The Last Best Place is an unofficial

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

for the U.S. state of

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

. The phrase's origin is disputed. The first known use is in Douglas Chadwick's book '' A Beast the Color of Winter'', while

William Kittredge William Kittredge (August 14, 1932 – December 4, 2020) was an American writer from Oregon, United States, who lived mostly in Missoula, Montana. Biography He was born in 1932 in Portland, Oregon, and grew up on a ranch in Southeastern Oregon's ...

is credited with popularizing it as the title of his book '' The Last Best Place: A Montana Anthology''.

History

The first known use of the term was by biologist Douglas Chadwick in his book ''A Beast the Color of Winter''. Chadwick argued against allowing

hydrocarbon exploration Hydrocarbon exploration (or oil and gas exploration) is the search by petroleum geologists and geophysicists for deposits of hydrocarbons, particularly petroleum and natural gas, in the Earth using petroleum geology. Exploration methods Vis ...

in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, writing "I managed to envision industrializing the Bob. But I couldn't accept it. Not here. Not in the last, best place." The term was popularized as the title of ''The Last Best Place: A Montana Anthology'', written by William Kittredge and

Annick Smith Annick Smith (born 1936) is a French-born American writer and filmmaker whose work often focuses on the natural world. Biography The daughter of Jewish-Hungarian émigrés, Smith was born in Paris(2 July 1995)STAKING A CLAIM: AUTHOR ANNICK SMIT ...

and published in 1990. Kittredge claims to have created the phrase independently, while Chadwick claims that Kittredge's use of the phrase was inspired by his own. The phrase became popular among Montanans, a geographically large state with a small population and expansive undeveloped wilderness.

Trademark controversy

David E. Lipson, a

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

businessman, bought a ranch in Greenough, and built a resort. Lipson attempted to trademark the term "The Last Best Place" to market his resort, as well as his other businesses. This attempt was met with widespread outrage from Montanans, including

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Brian Schweitzer and

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Max Baucus, as well as Kittredge, the original coiner of the term. Senator

Conrad Burns Conrad Ray Burns (January 25, 1935 – April 28, 2016) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Montana and later was a lobbyist. He was only the second Republican popularly elected to represent Montana in the Senate ...

introduced a bill to prevent the term from being trademarked in 2004, but Lipson won a lawsuit to overturn the law. Afterwards, Baucus introduced stronger legislation, banning the phrase from being trademarked.

Usage

The term is widely used as an endearing term by Montanans to refer to their state. In 2018, Annick Smith (one of the authors of ''The Last Best Place: A Montana Anthology'') published an article asking if Montana is "still the last best place", discussing various ways Montana has changed since 1990, as well as issues such as climate change, the opioid epidemic and the decline of Montana's "

Wild West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

" culture.

References

{{Montana Symbols of Montana

History

Trademark controversy

Usage

See also

References