Montana

qas: question: What is the states rank in size?
answers: text: 4th

question: What is its rank in popularion?
answers: text: 44th

question: How many ranges are part of the Rocky Mountains?
answers: text: 77

question: Where does the state's name come from?
answers: text: from the Spanish word montaña
context: Montana i/mɒnˈtænə/ is a state in the Western region of the United States. The state's name is derived from the Spanish word montaña (mountain). Montana has several nicknames, although none official, including "Big Sky Country" and "The Treasure State", and slogans that include "Land of the Shining Mountains" and more recently "The Last Best Place". Montana is ranked 4th in size, but 44th in population and 48th in population density of the 50 United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller island ranges are found throughout the state. In total, 77 named ranges are part of the Rocky Mountains.

qas: question: What year was the state tree selected?
answers: text: 1908

question: When was the state tree actually assigned?
answers: text: 1949

question: What year was the state animal selected?
answers: text: 1981

question: What is the state animal of Montana?
answers: text: grizzly bear

question: What is the state fossil
answers: text: Maiasaura
context: Montana schoolchildren played a significant role in selecting several state symbols. The state tree, the ponderosa pine, was selected by Montana schoolchildren as the preferred state tree by an overwhelming majority in a referendum held in 1908. However, the legislature did not designate a state tree until 1949, when the Montana Federation of Garden Clubs, with the support of the state forester, lobbied for formal recognition. Schoolchildren also chose the western meadowlark as the state bird, in a 1930 vote, and the legislature acted to endorse this decision in 1931. Similarly, the secretary of state sponsored a children's vote in 1981 to choose a state animal, and after 74 animals were nominated, the grizzly bear won over the elk by a 2–1 margin. The students of Livingston started a statewide school petition drive plus lobbied the governor and the state legislature to name the Maiasaura as the state fossil in 1985.

qas: question: When was the state song composed?
answers: text: 1910
context: The state song was not composed until 21 years after statehood, when a musical troupe led by Joseph E. Howard stopped in Butte in September 1910. A former member of the troupe who lived in Butte buttonholed Howard at an after-show party, asking him to compose a song about Montana and got another partygoer, the city editor for the Butte Miner newspaper, Charles C. Cohan, to help. The two men worked up a basic melody and lyrics in about a half-hour for the entertainment of party guests, then finished the song later that evening, with an arrangement worked up the following day. Upon arriving in Helena, Howard's troupe performed 12 encores of the new song to an enthusiastic audience and the governor proclaimed it the state song on the spot, though formal legislative recognition did not occur until 1945. Montana is one of only three states to have a "state ballad", "Montana Melody", chosen by the legislature in 1983. Montana was the first state to also adopt a State Lullaby.

qas: question: What is Montana's motto? 
answers: text: Oro y Plata

question: What does Montana's motto mean?
answers: text: "Gold and Silver"

question: When was the motto adopted?
answers: text: 1865

question: WHen was the state flower adopted?
answers: text: 1895

question: What is the state flower for Montana?
answers: text: bitterroot
context: Montana's motto, Oro y Plata, Spanish for "Gold and Silver", recognizing the significant role of mining, was first adopted in 1865, when Montana was still a territory. A state seal with a miner's pick and shovel above the motto, surrounded by the mountains and the Great Falls of the Missouri River, was adopted during the first meeting of the territorial legislature in 1864–65. The design was only slightly modified after Montana became a state and adopted it as the Great Seal of the State of Montana, enacted by the legislature in 1893. The state flower, the bitterroot, was adopted in 1895 with the support of a group called the Floral Emblem Association, which formed after Montana's Women's Christian Temperance Union adopted the bitterroot as the organization's state flower. All other symbols were adopted throughout the 20th century, save for Montana's newest symbol, the state butterfly, the mourning cloak, adopted in 2001, and the state lullaby, "Montana Lullaby", adopted in 2007.

qas: question: How much of the states population does the "Big 7" have?
answers: text: 35 percent
context: The state also has five Micropolitan Statistical Areas centered on Bozeman, Butte, Helena, Kalispell and Havre. These communities, excluding Havre, are colloquially known as the "big 7" Montana cities, as they are consistently the seven largest communities in Montana, with a significant population difference when these communities are compared to those that are 8th and lower on the list. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of Montana's seven most populous cities, in rank order, are Billings, Missoula, Great Falls, Bozeman, Butte, Helena and Kalispell. Based on 2013 census numbers, they collectively contain 35 percent of Montana's population. and the counties containing these communities hold 62 percent of the state's population. The geographic center of population of Montana is located in sparsely populated Meagher County, in the town of White Sulphur Springs.

qas: question: How many counties does Montana have?
answers: text: 56

question: What city in Montana has over 100,000 people?
answers: text: Billings

question: What two cities have a population over 50,000?
answers: text: Missoula and Great Falls
context: Montana has 56 counties with the United States Census Bureau stating Montana's contains 364 "places", broken down into 129 incorporated places and 235 census-designated places. Incorporated places consist of 52 cities, 75 towns, and two consolidated city-counties. Montana has one city, Billings, with a population over 100,000; and two cities with populations over 50,000, Missoula and Great Falls. These three communities are considered the centers of Montana's three Metropolitan Statistical Areas.

