Editing Missoula, Montana (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Missoula, Montana|Montana Rail Link|Burlington Northern}}
[[File:Jumbo teepees.jpg|thumb|left|Teepees at the site of Missoula, south of the [[Clark Fork River]], facing northeast]]
Archaeological artifacts date the earliest inhabitants of the Missoula Valley to {{nowrap|12,000 years ago}}, with settlements as early as {{BCE|3500}}. From the 1700s until the 1850s, those who used the land were primarily the [[Bitterroot Salish|Salish]], [[Kutenai|Kootenai]], [[Pend d'Oreilles|Pend d'Oreille]], [[Blackfoot Confederacy|Blackfeet]], and [[Shoshone]] people. Located at the confluence of five mountain valleys, the Missoula Valley was heavily traversed by local and distant native tribes that periodically went to the Eastern Montana plains in search of [[American bison|bison]]. This led to conflicts. The narrow valley at Missoula's eastern entrance was so strewn with human bones from repeated ambushes that French fur trappers later referred to this area as ''{{nowrap|{{lang|fr|Porte de l'Enfer}}}}'', translated as "{{nowrap|Gate of Hell}}".<ref>{{cite book |page=173 |date=1955 |title=Montana: A State Guide Book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uLM1KEsUM5IC |location=New York |publisher=Hastings House Publishers |isbn=978-0-403-02176-5 |oclc=869757480 |edition=4th |chapter=Cities and Towns §&nbsp;Missoula |others=Compiled by the [[Federal Writers' Project]] |orig-year=1st&nbsp;pub.&nbsp;1939 |series=[[Works Progress Administration]]: American Guide |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uLM1KEsUM5IC&pg=PA173 |quote=The Salish had to pass through Hell&nbsp;Gate&nbsp;Canyon to reach the plains on their periodic buffalo hunts. At the entrance to the canyon, an ideal spot for an ambush, the Blackfeet would attack them. The reputation of the place caused French-Canadian trappers to call it ‘Porte&nbsp;de&nbsp;l’Enfer’ or ‘Gate&nbsp;of&nbsp;Hell’. |access-date=August 28, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904113534/https://books.google.com/books?id=uLM1KEsUM5IC |archive-date=September 4, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> {{nowrap|Hell Gate}} would remain the name of the area until it was renamed "Missoula" in&nbsp;1866.<ref name="historicmissoula.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.historicmissoula.org/History/fromtheBeginning/EarlyEarlyMissoula/tabid/192/Default.aspx |title=Early, Early Missoula |work=Historic Missoula |publisher=Missoula's Office of Planning and Grants |access-date=August 8, 2015|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150214113502/http://historicmissoula.org/History/FromtheBeginning/EarlyEarlyMissoula/tabid/192/Default.aspx |archive-date=2015-02-14}}</ref>

The [[Lewis and Clark Expedition]] brought the first U.S. citizens to the area. They twice stopped just south of Missoula at [[Traveler's Rest (Lolo, Montana)|Traveler's Rest]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://stateparks.mt.gov/travelers-rest/ |title=Travelers Rest |website=Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks |series=Montana State Parks |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905055339/http://stateparks.mt.gov/travelers-rest/ |archive-date=September 5, 2015 |url-status=live |access-date=October 5, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Meriwether Lewis |url=http://www.tworivershistory.net/meriwether-lewis.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522013150/http://www.tworivershistory.net/meriwether-lewis.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 22, 2011 |publisher=TwoRiversHistory.net |access-date=February 8, 2012}}</ref> They camped there the first time on their westbound trip in September 1805. When they stayed there again, on their return in June–July 1806, Clark left heading south along the [[Bitterroot River]] and Lewis traveled north, then east, through Hellgate Canyon. In 1860, [[Hell Gate, Montana|{{nowrap|Hell Gate}} Village]] was established {{convert|5|mi|0}} west of present-day downtown by [[Christopher P. Higgins]] and [[Francis Lyman Worden|Frank Worden]] as a trading post to serve travelers on the recently completed [[Mullan Road]], the first wagon road to cross the Rocky Mountains to the [[Inland Northwest|inland of the Pacific Northwest]].<ref name="historicmissoula.org"/> The desire for a more convenient water supply to power a lumber and flour mill led to the movement of the settlement to its modern location in 1864.<ref name="historicmissoula1">{{cite web |url=http://www.historicmissoula.org/History/FromtheBeginning/HellGateVillageEra18601865/tabid/193/Default.aspx |title=Hell Gate Village Era (1860–1865) |work=Historic Missoula |publisher=Missoula's Office of Planning and Grants |access-date=August 8, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150203174554/http://historicmissoula.org/History/FromtheBeginning/HellGateVillageEra18601865/tabid/193/Default.aspx#dnn_ctr631_dnnTITLE_lblTitle |archive-date=February 3, 2015}}</ref>

