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Quiz about Montana Big Fun in Big Sky Country

Montana: Big Fun in Big Sky Country Quiz

There is plenty to see in this big state of Montana--its natural wonders attract many thousands of visitors every year. But some attractions are a little more, shall we say, esoteric.

A multiple-choice quiz by BarbaraMcI. Estimated time: 7 mins.

Author
BarbaraMcI

Time
7 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
367,573

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
5 / 10

Plays
380

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. A lot of gold and uranium mining once went on in the area south of Helena, and these defunct mines now attract people who come to drink the radioactive water and bask in this "health treatment". To what are they exposing themselves? Hint

Thorium

Radon

Gamma rays

Thallium

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Question 2 of 10

2. Our Lady of the Rockies is a gigantic sculpture of the Virgin Mary who looks across the toxic pit of a closed copper mine in Butte, Montana. What is she made of? Hint

Rebar

Copper

Steel

Sandstone

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Question 3 of 10

3. Cut Bank, Montana is one of several cities that claims to be the coldest spot in the nation. One thing it has done to enhance its claim is to erect a talking statue on the edge of town to welcome visitors. The statue is of a creature not often found in Montana. What is it? Hint

Penguin

Walrus

Polar bear

Caribou

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Question 4 of 10

4. At the Beaverhead County Fairgrounds in Dillon, Montana, you will find the grave of a famous and beloved animal who died in 1943 after being struck by lightning. What animal was it? Hint

A circus elephant

A lifesaving dog

A war horse

A champion dairy cow

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Question 5 of 10

5. In the late 1930s, "Ripley's Believe It Or Not" featured a story about a sheepdog who appeared one day in 1936 at a railway station in Fort Benton, Montana as a casket was being loaded onto the train. The dog met every incoming train after that, and the station workers realized that the dog was waiting for his master, whose casket it had been. The station workers took care of the dog until he died six years later after falling on the tracks. The people of Fort Benton maintain a memorial to this loyal dog. What was his name? Hint

Pompey

Drum

Shep

Bobby

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Question 6 of 10

6. The town of Havre, Montana has an interesting historical tour. In 1904, much of the town burned down, but the people had a novel idea for shelter while they were rebuilding. What did they do? Hint

They moved underground

They put up a communal building that later became the town hall

They moved into caves

They moved into treehouses

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Question 7 of 10

7. Every September, the roadsides of Montana state highways 239 and 541 between Hobson and Windham display artwork made by local residents out of a material that is plentiful in Montana. What is it? Hint

Bison bones

Hay

Cow manure

Barbed wire

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Question 8 of 10

8. The Superior Hotel in Superior, Montana is no longer in business, but there is a plaque near its former location noting a significant event: the first instance of something in a hotel. What was it? Hint

First elevator in a hotel

First Gideon Bible placed in a hotel

First toilet in a hotel

First hotel to offer room service

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Question 9 of 10

9. There is a picnic shelter on the shore of the Kootenai River in Libby, Montana. It is open to the public's use, but you should be very careful if you take your lunch there. Why? Hint

There are hidden sinkholes

It is contaminated by asbestos dust

There are rattlesnake nests everywhere

There are frequent flash floods

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Question 10 of 10

10. Near the former site of the Fort Shaw Industrial Indian Boarding School in Fort Shaw, Wyoming is an interesting monument. It is a tribute to the girls who attended that school in 1904, and who were sent to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, better known as the World's Fair, in St. Louis to demonstrate their abilities in music, dance, and another skill at which they were named "Champions of the World's Fair". They returned home with a shiny silver cup. At what were they champions? Hint

Basketball

Tennis

Archery

Lacrosse

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

Answer: Radon

Some of the mines have radon levels as much as 175 times the US federal safety level for homes. People sit in the mines for hours a day, playing cards and reading books while their radon levels increase.

2. Our Lady of the Rockies is a gigantic sculpture of the Virgin Mary who looks across the toxic pit of a closed copper mine in Butte, Montana. What is she made of?

Answer: Steel

The man who created the statue was told that the Federal Aviation Agency required anything taller than 90 feet to have a blinking light on the top. Not wanting the statue of Mary to have a blinking light, the sculptor limited the height to 90 feet. It weighs 80 tons, and sits on a 425-ton base. If you don't take a bus tour to see it, you can drive three hours on your own.

Answer: Penguin

The five-ton concrete penguin was built in 1989. You have to push a button to hear the penguin talk, so if it's really that cold, you might want to stay in your car and skip the greeting.

4. At the Beaverhead County Fairgrounds in Dillon, Montana, you will find the grave of a famous and beloved animal who died in 1943 after being struck by lightning. What animal was it?

Answer: A circus elephant

Old Pitt, the elephant, was with her three companions and her owner when she was struck by lightning at the fairgrounds. She had been part of the Cole Brothers Circus, and was given a full funeral complete with a gravestone, which reads "May God bless her". She was 102 years old.

Answer: Shep

Drum was the dog about whom "Eulogy on the Dog", read at Shep's funeral, was written. The Great Northern Railroad put up a lighted marker with a wooden cutout of Shep, and conductors pointed out Shep's marker to passengers. When the railroad stopped passenger service to Fort Benton, the town improved the memorial, and his collar and bowl are displayed in a museum.

6. The town of Havre, Montana has an interesting historical tour. In 1904, much of the town burned down, but the people had a novel idea for shelter while they were rebuilding. What did they do?

Answer: They moved underground

After the 1904 fire, the townspeople moved into the basements of their homes, digging tunnels between them for convenience. Soon they developed an underground community, including a bank and retail stores. Sadly, when the town was restored, the Asian railroad workers were not welcomed back, and were forced to remain below ground. You can see their living areas on a tour.

Answer: Hay

The 22-mile "Montana Bale Trail", held the first Sunday after Labor Day, offers more than 50 hay sculptures, many of them elaborate visual puns. It was first held in 1990, and in 2003 it was named Montana's Tourism Event of the Year.

Answer: First Gideon Bible placed in a hotel

The Gideons, known for distributing free copies of the Bible, began this mission in 1908 in the Superior Hotel. The first passenger elevator in a hotel in the United States was in the Fifth Avenue Hotel in New York, built in 1859. The first toilet in an American hotel seems to be in the Tremont Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts, built in 1829.

The Waldorf-Astoria in New York was the first hotel to offer room service.

9. There is a picnic shelter on the shore of the Kootenai River in Libby, Montana. It is open to the public's use, but you should be very careful if you take your lunch there. Why?

Answer: It is contaminated by asbestos dust

The picnic shelter sign reads "Community Asbestos Memorial Project", and residents are advised not to stir up the asbestos dust from the nearby vermiculite mine. Perhaps you would prefer to dine at home.

Answer: Basketball

The school closed six years later, and the girls' success was largely forgotten for a hundred years until the monument, capped by an arch reading "1904 World Champions", was erected. A book, "Full-Court Quest", was published about the team in 2014.

Source: Author BarbaraMcI

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