Missoula, Montana

City of Missoula, Montana
—  City  —

Seal
Nickname(s): The Garden City, Zoo Town, MisSOULa
Location of Missoula in Montana
Coordinates:
Country United States
State Montana
County Missoula
Founded 1866
Government
 - Mayor John Engen (D)
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 (July 1, 2008)
 - City 68,202
 - Density 2,397.1/sq mi (925.6/km2)
 - Metro 107,320
Time zone Mountain (UTC-7)
 - Summer (DST) Mountain (UTC-6)
Area code(s) 406
[[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]] 30-50200
GNIS feature ID 0787504
Website www.ci.missoula.mt.us

Missoula (pronounced /mɨˈzuːlə/) is a city in and the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, United States. As of the US Census Bureau's 2010 estimate, the population of the city of Missoula is 70,989 making Missoula the second largest city in Montana.The Metropolitian population of Missoula at 2000 was 107,320. [1] [2].

Missoula is the largest media market in the state.[3] Local news sources include the Missoulian and the Missoula Independent. It is served by Missoula International Airport. Missoula was recently ranked number 10 in CNNMoney's list of the best places to launch small businesses.[4]

Missoula is the home of the University of Montana, and the birthplace of Jeannette Rankin (1880–1973), the first woman elected to the U.S. Congress.

Contents

History

The first inhabitants of the Missoula area were American Indians from the Salish tribe. The name "Missoula" is thought to come from the Salish (also known as Flathead) word nmesuletkʷ, the Salish name for the Clark Fork river (Flathead Nation Salish Dictionary). It is commonly believed that this word translates as "river of ambush/surprise," a reflection of the inter-tribal fighting common to the area. However, the word actually has the approximate meaning of "place of freezing/cold liquid", or more roughly "cold water" (cf. Interior Salishan locative marker n-, Southern Interior Salishan sul, 'cold/frozen', and -etkʷ, 'liquid'). This name is thought by some Salish tribal members to refer to Glacial Lake Missoula..

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 Missoula Valley. It was followed by a sawmill and a flour mill, which the settlers called "Missoula Mills". The first post office in the area was named Hellgate and was established November 25, 1862, with Worden as the first postmaster. The name was changed to Missoula on May 14, 1866.[5]

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

Missoula County Courthouse

The city's success was aided by several 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. Big industry came to Missoula in 1956, with the groundbreaking for the first pulp mill.

Logging remained a mainstay industry with log yards throughout the city until the 1970s. Many ran teepee burners to dispose waste material, contributing to the smoky haze that sometimes covered the town. However, by the early 1990s, changes in the economic fortunes in the city had shut down all the Missoula log yards.

With the loss of the log yards,[6] other industries, such as tourism,[7] have arisen. Missoula is located within the flyfishing Golden Triangle and is a popular area for outdoor activities including hunting, skiing, and camping.

Geography and climate

Fall colors in Missoula

Missoula is located at (46.872146, -113.9939982),[8] at an altitude of 3,209 feet (978 m).[9]

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) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.3 km²) (0.46%) is water. Missoula is located in a deep valley in the western part of the state, near where the Clark Fork River is joined by the Bitterroot and Blackfoot Rivers.

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, these restrictions have resulted in significant improvement in the problem.

During the last Ice Age, a lobe of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet blocked the Clark Fork river near what is now Clark Fork, Idaho. The resulting lake, Glacial Lake Missoula, extended approximately 320 kilometers (200 mi) eastward, filling the Missoula Valley. Its former shorelines can now be seen as horizontal lines on nearby mountains.[10]

Missoula has a semi-arid climate (Koppen climate classification BSk), with cold and moderately snowy winters, hot and dry summers, and spring and autumn are short and crisp in between. Winter conditions are usually far milder than much of the rest of the state due to its western position within the state. However the mildness is also induced by the dampness, as unlike much of the rest of the state, precipitation is not at a strong minimum during winter. Winter snowfall averages 43 inches (109 cm), with most years seeing very little of it from April to October. Summers see very sunny conditions, with highs peaking at 84 °F (28.9 °C) in July. However, temperature differences between day and night are large during this time and from April to October, due to the relative aridity.

