“Big Sky Country” is a relatively new moniker that dates to a 1962 marketing by the Montana State Highway Department. It’s an allusion to the state’s unimpeded skyline, which at times appears to overshadow the landscape. A Highway Department employee used the term from Alfred Bertram Guthrie Jr.’s book Big Sky. Mr. Guthrie then granted permission to use the moniker, and Montana has been known as “Big Sky Country” ever since.