qas: question: Where does the state's name mean?
answers: text: "mountain"

question: What did the Spanish call this region?
answers: text: Montaña del Norte
context: The name Montana comes from the Spanish word Montaña, meaning "mountain", or more broadly, "mountainous country". Montaña del Norte was the name given by early Spanish explorers to the entire mountainous region of the west. The name Montana was added to a bill by the United States House Committee on Territories, which was chaired at the time by Rep. James Ashley of Ohio, for the territory that would become Idaho Territory. The name was successfully changed by Representatives Henry Wilson (Massachusetts) and Benjamin F. Harding (Oregon), who complained that Montana had "no meaning". When Ashley presented a bill to establish a temporary government in 1864 for a new territory to be carved out of Idaho, he again chose Montana Territory. This time Rep. Samuel Cox, also of Ohio, objected to the name. Cox complained that the name was a misnomer given that most of the territory was not mountainous and that a Native American name would be more appropriate than a Spanish one. Other names such as Shoshone were suggested, but it was eventually decided that the Committee on Territories could name it whatever they wanted, so the original name of Montana was adopted.

qas: question: What is the total area of Montana?
answers: text: 147,040 square miles

question: What state does Montana border to the south?
answers: text: Wyoming

question: What state does it border to the west?
answers: text: Idaho
context: With a total area of 147,040 square miles (380,800 km2), Montana is slightly larger than Japan. It is the fourth largest state in the United States after Alaska, Texas, and California; the largest landlocked U.S. state; and the 56th largest national state/province subdivision in the world. To the north, Montana shares a 545-mile (877 km) border with three Canadian provinces: British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, the only state to do so. It borders North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south and Idaho to the west and southwest.

qas: question: Where are most of the states mountain ranges?
answers: text: western half of the state

question: How much of the state is prarie?
answers: text: About 60 percent
context: The topography of the state is roughly defined by the Continental Divide, which splits much of the state into distinct eastern and western regions. Most of Montana's 100 or more named mountain ranges are concentrated in the western half of the state, most of which is geologically and geographically part of the Northern Rocky Mountains. The Absaroka and Beartooth ranges in the south-central part of the state are technically part of the Central Rocky Mountains. The Rocky Mountain Front is a significant feature in the north-central portion of the state, and there are a number of isolated island ranges that interrupt the prairie landscape common in the central and eastern parts of the state. About 60 percent of the state is prairie, part of the northern Great Plains.

qas: question: Which direction do the rivers flow near the Triple Divide Peak?
answers: text: north

question: Where does the Saskatchewan River empty into?
answers: text: Hudson Bay.
context: The northern section of the Divide, where the mountains give way rapidly to prairie, is part of the Rocky Mountain Front. The front is most pronounced in the Lewis Range, located primarily in Glacier National Park. Due to the configuration of mountain ranges in Glacier National Park, the Northern Divide (which begins in Alaska's Seward Peninsula) crosses this region and turns east in Montana at Triple Divide Peak. It causes the Waterton River, Belly, and Saint Mary rivers to flow north into Alberta, Canada. There they join the Saskatchewan River, which ultimately empties into Hudson Bay.

qas: question: How high is the Beartooth Plateau?
answers: text: over 10,000 feet

question: What is thie highest point in the state?
answers: text: Granite Peak

question: How high is Granite Peak?
answers: text: 12,799 feet
context: East of the divide, several roughly parallel ranges cover the southern part of the state, including the Gravelly Range, the Madison Range, Gallatin Range, Absaroka Mountains and the Beartooth Mountains. The Beartooth Plateau is the largest continuous land mass over 10,000 feet (3,000 m) high in the continental United States. It contains the highest point in the state, Granite Peak, 12,799 feet (3,901 m) high. North of these ranges are the Big Belt Mountains, Bridger Mountains, Tobacco Roots, and several island ranges, including the Crazy Mountains and Little Belt Mountains.

qas: question: How many seats do Democrats hold in the state US Senate's seats?
answers: text: one

question: How long has the single congressional district been Republican?
answers: text: 1996

question: What is the split in the state Senate controller by the Republicans?
answers: text: 29 to 21

question: What is the split in the State House of Representatives?
answers: text: 59 to 41.
context: However, at the state level, the pattern of split ticket voting and divided government holds. Democrats currently hold one of the state's U.S. Senate seats, as well as four of the five statewide offices (Governor, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Secretary of State and State Auditor). The lone congressional district has been Republican since 1996 and in 2014 Steve Daines won one of the state's Senate seats for the GOP. The Legislative branch had split party control between the house and senate most years between 2004 and 2010, when the mid-term elections returned both branches to Republican control. The state Senate is, as of 2015, controlled by the Republicans 29 to 21, and the State House of Representatives at 59 to 41.

qas: question: In elections, what is Montana considered?
answers: text: a swing state

question: What year was the last Democrat for president supported?
answers: text: 1992

question: How often has Montana voted for a Democratic governor?
answers: text: 60 percent

question: How often does Montana voted for a Democratic president?
answers: text: 40 percent
context: In presidential elections, Montana was long classified as a swing state, though the state has voted for the Republican candidate in all but two elections from 1952 to the present. The state last supported a Democrat for president in 1992, when Bill Clinton won a plurality victory. Overall, since 1889 the state has voted for Democratic governors 60 percent of the time and Democratic presidents 40 percent of the time, with these numbers being 40/60 for Republican candidates. In the 2008 presidential election, Montana was considered a swing state and was ultimately won by Republican John McCain, albeit by a narrow margin of two percent.

