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MONTANA

Industrial Resource Edition
66855

Department ot

AGRICULTURE, LABOR AND INDUSTRY

Chester C. Davis Chas. D. Greenfield, jr.

Commissioner of Agriculture Chief of Division of Publicity

This Publication Is Issued and Circulated hy Authority
of the State of Montana

19 2 3

. HELENA MONTANA

{

THE MISSOULIAN PUBLISHING COMPANY
MISSOULA. MONTANA

4

CONTENTS

Pages

Introduction 5-6

Statistical Summary '^-^

Industrial Possibilities 9-18

Farming and Stock Raising 19-24

The Geography of Production 25-34

The Climate 35-38

South Eastern Montana 41-53

South Central Montana 55-66

South Western Montana 67-74

East Central Montana 75-84

Central Montana - 85-103

AYest Central Montana 105-116

North Eastern Montana 117-124

North Central Montana 125-138

North Western Montana 139-147

Appendix 149-166

Index - 167-171

MONTANA

c^ __ —

Foundations of Agriculture and of Industry Have Been Laid But Only a Fraction
of the Resources Touched — Its Progress Shoun Statistically

lu this edition of •"Moutaiia" an effort has been made to present a picture of
the state as it is and of the basic agricultural and industrial resources upon
which its future will largely depend. The degree to which development has been
carried is touched upon, and the possibilities for further expansion are suggested.

No effort has been made to "sell" Montana in brighter colors than actually
exist. Of the immensity and variety of its potential resources, and of their ulti-
mate utilization, there can be no question. When tlie world will need them,
however, and be ready for them under conditions that will insure prosperity to
the persons and the capital undertaking their development is beyond the ordinary
person to predict. It is witli the idea, however, that when the time is ripe,
when economic conditions in the nation and the world are favorable, Montana
will be ready, that this presentment of its resources is made.

While the foundations of agriculture and of industry have been laid in
Montana, the state, after all, is still in the pioneer stage of development and its
real call today is to the pioneer, as clear as it was fifty years
Call is for ago in the days of the gold discoveries the Indians, and the
the Pioneer trail herds. The nature of the attendant risks has changed, but
the need for self reliance, coiu-age and perseverance is as
imperative as ever. The nature of the rewards has changed, too ; bountiful they
are to the successful, but they are not garnered overnight, nor do they involve the
element of chance, but long and careful preparation, ample capital or much experi-
ence, or more often both, and a vision broad enough to encompass within its
reckoning, the reactions and the complexities of the outside world.

There are mountains of good ore in Montana that because of lack of trans-
portation facilities, capital to develop them, or other causes, are not immediately
profitable assets to their owners. Likewise, Montana lands include some which,
while fertile in themselves, are profitably farmed imder existing prices only by
the exceptionally efficient operator. In districts that have been settled within
the last ten or fifteen years, farming practices first followed are being abandoned
in favor of newer methods as out of experience there emerges the systems of
farming best suited to soil, moisture and other environmental conditions.

Montana offers some advantages that cannot l)e duplicated elsewhere. Among
others favorable to general farming are low land values combined with relatively
high productiveness. There are also factors on the other side, such as distance
from price-making markets, lack of centers of large consuming population ; and, in
many localities, lack of farming experience demonstrating the most efficient methods.
In the long view, however, most of the adverse factors will be overcome. Price-
making markets and centers of consuming population are being established at
closer distances.

6 MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RKSOl'RCES

Tho ultiiiiiiti' jireatness of Montana is as.siirc'il, but what the c-ost tn the inili-

vidual will Ih- depends upon general eeonomic conditions and the fitness of the

individual for the st ru,ir.iile. It has been more than some who

Ultimate came in the past could pay. while others, better adapted b.v

Greatness tempcu-anient and experience, have thrived.

Assured rn ajiriculture. Montana's future importance depends largely

upon non-irrigated farming. In proportion to the total tillable
area, the irrigable acreage is small. There are vast areas that will either be
farmed under non-irrigated methods, or will revert to pastoral uses. Wheat will
probably continue for many ,veai"s to be the state's chief cash crop, and it is not
unreasonable to believe that in a few .vears Montana will be the leading spring wheat
state of the country, ^^'ith less than a third of its tillalde area improved, it now
holds second place. But it is also likely that the crop will be produced under
a more permanent system of agriculture than the one-crop plan heretofore domi-
nant, and that areas better adapted to livestock grazing than crop production
eventually will re-seed themselves to native sod. Evidences exist of the emergence
of a more permanent system of agriculture in the non-irrigated as well as the
irrigated areas. Corn and cows and chickens and turkeys, beef and milk and eggs
are factors of safety that the non-irrigated areas are beginning to find will bal-
ance the cash crop of wheat.

An empire is in the making here and Montana has every right to be proud of

its attainments, achieved on the development and utilization of only a traction of

its resources. With scarcely a third of its agricultural lands

An Empire improved, it ranks with other states in total crop value, thirty-

in the Making first : with a mineral production largely confined to Silver Buw

county, except for coal, under normal conditions it has ranked

with other states from seventh to eleventh. It is the nation's chief producer of

manganese and precious stones, and in 1020 the second leading producer of copper.

silver and zinc. It is the largest user per capita of electricity: the pos.sessor of

the greatest national parks and the noblest mountain scenery ; the holder of ten

per cent, of the total water power in the United States : the home of the second

largest industrial corporaticm in America.

Big and prodigal, Montana is scarcely aware of its own strength or of its innate
potential greatness. A sparsely-settled land of broad distances and towering moun-
tains, it has seized upon a resource here and there and passed by many another.
Its matchless scenery has not been capitalized to any extent in a tourist way.
Its irrigation possibilities have .iust been glimpsed. Even in the dryest year on
record, 1919, official stream flow records show enough water flowed out of the
state to irrigate ten million acres of land, or five times the area now irrigated.
The average flow out of the state is sufficient to cover its Oo.OOO.OOO acr(>s with
water to a depth of six inches.

