Montana

Montana is the fourth-largest state in the country, but only about 1.1 million people live there. That works out to roughly seven people per square mile.

Elk, deer, and antelope actually outnumber the humans. The state also has the largest grizzly bear population in the lower 48 states.

The Blackfeet, Crow, Cheyenne, and Salish peoples called this land home for thousands of years before Europeans arrived. Lewis and Clark passed through Montana in 1805 on their way to the Pacific.

A young Shoshone woman named Sacagawea helped guide them through her homeland near the Rocky Mountains.

Gold was discovered at Grasshopper Creek in 1862, and prospectors flooded in. Montana became a U.S. territory in 1864, and boomtowns like Bannack, Virginia City, and Helena sprang up almost overnight.

But the U.S. government was also pushing native peoples off their land. After breaking treaty promises and demanding the Lakota give up the sacred Black Hills, the Army sent troops to force them onto reservations.

On June 25, 1876, Lieutenant Colonel George Custer led 210 soldiers against a massive camp of Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors along the Little Bighorn River. The fight was over quickly. Not one of Custer's men survived.

The victory was short-lived. Within a year, the government sent more troops, and most of the tribes were forced onto reservations for good.

Montana became the 41st state in 1889. Today, seven reservations are home to eleven tribal nations across the state.

Drive the Going-to-the-Sun Road through Glacier National Park, one of the most scenic drives in the country. Visit the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, where markers show where soldiers and warriors fell.

In the ghost town of Bannack, you can walk through the buildings of Montana's first territorial capital. And if you want real wide-open space, head to the eastern plains, where you might drive for miles without seeing another car.