Editor's Note: In our series about the states formed from the Louisiana Purchase land, each writer will answer the same questions you'll find here. If you save the articles, you will be able to compare states before planning your vacation in the Purchase.
Top two annual festivals:
Lewis and Clark Festival - A weeklong "rediscovery" of the Lewis and Clark journey through the Louisiana Purchase area, with living history re-enactments, Indian encampments, buffalo barbecues and Missouri River float trips. (Great Falls, each June)
Miles City Bucking Horse Sale - This showdown between Montana's wildest, most cantankerous horses and the cowboys fool enough to ride them helps the rodeo horse buyers choose their stock. Everyone else comes along for the party - from craft shows to street dances. (Eastern Montana, each May)
The best legend - true or not:
Charlie Russell, Montana's famed cowboy artist, was asked to speak to the state Chamber of Commerce - just once. Russell told the business types that they were ruining Montana by promoting homesteading, which, he said, was turning the state "grass side down." Writing to a friend in 1913, Russell said, "The boosters say it's a better country than it ever was but it looks like hell to me." The C.M. Russell Museum is in Great Falls; www.cmrussell.org
Three must-see places
Glacier National Park - Drive the Going-to-the-Sun Highway, cross the Continental Divide or hike the glacial wilderness - with bells on your boots, to warn the grizzlies you're coming. Make reservations at one of Glacier's historic hotels or hike into the backcountry's Sperry Chalet. Park information, www.nps.gov/index.htm Park reservations, www.glacierparkinc.com.
Little Bighorn Battlefield - This where the Sioux and Cheyenne, under Sitting Bull, defeated the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment led by Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer. This was not only Custer's last stand, but with the buffalo and their ancestral lands taken, it was in many respects the Plains Indians' last stand as well (www.nps.gov/libi)
Rodeos or County Fairs - Rural towns are where Montana happens. Attend a local event to capture their spirit. Listings at www.visitmt.com.
Three places to avoid
The Interstates - If you want to see Montana, get off the big roads.
The Big Hole River - Even Lewis and Clark complained about the mosquitoes.
Butte's Big Hole - Downtown Butte features an abandoned open-pit mine, now filled with poisonous water.
Best place to taste regional cooking
Montana cuisine boils down to one question: "How do you want your steak?" Venison, buffalo and elk steak are available only in season, but beef is always in season. A few traditional steak houses: Edie's, Great Falls. Rex's, Billings. Lydia's Super Club, Butte. Land of Magic, Logan.
A famous native son or daughter
The longest-serving majority leader in the U.S. Senate was also the ambassador to Japan under both Presidents Carter and Reagan: All-around-good-guy Mike Mansfield.
A major problem residents now face:
Montanans, caught between a rock and the Rockies, want to control growth, attract high-paying jobs, keep their Big Sky "high, wide and handsome" and not have anyone tell them what they can or can't do with their land.
The best joke locals tell on themselves - or their rival state:
They say here, "North Dakota's not the end of the world, but you can see it from there."
- Information on all places noted above - except North Dakota - is at www.visitmt.com