Slowl.v. but surely, not without cost to the individual. Montana is finding
itself. It has a place for men and women of pioneer spirit in the development of
its agricultural and stock raising opportiuiities. It has a place for capital in the
development of its raw manufacturing and process materials. It welcomes tourists
and himters and fishermen. To all who come it pledges a co-operative hand and
a square deal.

The statistical summary appended gives some idea of the state, of its resources
and of their development. In all cases the latest official figures available have
been used.

STATISTICAL ST^MMARY 7

STATISTICAL SUMMARY OF MONTANA

MONTANA— Population (1!)20), .j47,5!)3. Population per square mile (1920),
3.8 persons. Area, iH.OTS.OSO acres. Acres unreserved public land (11)22), 5,659,87^
Acres national forests (1922), 15,93o.SS9. Acres national parks, Indian, military
and other reservations (1922), 4.727.S94. Average elevation above sea level of
state, 3.-400 feet; maximum elevation, 12,850 feet; minimum, 1,800 feet. Mean
annual temperature of state, 42.3°. Mean annual precipitation, 15.81 inches.
Average numl)er of clear days. 163 ; of partly cloudy, 107.4 ; of cloudy, 94 ; of
days with .01 of an inch or more of precipitation, 77. Niunber of counties, 55
Number of incorporated cities. 107; of cities with population of 25,000 or more, 1
of cities of 10.000 to 2.5,000 population. 5 ; of cities of 5,000 to 10,(X)0 population, 6
Principal crops (1922) in order of value; wheat, hay, oats, corn, potatoes, flax.
Principal livestock (1922) in order of value; sheep, cattle, horses, swine. Principal
minerals in order of value (1920) : copper, zinc, coal, silver.

RANKS FIRST AMONG STATP^S— In spring bread wheat production
(39,210,000 bushels, October, 1923, estimate) ; in percentage of total spring wheat
pi-oduction grading No. 1 (74 per cent, graded No. 1, 1920-1922 inclusive) ; in lowest
average value of good plow hinds (.$31.00 an acre, 1923) in freedom from cattle
tuberculosis (January. 1923). less than nine-tenths of one per cent, of the 205,650
cattle tested reacting to the disease ; in production of honey per hive ( average of
88 pounds per hive, 1913-1919 inclusive) ; in use of electricity per capita; in pro-
duction of manganese and precious stones; in area and variety of National Parks;
in acreage of public lands patented (1921).

RANKS SECOND AMONG STATES— In production of copper, silver and
zinc (1920) ; in lowest death rate per 1.000 population (8.2 persons in 1922).

RANKS THIRD AMONG STATES— In area (94.078,080 acres) ; in extent and
size of its coal measures (39,532 square miles containing estimated available supply
of 381,000,000,000 tons) ; in number of cattle tested for tuberculosis.

RANKS FOURTH AMONG STATES— In water power electricity (1923)
(average monthly production of 82,000,000 kilowatt hours).

RANKS AMONG STATES— Sixth (1923) in percentage of people owning
their own homes (60.5); nineteenth (1922) in value of all livestock, ,$95,024,000;
twenty-fourth (1922) in value of all animal products, .$61,300,000; thirty-first
(1922) in total crop value; thirty-second (1920) in number of farms; thirty-
second (July 1, 1923) in persons per motor vehicle (9.5) ; thirty-sixth (1920) in
population (.547,593).

WEALTH— Estimated 1922 crop value. ,$92.932,090 ; estimated value of all ani-
mal products for 1922, .$61,. 300. 000 ; estimated mineral production 1922, $59,500,000;
1922 lumber cut, 304,377,000 feet ; total bank deposits, June 30, 1923, $140,396,521.

TAXATION 1922— Total assessed valuation, $1,471.232..574 ; total taxable value.
$465,200,282; total outstanding county boud indebtedness, $27,866,533; total out-
standing county warrant indebtedness $3,.308,1.36 ; total outstanding school bond
indebtedness, $13.092,120 ; other school debts, $1,021,471 ; total general and special
county taxes, ,$9.776,328 ; total general and district school taxes $10,789,777 ; total
municipal taxes, .$3,.32L006 ; total state taxes, .$2,201,604; total tax (inclusive
municipal) per capita, $56.80.

EDUCATIONAL — Number of elementary schools, 3,375; enrollment, 102,4^4.
Number of high schools, 218 ; enrollment, 18.514.

TRANSPORTATION— Number of railroads, 12; railway mileage, 7,0.35; main
line mileage, 5.072 ; electric street railways. 7 ; street railway mileage, 846 ;
total road mileage, 64,7.32 ; total improved roads, 29,279 miles ; total surfaced and
paved, 1,772 miles; total number automobiles (November, 1923), 65,1.50; total
number trucks (November. 1923), 8..300; total number motorcycles (November.
1923), 372. Rural free mail delivery routes, 193; total mileage rural routes, 5,560.