qas: question: What is the name of the busiest airport in Montana?
answers: text: Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport

question: When did Bozeman Airport surpass Billings Logan as the largest busiest in Montana?
answers: text: 2013
context: Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport is the busiest airport in the state of Montana, surpassing Billings Logan International Airport in the spring of 2013. Montana's other major Airports include Billings Logan International Airport, Missoula International Airport, Great Falls International Airport, Glacier Park International Airport, Helena Regional Airport, Bert Mooney Airport and Yellowstone Airport. Eight smaller communities have airports designated for commercial service under the Essential Air Service program.

qas: question: What is the states largest railway?
answers: text: BNSF Railway

question: How long have railroads been important since in Montana
answers: text: 1880s
context: Railroads have been an important method of transportation in Montana since the 1880s. Historically, the state was traversed by the main lines of three east-west transcontinental routes: the Milwaukee Road, the Great Northern, and the Northern Pacific. Today, the BNSF Railway is the state's largest railroad, its main transcontinental route incorporating the former Great Northern main line across the state. Montana RailLink, a privately held Class II railroad, operates former Northern Pacific trackage in western Montana.

qas: question: What is the name of the big game hunting foundation in Montana?
answers: text: Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation

question: What season is black bear hunting allowed?
answers: text: spring

question: What two predators can be hunted in specific numbers?
answers: text: wolves and mountain lions
context: Montana is home to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and has a historic big game hunting tradition. There are fall bow and general hunting seasons for elk, pronghorn antelope, whitetail deer and mule deer. A random draw grants a limited number of permits for moose, mountain goats and bighorn sheep. There is a spring hunting season for black bear and in most years, limited hunting of bison that leave Yellowstone National Park is allowed. Current law allows both hunting and trapping of a specific number of wolves and mountain lions. Trapping of assorted fur bearing animals is allowed in certain seasons and many opportunities exist for migratory waterfowl and upland bird hunting.

qas: question: Since when has Montana been a destination for trout fisheries?
answers: text: 1930s

question: What fishing organization has its home here?
answers: text: Federation of Fly Fishers

question: What type of fisheries does the state have?
answers: text: trout and kokanee salmon fisheries

question: What Robert Redford movie was shot here in 1002?
answers: text: A River Runs Through It
context: Montana has been a destination for its world-class trout fisheries since the 1930s. Fly fishing for several species of native and introduced trout in rivers and lakes is popular for both residents and tourists throughout the state. Montana is the home of the Federation of Fly Fishers and hosts many of the organizations annual conclaves. The state has robust recreational lake trout and kokanee salmon fisheries in the west, walleye can be found in many parts of the state, while northern pike, smallmouth and largemouth bass fisheries as well as catfish and paddlefish can be found in the waters of eastern Montana. Robert Redford's 1992 film of Norman Mclean's novel, A River Runs Through It, was filmed in Montana and brought national attention to fly fishing and the state.

qas: question: When was the Montana Territory formed?
answers: text: April 26, 1864

question: When was the first formal school on record?
answers: text: 1862

question: How much were students charged per week?
answers: text: $1.75

question: When did the first public school in Virginia City formed?
answers: text: 1886
context: The Montana Territory was formed on April 26, 1864, when the U.S. passed the Organic Act. Schools started forming in the area before it was officially a territory as families started settling into the area. The first schools were subscription schools that typically held in the teacher's home. The first formal school on record was at Fort Owen in Bitterroot valley in 1862. The students were Indian children and the children of Fort Owen employees. The first school term started in early winter and only lasted until February 28. Classes were taught by Mr. Robinson. Another early subscription school was started by Thomas Dimsdale in Virginia City in 1863. In this school students were charged $1.75 per week. The Montana Territorial Legislative Assembly had its inaugural meeting in 1864. The first legislature authorized counties to levy taxes for schools, which set the foundations for public schooling. Madison County was the first to take advantage of the newly authorized taxes and it formed fhe first public school in Virginia City in 1886. The first school year was scheduled to begin in January 1866, but severe weather postponed its opening until March. The first school year ran through the summer and didn't end until August 17. One of the first teachers at the school was Sarah Raymond. She was a 25-year-old woman who had traveled to Virginia City via wagon train in 1865. To become a certified teacher, Raymond took a test in her home and paid a $6 fee in gold dust to obtain a teaching certificate. With the help of an assistant teacher, Mrs. Farley, Raymond was responsible for teaching 50 to 60 students each day out of the 81 students enrolled at the school. Sarah Raymond was paid at a rate of $125 per month, and Mrs. Farley was paid $75 per month. There were no textbooks used in the school. In their place was an assortment of books brought in by various emigrants. Sarah quit teaching the following year, but would later become the Madison County superintendent of schools.

qas: question: How many miles of rivers are known for high class trout?
answers: text: 450

question: What Bay do rivers from Montana feed?
answers: text: Hudson Bay

question: Where do the watersheds divide at?
answers: text: Triple Divide Peak in Glacier National Park.

