MISSOULA, a city and the county-seat of Missoula county, Montana, U.S.A., on the Clark Fork of the Columbia (here called the Missoula river), about 125 m. W.N.W. of Helena. Pop. (1900), 4366 (1020 foreign-born); (1910), 12,869. It is served by the Chicago, Milwaukee & Puget Sound railway, and by the Northern Pacific railway, which has shops here and of which Missoula is a division headquarters. There is an electric railway from Missoula to Hamilton, about 48 m. south. The Northern Pacific railway maintains a large hospital here, and St Patrick’s hospital is maintained by sisters of charity. Missoula is about 3200 ft. above sea-level, with Mount Jumbo immediately north, and University Mountain immediately south of the Clark Fork, and the Bitter Root range to the west. The city is situated on the bed of a prehistoric lake. Missoula is the seat of the Sacred Heart academy (for girls), of a Christian Brothers' school (for boys), of the Garden City commercial college, and of the state university (founded in 1893, and opened in 1895), which occupies a campus of 40 acres. On the Bitter Root river, 4 m. distant, is the United States army post; Fort Missoula. Missoula has considerable trade with the surrounding country in farming, fruit-growing, lumbering and mining. The Clark Fork furnishes water power, and at Bonner, 6 m. east, is the Clark dam (28 ft.), which furnishes electric power. Missoula was founded in 1864, and chartered as a city in 1887.