BUSINESS — Number federal personal income tax returns (1921), 36,907, or
over 12 per cent, of state's total population engaged in gainful occupations. Total
net personal incomes in Montana (1921), $81,527,662; total tax collected, $1,051,863.
Number of manufactures (census, 1920), 1,290; average number wage earners,
17,100; value of products, $166.644,.518 ; value added by manufacture, .$44,512,594.
Number of banks, September 15, 1922, .391 — 131 national, 260 state, 7 private.
Building and loan associations, 181. Moving picture houses, 173. Mercantile
census, R. G. Dun & Co., 1922; General stores, 919; groceries and meats, 1,295;

8

MONTANA : INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

drugs, 311; restaurants and bakeries, 813; garages, autos and accessories, 1,000;
lumber, 411; hardware and implements, 378; furniture and undertaking, 199; shoe
repairing, 268; blacksmith and machinery, 390; confectionery and cigars, 647;
men's furnishings, shoes and tailors, 429 ; dry goods, milinery and women's wear,
338; billiards, 494; miscellaneous, 2,217. Total assessed valuation 1922 merchan-
dise, $49,100,717. Number grain elevators. 605; total capacity, 17,872,000 bushels.
Number creameries, 53. Number flour mills. 66 Number of lawyers, 968. Num-
ber of physicians, 538. Developed hydro-electric plant capacity, 296,4;^) horse
power.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census )— Number of farms, 567,677; farm acreage,
35,070.656; improved farm acreage, ll.tK)7,278; irrigable acreage under existing
works, 2,753,498; average value all prop(>rty, per farm, $17,095. Livestock
assessed 1922 — Number cattle, 1.08-1.220; number sheep, 1,867,094; number horses,
507,783; number swine (census, 1920), 107,000.

The "Home" Ranch

MONTANA INDUSTRIAL POSSIBILITIES

^

In Variety, Quantity and Quality of Ran', Process and Fuel Materials, Montana

Is Excelled by hlo State — Trend Toivard Decentralization of Production

and Rapid Qrowth of Western Markets Encourage Manufacturing.

A survey of the many tremendous resources of Montana, which are adapted
above those of most states to industrial blending, impels the conclusion that with
the growing expansion of the oriental marlvets and the upbuilding of the Pacific
coast, the time is not distant when Montana will be an industrial center of the
first magnitude. The western and oriental markets will be big enough to absorb
products manufactured in ^Montana from Montana materials sooner than is gener-
filly realized. One-fifth of the total exports of this country in 1922 were
to the orient. California and Washington competed to an appreciable
extent for the first time in 1922 with Chicago for Montana livestocli. Coast com-
petition with Minneapolis for Montana wheat for the first time was generally
felt in 1922.

Industry in Montana is still almost wholly in the primary stage. For the

most part, a few of the state's resources have been exploited for the extraction of

raw materials that have been transported long distances, there

In Exploitative to be converted into manufactured products. There has been

or some secondary industrial development in Montana, such as

Primary Stage plants for making grain into flour and cereal stuffs, lumber

into mill products, livestock into meat products, milk and

cream into butter and cheese, beets into sugar, gypsum and limestone into

cement and plaster, clay into ))rick, tiie and pipe, copper ore into copper rods and

wire, and crops of orchards and farms into canned products of commerce. But

many other primary resources of the state have been ignored, and practically no

attention has been given innumei-able other resources of chief importance to

secondary industries in the fabrication of raw materials.

The dominant fact about Montana is that it is not a single-industry, but a
potentially multiple-industry state. ]\Iany states have large agricultural areas,
many have coal and water-power, many have luumber, oil, copper, iron, gold,
silver and zinc and a score of non-metal minerals, that are essential to industry,
but in the variety, quantity and quality of these resources no state excels and few
possess what Montana has.

Consider the significance to Montana's industrial future of these facts:
One-tenth of the potential minimum water-power of the United States is in Mon-
tana ; its coal fields, covering 39,532 square miles with an esti-
Vast Multiple mated available supply of 381 billion tons, are exceeded by those of
Industry only two other states, the coal of which is of lower grade ; its
Resources natural gas fields constitute one of the largest reserves of this
resource in the United States; its rapidly-growing petroleum
production seems destined to place it among the leaders ; in silver, manganese and
precious stones it stands first ; in copper and zinc third. Its manganese ores are
the largest known reserves in the country. Its phosphate belongs to an inter-

10 MONTANA : INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

mountain deposit tliat is the larjrest l<no\vn in the world. Its soft wood saw
timbers belong to the only great body of svuh timber remaining in this country,
which is one of the three great bodies left in the world.

In addition to these resources which are more or less generally known. Mon-
tana has many other resources (»f which few persons are aware. Big iron de-
posits are one. It has big possibilities of finding still other resources. Illus-
trative of this, the fact that Montana possessed important manganese deposits
was not dreamed of until 1917. Its phosphate deposits were accidentally dis-
covered while geologists were engaged on entirely differentt work. A valuable
clay deposit in Sheridan county was discovered in like manner. Among its
chromite deposists is one bed 27 miles in length, which proltably is the largest
in the United States, but less than tour miles of it has been more than cursorily
examined. In the 1910 reports of the United States Geological Survey there was
no mention of either chromite or manganese in Montana. The existence on a con-
siderable scale of many other resources of much value to industry is reported but
there has been no thorough investi.gatiou. A siuumary of the occurrence of
known and reported natural resources of Montana will be found in the appendix.

Man.v economic forces that caused the centralization of manufacturing in
the Atlantic coast states are either no longer potent or have been carried to
such an extreme as to set adverse influences at work, so that
Drift Toward tendencies at present point to a decentralization. An example
Decentralization of the first-named cause is a more stringent immigration law.
which has restricted the hitherto abiuidant supply of cheap
labor, and is inducing many nianufadurers to look to other parts of the country
in the expectation that the more healthful atmosphere and the higher types of
available workers, as to natural characteristics, will more than offset the handi-
caps incident to a new location. An example of the last-named cause is seen
in the fact that production has so far exceeded the absorbing power of the
region that tran.'^portation has broken down luider the double burden of outgoing
manufactured products and incoming raw materials and foodstuffs. The center
of population has steadily moved westward. As production has increased, raw
materials near at hand have been depleted. Increased production has meant more
workers and a food supply from a larger area. These three factors have made
for hauls that have steadily lengthened and for mounting transportation costs.
The advantages of the original locations, in many instances, are no longer com-
mensurate with the disadvantages new conditions have interposed. Far-
sighted manufacturers and financiers have begun to realize that this economic
structure has aggravated the developjuent of single industry communities with
an attendant chain of physical, social and other evils. Much class hostility and
friction between industrial and agrarian interests is ascribed to this development.