The Missoula Mills replaced {{nowrap|Hell Gate}} Village as the economic power of the valley and replaced it as the county seat in 1866. The name "Missoula" came from the [[Salishan languages|Salish]] name for the [[Clark Fork River]], ''nmesuletkw'', which roughly translates as "place of frozen water".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ci.missoula.mt.us/DocumentCenter/View/29466 |title=Livability |publisher=City of Missoula |format=PDF |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150823190056/http://ci.missoula.mt.us/DocumentCenter/View/29466 |archive-date=August 23, 2015 |url-status=live |access-date=August 23, 2015 |quote=Missoula's name is derived from "''nmesuletkw''", the Salish word for the Clark Fork River, which translates to, "place of frozen water".}}</ref> [[Fort Missoula]] was established in 1877 to help protect further arriving settlers. Growth accelerated with the arrival of the [[Northern Pacific Railway]] in 1883, and by charter, Missoula incorporated a municipal government as a town, the same year.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://destinationmissoula.org/history |title=Missoula History |publisher=Destination Missoula |access-date=August 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150812181840/http://destinationmissoula.org/history |archive-date=August 12, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> In 1885, Missoula reincorporated its government as a city.<!-- according to the info box data -->

In 1893, Missoula was chosen as the location for the first state university, the [[University of Montana]]. The need for lumber for the railway and its bridges spurred the opening of multiple saw mills in the area, and in turn, the beginning of Missoula's lumber industry, which remained the mainstay of the area economy for the next 100 years.<ref name="historicmissoula2"/> The [[United States Forest Service]] work in Missoula began in 1905.<ref name="NMFSH">{{cite web |url=http://forestservicemuseum.org |publisher=National Museum of Forest Service History |access-date=August 26, 2015 |title=About Us: Frequently Asked Questions |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141022061346/http://forestservicemuseum.org/about/faqs.html |archive-date=October 22, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> Missoula is also home of the [[smokejumper]]s' headquarters and will be the site of the National Museum of Forest Service History.<ref name="NMFSH"/> Nationally, there are nine Forest Service regions; Region{{nbsp}}1 is headquartered in Missoula.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fs.fed.us/organization |title=Our Organization |website=United States Forest Service |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180628211145/https://www.fs.fed.us/organization |archive-date=June 28, 2018 |url-status=live |access-date=August 25, 2018}}</ref>

[[File:Missoula Sunset (2006-07).jpg|thumb|left|View of downtown from Mt. Sentinel]]