question: What ocean do rivers flow into from Montana?
answers: text: Pacific Ocean
context: Montana contains thousands of named rivers and creeks, 450 miles (720 km) of which are known for "blue-ribbon" trout fishing. Montana's water resources provide for recreation, hydropower, crop and forage irrigation, mining, and water for human consumption. Montana is one of few geographic areas in the world whose rivers form parts of three major watersheds (i.e. where two continental divides intersect). Its rivers feed the Pacific Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and Hudson Bay. The watersheds divide at Triple Divide Peak in Glacier National Park.

qas: question: What rivers form the Missouri River?
answers: text: Jefferson, Madison and Gallatin rivers

question: Near where do the rivers form up for the Missouri river merging?
answers: text: Three Forks

question: Which direction does the water flow in this area?
answers: text: north

question: Which year was the Fort Peck Reservoir designated a National Scenic River?
answers: text: 1976
context: East of the divide the Missouri River, which is formed by the confluence of the Jefferson, Madison and Gallatin rivers near Three Forks, flows due north through the west-central part of the state to Great Falls. From this point, it then flows generally east through fairly flat agricultural land and the Missouri Breaks to Fort Peck reservoir. The stretch of river between Fort Benton and the Fred Robinson Bridge at the western boundary of Fort Peck Reservoir was designated a National Wild and Scenic River in 1976. The Missouri enters North Dakota near Fort Union, having drained more than half the land area of Montana (82,000 square miles (210,000 km2)). Nearly one-third of the Missouri River in Montana lies behind 10 dams: Toston, Canyon Ferry, Hauser, Holter, Black Eagle, Rainbow, Cochrane, Ryan, Morony, and Fort Peck.

qas: question: Which direction does the Yellowstone River flow through the national park?
answers: text: north

question: Where does the Yellowstone meet the Missouri river?
answers: text: North Dakota
context: The Yellowstone River rises on the continental divide near Younts Peak in Wyoming's Teton Wilderness. It flows north through Yellowstone National Park, enters Montana near Gardiner, and passes through the Paradise Valley to Livingston. It then flows northeasterly across the state through Billings, Miles City, Glendive, and Sidney. The Yellowstone joins the Missouri in North Dakota just east of Fort Union. It is the longest undammed, free-flowing river in the contiguous United States, and drains about a quarter of Montana (36,000 square miles (93,000 km2)).

qas: question: How many named lakes are there in Montana?
answers: text: at least 3,223

question: What is the name of the largest freshwater lake in western United States?
answers: text: Flathead Lake

question: What is the name of the largest reservoir in the state?
answers: text: Fort Peck Reservoir

question: What river is the Fort Peck Reservoir on?
answers: text: Missouri river
context: There are at least 3,223 named lakes and reservoirs in Montana, including Flathead Lake, the largest natural freshwater lake in the western United States. Other major lakes include Whitefish Lake in the Flathead Valley and Lake McDonald and St. Mary Lake in Glacier National Park. The largest reservoir in the state is Fort Peck Reservoir on the Missouri river, which is contained by the second largest earthen dam and largest hydraulically filled dam in the world. Other major reservoirs include Hungry Horse on the Flathead River; Lake Koocanusa on the Kootenai River; Lake Elwell on the Marias River; Clark Canyon on the Beaverhead River; Yellowtail on the Bighorn River, Canyon Ferry, Hauser, Holter, Rainbow; and Black Eagle on the Missouri River.

qas: question: About how much area do forests cover the state?
answers: text: approximately 25 percent
context: Vegetation of the state includes lodgepole pine, ponderosa pine; Douglas fir, larch, spruce; aspen, birch, red cedar, hemlock, ash, alder; rocky mountain maple and cottonwood trees. Forests cover approximately 25 percent of the state. Flowers native to Montana include asters, bitterroots, daisies, lupins, poppies, primroses, columbine, lilies, orchids, and dryads. Several species of sagebrush and cactus and many species of grasses are common. Many species of mushrooms and lichens are also found in the state.

qas: question: How many different types of fish are diverse to Montana?
answers: text: 90

question: What type of bear does Montana have the highest population of?
answers: text: grizzly bear

question: How many endangered species are in Montana?
answers: text: five

question: How many species of game fish have hunting seasons?
answers: text: at least 17
context: Montana is home to a diverse array of fauna that includes 14 amphibian, 90 fish, 117 mammal, 20 reptile and 427 bird species. Additionally, there are over 10,000 invertebrate species, including 180 mollusks and 30 crustaceans. Montana has the largest grizzly bear population in the lower 48 states. Montana hosts five federally endangered species–black-footed ferret, whooping crane, least tern, pallid sturgeon and white sturgeon and seven threatened species including the grizzly bear, Canadian lynx and bull trout. The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks manages fishing and hunting seasons for at least 17 species of game fish including seven species of trout, walleye and smallmouth bass and at least 29 species of game birds and animals including ring-neck pheasant, grey partridge, elk, pronghorn antelope, mule deer, whitetail deer, gray wolf and bighorn sheep.