Because of many influences, only a few of which have been touched upon,
there is a distinct trend at present toward the decentralization of production (not
of large scale control i and the upbuilding of multiple industry communities.
This new development will be controlled in location by the types of manufactur-
ing enterprises, which some economists classify in three groups. The most
important are those which are located with direct reference to the source of raw
and process materials, and in a second group those which follow the market by
reason of relative or actual high cost of transportation of the finished product,
or because of some other factor making marketing moi-e con\enient from a local
source. In a lesser third group are placed enterprises largidy dependent upon the
initiative and energy in the persons who have the desire or .special aptitude for

FA("rORS OF LOCATION

u

A Potential Power Site

Factors That
Control
Location

their development. As a rule, the products of this third siroup. it is said, bear
about the same transportation charijes as do the raw materials, so that the
location of the plants becomes immaterial.

Factories using bulky, cheap, fragile or perishable materials are chiefly of
the first type and usually found in districts where the materials exist. Some ex-
amples are wood pulp mills, brick plants, starch factories,
creameries, sugar beet factories, canning factories, and coarser
grades of wooden products. Factories whose finished products
are bulky, cheap, fragile, perishable or in «iuick demand by users
or which ha^e more value in skilled iaVior than in raw material
are principally of the second group and follow the market. Examples are farm
implements, glassware, potteries, work-clothing, furniture, and machine manu-
facturing industries which are always near the machine-using industries.

In many industries there are also special influences that are factors in loca-
tion. The element of fuel is of great importance to the Portland cement, the
pottery and the glassware industries. Cement is bulky and cheap, pottery and
glassware are fragile, so nearness to market as well as availability of fuel is of
prime importance. While nearness to market and availability of raw ma-
terils are big factors in the location of iron and steel plants, the determining
factor has largely been the right kind of fuel for smelting. The fragility of coke,
it is asserted, prevents its shipment for distances beyond six hundred miles, and,
because the highest known grades of coking coal are found near Pittsburgh
that city has retained its supremacy in the manufacture of iron and steel.
Climate, it is claimed, is the controlling factor in the location of woolen mills.
A humid atmosphere is necessary to keep the fibers soft and pliable and so
permit drawing into the finer grades of yarn or thread. This atmosphere can
be artificially created in Montana, which is one the chief producers of wool, but
as it is found naturally where the mills ;ire now located, and is also found on

12 MONTANA : INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

the Pacific coast, should there be a shift of mill location because of a big western
and oriental market, it would iui>re likely to be the coast than to centers of
raw wool production, except for the coarser woolen goods.

In many important manufacturing enterprises, skilhnl labor localized in cer-
tain communities prevents their decentralization. Sanitary pottery, for instance,
is entirely the work of skilled hands, and is localized exclusively in two eastern
cities. Electrical porcelain potteries, on the other hand, are largely made by
machines manned by semi-skilled labor, and are manufactured in a score of
scattered places. Though efforts are being made to standardize leather, lasts,
methods and internal factory transportation, the locale of shoe manufacturing
is still largely dominated by the domicile of skilled labor. The influence of
skilled labor, however, in determining factory locations, is rapidly waning. Trans-
ference of skill to perfected machines, the sub-di\"ision of labor with specalizaton
upon simplified tasks is shifting the emphasis from skilled to unskilled or semi-
skilled labor. This labor is mobile and seeks the factory. Examples of this in
Montana are found in the copper rod, wire and cable plant of the xVnaconda Cop-
per Mining Company at Great Falls, and in the sugar-beet factory at Billings.
New processes, in nmny instances, are overcoming the special influences that
have confined industries to certain localities. Perhaps the most notable illustra-
trations, and those which bode the most good to an industrial
Fuel and future for Montana, have to do with sources of fuel and power.
Power Are In the iron and steel industry, Pittsburgh's virtual monopoly of
Big Assets the best coke has been overcome by the invention of ovens that
take ordinary grades of coal and, by saving the by-products, turn
out a good quality coke at a moderate price. The electric furnace is growing in favor
for smelting. The United States Geological Survey predicts that "the present geo-
graphic distribution of the centers of production of pig iron may be modified by the in-
creasing use of electric smelting and by the discovery of processes for making metal-
lurgic coke from coals that have not heretofore been classed as coking coals."' This
prediction may be realized in an invention by a Montana man, who has been
granted patent rights on an electric furnace, which it is claimed will overcome the
lack of suitable coke for the reduction of the big deposits of Montana iron ore.

A ton of coke is required for the -production of one ton of pig iron. Coke
suitable for iron manufacture costs $15 a ton in Montana against $3.00 in Ohio,
thus penalizing iron production in Montana $12 a ton. The basis of the patent
is a process by which the fuel is kept entirely separate from the ore, preventing
contact of impurities with the molten ircm. Further, this new furnace consumes
only one-tenth as much electricity in producing a ton of pig iron as do the electric
furnaces that have been perfected in Norway and Sweden. The inventor believes
his furnace is capable of development to a point that will make possible the
manufacture of iron and steel in Montana to supply the markets mid-distant to
the eastern steel plants.

Use of the electric furnace is growing in other branches of the iron and steel
industry, in making ferromanganeso and spiegeleisen, the former being an alloy
largely used in open-hearth steel from which structural shapes, sheets, bars and
wire are made, and the latter an alloy in Bessemer steel from which rails,
forgings, etc., are made. The Geological Survey states that "the metallurgy of
chromite has apparently been so developed in the hydroelectric process as to
utilize to advantage relatively low-grade ores such as are most abundant in the
United States .... and the further development of that process would greatly
diminish the handicap of long transportation." Chromite and manganese, next to
iron, are the most important resources Montana has for an iron and steel in-
dustry.