Logging remained a mainstay of industry in Missoula with the groundbreaking of the Hoerner-Waldorf pulp mill in 1956, which resulted in protests over the resultant air pollution.<ref>{{cite web |last=Briggeman |first=Kim |url=http://helenair.com/article_54f565a7-465b-5211-ad82-b048b0340e2a.html |title=Missoula anti-pollution group celebrates its victories |newspaper=Independent Record |date=February 29, 2008 |access-date=August 28, 2015 |location=Helena |archive-date=September 13, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170913165627/http://helenair.com/article_54f565a7-465b-5211-ad82-b048b0340e2a.html}}</ref> An article in ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'' 13 years later speaks of Missoulians sometimes needing to drive with headlights on during the day to navigate through the [[smog]].<ref name="Hall 1969">{{cite magazine |last=Hall |first=Richard |title=Air Pollution |magazine=Life |date=February 7, 1969 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s1IEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA43 |volume=66 |issue=5 |publisher=Time |location=New York |pages=42–43 |issn=0024-3019 |quote=As they drive to work through it—sometimes with their car lights turned on in broad daylight—Missoulians complain a lot. |access-date=August 28, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904113534/https://books.google.com/books?id=s1IEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA43 |archive-date=September 4, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1979, almost 40% of the county labor income still came from the wood and paper-products sector.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://missoulian.com/article_417e2984-a82c-11df-bcbc-001cc4c03286.html |title=In the beginning of the MAEDC |newspaper=Missoulian |issn=0746-4495 |date=August 14, 2010 |access-date=January 28, 2012 |location=Missoula |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170915103021/http://missoulian.com/article_417e2984-a82c-11df-bcbc-001cc4c03286.html |archive-date=September 15, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> The lumber industry was hit hard by the [[Early 1980s recession|recession of the early 1980s]], and Missoula's economy began to diversify.<ref name="Polzin 1994">{{cite journal |last=Polzin |first=Paul E. |title=Montana's Economy: State of the Economy |journal=Montana Business Quarterly |publisher=UM Bureau of Business and Economic Research |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=6–15 |date=Spring 1994 |id={{ProQuest|234227618}} }}</ref> By the early 1990s, the disappearance of many of the region's log yards, along with legislation, had helped clean the air dramatically.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://deq.mt.gov/airmonitoring/citguide/understanding.mcpx |work=Citizen's Guide to Air Quality in Montana |title=Missoula Carbon Monoxide SIP Case History |publisher=Montana Department of Environmental Quality |archive-date=January 22, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160122005628/http://deq.mt.gov/airmonitoring/citguide/understanding.mcpx |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1883, the [[Northern Pacific Railroad]] arrived in Missoula, spurring rapid growth in the town, which by then had about 500 residents.<ref>{{cite web |title=Missoula Railroad History |url=https://destinationmissoula.org/blog/missoula-railroad-history |website=Destination Missoula |access-date=5 September 2024}}</ref>

In March 1970, the Northern Pacific, along with three other closely affiliated railroads ([[Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad|Chicago, Burlington & Quincy]], [[Great Northern Railway (U.S.)|Great Northern]] and [[Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railroad|Spokane, Portland & Seattle]]) merged to form [[Burlington Northern]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Burlington Northern (BN), The West's First Mega Railroad |url=https://www.american-rails.com/burlington.html |website=American Rails |access-date=5 September 2024}}</ref>

In 1987, BN decided to lease, for an initial term of 60 years, the ex-NP route to entrepreneur [[Dennis Washington]], who formed [[Montana Rail Link]]. MRL established its headquarters in Missoula.<ref>{{cite web |title=Montana Rail Link: A Success Story (1987-2022) |url=https://www.american-rails.com/mrl.html |website=American Rails |access-date=5 September 2024}}</ref>

In January 2022, [[BNSF Railway|BNSF]] agreed to pay MRL $2 billion for an early lease termination.<ref>{{Cite news|date=January 10, 2022|title=MRL employees advised rail sold to BNSF|language=en-US|work=[[NBC Montana]]|url=https://nbcmontana.com/news/local/mrl-employees-advised-rail-sold-to-bnsf|access-date=January 11, 2022}}</ref><ref>Stephens, Bill. "BNSF had to undo Montana Rail Link Lease." ''[[Trains (magazine)|Trains]]'', May 2022, p. 11.</ref> The return to BNSF control required the approval of the [[Surface Transportation Board]],<ref>{{Cite web|last=Franz|first=Justin|date=January 11, 2022|title=Washington Companies to terminate Montana Rail Link lease|url=http://montanafreepress.org/2022/01/11/montana-rail-link-cedes-lease-to-bnsf/|access-date=January 12, 2022|website=[[Montana Free Press]]|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=January 14, 2022|title=BNSF to take over Montana Rail Link after leasing agreement terminated|url=https://missoulacurrent.com/business/2022/01/montana-rail-link-2/|access-date=January 17, 2022|website=Missoula Current|language=en-US}}</ref> and this was later approved on March 8, 2023.<ref>[https://railfan.com/stb-approves-expedited-bnsf-takeover-of-mrl/ UPDATE: STB Approves MRL Lease Termination, BNSF to Takeover by Year's End] ''[[Railfan & Railroad]]'' March 8, 2023</ref> BNSF took over operations on January 1, 2024.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Stephens |first1=Bill |title=BNSF Railway sets date for taking control of Montana Rail Link |url=https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/bnsf-railway-sets-date-for-taking-control-of-montana-rail-link/ |access-date=27 September 2023 |magazine=[[Trains (magazine)|Trains]] |date=June 16, 2023}}</ref> This absorbed the MRL into BNSF, integrating MRL operations, technology and personnel. All 1,200 employees were offered employment with BNSF.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Montana Rail Link to meld into BNSF come 2024 - RailPrime {{!}} ProgressiveRailroading |url=https://www.progressiverailroading.com/RailPrime/Details/Montana-Rail-Link-to-meld-into-BNSF-come-2024--69965 |access-date=2024-01-01 |website=RailPrime}}</ref>

