Is “Treasure State” False Advertising?

Back in the 1950s Montana was in the top five states in individual income. And why?

We had a long history of gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, manganese, and coal mining.

There is jasper, garnet, and varieties of quartz, rhodonite, serpentine, staurolite, topaz, tourmaline, and Wonderstone. There is evidence Wonderstone can improve your psychic abilities.

A few diamonds, diamond indicator minerals, and kimberlites have been found in the state.

Yogo sapphires are a variety of corundum found only in Yogo Gulch, part of the Little Belt Mountains in Judith Basin County, Montana, United States, on land once inhabited by the Piegan Blackfeet people.

When you consider all that and also throw in logging and drilling Montana truly earned it’s nickname of “The Treasure State.”

Montana Treasure Is M.I.A.

I’m not going to try to make excuses for the environmental abuses of the Copper Kings of old. But all of the resources I mentioned above would be much better managed today than they were in days gone by.

Thanks to government and environmentalists Montana has lost much of its treasure. Logging has taken a major hit over the past 25 years.

The same with drilling in the Treasure State. While North and South Dakota drill to their hearts content Montana must battle environmentalists in the ultra-liberal 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Drilling almost takes an act of Congress. Former President Obama publicly declared war on coal.

Our treasures have been reduced to agriculture and tourism for the most part.

Some Final Thoughts

The one treasure we still have that’s been here since the beginning is — the people of Montana.

I’ve been here 25 years and have never looked back. In my humble opinion there’s no better place to live than Montana and the people are the main reason for that.

People welcomed my wife and me from day one. Anything we needed someone was always there to lend a helping hand, give advice, or support.

The state’s been a treasure to us. What about you?

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