Ringling, Montana
Ringling was originally called Leader, but was renamed for John Ringling of the Ringling Brothers Circus family when the White Sulphur Springs and Yellowstone Park Railway was built. John Ringling was a financier of the railroad, as well as its president. He also owned a summer home and spa in White Sulphur Springs, and considerable ranch land in the area.
The lower Shields Valley (which contains Ringling and environs) has one of the warmest average January temperatures in the state of Montana, due to chinook winds. This same consistent warming was responsible for the ice-free corridor which possibly enabled the ancestors of most Native Americans to enter the mainland of North America during the Pleistocene.
Ringling is widely known as the setting for portions of Ivan Doig's 1979 book, This House of Sky. The town was also the subject of the Jimmy Buffett song "Ringling, Ringling" featured on his 1974 album Living & Dying in 3/4 Time.
Further reading
- Cheney, Roberta Carkeek. Names on the Face of Montana: The Story of Montana's Place Names. Missoula: Mountain Press Publishing Company, 1984. ISBN 0-87842-150-5.
References
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Ringling, Montana
- ^ "Ringling ZIP Code". zipdatamaps.com. 2022. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
- ^ "Ringling". Montana Place Names Companion. Montana Historical Society. Retrieved April 9, 2021.