qas: question: What is the annual precipitation?
answers: text: 15 inches

question: How much precipitation does Heron recieve?
answers: text: 34.70 inches

question: How much precipitation does the  Grinnell Glacier recieve?
answers: text: 105 inches
context: Average annual precipitation is 15 inches (380 mm), but great variations are seen. The mountain ranges block the moist Pacific air, holding moisture in the western valleys, and creating rain shadows to the east. Heron, in the west, receives the most precipitation, 34.70 inches (881 mm). On the eastern (leeward) side of a mountain range, the valleys are much drier; Lonepine averages 11.45 inches (291 mm), and Deer Lodge 11.00 inches (279 mm) of precipitation. The mountains themselves can receive over 100 inches (2,500 mm), for example the Grinnell Glacier in Glacier National Park gets 105 inches (2,700 mm). An area southwest of Belfry averaged only 6.59 inches (167 mm) over a sixteen-year period. Most of the larger cities get 30 to 50 inches or 0.76 to 1.27 metres of snow each year. Mountain ranges themselves can accumulate 300 inches or 7.62 metres of snow during a winter. Heavy snowstorms may occur any time from September through May, though most snow falls from November to March.

qas: question: How many tax brackets does Montana have?
answers: text: 7

question: What is the highest tax bracket in Montana?
answers: text: 6.9 percent

question: Does Montana have a sales tax?
answers: text: no
context: Montana's personal income tax contains 7 brackets, with rates ranging from 1 percent to 6.9 percent. Montana has no sales tax. In Montana, household goods are exempt from property taxes. However, property taxes are assessed on livestock, farm machinery, heavy equipment, automobiles, trucks, and business equipment. The amount of property tax owed is not determined solely by the property's value. The property's value is multiplied by a tax rate, set by the Montana Legislature, to determine its taxable value. The taxable value is then multiplied by the mill levy established by various taxing jurisdictions—city and county government, school districts and others.

qas: question: About how many Native Americans live in Montana?
answers: text: Approximately 66,000

question: When was the Indian Appropriations Act passed?
answers: text: 1851

question: What year was the Dawes act passed?
answers: text: 1887

question: Where are the Little Shell Chippewa headquartered?
answers: text: Great Falls

question: About what percentage of the Native Americans in Montana live off the reservation?
answers: text: 63%
context: Approximately 66,000 people of Native American heritage live in Montana. Stemming from multiple treaties and federal legislation, including the Indian Appropriations Act (1851), the Dawes Act (1887), and the Indian Reorganization Act (1934), seven Indian reservations, encompassing eleven tribal nations, were created in Montana. A twelfth nation, the Little Shell Chippewa is a "landless" people headquartered in Great Falls, recognized by the state of Montana but not by the U.S. Government. The Blackfeet nation is headquartered on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation (1851) in Browning, Crow on the Crow Indian Reservation (1851) in Crow Agency, Confederated Salish and Kootenai and Pend d'Oreille on the Flathead Indian Reservation (1855) in Pablo, Northern Cheyenne on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation (1884) at Lame Deer, Assiniboine and Gros Ventre on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation (1888) in Fort Belknap Agency, Assiniboine and Sioux on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation (1888) at Poplar, and Chippewa-Cree on the Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation (1916) near Box Elder. Approximately 63% of all Native people live off the reservations, concentrated in the larger Montana cities with the largest concentration of urban Indians in Great Falls. The state also has a small Métis population, and 1990 census data indicated that people from as many as 275 different tribes lived in Montana.

qas: question: What is the largest European-American race in Montana?
answers: text: German

question: What was Helena originally founded as?
answers: text: a mining camp
context: While the largest European-American population in Montana overall is German, pockets of significant Scandinavian ancestry are prevalent in some of the farming-dominated northern and eastern prairie regions, parallel to nearby regions of North Dakota and Minnesota. Farmers of Irish, Scots, and English roots also settled in Montana. The historically mining-oriented communities of western Montana such as Butte have a wider range of European-American ethnicity; Finns, Eastern Europeans and especially Irish settlers left an indelible mark on the area, as well as people originally from British mining regions such as Cornwall, Devon and Wales. The nearby city of Helena, also founded as a mining camp, had a similar mix in addition to a small Chinatown. Many of Montana's historic logging communities originally attracted people of Scottish, Scandinavian, Slavic, English and Scots-Irish descent.[citation needed]

qas: question: What percentage of the population in Montana are Native peoples?
answers: text: 6.5 percent

question: What three counties are Native Americans a majority?
answers: text: Big Horn, Glacier, and Roosevelt

question: Between what years did the Native population increase by 27.9%
answers: text: 1980 and 1990
context: Montana has a larger Native American population numerically and percentage-wise than most U.S. states. Although the state ranked 45th in population (according to the 2010 U.S. Census), it ranked 19th in total native people population. Native people constituted 6.5 percent of the state's total population, the sixth highest percentage of all 50 states. Montana has three counties in which Native Americans are a majority: Big Horn, Glacier, and Roosevelt. Other counties with large Native American populations include Blaine, Cascade, Hill, Missoula, and Yellowstone counties. The state's Native American population grew by 27.9 percent between 1980 and 1990 (at a time when Montana's entire population rose just 1.6 percent), and by 18.5 percent between 2000 and 2010. As of 2009, almost two-thirds of Native Americans in the state live in urban areas. Of Montana's 20 largest cities, Polson (15.7 percent), Havre (13.0 percent), Great Falls (5.0 percent), Billings (4.4 percent), and Anaconda (3.1 percent) had the greatest percentage of Native American residents in 2010. Billings (4,619), Great Falls (2,942), Missoula (1,838), Havre (1,210), and Polson (706) have the most Native Americans living there. The state's seven reservations include more than twelve distinct Native American ethnolinguistic groups.