TWO LINES OF GROWTH

13

A Forecast
of Industrial
Development

There is every roa.soii to bL>lii'\e that Montana's weallli of basic industrial
materials combined with its vast fuel and power resources and the growing im-
portance of the western and oriental markets will bring manufacturing here.
According to experts, the prairie lignite of eastern Montana, if made into producer
gas and the energy is then changed into electricity, is equal in energy value at
$5.00 a ton to Pittsburgh bituminous coal at $10.20 a ton.

The emergence of industry in iloutaua from the extractive to the manufactur-
ing stage, however, will not be a sudden transition but a slow growth along two
lines. One will be a more complete fabrication for sale in west-
ern and oriental markets of the raw materials now produced in
large quantity. The other will be a development of industries,
utilizing resources of Montana, that in the beginning at least
will primarily manufacture tools and appliances required by the
extractive and other industries already established. The copper, rod and wire
mill at Great Falls is an instance of the industrial transition along the first line ;
the manufacture of some mining machinery, such as hoists and ore cars in the
mining districts, and the assembling and partial fabrication of oil-drilling equip-
ment by machine shops in the oil fields, are instances of the second line of
development to be anticipated. In other words, the development will be in
accord with the axiom that nearness to market is the most important of loca-
tion considerations to the largest number of manufacturing enterprises.

There are some real opportunities for new manufacturing plants in Montana
to supply the needs of the present available mai'kets. Looking at the matter from
the angle of the needs of extractive industries already established and the possi-
bility of filling these needs with products made out of Montana resources, the
prediction would appear justified that the next step forward in this state will
be the establishment of iron and steel mills, and then of paper mills.

The coal, metal mines and smelters use large quantities of iron and steel prod-
ucts. The northwestern oil fields are big users of pipe and steel tanks. The
building and other miscellaneous industries are users of iron and steel products.
The farms of the northwest require barb and woven wire fencing. Establish-
ment of iron and steel works in the state would make possible the establishment of
many specialized plants serving markets now available for such products as gas
engines for farm use, wind mills, pumps, certain kinds of farm machinery, tin
cans for the northwestern and iutermountain canneries, and a large variety of
pressed metal goods — Ituckets, cups, dishes and novelty goods, hardware of various
sorts and speciality goods.

Oil Refining the Newest Industry

14 MONTANA : INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

It is likely that tho first stop looking; to an iron and steel indnstry in Mon-
tana will be a plant doini? machine work and making steel castin.^s from serap
steel in an electric furnace. Scrap iron from the agricul-
An Iron turai and mining re^iions is comparatively abundant and is of

aiul Steel the hii^hest si'iidi^ f<>i" reworkinjr. There is no plant in the north-
Industry west utilizins; the scrap, althoujih the market is large for steel
castings. It is asserted the differential in transportation costs
in favor of such a home plant would insure its success against present holders of
the market. In California there are over sixty such steel foundaries. At present
steel castings must come from either Minneapolis or Salt Lake. The demand
from such a plant consists of steel castings for mining and smelting machinery,
railroad eiiuipment. oil-field equipment and many small repair parts for
tractors and farm machinery.

A pliint turning out bearing metals, of wliich large (luautities are used
by extractive industries already established in the northwest, would logically
seem to follow, especially in view of the fact that Montana is one of the
largest producers of the metals in such alloys.

In the resources required and the market availal)le Montana seems well
adapted to the manufacture of certain kinds of paper. To be successful, how-
cA'cr. the manufacturing processes probably would have to be
Adapted carried to the point of making the in-oduct ready for inime-

to Paper diate use, and not selling it to distant paper-goods plants,

Manufacture otherwise the marketing advantage gained from location would
be lost. The available demand is in the intermountain states
for newsprint from newspaper publishers, egg-case fillers from poultry farms, ice
cream cartons, butter ])ackages, wiapping paper, etc. This market is now sup-
plied from eastern or Pacific Coast points.

In the manufacture of all grades of paper except the heavy board suitable for
packing, egg-fillers, etc., several basic materials besides straw are essential. The
straw fiber is short, giving a soft paper with little tensile strength. For tougher
paper essential for most purposes, wool pulp is mixed with the straw. Corru-
gated board, for instance, for making heavy packing boxes, utilizes strawboard for
the inner corrugated layer that gives resistance to crushing loads, but requires a
strong thin paper made of better material for the outer .sheets. Ice cream cartons,
butter packages and Christmas boxes are made from chip-board which is some-
times obtained by working old paper and cotton waste into the stiff board used
in making ordinary boxes.

Both the raw and process materials vetiuired for paper are found in Montana-
wood pulp fi'om western Montana, straw from the agricultural districts, coal and
limestone from a score of coiinties, sulphuric acid from the smelters. Gypsum,
used as a filler, is found in seven counties. Bentonite. used as sizing, is reported
from one count.v. and barite, used in the same wa.v, is found in four counties. In
one district alone, on the West Fork <if the Flathead river, the L'nited States
Forest Service estimates there are 400.000,000 to 500.000.000 feet of spruce, white
fir. balsam and lodge pole pine suitable for the making of pulp.

Enough has been said to indicate some of the problems and possibilities in-
volved in bringing manufacturing to Montana. The first essential in any con-
templated industrial program will be a detailed and compre-
An Economic hensive survey of the r:iw and process resources of Montana,
Survey not alone of their location, but of their properties, chemical

Is Essential and physical and also of their quantities. Once this informa-
tion is assembled, a manufacturer can be specificall.v advi.sed
of where and in what amount the materials reepiired by his industry are to be

NEED ECONOMIC SURVEY

15

Developing the Mineral Wealth

had. Climatic and atmospheric conditions and the constituents of the various
water supplies are important process materials to some industries.

