page_title: Missoula, Montana
section_title: Geography
hierarchical_section_title: Missoula, Montana / Geography
caption_attribution_description: English: Picture of Mount Sentinel in Missoula showing prehistoric shorelines from Glacial Lake Missoula
context_page_description: Missoula is a city in the U.S. state of Montana; it is the county seat of Missoula County. It is located along the Clark Fork River near its confluences with the Bitterroot and Blackfoot Rivers in western Montana and at the convergence of five mountain ranges, thus it is often described as the "hub of five valleys". In 2019, the United States Census Bureau estimated the city's population at 75,516 and the population of the Missoula Metropolitan Area at 118,791. After Billings, Missoula is the second-largest city and metropolitan area in Montana. Missoula is home to the University of Montana, a public research university.
  William T. Hamilton first settled in the Missoula area in 1858 with a trading post near current Missoula along the Rattlesnake Creek along with Captain Richard Grant settling near Grant Creek, and David Pattee near Pattee Canyon. Missoula was founded in 1860 as Hellgate Trading Post while still part of Washington Territory. By 1866, the settlement had moved east, 5 miles upstream, and renamed Missoula Mills, later shortened to Missoula. The mills provided supplies to western settlers traveling along the Mullan Road.
context_section_description: Missoula is located at the western edge of Montana, about 45 miles (70 km) from the Idaho border. The city is at an elevation of 3,209 feet (978 m) above sea level, with nearby Mount Sentinel and Mount Jumbo steeply rising to 5,158 feet (1,572 m) and 4,768 feet (1,453 m), respectively. According to the Census Bureau's 2015 figures, the city had a total area of 29.08 square miles (75.3 km²), of which, 28.90 square miles (74.9 km²) were land and 0.184 square miles (0.48 km²) were covered by water.
  Around 13,000 years ago, the entire valley was at the bottom of Glacial Lake Missoula and, as could be expected for a former lake bottom, the layout of Missoula is relatively flat and surrounded by steep hills. Evidence of the city of Missoula's lake-bottom past can be seen in the form of ancient horizontal wave-cut shorelines on nearby Mount Sentinel and Mount Jumbo. At the location of present-day University of Montana, the lake once had a depth of 950 feet (290 m). The Clark Fork River enters the Missoula Valley from the east through Hellgate Canyon after joining the nearby Blackfoot River at the site of the former Milltown Dam. The Bitterroot River and multiple smaller tributaries join the Clark Fork on the western edge of Missoula. The city also sits at the convergence of five mountain ranges: the Bitterroot Mountains, Sapphire Range, Garnet Range, Rattlesnake Mountains, and the Reservation Divide, thus is often described as being the "hub of five valleys".
caption: Ancient wave-cut shorelines are visible on the edge of Mount Sentinel.
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