Demographics

Historical populations
Census Pop. %±
1870 400
—
1880 347 −13.3%
1890 3,426 887.3%
1900 4,366 27.4%
1910 12,896 195.4%
1920 12,668 −1.8%
1930 14,657 15.7%
1940 18,449 25.9%
1950 22,485 21.9%
1960 27,090 20.5%
1970 29,497 8.9%
1980 33,388 13.2%
1990 42,918 28.5%
2000 57,053 32.9%
Est. 2010 70,989 24.4%
source:[14][15]

As of the census[16] of 2000, there were 57,053 people, 24,141 households, and 12,336 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,397.1 people per square mile (925.6/km²) in 2000. 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.

The Clark Fork River in downtown Missoula

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.

Government and politics

Missoula is governed via the mayor-council system. There are twelve members of the city council who are elected from one of six wards. Each ward elects two council members. The mayor is elected in a citywide vote.[17] Missoula is known as a more liberal area than the rest of the state, having 14 Democrats and one Republican in its state legislative delegation.[18]Missoula's Mayor has been John Engen since 2006 and is currently the 50th mayor of missoula,MT[19]

Missoula's mayor John Engen since 2006-Missoula's 50th mayor

Transportation

Missoula is served by Mountain Line public transportation system. Mountain Line operates twelve bus routes throughout the area. The Associated Students of the University of Montana [1] also operate four bus routes that serve the university area.

There is a network of bicycle and pedestrian trails throughout the community, and there is a large population that walks and bike for pleasure and commuting.

A number of transportation-oriented organizations are located in Missoula as well. Free Cycles [2] is a community-based bike shop that provides bikes, parts, and help for those in need. The Bike/Walk Alliance for Missoula[20] aims to enhance biking and walking in Missoula. Missoula in Motion[21] operates an incentive-based program for commuters who choose not to drive alone, and the Missoula Ravalli Transportation Management Association provides vanpool and other transportation demand management services.

Missoula is also home to the Missoula International Airport. Greyhound Lines and Rimrock Trailways provide intercity bus transportation to and from Missoula.

There is no passenger rail service in Missoula, but there is an ongoing effort to restore such service along the former North Coast Hiawatha route. This route, operated by Amtrak until 1979, passed through Missoula and several other Montana cities.

The following major highways pass through Missoula:

Missoula economy

Unemployment rate

Missoula's unemployment rate is one of the lowest in the state of Montana, currently at 6.5%, since Missoula'a economy has been good in the past.

Trade, Transportation, and Utilities is the largest job sector in Missoula, accounting for 11.7% of jobs. The next largest category is Government jobs, accounting for 10.3% of the workforce. The third largest is Education and Health Services at 9.3%, and after this is Leisure and Hospitality at 6.9%. The fifth largest sector is Professional and Business Services at 6.1%.[3]

Medical facilities

St. Patrick Hospital

History

St. Patrick Hospital opened in 1873 under the sponsorship of the Sisters of Providence. The present facility opened in 1984, the fourth St. Pat's on this site above the Clark Fork River. In May 2000, they changed the name from "St. Patrick Hospital" to "St. Patrick Hospital and Health Sciences Center" to reflect an increasing involvement with national medical research and education. The hospital has 195 acute-care beds, and 18 transitional-care beds. In 2003, St. Pat's admitted over 9,705 patients and provided more than 49,986 days of patient care. Approximately 95% of patients come from our 17-county service area.

In November 1999, after imploding the old hospital called the Broadway Building, construction began for a new outpatient services building next to our present hospital building. The Broadway Building opened in March 2002, with two underground floors of parking and six stories of physician offices and outpatient services. Physicians include those from the Western Montana Clinic, the Montana Neuroscience Institute, and the Montana Cancer Center, among others. Outpatient services include physical, occupational, and speech therapy, diabetes services, and cardiac rehabilitation.