Mis.soula is the first, and. so far as known, the only community in the state
to undertake a sceientific industrial survey. The work was begun in the summer
of 1923 to ascertain what industries are best adapted to the natural resources
of the region and the present and potential markets.

An instance of the conversion of a practically waste product into processing
articles of high commercial value is found at Eureka. Lincoln county, where the
International Chemical Products Company has erected a plant for the extraction
of mucic acid or cream of milk sugar and other by-products from the butts
of tamarack trees. Cut-over lands are being cleared of stumps as a result of
the operations of the company, the butts containing a higher mucic acid content
than other parts of the tree. Mucic acid is a product of the sugar galactose, one
of the chief constituents of milk sugar, and is extracted by the company from
the plant fibres in its complex form, hydrolized and then oxidized to form the acid
derivative, mucic acid. It is obtained free of impurities and has a wide field of
usage in various foodstuffs, soft drinks, jellies and medicine, and also in the
mordanting of cloth. The lax'gest demand, however, is in the baking powder
trade, either in the form of a straight baking acid for use in the manufacture of
flour or in the form of baking powder for direct use. It possesses twice the
strength of cream of tartar and will keep indefinitely, two properties that have
given it a demand that has necessitated enlargement of the plant. Several by-
products are aL^^o recovered, one being oxalic acid, which is obtained in an almost
pure state. Tests have shown the wood fibre refuse to be excellent for news-
print paper and it is contemplated to use it later for wood pulp.

16 MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

Besides the materials required in the iron and steel and the paper malcing
industries. Montana has the resources needed in many other industries. Among
others are the following :

Montana is the third largest producer in the United States of copper, the
third largest producer of zinc and has large deposits of phosphate, derivatives
of which are used in making phosphor bronze and phosphor
Electrical copper. Copper is indispensable to the electrical industry and

Materials and most of the output is used in that industry. Thi, North Pacific
Appliances district, which includes western Montana, is pronounced by the
United States Geological Survey, "the richest in potential
power in North America." The developed power of the area is 750,000 horse-
power and the potential power 11.000,000 hor.sepower. It is reasonable to assume
this district in time will be the heaviest user of copper. Montana is in a posi-
tion to furnish it. Silver Boav county is the principal producer of both copper
and zinc, although eighteen other counties have also produced copper, and
nine other counties zinc.

^Many other materials used in the electrical industry are included among
Montana's resources, such as graphite in Madison county, cadmium and bismuth
in Silver Bow county, mica in Madison county, asbestos in Gallatin and Madison
counties, slate for switchboards in Lewis and Clark county, glass sands and
pottery clays for insulators and insulating materials in a number of counties,
timber for pole tran.smission lines in western Montana counties, sapphires for
jewel bearings in meters and other electrical equipment in Granite county.

Practically all the basic materials recpiired for glass and pottery occur in
this state in abundance, in close proximity to cheap fuel and power. Mo.st of the
sand used in glass making occurs as sandstone, quarried in
Glass and blocks and must be crushed and prepared for use. It should
Pottery be friable or easily crushed. Sandstone is one of the most

al)undant rocks found in the state, and particularly in those
districts where natural gas has been developed. No detailed study has been
made, but investigations have been carried far enough to show there are ample
supplies of glass sand in Montana. More than half the domestic output of arsenic
is used in an oxide form by the .glass industry as a decarbonizer. Silver Bow
and Park counties are big producers of this metal. Manganese is the chief de-
colorizer in the glass industry. Granite and Silver Bow counties have the largest
reserves in the United States of manganese ores. Lead in the form of oxides
is also extensively used in glass making. It is produced in IS counties. More
than half the counties in Montana have limestone deposits many of which will
meet the requirements of the glass industry — free from clay, iron pyrites and car-
bonates of iron and magnesia. It is believed that many more deposits of fire
clav will be discovered in Montana besides those already known. There are two

The Largest Smelter in the World

PAINT INGREDIENTS ABUNDANT

17

Much Logging in Western Montana

deposits of fire clay in Lewis and Clarlc county, two in Cascade, several in
Flathead and one each in Powell and Jefferson counties. For glass making
purposes clay must be free from lime and sulphides of iron and contain as little
oxide of iron as possible.

Besides extensive deposits of clay suitable for making common brick, there
ai-e many deposits of pottery clay in Montana, suitable for pressed brick, tile and
pipe, flower pots, some of \^'liich burn into a hard, durable ware and take an
excellent glaze. Pottery clay beds are found in Powell, Missoula, Sanders, Flat-
head, Ravalli, Gallatin, Sheridan, Carbon and Fergus counties. There are four-
teen brick and clay working establishments in the state that turn out $500,000
worth of products a year. Several of the plants manufacture silica fire brick,
and one plant in Silver Bow also manufactures refractories, such as crucibles,
cupels, scorifiers and other assay goods.

Kaolin, extensively used in the manufacture of porcelain, is reported in
Fallon county.

Natural gas. which is preferred above all other fuels in glass making, has
been developed in large quantities in several counties and is piped from the Elk
Basin field to Billings. Yellowstone county.

Arsenic produced in Silver Bow and Park counties. Sulphur from the
Insecticides smelters. Gypsum, used as a base, found in Cascade, Fergus,
and Fungicides Jefferson, Carbon, Big Horn, Madison and Park counties.

Lead produced in 18 counties. Zinc in 10 counties. Flax, for linseed oil,

grown in 40 counties of the state. Gypsum, vised as a base, found in Cascade,

Fergus, Jefferson, Carbon, Big Horn. Madison and Park coun-

Paint ties. Barite, used as pigment in white enamel paint, found in

Missoula, Madison, Carter and Wibaux counties. Also reported

in Judith Basin county. Clay, "mineral paint," reported in Granite count.v.

