Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
of the world and doing anything necessary to pay the bills. As you explore Wyoming, you'll
notice that history is never far behind, and that the future holds unlimited possibilities.
Montana became a territory in 1864 and was named the 41st state in 1889. Originally, the
state's constitution reflected the mining and timber interests that seemed to run daily life
in the early years, but in 1972 Montanans held a second Constitutional Convention, where
the earlier, dated document was replaced with a more populist set of laws that placed more
responsibility on the individual voter and made significant strides in protecting Montana's
environment.
Montana granted women the right to vote in 1916, and the same year elected the first
woman representative to the U.S. Congress. Jeannette Rankin, a lifelong pacifist and the
only member of Congress to vote against entering World War II, is still the only woman
Montana has elected to Congress. She served one term, worked as a lobbyist in Washing-
ton, D.C., for 20 years, and then was elected again to Congress in 1940. Her antiwar stance
fell out of favor, and she only served one more term before retiring.
The Montana State Legislature is a bicameral body that meets in Helena each odd-
numbered year for no longer than 90 days. It consists of a 100-member House and a 50-seat
Senate. Montana is often characterized as a swing state, and the legislature has been split
along party lines consistently throughout its history, especially since the new state constitu-
tion was enacted in 1972. Both parties have enjoyed similar successes over the years, and
the legislature often changes hands. Montana's term-limits law survived in 2004 when 70
percent of voters shot down a measure that would have repealed term limits in the state le-
gislature. Originally passed in 1992, the law limits representatives to four two-year terms
and senators to two four-year terms.
Montana's postwar politics have seen some remarkable national politicians, including
Mike Mansfield, Lee Metcalf, and Pat Williams. Democrat Mansfield was the longest-
serving majority leader of the U.S. Senate (1961-1977) and was the U.S. ambassador to
Japan for more than a decade. Lee Metcalf, another Democrat, was instrumental in creating
three new wilderness areas in Montana. The Lee Metcalf Wilderness Area was named for
his efforts in 1983, after his death. Williams was yet another Democrat who had a hand in
expanding wilderness designation and served in the U.S. House 1979-1997.
