Montana's progressive mountain city at the confluence of three rivers and the gateway to five valleys — where Missoula sits at the convergence of the Clark Fork, Blackfoot, and Bitterroot Rivers (the three river valleys that radiate from Missoula like a trident into the Rocky Mountain wilderness — the Clark Fork east to the Continental Divide, the Blackfoot north to the wilderness that inspired Norman Maclean's 'A River Runs Through It', and the Bitterroot south through the broadest valley in western Montana), the University of Montana (the arts and humanities university on a steep-sided mountain campus against Mount Sentinel, with the 'M' trail to the concrete letter M above the university being the most-climbed trail in the city) defines Missoula's character as the most progressive and literary city in Montana, the Clark Fork River Trail (a 10 km paved path along both banks of the Clark Fork through downtown) passes through Caras Park (where the Thursday farmers' market under the Higgins Bridge and the Out to Lunch summer concert series are the city's social centre), and the Rattlesnake National Recreation Area and Wilderness (8 km north of the city centre — a 64,000-acre wilderness beginning within the city limits, with 100+ km of trails accessible from the trailhead at the end of Rattlesnake Creek Road)
Missoula (80,000 city; 120,000 metro) is the second-largest city in Montana and the home of the University of Montana — a river city at an elevation of 975 metres in the Rocky Mountain valleys of western Montana, 550 km east of Seattle. Missoula is one of the most culturally distinctive small cities in the American West, known for its independent bookstores (the highest concentration per capita of any Montana city), its food bank (the Garden City Harvest urban farming program that distributes fresh produce in a region where food deserts are common), and its outdoor recreation access.
The Salish, Pend d'Oreilles, and Kootenai peoples (collectively the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes) have inhabited the Missoula Valley for thousands of years. The word 'Missoula' derives from the Salish 'Im-i-sul-etku' ('near the cold, chilling waters' or 'place of fear' — referring to the treacherous river crossings at the Clark Fork confluence). The Hell Gate Canyon (immediately east of Missoula, where the Clark Fork narrows between rocky walls) was named by French-speaking trappers who witnessed Blackfeet raids on Salish people attempting to pass through. The University of Montana…