Phosphate found in Granite, Powell, Lewis and Clark, Beaverhead and Jef-
ferson counties. Sulphuric acid from smelters. Nitrate found in Madison county
(value of deposit not determined). Oil shale suitable for
Fertilizers tetraphosphate found in Beaverhead county. Gypsum found
in seven counties. The Anaconda Copper Mining Company is
operating a large super-phosphate phmt at Anaconda.

IS

MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

Hides from packing plants at Butte. Great Falls and Billings and from many

independent slaughterers. Sulpliurir acid from smelters. Arsenic found in Silver

Bow and Park counties. Chromite. derivatives of which are

Tanning used in making chrome leather, found in Stillwater, Sweet

Grass and Carbon counties. Bark of spruce, larch and pine,

among other harks used in tanning, available in western Montana counties.

Barite found in Missoula, ^Madison, Carter and Wibaux counties.

There are 1.200 manufacturing establishments in Montana, according to the

Bureau of the Census. In 1910 these plants employed 17.160 wage-earners and

turned out products valued at $166,665,000, of which $44,513,000

was the value added by manufacture. Incidentally, the second

largest industrial corporation in the United States, the Anaconda

Copper Mining Company, exceeded in size only by the United

States Steel Company, has its home office in this state. Its holdings in Montana

are larger than in any other state or country in which it operates.

Smelting and refining of copper, zinc and lead is the principal industry, but
figures on its operation are not a\ailab]e, being grouped by the census report in
"all other industries." Milling of flour, in value of products, comes next, and then
lumlier and timber products. The following table shows the manufacturing plants
in Montana by industries, the average number of wage-earners and the value of
the products as reported by the Bureau of Census :

Census of
Manufacture

Number of
Name of Industry — Establishments

Flour mills 60

Lumber and timber 15o

Car and shop construction and repairs 30

Slaughtering and meat packing 12

Butter 47

Printing and publishing, newspapers

and periodicals 225

Bread and other bakery products 110

Automobile repairing 255

Foundry and machine-shop products.. 22
Lumlier. planing-mill products, not
including planing mills connected

with sawmills 30

Printing and publishing, book and job 22

Confectionery and ice cream 37

Copper, tin. and sheet-iron work 34

Brick 14

Gas. illuminating and heating 6

Mineral and carbonated waters 31

Liquors, cereal beverages 7

Saddlery and harness 11

All other industries 166

Numlier of
Wage-Earners

Value of
Products

360

$16,386,000

3.693

10,992.000

5.312

10,957,000

210

6.859.000

190

4.219.000

829

.3.913.000

384

3.124.000

520

2.080.000

359

1,495,000

176

1.205.000

182

8.50.000

134

810.000

70

565,000

145

505.000

63

4S7.000

48

377.000

46

355,000

36

310.000

4AOS

101.20S.000

FARMING AND STOCK RAISING

^

Montana's Competitive Advantages — Experience and Capital Required — Land
Value Aids — Marketing Facilities — Farm Organizations.

* 66855

Montana's jireatest competitive advantasie that overcomes the handicap of dis-
tance to price-reguhitins marlcets is low land valuation combined with relatively
hiiili productivity. Raw land and im])roved farms can be bought in Montana today
at below pre-war figures. The depression that overtook agriculture generally in
1920 and the years after did not spare Montana. It followed immediately after
some years that had been luiusually trying upon the men and women who were
establishing homes in the West. These circumstances enabled Montana to escape
inflation of land values that is now taking toll from older and more completely
developed agricultural regions. They have caused to be thrown on the market
newly settled and partially improved land at extremely attractive prices. On irri-
gated as well as non-irrigated farms, this is now a time of favorable opportunity for
land ownership and operation in Montana by the right men and women, adaptable
to conditions, and with experience and capital requisite to success in any land.

There can be no hard and fast rule as to the experience and capital required

for a successful start in farming in Montana. The history of the agricultural

development of this state, in common with that of all other

Experienoe districts through the early stages, shows that ^Montana would
and Capital have been a great deal better off had all who came been pos-
sessed of sufficient means for a comfortable start, and experi-
ence in farming to guide and warn them. While thousands have made good
without either capital or experience, settlement of land b,v others similarly situ-
ated is not recommended. Safe farming must be based upon reserves that support
during crop or market adversit.v, and there is certainly no less need for such a
reserve at the outset of farming than later.

There is a general recognition in Montana of the suitability of the long-time
amortization payment plan to help the buyer through from land purchase to
complete ownership. The State of Montana took the lead in fixing this principle
in the state land policy by adopting laws, providing amortization payment by
purchasers of state land, with 15 per cent paid in cash and the balance extended
over ;>"» years with interest at five per cent and practically the same terms for
repaying state farm loans. Montana is situated in the Twelfth Federal Land
Bank district, and the federal farm loans have been a powerful factor in
^•egulating long-time land credits. Since the creation of this bank there have
been formed in Montana l.")0 national farm loan associations through which
.$17,(K)0,000 has been loaned on farm mortgages to farmers.

It is the policy of the divisions and departments of the State of Montana
that have to do with land policies to advise and guide incoming settlers as far as
possible to the end that tliey may establish themselves under conditions that
afford the liest possible opportunity to make good. In particular, these state

19

20 MONTANA : INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

agencies are the state department of agriculture, the state agricultural college,
and the state land board.

Marketing facilities and advantages in Montana are certain to enjoy rela-
tively rapid expansion owing to the advantageous availability of the state to
both eastern and western marl<ets. Competitive factors from
Marketing the great marlcets of the central states and from the increasing

the Crop buying and manufacturing markets of the Pacific coast, meet in

Montana, and the future result has immense economic signifi-
cance to farmers in this state. Co-operative marketing by farmers has been de-
veloping for years, chiefly among producers of grain, livestock, wool and cream.

