Montana Governor and First Lady's Math and Science Initiative
Welcome to Dinosaur Country!
Mile Post 242 on I-94, Wibaux Rest Area
Montana is famous for its dinosaur fossils.
Paleontologists have discovered seventy-five
different species of dinosaurs in Montana, more than
any other state in America. The oldest dinosaur fossils are found
in rocks of the Jurassic Period, which are 155 million years old.
They include the gigantic Diplodocus, the plated tegosaurus, and
the fearsome Allosaurus. Most Montana dinosaurs come from
Cretaceous Period rocks, including the “raptor” Deinonychus,
made notorious by the 1993 motion picture Jurassic Park, and
the burrowing dinosaur Oryctodromeus. About 80-75 million
years ago, nesting dinosaurs like Maiasaura and Troodon lived
in the coastal plains next to the inland sea. Many millions of
years later, Tyrannosaurus rex, vast herds of horned Triceratops,
and the armored Ankylosaurus all lived in Montana. During
the millions of years the dinosaurs ruled this region, the climate
and geography were very different from today. Inland bays of
the Pacific Ocean during Jurassic times and the Atlantic Ocean
during the Cretaceous period provided Montana with a hot and
humid subtropical climate.
Welcome to Dinosaur Country!
A Brief History
Montana’s big sky drew tourists even during the darkest days of the Great Depression in the 1930s. Thousands of people came to Montana to enjoy its wide open spaces and experience its Old West heritage. Good roads and cheap gasoline helped make it possible. The Montana Department of Transportation distributed colorful highway maps and brochures at ports-of-entry stations and information centers. Beginning in 1935, the MDT installed interpretive markers at roadside picnic areas to tell readers about Montana’s exciting history. The signs told stories reminiscent of a cowboy spinning a yarn to a greenhorn. Over 250 roadside signs still introduce visitors and residents to Montana’s history and geology.