qas: question: In what year did many cities in Montana set heat records?
answers: text: 2007

question: What month was the hottest ever recorded?
answers: text: July

question: What problem has substantially increased in its severity?
answers: text: forest fires
context: The climate has become warmer in Montana and continues to do so. The glaciers in Glacier National Park have receded and are predicted to melt away completely in a few decades. Many Montana cities set heat records during July 2007, the hottest month ever recorded in Montana. Winters are warmer, too, and have fewer cold spells. Previously these cold spells had killed off bark beetles which are now attacking the forests of western Montana. The combination of warmer weather, attack by beetles, and mismanagement during past years has led to a substantial increase in the severity of forest fires in Montana. According to a study done for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Science, portions of Montana will experience a 200-percent increase in area burned by wildfires, and an 80-percent increase in related air pollution.

qas: question: What year was the Hellgate treaty formed?
answers: text: 1855

question: Who negotiated the Hellgate treaty?
answers: text: Isaac Stevens

question: What year was the treaty ratified?
answers: text: 1859

question: What did the treaty establish?
answers: text: Flathead Indian Reservation
context: As white settlers began populating Montana from the 1850s through the 1870s, disputes with Native Americans ensued, primarily over land ownership and control. In 1855, Washington Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens negotiated the Hellgate treaty between the United States Government and the Salish, Pend d'Oreille, and the Kootenai people of western Montana, which established boundaries for the tribal nations. The treaty was ratified in 1859. While the treaty established what later became the Flathead Indian Reservation, trouble with interpreters and confusion over the terms of the treaty led whites to believe that the Bitterroot Valley was opened to settlement, but the tribal nations disputed those provisions. The Salish remained in the Bitterroot Valley until 1891.

qas: question: What was the name of the first US Army post?
answers: text: Camp Cooke

question: Where was Camp Cooke situated?
answers: text: on the Missouri River

question: What year was the Great Sioux War?
answers: text: 1876

question: What year did the Battle of Bear Paw happen?
answers: text: 1877
context: The first U.S. Army post established in Montana was Camp Cooke on the Missouri River in 1866 to protect steamboat traffic going to Fort Benton, Montana. More than a dozen additional military outposts were established in the state. Pressure over land ownership and control increased due to discoveries of gold in various parts of Montana and surrounding states. Major battles occurred in Montana during Red Cloud's War, the Great Sioux War of 1876, the Nez Perce War and in conflicts with Piegan Blackfeet. The most notable of these were the Marias Massacre (1870), Battle of the Little Bighorn (1876), Battle of the Big Hole (1877) and Battle of Bear Paw (1877). The last recorded conflict in Montana between the U.S. Army and Native Americans occurred in 1887 during the Battle of Crow Agency in the Big Horn country. Indian survivors who had signed treaties were generally required to move onto reservations.

qas: question: What is the official language of Montana?
answers: text: English

question: What percentage of the population in Montana speak English?
answers: text: 94.8 percent

question: What is the second most common language spoken in Montana?
answers: text: Spanish

question: How about many Spanish speakers are there in the state?
answers: text: 13,040

question: ABout how many people in the state of Montana speak Cheyenne?
answers: text: about 1,700
context: English is the official language in the state of Montana, as it is in many U.S. states. English is also the language of the majority. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 94.8 percent of the population aged 5 and older speak English at home. Spanish is the language most commonly spoken at home other than English. There were about 13,040 Spanish-language speakers in the state (1.4 percent of the population) in 2011. There were also 15,438 (1.7 percent of the state population) speakers of Indo-European languages other than English or Spanish, 10,154 (1.1 percent) speakers of a Native American language, and 4,052 (0.4 percent) speakers of an Asian or Pacific Islander language. Other languages spoken in Montana (as of 2013) include Assiniboine (about 150 speakers in the Montana and Canada), Blackfoot (about 100 speakers), Cheyenne (about 1,700 speakers), Plains Cree (about 100 speakers), Crow (about 3,000 speakers), Dakota (about 18,800 speakers in Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota), German Hutterite (about 5,600 speakers), Gros Ventre (about 10 speakers), Kalispel-Pend d'Oreille (about 64 speakers), Kutenai (about 6 speakers), and Lakota (about 6,000 speakers in Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota). The United States Department of Education estimated in 2009 that 5,274 students in Montana spoke a language at home other than English. These included a Native American language (64 percent), German (4 percent), Spanish (3 percent), Russian (1 percent), and Chinese (less than 0.5 percent).

