List of people from Montana
Name Lifetime Montana connection Comments
Brad Adkins 1973-present Born in Kalispell Artist and curator
Anne Appleby 1954-present Lives and works part time in Born in Jefferson City Abstract color field / landscape painter
Rudy Autio 1926-2007 Born in Butte ; attended college in Bozeman ; lived and taught in Missoula Sculptor and ceramicist ; professor of ceramics
John E. Buck 1946-present Lives part-time in Bozeman Sculptor and printmaker ; married to fellow sculptor Deborah Butterfield
Deborah Butterfield 1949-present Lives part-time in Bozeman Sculptor who makes horses out of found objects ; married to fellow sculptor John E. Buck
Russell Chatham 1939-present Lives near Livingston Painter ; lithographer ; writer ; restaurateur
F. Y. Cory 1877-1972 Lived in Helena and on a ranch near Canyon Ferry Lake Artist and illustrator
William Cumming 1917-2010 Born in Kalispell Artist ; a founder of the Northwest School
Monte Dolack 1950-present Born in Great Falls ; lives in Missoula Lithographer ; painter ; poster artist ; watercolorist ; one of Montana 's most popular and widely known contemporary graphic artists ; known for whimsical images of animals ( trout swimming in a bathtub , elk with their antlers on fire , etc . )
Malcolm Hancock 1936-1993 Lived and died in Great Falls Satirical cartoonist who used the pen name Mal
Ethel Hays 1892-1989 Born in and raised in Billings Syndicated cartoonist specializing in flapper -themed comic strips
Will James 1892-1942 Lived his later adult years at Pryor Creek and in Billings Western artist ; author ; won the Newbery Medal in 1927
Frank Bird Linderman 1869-1938 Lived in Sheridan , Demersville ( now Kalispell ) , Helena , Butte , and Flathead Lake Western sculptor and writer ; Native American ally ; Montana State Representative ( 1903-1905 ) ; Montana Assistant Secretary of State ( 1905-1907 )
Stan Lynde 1931-2013 Born in Billings ; raised on sheep ranch near Lodge Grass ; attended college in Missoula ; lived in last years of his life Helena Cartoonist who drew the comic strips Rick O'Shay and Latigo ; western mystery novelist
Edgar Samuel Paxson 1852-1919 Moved to Montana at age 20 ; lived in Deer Lodge , Butte , and Missoula 19th-century realist painter
J. K. Ralston 1896-1987 Born in Choteau ; lived in Helena , Dawson County , and Billings Western painter of the American Old West whose primary topics were the American West and images of cowboys and American Indians
Kevin Red Star 1943-present Born and raised on the Crow Indian Reservation ; attended college in Bozeman and Billings ; lives in Lodge Grass Contemporary Native artist ; some of his work is in the Smithsonian Institution
Winold Reiss 1886-1953 Spent significant time in Montana ; ashes spread by the Blackfeet along the eastern edge of Glacier National Park Painter ; made over 250 paintings of Native Americans , especially the Blackfeet
Charles Marion C.M . Russell 1864-1926 Moved to Montana at age 16 ; lived in Cascade , and Great Falls Western painter ; storyteller ; author ; primary topics were the American Old West and images of cowboys and American Indians
Robert Scriver 1914-1999 Born on the Blackfeet Reservation ; lived near Glacier National Park Sculptor of western themes
Artists
Cartoonist Stan Lynde at the 1982 San Diego Comic Con Western painter Charles Marion Russell John Balistreri ( right ) assisting Peter Voulkos ( left )
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, island ranges are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name, derived from the Spanish word (mountain). Montana has several nicknames, including: The Treasure State and Big Sky Country, and slogans that include Land of the Shining Mountains and more recently, The Last Best Place. The state ranks fourth in area, but 44th in population, and accordingly has the third-lowest population density in the United States. The economy is primarily based on services, with ranching, wheat farming, oil and coal mining in the east, and lumber, tourism, and hard rock mining in the west. Millions of tourists annually visit Glacier National Park, the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, and three of the five entrances to Yellowstone National Park.