{{As of|2009}}, education and healthcare were Missoula's leading industries; the University of Montana, Missoula County Public Schools, and the two hospitals in the city were the largest employers.<ref name="employers 2009">{{cite news |url=http://missoulian.com/article_adefb1d0-ea06-11de-b150-001cc4c002e0.html |title=Top employers in the city of Missoula |newspaper=Missoulian |issn=0746-4495 |date=December 15, 2009 |access-date=August 14, 2015 |location=Missoula |archive-date=September 15, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170915103643/http://missoulian.com/article_adefb1d0-ea06-11de-b150-001cc4c002e0.html}}</ref> [[St. Patrick Hospital and Health Sciences Center]], founded in 1873, is the region's only [[Level&nbsp;II trauma center]] and has undergone three major expansions since the 1980s.<ref name="SaintPatrick">{{cite web |url=http://montana.providence.org/hospitals/st-patrick/about/history/ |title=St. Patrick Hospital, Missoula, Montana |access-date=August 8, 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905175229/http://montana.providence.org/hospitals/st-patrick/about/history/ |archive-date=September 5, 2015}}</ref> Likewise, the University of Montana grew 50% and built or renovated 20 buildings from 1990 to 2010.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://umt.edu/president/people/pastpresidents/dennison.php |title=George M. Dennison |publisher=University of Montana |access-date=April 22, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330211554/http://www.umt.edu/president/people/pastpresidents/dennison.php |archive-date=March 30, 2012}}</ref> These industries, as well as expansions in business and professional services, and retail are expected to be the main engines of future growth.<ref name="Cohen 2009">{{cite news |last=Cohen |first=Betsy |url=http://missoulian.com/article_2bbc4546-eb70-11de-b164-001cc4c03286.html |title=Slow economic growth forecast for 2010; Missoula will soon be largest city in Montana |newspaper=Missoulian |issn=0746-4495 |date=December 18, 2009 |access-date=January 28, 2012 |location=Missoula |archive-date=September 15, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170915102953/http://missoulian.com/article_2bbc4546-eb70-11de-b164-001cc4c03286.html}}</ref>

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Missoula's oldest commercial district, ''Downtown'' is also home to more than 30 buildings listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] beginning in 1976 with the [[A.J. Gibson]] designed [[Missoula County Courthouse|County Courthouse]] constructed in 1908 being added. The [[United States Post Office (Missoula, Montana)|Post Office]], Wilma Theatre and Higgins Block were all added a couple years later.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://montanahistorywiki.pbworks.com/w/page/21639764/National%20Register%20-%20Missoula |title=National Register of Historic Places: Missoula County |access-date=November 17, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.historicmissoula.org/History/Architecture/tabid/208/Default.aspx |title=Architecture |work=Historic Missoula |publisher=Missoula's Office of Planning and Grants |access-date=February 8, 2012}}</ref> In the 1970s businesses fled Downtown for cheaper land in Southwest Missoula. This created a second commercial district focused around the ''Southgate Mall'', built in 1978. Subsequent deterioration of Downtown ironically saved its future. With old buildings too expensive to replace and no big businesses moving in rents began to fall. This led to the myriad of small start-up shops in historic buildings that Downtown is known for today. The area went from bankrupt to the center of Missoula's arts and culture in matter of 25 years.<ref>http://missoulian.com/uncategorized/downtown-turnarounds/article_9c0f7bf2-285c-5e7e-a9db-0e0f8ac3e35e.html {{Bare URL inline|date=November 2021}}</ref><ref>http://missoulian.com/news/a-city-revitalized/article_c683daef-bae6-5ffe-bb53-0aaf6ed6d401.html {{Bare URL inline|date=November 2021}}</ref> In the late 1990s North Reserve Street became the new center for large retail stores. Located at the cross streets of Highway-93 and the old Mullan Road with easy access to Interstate 90, the area has become a major shopping destination for local and regional customers. -->