What Missoula is known for

The Missoula Region is named after the city of Missoula, which is a city located within the area. Within the region are multiple lakes, which offer a variety of activities that guests can participate in. Other things to do within the region include parks, museums, water parks, fishing, golfing, and hiking. Caras Park is a park located near the center of Missoula's town square. It holds many events, including Downtown ToNight, First Night Missoula, Hempt Fest, and Symphony in the Park. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is a museum that features information about elk. It has interactive exhibits and different learning activities such as identifying animal tracks and learning about local wildlife. Missoula also has many stores that people can go shopping in, including the Hip Strip and the Southgate Mall.

There are two water parks within the city, namely the Currents Aquatic Center at McCormick Park and Splash Montana. The Currents Aquatic Center is an indoor facility that has water slides, hot tubs, and various spray features. Splash Montana is an outdoor park and offers three slides, zero-depth entry pools, and a log walk. There is also a tour of the historical downtown of Missoula called the Historical Walking Tour of Downtown Missoula. During the tour, there are historical buildings and artifacts. Examples of these are the Missoula County Courthouse, which was finished in 1910, and the Palace Hotel, built-in 1909. Another activity to participate in while visiting Missoula is hiking the "M." It is a short hike with 11 switchbacks. The "M" was constructed in 1908 and was built out of whitewashed rocks that were concreted in place. The hike is 3/4 miles to get to the "M" and 1 3/4 miles to hike to the top of Mount Sentinel.[2] 

In Hamilton, a city in the region, there are multiple things that people can do during their stay. Some of these activities include touring the Daly Mansion, going to Bitterroot River and the Bitterroot National Forest, swimming in Lake Como, skiing at Lost Trail, and cross-country skiing at Chief Joseph Pass. The Daly Mansion was built in the late 1800s. Daly, a man known for building a 585-foot-tall smelter stack that was located 80 miles to the east from the mansion, bought the property with his wife Margaret in 1886. Since then, the mansion has become available for people to tour. The mansion is 24,000 square feet and has over 50 rooms. The décor in the mansion has been preserved, and some of the items in the house have been there since it was first bought by Daly. The mansion hosts community events throughout the year, including Easter egg hunts and Mother's Day tea parties. 

At Bitterroot River, people can go fishing, canoeing, and kayaking. Bitterroot National Forest is home to many hiking trails, including Blodgett Canyon, Bass Creek, and St. Mary Peak. Lake Como offers activities such as swimming, fishing, and kayaking to its guests. At Lost Trail, people can go skiing. The resort has over 1,800 acres that are spread over two mountains. Chief Joseph Pass offers trails for people to go cross-country skiing on. 

Other activities to do near Hamilton include shopping, eating at restaurants, and seeing a historical society.[3] The Missoula Region is best known for the cities within it, including Missoula, Hamilton, and Deer Lodge. Also within the region are mountains, lakes, rivers, and other landmarks. There are also a variety of activities that come with these landmarks, such as fishing, boating, canoeing, kayaking, swimming, and hiking. Famous things in the region include the Daly Mansion, the Currents Aquatic Center, Splash Montana, and Caras Park. There are also multiple downtown areas within the district that are known for their stores and restaurants. The region gets tourists each year in different areas. Tourists usually come from surrounding areas and states. While the city of Missoula gets tourists, it does not heavily depend on them and instead relies on its residents to drive the economy. The time of year that gets the most tourists is from July to August.

Geography

The Missoula Region is located in a part of Montana and Idaho. The region has mountains, lakes, and rivers, along with trees located in two different national forests. It is home to the city of Missoula, Hamilton, and Deer Lodge, along with other cities. Within the region are many mountains and trees. The region has a few flat areas between the moutnains, but doesn't have many fields. Because of the many mountains in the zone, there are a lot of hiking trails that people can go on. 

The zone has a generally circular shape. It curves around Missoula, Drummond, Deer Lodge, Butte, Dillon, Barretts, Salmon, Nez Perce - Clearwater National Forests, and Lolo National Forest. The average weather of the region has a high temperature in June, with the lowest usually being in December and January. The high of the region is around 70 degrees Fahrenheit and with a low of around 28 degrees. Rain is the most likely to fall in June, with other high chances of rain in December and May. Snow falls in the district from October to April, with the highest amount of snow usually falling in March. Because of the weather, the best time to visit Missoula and the surrounding cities is from the beginning of June to the end of September.[4] 

Animals in the area include deer, antelope, badgers, bald eagles, bighorn sheep, bison, black bears, blue herons, bobcats, Canadian lynx, coyotes, elk, golden eagles, and gray wolves. Other animals that inhabit the surrounding landscape include grizzly bears, martens, minks, moose, mountain goats, mountain lions, mule deer, osprey, otters, raccoons, skunks, red foxes, and wolverines.[5] Plants living near Missoula include dahlias, starweed, Lathyrus, irises, tulips, raspberries, roses, and a variety of trees.[6] Because of the topography of the region, there are many different kinds of plants based on different areas of the territory.

History

Missoula's first inhabitants lived in the area nearly 12,000 years ago, with the earliest settlements being built around 3500 BCE. The Salish, Kootenai, Pend d'Oreille, Blackfeet, and Shoshone inhabited the area from the 1700s to the 1850s. Because the Missoula Valley was located at the confluence of five mountain valleys, many Native American tribes inhabited the area, which leads to conflict between them. Many battles and wars were fought between the different tribes for the land. 

Fur trappers who came later named the area Porte de l'Enfer because of human bones strewn about the area. The name Porte de l'Enfer translates to Gate of Hell. The area was called Hell Gate until it was renamed Missoula in 1866. The first U.S. citizens came into the area because of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Hell Gate Village was established in 1860, soon after the discovery of the area. The Missoula Mills replaced Hell Gate Village in 1866 when Hell Gate was renamed Missoula. 

Fort Missoula was established in 1877 to protect arriving settlers. When the Northern Pacific Railway came in 1883, the population of Missoula grew. Missoula was chosen to house the first state university, the University of Montana, in 1893. Missoula got into the lumber industry when the need for wood grew because of the railway. Later, in 1905, the United States Forest Service started working in Missoula. 

There are nine Forest Service regions, and Region 1 is located in Missoula. Protests over air pollution began after the Hoerner-Waldorf pulp mill was built in 1956. The lumber industry continued for years, and much of Missoula's population worked in the business. After years of operation, the lumber industry shut down, and the air quality returned to clean once again.