Missionaries, trappers, loggers, American Indians, prospectors, and train builders were among the key players in Missoula’s past. Today, this modern city offers numerous cultural, educational, medical, and recreational amenities to both residents and visitors alike. Whether you use Missoula's nickname, “The Garden City,” or call it the “Paris of the ‘90s” or “Nemissoolatakoo” (meaning “by the shining waters") as the local Salish Indians do, you will find Missoula to be western Montana’s center of trade, education, medicine and culture.

In 1805, Meriwether Lewis first visited the “hub of five great valleys” — Flathead to the north, Frenchtown to the West, Bitterroot to the south, Blackfoot to the northeast and Hellgate to the east. Today travelers fish and float the Clark Fork, the Bitterroot and the Blackfoot rivers, which were made famous in the movie “A River Runs Through It.”

Fur traders stopped here in the early 19th century. Thirty miles south, Father Pierre Desmet established a Jesuit mission in 1841. Settlers arrived in great numbers after the discovery of gold in Montana in the 1860s. They founded Hellgate Township on Mullan Road in 1860. Four years later, the community moved a few miles east to Missoula Mills.

Two of the biggest events in the history of Missoula happened within a decade of each other. First, in 1833, came the Northern Pacific Railroad, which quickly turned Missoula into a logging and marketing center. Next, in 1893, came the University of Montana, now more than 14,000 students strong, and, like the community, still growing.

Today, Missoula is a thriving county of about 108,000 people. Professional and financial services, retail trade, healthcare and other professions have supplemented the older resource-based economy. Missoulians love the scenic beauty of their surroundings, with its opportunities to ski, fly-fish, golf, hike or simply enjoy the outdoors. Sporting events, concerts, museums and fine restaurants are also bountiful in this beautiful city.