Day 38: Election Prayer Focus Montana

Montana - The Treasure State

Motto: Gold and silver

Capital City: Helena

Largest City: Billings

Leaders

Governor Brian Schweitzer (D)

Senator Max Baucus (D)

Senator Jon Tester (D)

Rep. Denny Rehberg (R)

Prayer Points

*Declare revival comes to the state of Montana.
*Declare signs and wonders follow the preaching of the Word in Montana.
*Declare the people of Montana are open to receive the truth of the Gospel.
*Declare the leaders of Montana walk in wisdom and the fear of the Lord.
*Declare prosperity comes to the state of Montana.
*Declare heaven’s strategies come to the leaders of Montana.
*Declare protection over the state of Montana.
*Declare protection over the National Guard, military personnel, and military bases in Montana.
*Declare Christians in Montana get out and vote according to Biblical principles.
*Declare an accurate accounting of the vote in Montana.

First explored for France by François and Louis-Joseph Verendrye in the early 1740s, much of the region was acquired by the U.S. from France as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Before western Montana was obtained from Great Britain in the Oregon Treaty of 1846, American trading posts and forts had been established in the territory.
The major Indian Wars (1867–1877) included the famous 1876 Battle of the Little Big Horn, better known as “Custer's Last Stand,” in which Cheyenne and Sioux defeated George A. Custer and more than 200 of his men in southeast Montana.
Much of Montana's early history was concerned with mining, with copper, lead, zinc, silver, coal, and oil as principal products. Butte is the center of the area that once supplied half of the U.S. copper.
Fields of grain cover much of Montana's plains. It ranks high among the states in wheat and barley, with rye, oats, flaxseed, sugar beets, and potatoes as other important crops. Sheep and cattle raising make significant contributions to the economy. (http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0108237.html)

The state nickname is the "Treasure State." Other nicknames include "Land of Shining Mountains," "Big Sky Country," and the slogan "The Last Best Place." The state ranks fourth in area, but 44th in population, and therefore has the third lowest population density in the United States. The economy is primarily based on ranching and wheat farming in the east, lumber and tourism in the west, oil and coal in the east, and hard rock mining in the west. Millions of tourists annually visit Glacier National Park, the Battle of Little Bighorn site, and three of the five entrances to Yellowstone National Park.

The coldest temperature on record for Montana is the coldest temperature for the entire continental U.S. On January 20, 1954 -70 °F was recorded at a gold mining camp near Rogers Pass. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montana)

Religion

Approximately 82% of the population is Christian. The largest denominations by number of adherents in 2000 were the Roman Catholic Church with 169,250; the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America with 50,287; and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with 32,726. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montana)

Politics

The state was the first to elect a female member of Congress (Jeannette Rankin) and was one of the first states to give women voting rights.

Historically, Montana is a Swing state of cross-ticket voters with a tradition of sending "conservatives to Helena (the state capital) and liberals to Washington." However, there have also been long-term shifts of party control. During the 1970s, the state was dominated by the Democratic Party, with Democratic governors for a 20-year period, and a Democratic majority of both the national congressional delegation and during many sessions of the state legislature. This pattern shifted, beginning with the 1988 election, when Montana elected a Republican governor and sent a Republican to the U.S. Senate for the first time since the 1940s. This shift continued with the reapportionment of the state's legislative districts that took effect in 1994, when the Republican Party took control of both houses of the state legislature, consolidating a party dominance that lasted until 2004. The state last supported a Democrat for president in 1992, when Bill Clinton won a plurality victory.
In recent years, Montana has been classified as a Republican-leaning state, and the state supported President George W. Bush by a wide margin in 2000 and 2004. However, since the 2000 reapportionment plan went into effect in 2004 the state currently has a Democratic governor (Brian Schweitzer), elected in 2004. In the 2006 midterm elections, Democratic candidate Jon Tester narrowly defeated (by only 3000 votes) incumbent Republican Senator Conrad Burns, one of several crucial races that allowed the Democratic Party to win the majority in the U.S. Senate. Montana's lone US Representative, Republican Denny Rehberg, easily won reelection. The state Senate is (as of 2007) controlled by the Democrats and the State House of Representatives is controlled by the Republicans. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montana)

Interesting Facts

Montana's triple divide allows water to flow into three oceans: the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean (Gulf of Mexico), and the Arctic Ocean (Hudson Bay). This phenomenon occurs at Triple Divide Peak in Glacier National Park.

In 1888, Helena (the current state capital) had more millionaires per capita than any other city in the world. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montana)