Sponsorship

St. Patrick Hospital and Health Sciences Center is a not-for-profit medical center under the sponsorship of the Sisters of Providence. The Sisters share sponsorship responsibilities with community leaders in the form of a governing board, which helps direct the hospital in its endeavors. This governing board, in turn, reports to and is directed by Providence Health and Services. Providence Health and Services is a holding company that represents the Sisters of Providence in leading their sponsored healthcare, higher education, and human services ministries in eastern Washington and western Montana. Sponsorship is a special type of not-for-profit ownership. As sponsors, the Sisters of Providence and Providence Health and Services are accountable to the community, the Catholic church, and state and federal governments for fulfilling the missions of each sponsored organization. [4]

Community Hospital

History

The Missoula Community Hospital and its adjacent medical facilities stand as a gleaming monument to the dedication and vision of hundreds of Montanans and, in particular, two doctors who came west in the early 1900s.

Situated on a grassy plain near historic Fort Missoula, Community Hospital is part of a modern complex that includes a nursing home, the Missoula Crippled Children's Center and private offices.

The story of Community Hospital begins with two brothers who were prominent in the early history of Western Montana medicine.

Dr. Charles Thornton (known affectionately as "Dr. Charles") came west in 1905 to begin a practice in Corvallis, Montana. At that time the mortality rate of spotted or "tick" fever was 80 to 90 per cent. Of the first 11 cases Dr. Charles treated, only one patient died. He subsequently became known throughout the Bitterroot Valley for his ability to treat the dreaded Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.

An ardent sportsman, Dr. Charles was among the first to introduce Chinese and Hungarian pheasants to Western Montana. He also imported and bred German shorthaired pointers to hunt the wily pheasants. At one time, he had more than 30 German pointers in his kennels. Dr. Charles also imported Belgian horses and brown Swiss dairy cattle.

Dr. Charles' brother, Dr. Will Thornton ("Dr. Will") came west in 1907 and started a practice in Stevensville, Montana. He had been a professor of anatomy and had worked with Dr. J. H. Kellogg, the surgeon who established the Battle Creek sanitarium in Michigan. Dr. Kellogg was the older brother of W. K. Kellogg, who developed the corn flake into a multi-million-dollar industry.

Dr. Will performed more than 15,000 major operations in 36 years of active practice, and he participated in the construction and operation of three private hospitals in Western Montana.

In 1910 he built the first hospital in the Bitterroot Valley and ran it until 1917, when he moved to Missoula. At that time, he built the Thornton Hospital, now the Thornton Apartments at the corner of Third and Orange Streets.[5]

Organizations and non-profits

NORML's state office is located in Missoula. Other organizations that call Missoula home include the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, the Boone and Crockett Club, Forward Montana, Western Montana Gay & Lesbian Community Center, the Montana Justice Foundation and the American Indian Business Leaders which is housed at the University of Montana.

Missoula is also home to Missoula Correctional Services a non-profit company that runs a Pre-Release Center for the Montana Department of Corrections and coordinates various city and county programs such as Community Service, Misdemeanor Probation, Pretrial Supervision and the Alternative Jail Program.

Media

Newspapers

AM radio

FM radio

Television

Other education

There are four public high schools: Hellgate High School, Sentinel High School, Big Sky High School, and Willard Alternative High School. There are also several private schools: Missoula International School, Sussex School, Valley Christian School, Loyola Sacred Heart High School, Clark Fork School and Next Step Prep, a performing arts high school opened in 2009 by Missoula Children's Theatre.

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 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 yards of the Montana RailLink railroad is a popular destination for railfans.

Sports

Professional sports teams in Missoula include

Missoula biking system

Missoula is a focal point of bicycle travel, because of the presence of Adventure Cycling Association [6], 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.

Arts

Missoula has a thriving arts scene. The International Wildlife Film Festival,[23] the largest animal-themed film festival in the world, is held annually at the historic Wilma Theatre. The Missoula Children's Theatre [7] 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 Missoula Art Museum [8], exhibits a variety of contemporary art. The museum was founded in 1975, and in 2005 the facilities were renovated and expanded. The museum offers art classes, tours, gallery talks, and has free admission.

The city is frequently mentioned in novels of Ernest Hemingway, Stephen Frey, Chuck Palahniuk, James Lee Burke, James Crumley, and former resident 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 (Jeff Ament), 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. Prior to moving to Portland, Decemberist frontman Colin Meloy studied at the University of Montana. In Missoula, Meloy formed the pop band Tarkio. Wantage Record hostsTotalfest, a yearly diy music festival featuring local and touring acts, in Missoula.

