MONTROSE

royal burgh (town) and North Sea port, council area and historic county of Angus, Scotland, situated at the mouth of the River South Esk. Montrose received its first charter from David I of Scotland (reigned 112453) and was designated a royal burgh in 1352. It was there in 1296 that King Edward I of England accepted the surrender of Scotland from the Scottish king John de Balliol. Montrose prospered as a market town and fishing port and by the 18th century had developed into a popular spa. The town has been known for its jute-processing and jam-making industries, but the production of goods and services for the North Sea oil industry is now more important to the local economy. The town, no longer a spa, is still a popular holiday resort. Pop. (1991) 11,440. city, seat (1883) of Montrose county, western Colorado, U.S., in the Uncompahgre River valley at an elevation of 5,820 feet (1,774 m). After the land was opened for settlement in 1881, a railway depot was established on the site. The town that grew up around it was named by an early citizen, who was inspired by the 19th-century Scottish Romantic writer Sir Walter Scott's Legend of Montrose. By 1900 major canal projects irrigated land for farming, and later lumbering and mining (carnotite ores yielding uranium, vanadium, and radium) became important. In 1910 water diverted from the Gunnison River through the Gunnison Tunnel, 6 miles (9.7 km) long, increased irrigation facilities. The city is now a busy trading centre, with food- and wood-processing industries. The area is part of the Upper Colorado River Storage Project. The Ute Indian Museum is nearby, and Montrose is a tourist base for Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument, Curecanti National Recreation Area, and the Uncompahgre and Gunnison national forests. Inc. town, 1882; city, 1906. Pop. (1990) 8,854.