[11] An act of Congress of February 18, 1881, dedicated 72 sections (46,000 acres (72 sq mi; 190 km2)) in Montana Territory for the creation of the university.

The cities' bids were supported by the rival "Copper Kings", William A. Clark and Marcus Daly, respectively.

While plans for a university campus were progressing, classes were temporarily held at nearby Willard School.

Hammond, Richard Eddy and Marcus Daly, joined with the Higgins family in donating land for the new campus.

[20] The original plan of the campus was designed by one of its first professors, Frederich Scheuch, who called for the central oval to be surrounded by immediate and future university buildings.

Today the campus consists of 220 acres (89 ha) and is bordered to the east by Mount Sentinel and the north by the Clark Fork River.

The main campus comprises 64 buildings, including nine residence halls and various athletic venues, including Washington–Grizzly Stadium, a 26,500-seat football stadium and the Adams Center (formerly, Dahlberg Arena), a 7,500-seat multi-purpose arena where the university's basketball teams play.

Landmarks include: A three-acre (1.2 ha) swath of grass running east to west, marking the traditional center of the university.

Today it is divided into quadrants by two intersecting brick-laid paths, though originally the oval was solid grass and forbidden to be crossed by students.

On the western extreme of the Oval is a life-sized grizzly bear statue created by ceramic artist and sculptor Rudy Autio in 1969.

Around 1908, members of the Forestry Club forged a zigzag trail up the mountain and students carried up stones to shape the symbol of the University of Montana.

A larger wooden version of the "M" was built in 1913 and upkeep of the structure was formally charged to each year's freshman class.

Each year from then on, University of Montana freshmen made the hike up to the "M" to apply a fresh coat of whitewash and remove any weeds and grass that had grown in and around the structure.

[23] On the north side of campus, 29 evergreen trees stand in two columns forming Memorial Row along what used to be the path of Van Buren Avenue.

Originally, a white T-board stood in front of each tree, with the name of the person whom it honors; in 1925, these were replaced with 35 brass nameplates atop concrete markers.

Both systems are governed as the Montana University System by the Montana Board of Regents, which consists of seven members appointed by the state governor, and confirmed by the state Senate to serve overlapping terms of seven years, except for one student member who is appointed for one year at a time..

[25] The Board of Regents appoints the university president, who is directly responsible and accountable to the Commissioner of Higher Education.

Camas: The Nature of the West, is a literary journal run by graduate students of the Environmental Studies Program.

UM is currently the only American university offering a Bachelor of Arts in Central and Southwest Asian Studies.

Numerous live bear cubs who served as university mascots, first named Teddy, then Fessy and finally, in the 1960s, Cocoa.

UM's costumed mascot during the 1980s, dubbed Otto, donned a variety of fun-loving outfits to entertain crowds at Grizzly football games.

The 2002–03 and 2004–05 National Champion Mascot of the Year (Capital One/ESPN) has evolved into a "motorcycle-riding, break-dancing, back flipping, slam-dunking, movie-making, crowd-surfing, goal post smashing, prank-pulling superstar.