
City
Missoula, Montana viewed from the top of Mount Sentinel in 1999.
Seal
Nickname:  The Garden City
Location of Missoula in Montana
Country	United States
State	Montana
County	Missoula
Founded	1866
Government
• Mayor	John Engen
Area
• City	23.9 sq mi (61.9 km2)
• Land	23.8 sq mi (61.6 km2)
• Water	0 sq mi (0 km2)
Elevation	3,209 ft (978 m)
Population  (City 2006 and Metro 2000)
• City	64,081
• Density	2,397.1/sq mi (925.5/km2)
• Metro	95,802
	City Population Estimate from city-data.com and metro population is the population of Missoula County.
Time zone	UTC-7 (Mountain)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-6 (Mountain)
Area code	406
FIPS code	30-50200
GNIS feature ID	0787504
Website	www.ci.missoula.mt.us

Missoula is a city in and the county seat of Missoula CountyTemplate:GR in western Montana, United States. The population was 57,053 at the 2000 census, and the estimated population is 64,081, as of July, 2006. As of the United States 2000 Census the population of the Missoula Metropolitan Area is 95,802, making it the second-largest city and Metropolitan Area in Montana. Missoula is the home of the University of Montana. It is the birthplace of Jeannette Rankin (1880–1973), the first woman elected to the U.S. Congress. Missoula is nicknamed the Garden City. Local news sources include the Missoulian, the Missoula Independent, and New West Missoula. It is served by Missoula International Airport.

Geography and climate

Missoula is located at 46°51′45″N 114°0′42″W (46.862633, -114.011593)Template:GR.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 23.9 square miles (61.9 km²), of which, 23.8 square miles (61.6 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.3 km²) of it (0.46%) is water. Missoula is located in a deep valley near the Clark Fork River, the Bitterroot River and the Blackfoot River. The city is the namesake of Glacial Lake Missoula, which caused catastrophic floods across the northwest between 15,000 and 13,000 years ago.

Because it is located in a valley, Missoula suffers from smoke, soot, and occasional fog inversion during the winter months. There have been emissions restrictions placed on various industries, and the burning of wood in wood stoves. In recent years, those restrictions have resulted in significant improvement in the problem.

Monthly Normal and Record High and Low Temperatures
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Rec High °F	59	66	78	87	95	98	107	105	99	85	73	60
Norm High °F	30.8	37.4	48.1	58	66.1	74.5	83.6	83.2	71.5	57.4	40	30.3
Norm Low °F	16.2	20.5	27.1	32.4	39.3	45.9	50.2	49.3	40.6	31.4	24	16.5
Rec Low °F	-33	-27	-13	14	21	30	31	30	20	0	-23	-30
Precip (in)	1.06	0.77	0.96	1.09	1.95	1.73	1.09	1.15	1.08	0.83	0.96	1.15
Source: USTravelWeather.com [1]

Demographics

The Clark Fork River flows through downtown Missoula. (2003)

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 57,053 people, 24,141 households, and 12,336 families residing in the city. (A 2004 estimate puts the city's population at 61,790.) The population density was 2,397.1 people per square mile (925.6/km²). There were 25,225 housing units at an average density of 1,059.8/sq mi (409.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 93.57% White, 2.35% Native American, 1.23% Asian, 0.36% African American, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 0.51% from other races, and 1.87% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.76% of the population.

There were 24,141 households out of which 24.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.9% were married couples living together, 10.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 48.9% were non-families. 33.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.23 and the average family size was 2.88.

In the city the population was spread out with 19.7% under the age of 18, 20.7% from 18 to 24, 29.4% from 25 to 44, 19.8% from 45 to 64, and 10.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $30,366, and the median income for a family was $42,103. Males had a median income of $30,686 versus $21,559 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,166. About 11.7% of families and 19.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.5% of those under age 18 and 9.3% of those age 65 or over. 38% of Missoula residents age 25 and older have a bachelor's or advanced college degree.

History

The first inhabitants of the Missoula area were American Indians from the Salish tribe. They called the area "Nemissoolatakoo," from which "Missoula" is derived. The word translates roughly to "river of ambush/surprise," a reflection of the inter-tribal fighting common to the area. The Indians' first encounter with whites came in 1805 when the Lewis and Clark expedition passed through the Missoula Valley.

