Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Montana has the largest number of hillside letters in the country, almost 90 that
represent everything from Anaconda to Whitehall. The most popular hillside letter
is the M in Missoula, which sits about halfway up Mount Sentinel overlooking the
University of Montana campus. It's a moderate 1.5-mile hike up a well-used trail and
provides a panoramic view of the Clark Fork and Bitterroot Rivers and the surround-
ing mountains. On Saturdays in the fall, the M is often packed with students watch-
ing the football game—it offers a great aerial view of the 25,000-seat stadium.
The largest letter is the M in Bozeman, which represents Montana State
University and is a popular hike for residents and visitors. The 200-foot letter sits on
a steep hillside on the south end of the Bridger Mountains, accessed by a trail that is
also the start of the 21-mile Bridger Mountains National Recreational Trail.
The M in Butte is actually electric, and the C near Cut Bank is one of the smallest
letters in the state. The town of Anaconda actually has two letters: a C for Central
High School and an A for the town's name. Even the tiny towns of Bainville and
Froid—population 153 and 195, respectively—in northeastern Montana have letters.
The town of Brockton has three letters—BHS—that represent the local high school.
And Livingston, set amid the twists and turns of the Yellowstone, has a fish on its
hillside to designate itself as the “trout capital of the world.”
Montana isn't the only state with a plethora of hillside letters. It's a common sight
throughout the West, with only a few erected east of the Mississippi River and nearly
all of them built in a community-wide effort. Most are made of painted rocks or con-
crete, some are just painted on existing rock faces, and others are cut out of the ve-
getation. Wyoming has 20 letters at last count.
The first letter to appear in the West was the C that overlooks the University of
California, Berkeley, built in 1905. Missoula's M was built in 1908, originally of
rocks, then again with wood in 1912. A blizzard destroyed that one in 1915, and it
was replaced by a whitewashed granite letter that lasted until 1968, when the current
concrete M was erected. Each fall the letter is lit up at the homecoming football game
to welcome former students back to campus.
An interesting read on this subject is Evelyn Corning's
Hillside Letters A to Z:
A Guide to Hometown Landmarks,
which explains the history of 60 letters in 14
Western states.