qas: question: What percent of the state is White?
answers: text: 89.4 percent

question: What percent of the state is Native American Indian?
answers: text: 6.3 percent

question: Hispanics account for what percentage of Monatanas population?
answers: text: 2.9
context: According to the 2010 Census, 89.4 percent of the population was White (87.8 percent Non-Hispanic White), 6.3 percent American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.9 percent Hispanics and Latinos of any race, 0.6 percent Asian, 0.4 percent Black or African American, 0.1 percent Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, 0.6 percent from Some Other Race, and 2.5 percent from two or more races. The largest European ancestry groups in Montana as of 2010 are: German (27.0 percent), Irish (14.8 percent), English (12.6 percent), Norwegian (10.9 percent), French (4.7 percent) and Italian (3.4 percent).

qas: question: What was the population of the state in 2015?
answers: text: 1,032,949

question: How much did the population increase since 2010?
answers: text: 4.40%

question: What county saw the largest growth?
answers: text: Gallatin County

question: What city saw the largest growth?
answers: text: Kalispell
context: The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population of Montana was 1,032,949 on July 1, 2015, a 4.40% increase since the 2010 United States Census. The 2010 census put Montana's population at 989,415 which is an increase of 43,534 people, or 4.40 percent, since 2010. During the first decade of the new century, growth was mainly concentrated in Montana's seven largest counties, with the highest percentage growth in Gallatin County, which saw a 32 percent increase in its population from 2000-2010. The city seeing the largest percentage growth was Kalispell with 40.1 percent, and the city with the largest increase in actual residents was Billings with an increase in population of 14,323 from 2000-2010.

qas: question: What year was Jeannette Rankin vote against war the first time?
answers: text: 1917

question: When did she vote a second time against war?
answers: text: 1941

question: What were conscientious objectors sent to Montana to do?
answers: text: smokejumpers and for other forest fire-fighting duties.
context: In 1940, Jeannette Rankin had once again been elected to Congress, and in 1941, as she did in 1917, she voted against the United States' declaration of war. This time she was the only vote against the war, and in the wake of public outcry over her vote, she required police protection for a time. Other pacifists tended to be those from "peace churches" who generally opposed war. Many individuals from throughout the U.S. who claimed conscientious objector status were sent to Montana during the war as smokejumpers and for other forest fire-fighting duties.

qas: question: About how many bison were in Montana in 1870?
answers: text: over 13 million

question: In 1884 about how many bison remained?
answers: text: about 325

question: Who pleaded to Congress for slaughtering bison?
answers: text: General Philip Sheridan

question: What year did General Sheridan approach Congress about killing bison?
answers: text: 1875
context: Simultaneously with these conflicts, bison, a keystone species and the primary protein source that Native people had survived on for centuries were being destroyed. Some estimates say there were over 13 million bison in Montana in 1870. In 1875, General Philip Sheridan pleaded to a joint session of Congress to authorize the slaughtering of herds in order to deprive the Indians of their source of food. By 1884, commercial hunting had brought bison to the verge of extinction; only about 325 bison remained in the entire United States.

qas: question: When did the Northern Pacific Railroad reach Montana from the west?
answers: text: 1881

question: When did the Northern Pacific Railroad reach Montana from the east?
answers: text: 1882

question: What years were the railroad challenged by Chief Sitting Bull?
answers: text: 1871, 1872 and 1873

question: What year was the Great White Sioux War?
answers: text: 1876

question: When was the transcontinental National Pacific Railroad finished?
answers: text: 1883
context: Tracks of the Northern Pacific Railroad (NPR) reached Montana from the west in 1881 and from the east in 1882. However, the railroad played a major role in sparking tensions with Native American tribes in the 1870s. Jay Cooke, the NPR president launched major surveys into the Yellowstone valley in 1871, 1872 and 1873 which were challenged forcefully by the Sioux under chief Sitting Bull. These clashes, in part, contributed to the Panic of 1873 which delayed construction of the railroad into Montana. Surveys in 1874, 1875 and 1876 helped spark the Great Sioux War of 1876. The transcontinental NPR was completed on September 8, 1883, at Gold Creek.

qas: question: When was the first constitutional convention held in Montana?
answers: text: 1866

question: Why was this constitutional convention held?
answers: text: bid for statehood

question: When was the second constitutional convention held?
answers: text: 1884

question: What year was Montana's statehood approved?
answers: text: 1889

question: What other three states were approved in the same year?
answers: text: North Dakota, South Dakota and Washington
context: Under Territorial Governor Thomas Meagher, Montanans held a constitutional convention in 1866 in a failed bid for statehood. A second constitutional convention was held in Helena in 1884 that produced a constitution ratified 3:1 by Montana citizens in November 1884. For political reasons, Congress did not approve Montana statehood until 1889. Congress approved Montana statehood in February 1889 and President Grover Cleveland signed an omnibus bill granting statehood to Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Washington once the appropriate state constitutions were crafted. In July 1889, Montanans convened their third constitutional convention and produced a constitution acceptable by the people and the federal government. On November 8, 1889 President Benjamin Harrison proclaimed Montana the forty-first state in the union. The first state governor was Joseph K. Toole. In the 1880s, Helena (the current state capital) had more millionaires per capita than any other United States city.