There were no permanent white settlements in the Missoula Valley until 1860 when C. P. Higgins and Francis Worden opened a trading post called the Hellgate Village on the Blackfoot River near the eastern edge of the valley. It was followed by a sawmill and a flourmill, which the settlers called "Missoula Mills". The completion of the Mullan Road connecting Fort Benton, Montana with Walla Walla, Washington and passing through the Missoula Valley meant fast growth for the burgeoning city, buoyed by the U.S. Army's establishment of Fort Missoula in 1877, and the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1883. With this Missoula became a trading center in earnest, distributing produce and grain grown in the agriculturally prosperous Bitterroot Valley. Businessmen A. B. Hammond, E. L. Bonner, and R. A. Eddy established the Missoula Mercantile Company in the early 1880s.

The city's success was aided by two other factors. First was the opening of the University of Montana in September 1895, serving as the center of public higher education for Western Montana. Then, in 1908, Missoula became a regional headquarters for the Forest Service, which began training smokejumpers in 1942. The Aerial Fire Depot was built in 1954, and big industry came to Missoula in 1956, with the groundbreaking for the first pulp mill.

Until the mid 1970s, logging was a mainstay industry with log yards throughout the city. Many ran teepee burners to dispose waste material, contributing to the smoky haze that sometimes covered the town. The current site of Southgate Mall was once the location of the largest log-processing yard within several hundred miles. The saws could be heard over two miles away on a clear summer night. However, by the early 1990s, changes in the economic fortunes in the city had shut down all the Missoula log yards.

Missoula is located within the flyfishing Golden Triangle and is a popular area for hunting mule deer, elk, bear, moose, and other game animals. This provides Missoula with an ample tourism industry based on hunting and fishing.

Local attractions

Missoula is located near the Rattlesnake Wilderness and Rattlesnake National Recreation Area, two areas that protect Missoula's municipal watershed and serve as wildlife habitat and recreational areas. The nearest ski area is Montana Snowbowl. The U.S. Forest Service's smokejumper base, the largest of its kind, is located near the Missoula airport. Free tours of the base are popular with tourists during the summer wildfire season. A walking bridge over the downtown railroad yards of the Montana RailLink railroad is a popular destination for railfans. The Missoula Osprey are the local minor league baseball team.

Missoula is considered by many to be the mecca of bicycle travel, because of the presence of Adventure Cycling Association (formerly known as Bikecentennial), North America's largest cycling membership organization. Thousands of bike travelers come through Missoula and stop at Adventure Cycling's downtown headquarters (in a former church at 150 E. Pine Street] for free ice cream, advice, and the chance to be photographed.

Education

Missoula is home to the main campus of the University of Montana. There are three public high schools: Hellgate High School, Sentinel High School, and Big Sky High School, and three private schools: Sussex School, Valley Christian School, and Loyola Sacred Heart High School.

Arts

Missoula has a thriving arts scene. The International Wildlife Film Festival, the largest animal-themed film festival in the world, is held annually at the historic Wilma Theatre. The Missoula Children's Theatre is an international touring program that visits nearly 1,000 communities per year. The Children's Theatre routinely has residencies in all fifty states, Canada, Japan, Germany, Italy, and many other countries.

The city is frequently mentioned in novels of Ernest Hemingway, Stephen Frey, Chuck Palahniuk, James Lee Burke, James Crumley, and Norman Maclean. In his novel, A River Runs Through It, Maclean wrote that "The world is full of bastards, the number increasing rapidly the further one gets from Missoula, Montana."

Missoula is home to a diverse and influential music scene. Members of bands such as Deranged Diction, which formed in Missoula, later moved to Seattle and became key members of groups such as Green River, Mother Love Bone, Pearl Jam, Silkworm, and Love Battery, playing an important role in the birth of the grunge movement. The city is prominently featured in "Apology Song" by Oregon indie-band The Decemberists.

Sister cities

Missoula has two sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI):

• Neckargemünd, Germany
• Palmerston North, New Zealand

External links

• Missoula city official website
• Missoula County official website
• University of Montana
• National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Missoula