An Official State What? Montana Really Has One of These

If I have learned anything in my years, it's that I know nothing. Or at least next to nothing when it comes to my home state of Montana. Which is incredibly sad to me in that I am a native Montanan, and thought I knew more than what I really did. This newly discovered knowledge is no different. I thought I knew these things. Boy, was I wrong!

Getting To Know Montana's Official State Things

Growing up in the state, you most likely took Montana history in your high school education. You learn the basics however, not reaching deep into some of the things that make Montana what it is. Sure, we learn the state flower, the state bird and maybe what the state insect is. (The Morning Cloak Butterfly, just in case you didn't know) But what about a state fossil? Did you know we had one?

Leaning All the Way Back to The Cretaceous Period

Since 1985, Montana has had an official state fossil. Helen Peterson, a schoolteacher from Livingston, Montana spearheaded a group of students to influence the state legislation to designate the duck billed dinosaur as the official state fossil. Due largely to the discovery of fossil skeletons found with nests of eggshells and hatchlings, proving for the first time that some dinosaurs lived in herds and fed and raised their offspring. The other unique distinction of the duck billed dinosaur is that so far, it has only been found in Montana.