Notable residents

Marijuana

In 2006, voters in Missoula County passed Initiative 2, which made marijuana possession the lowest priority for law enforcement. However, in 2008 a committee established to oversee progress on the initiative found that marijuana arrests rose in the 2 years since its passage. It also concluded, "In short, the lowest priority recommendation issued to public officials by voters in 2006 continues to be mostly disregarded."[24]

City police chief Mark Muir defended criticism of the rising number of arrests, saying the rise could be attributed to "some people [being] more flagrant in their pot smoking because they wrongly believe the initiative protects them within the city."[25]

Sister cities

Missoula has two sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International:

References

  1. ↑ http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/30/3050200.html
  2. ↑ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Template.cfm?Section=Find_a_County&Template=/cffiles/counties/usamap.cfm. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
  3. ↑ The Missoula Independent Online - Superfraud
  4. ↑ "Learn". CNN. http://money.cnn.com/smallbusiness/best_places_launch/2009/snapshot/217.html. Retrieved 2010-05-12. 
  5. ↑ Lutz, Dennis J. (1986). Montana Post Offices & Postmasters, p. 26, p. 35. Minot, North Daokta: published by the author & Montana Chapter No. 1, National Association of Postmasters of the United States.
  6. ↑ About MAEDC
  7. ↑ City of Missoula, Credit Profile
  8. ↑ "US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2005-05-03. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
  9. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Missoula, Montana
  10. ↑ "Section D: Background". Nps.gov. 1993-02-17. http://www.nps.gov/iceagefloods/d.htm. Retrieved 2009-02-09. 
  11. ↑ "Climatography of the United States No. 20 (1971–2000)" (PDF). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 2004. http://cdo.ncdc.noaa.gov/climatenormals/clim20/mt/245745.pdf. Retrieved 2010-06-07. 
  12. ↑ "July 2007 was a record setting month in terms of temperatures across western Montana and north central Idaho". National Weather Service. 2007-08-12. http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mso/climate/month/2007/July/Records/prelimrecords.htm. Retrieved 2007-09-09. 
  13. ↑ "Climatological Normals of Missoula". Hong Kong Observatory. http://www.weather.gov.hk/wxinfo/climat/world/eng/n_america/us/Missoula_e.htm. Retrieved 2010-06-07. 
  14. ↑ Moffatt, Riley. Population History of Western U.S. Cities & Towns, 1850-1990. Lanham: Scarecrow, 1996, 133.
  15. ↑ "Subcounty population estimates: Montana 2000-2007" (CSV). United States Census Bureau, Population Division. 2009-03-18. http://www.census.gov/popest/cities/files/SUB-EST2007-30.csv. Retrieved 2009-05-08. 
  16. ↑ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
  17. ↑ http://www.ci.missoula.mt.us/DocumentView.aspx?DID=461
  18. ↑ "Missoula reputation tough to overcome for local candidates.". Missoulian. 2007-12-23. http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2007/12/23/news/local/news02.txt. Retrieved 2009-02-09. 
  19. ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Engen
  20. ↑ "Bike/Walk Alliance for Missoula - Home". Bikewalkmissoula.org. http://www.bikewalkmissoula.org/. Retrieved 2009-02-09. 
  21. ↑ "Missoula In Motion". Missoula In Motion. http://www.missoulainmotion.com/. Retrieved 2009-02-09. 
  22. ↑ http://missoulian.com/
  23. ↑ "International Wildlife Media Center: Wildlife, Habitat & Culture". Wildlifefilms.org. http://www.wildlifefilms.org/. Retrieved 2009-02-09. 
  24. ↑ Initiative 2 Community Oversight Committee (2009-08-01). "Report on the Implementation of Missoula Marijuana Initiative". http://www.co.missoula.mt.us/initiative2/reports/2008/I2-report-2008-2.pdf. Retrieved 2010-01-18. 
  25. ↑ Matthew Frank, New West Missoula (2008-12-05). "Missoula Marijuana Arrests Up, Report Suggests". http://www.newwest.net/city/article/missoula_marijuana_busts_up_report_suggests/C8/L8/. Retrieved 2009-05-15. 

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