qas: question: What year did the Homestead Act provide land to settlers?
answers: text: 1862

question: How much land did the Homestead Act allow?
answers: text: 160 acres

question: What year was the first homestead claim claimed?
answers: text: 1868
context: The Homestead Act of 1862 provided free land to settlers who could claim and "prove-up" 160 acres (0.65 km2) of federal land in the midwest and western United States. Montana did not see a large influx of immigrants from this act because 160 acres was usually insufficient to support a family in the arid territory. The first homestead claim under the act in Montana was made by David Carpenter near Helena in 1868. The first claim by a woman was made near Warm Springs Creek by Miss Gwenllian Evans, the daughter of Deer Lodge Montana Pioneer, Morgan Evans. By 1880, there were farms in the more verdant valleys of central and western Montana, but few on the eastern plains.

qas: question: When was the Desert Land Act passed?
answers: text: 1877

question: How much land did the Desert Land Act allot?
answers: text: 640 acres

question: How much was the charge per acre at first?
answers: text: $.25
context: The Desert Land Act of 1877 was passed to allow settlement of arid lands in the west and allotted 640 acres (2.6 km2) to settlers for a fee of $.25 per acre and a promise to irrigate the land. After three years, a fee of one dollar per acre would be paid and the land would be owned by the settler. This act brought mostly cattle and sheep ranchers into Montana, many of whom grazed their herds on the Montana prairie for three years, did little to irrigate the land and then abandoned it without paying the final fees. Some farmers came with the arrival of the Great Northern and Northern Pacific Railroads throughout the 1880s and 1890s, though in relatively small numbers.

qas: question: Who promoted settlement in Montana in the early 1900s
answers: text: James J. Hill

question: In what year was the Reclamation Act passed?
answers: text: 1902

question: What year was the Enlarged Homestead Act passed?
answers: text: 1909

question: How much land was alloted in the new Enlarged Homestead Act?
answers: text: 320 acres
context: In the early 1900s, James J. Hill of the Great Northern began promoting settlement in the Montana prairie to fill his trains with settlers and goods. Other railroads followed suit. In 1902, the Reclamation Act was passed, allowing irrigation projects to be built in Montana's eastern river valleys. In 1909, Congress passed the Enlarged Homestead Act that expanded the amount of free land from 160 to 320 acres (0.6 to 1.3 km2) per family and in 1912 reduced the time to "prove up" on a claim to three years. In 1916, the Stock-Raising Homestead Act allowed homesteads of 640 acres in areas unsuitable for irrigation.  This combination of advertising and changes in the Homestead Act drew tens of thousands of homesteaders, lured by free land, with World War I bringing particularly high wheat prices. In addition, Montana was going through a temporary period of higher-than-average precipitation. Homesteaders arriving in this period were known as "Honyockers", or "scissorbills." Though the word "honyocker", possibly derived from the ethnic slur "hunyak," was applied in a derisive manner at homesteaders as being "greenhorns", "new at his business" or "unprepared", the reality was that a majority of these new settlers had previous farming experience, though there were also many who did not.

qas: question: When did Congress pass the Espionage Act?
answers: text: 1917

question: When was the Sedition Act passed?
answers: text: 1918

question: What were these acts make do to laws?
answers: text: criminalized criticism of the U.S. government, military, or symbols through speech or other means

question: How many people were arrested from the Montana Act?
answers: text: 200

question: How many of the 200 arrested in the Montana Act were convicted?
answers: text: 78
context: In June 1917, the U.S. Congress passed the Espionage Act of 1917 which was later extended by the Sedition Act of 1918, enacted in May 1918. In February 1918, the Montana legislature had passed the Montana Sedition Act, which was a model for the federal version. In combination, these laws criminalized criticism of the U.S. government, military, or symbols through speech or other means. The Montana Act led to the arrest of over 200 individuals and the conviction of 78, mostly of German or Austrian descent. Over 40 spent time in prison. In May 2006, then-Governor Brian Schweitzer posthumously issued full pardons for all those convicted of violating the Montana Sedition Act.

qas: question: How many Montanans entered the miltary in the first year of the war?
answers: text: 40,000-plus

question: How many Montanans joined the military in the war total?
answers: text: over 57,000

question: About how many Montanans  died in the war?
answers: text: At least 1500

question: Who trained at the military grounds in Montana?
answers: text: First Special Service Force or "Devil's Brigade,"

question: Where were air bases built in Montana?
answers: text: Great Falls, Lewistown, Cut Bank and Glasgow
context: When the U.S. entered World War II on December 8, 1941, many Montanans already had enlisted in the military to escape the poor national economy of the previous decade. Another 40,000-plus Montanans entered the armed forces in the first year following the declaration of war, and over 57,000 joined up before the war ended. These numbers constituted about 10 percent of the state's total population, and Montana again contributed one of the highest numbers of soldiers per capita of any state. Many Native Americans were among those who served, including soldiers from the Crow Nation who became Code Talkers. At least 1500 Montanans died in the war. Montana also was the training ground for the First Special Service Force or "Devil's Brigade," a joint U.S-Canadian commando-style force that trained at Fort William Henry Harrison for experience in mountainous and winter conditions before deployment. Air bases were built in Great Falls, Lewistown, Cut Bank and Glasgow, some of which were used as staging areas to prepare planes to be sent to allied forces in the Soviet Union. During the war, about 30 Japanese balloon bombs were documented to have landed in Montana, though no casualties nor major forest fires were attributed to them.