Missoula Montana is the county seat of Missoula County, which is located in Western Montana, near the Clark Fork and Bitterroot rivers. In the 2011 census, the population of the city was 67290 residents, and is the second largest city in Montana. The city is at the convergence of five mountain ranges, and is called the “Hub of Five Valleys” and is also called the “Garden City,” due to its mild winters compared to the rest of the state. It is home to a University of Montana campus and the Northern Regional headquarters for the U.S. Forest Serves. The city is located approximately 45 miles from the border of Idaho, at an altitude of 3,209 feet, in the Northern Rocky Mountain range. Missoula is an area of 27.67 square miles, with Mount Jumbo and Mount Sentinel nearby.
This is an area of Montana, where the logging industry is beginning to slow, but has many other employment and business opportunities for residents and Missoula immigrants. For over one hundred years logging and the university played a central role The city was founded in 1860 and started out as Hellgate Trading Post, which was located in part of the Washington Territory, till the town was moved approximately five miles upstream and renamed Missoula Mills. The name later became shortened, to just Missoula, which was a name chosen by the Montana Legislature.
Today the University of Montana and the two hospitals located in the city employ many of the residents, along with other businesses and retail employment. The Montana Grizzlies, which are one of the strongest college football teams in Division I Football Championship Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, call Missoula home.
Around the city of Missoula are 400 acres of parkland, conservation land and Mount Jumbo, which is home to grazing elk and mule deer during the winter months. There are 22 miles of trails, one of the oldest breweries in Montana and several notable football teams. There is a large population of white-tailed deer, black bears, osprey and bald eagles. There are bank swallows, northern rough-winged swallows, belted kingfishers, killdeer and spotted sandpipers that are found near the river’s edge around Missoula. Many of the birds live in the Ponderosa pines, sandbar willows and the Montana state tree the cottonwood.
Residents and visitors will find the Historic Fort Missoula Museum and Rocky Mountain Museum of Military History transports them back to the old west. The Montana Museum of Arts and Culture has a permanent collection of over 10,000 original works of art dating back to 1884. There is the Bayern Brewing Inc., which is the oldest active brewery in Montana, and the only German microbrewery in the Rockies, with its best selling beer Moose Drool Brown Ale. Outdoor activities include white water rafting, Rattlesnake Creek Park, and Caras Park, which is located in south of the historic downtown area, nearby there is a wooden hand carved carousel and Dragon Hollow, a magical play land for children. There is winter skiing in the Montana Snowbowl, Lost Trail Powder Mountain, Lookout Pass, Blacktail Mountain, Big Mountain and Discovery Ski Area.
