A: Bentonite, named after Fort Benton.
Q: How many acres of land are infested with the noxious weed knapweed?
A: Five million acres, spread across every single county.
Q: How much mint oil will a typical acre of mint plants yield?
A: 100 pounds, enough to flavor 1.25 million sticks of gum.
Q: Where would you go to make authentic “rock” music, where each boulder on a mountain rings like a bell when hit with a hammer?
A: Ringing Rocks just northeast of Butte.
Q: Hellgate, a narrow gap in the moutains east of Missoula that was named because many Indian battles in the area left it littered with bones, is how far away from Paradise?
A: It is 79 miles from Hellgate to Paradise.
Q: How does the state rank in production of gold?
A: Fifth, after Nevada, California, Alaska, and South Dakota.
Q: What tax was levied to mitigate the “plunder-and-run” tendencies of mining companies to abandon the people and the economy when the ore is gone?
A: The Coal Severence Tax, which brought in 66 million its first year in 1975 and today totals about 600 million.
