There has never been a Miss Montana to win the crown while living in the Mining City.

We have at least on Miss Montana living in the “Holey City” today, and nobody seems to be more of a Butte girl that Jessica Picker.

Jessica, whose maiden name is Criss, hails from Klamath Falls, Oregon, and she won the Miss Montana Crown while attending Montana State University in 2020. She was again “crowned” Miss Montana in 2021 after COVID wiped out the 2020 Miss America pageant.

In five Miss Montana pageants, Jessica took home Miss Congeniality honors five times. She also took home that title at the Miss America pageant in 2021. She has a black belt in Japanese Jujutsu, so she can kick your butt while wearing high heels.

Of course, Miss Congeniality would never do that.

After serving as Miss Montana for two years — and she is the only woman to ever pull that off — Jessica decided to join the Miss Montana board. She did that to try to make the pageant even better.

Part of that plan is to bring the pageant to Butte. It will be in the Mining City for the first time on June 21. A site for that has not been set just yet, but it will likely be held in one of the school auditoriums.

Jessica, who studied equine science at Montana State University, plans to someday use horses as therapy animals to help her fellow humans. In the meantime, she is working as a veterinary technician at Highlands Veterinarian Hospital in Butte, where she wins over people and pets alike.

Listen in to this podcast to hear to how and why Jessica got into the pageant game when she was a senior in high school. Listen how she used her Miss Montana voice and platform to teach the importance of self-defense.

Listen to why she wants to bring the Miss Montana pageant to Butte. Listen to how she reluctantly moved to the Mining City, and hear how she might not ever leave.

Also, listen to hear why Jessica is the ultimate Miss Congeniality.

Today’s podcast is presented by Leskovar Honda, home of the 20-year, 200,000-mile warranty.

Note: Butte’s Bar-Beth Smith won the Miss Montana USA crown in 1959, and Mitriann Popovich was crowned Miss Montana USA in 1972. They represented the Treasure State in the Miss USA pageant.