Wheat is Montana's chief export grain crop, and until the last few years
practically all that moved beyond the state boundary went to Minneapolis and
Duluth. The growth of western markets has been rapid, however, and they are
steadily absorbing a larger proportion of Montana's wheat crop. There are 700
grain elevators serving all farm districts in Montana, about ten per cent of which
are co-operatively owned and managed l)y farmers. The most important present
movement toward co-operative marketing of wheat is in the Montana Wheat Grow-
ers' Association, with over six thousand members, which handled through a
growers' pool o\er five million bushels of wheat of the 1922 crop.

Jlarketing livestock from Montana has established well-grooved and efficient
channels. Operating co-operatively through a state department, cattle-growers
maintain inspectors at all the markets to which Montana ships for the purpose
of protecting the property rights of owners beyond the state borders. Co-operative
livestock shipping associations to accommodate the owner of small lots of stock
are developing all over Montana with signal success.

There are 60 creameries, many of them co-operative, and well-organized cream
shipping facilities for marketing cream, and the pull for surplus butterfat from
both east and west reaches well into ^Montana and quickens market conditions
over a considerable part of the state.

The market seeks the grower of Montana wool, but co-operative sale through
a growers' pool is rapidly approaching domination of the state's big clip. Of
the 1022 crop, three million pounds, or over 15 per cent of the total, were sold
through the pools of the Montana Woolgrowers' Association ; of the 1923 clip,
indications point to 45 per cent to be handled through the association pool.

In addition to the developing western markets there are other economic and
marketing advantages offered by ^Montana that are certain to react favorably on
her agriculture. Low production costs because of high yields combined with low
laud values constitute the initial step toward successful marketing. Cheap
production is over half of marketing. There are special markets near at hand
now drawing supplies from points much farther away than Montana, as for
illustration, literally hundreds of thousands of fat hogs are shipped through the
state from Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota to supply the demand of the packers
of the Pacific northwest. The natural trend is toward the production of com-
modities of which marketing costs, including transportation, take the least possible
share out of final selling values.

There are over twenty farmers' organizations of special or general character

in Montana, and comers will find it easy to re-establish old connections in their

new home. Thirty-fiA-e counties, or all but five or six of the

Farm agricultural units of Montana, have county farm bureaus.

Organizations which are federated into the Montana State Farm Bureau. The

:Montana division of the Farmers' Educational & Co-Operative

Union has active units in ten counties, and is strongly intrenched in six comities

FARM ORGANIZATIONS , 21

in soutbiTii Muntaiiu. Tlio Oraii^X' ami Eciuit.v liavi' at-Uve locals. The Montana
Stocksrowers' Association is the big parent livestock organization, but there are
active associations whose membership comprises breeders of purebred livestock of
all the leading breeds. Special organizations are functioning for fruitgrowers,
poultrymen, dairymen, bee-keepers, and other groups that play important parts
in farm develoiJinent in Montana. All the.se organizations are in close co-operation
with the .M(Hilniia State College of Agriculture at IHozeman. the state department of
agricnlturc, ami llie state Ihestock commissidu and sanitary board at Helena.

Oue of the factors in successful farming, according to the economists, is a
good average yield per acre. Montana's high average crop yield and the low
average value of its good ph)W lands, in comparison with the
High Average leading agricultural states of the middle west, are important
Yields on Low factors to be considered by the man seeking a farm location.
Priced Lands Over a period of 16 years, the average yield per acre on

nine staple farm crops was larger on the a\'erage farm in Mon-
tana than it was on the average farm in the big agricultural states of the middle
west. The figures used in this comparison are those of the United States De-
partment of Agriculture.

Comparing the average yields per acre from 1907 to 1922, inclusive, of Mon-
tana with North Dakota, South Dakota. Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin,
Illinois. Missouri. Kansas, Indiana, and the average for the United States as a
whole. Montana ranked first on oats, hay and potatoes, second on winter wheat
and spring wheat, third on barley and rye, seventh on flax, and eleventh on
corn. Corn, it should be remembered, is a new crop in Montana and farmers
are .just beginning to understand how to grow it and to find the varieties best
adapted to the state.

The only comparisons available on crop quality are in wheat and potatoes.

Over the three-year period of 1920-1922. inclusive, 74.4 per cent of Montana's

spring wheat graded No. 1 . Wyoming ranked second with 59.4

Crop Quality per cent grading No. 1. The average for the United States was

Comparisons 33.4 per cent. Of the states lying east of Montana, North

Dakota ranked seventh, with ,33 per cent of its crop grading

No. 1 ; South Dakota ranked ninth Avith 23.3 per cent ; Minnesota tenth with

20.6 per cent ; Nebraska twelfth aa ith 9.5 per cent ; Wisconsin thirteenth with 8.2

per cent and Iowa fourteenth with 7.2 per cent of its spring Avheat grading No. 1.

The quality comparison on potatoes was made by the Louisiana Experiment
Station in 1923 when it secured 30 lots of Bliss Triumph seed from ^Montana,
Wisconsin, North Dakota, Nebraska and Louisiana. There were eight lots from
Montana, each raised by a different grower, and the average of the eight lots
produced 192.2 bushels per acre. The average of the Wisconsin lots yield(>d at
the rate of 166.5 bushels, of the North Dakota lots at the rate of 161. S bushels,
of the Nebraska lots at the rate of 1.50.1 bushels and of the Louisiana lots, which
were bought on the open market, at the rate of 103.6 bushels per acre.

The relative position in average yield per acre, for the last 16 years, of ]Mon-
tana. Iowa. Nebraska, Wisconsin. Illinois, Kansas, Missouri and Indiana in the
production of corn, winter wheat, spring wheat, oats, barl(\v, flax, rye. ha.v and
potatoes, and the average value of good plow lands, based upon figures of
the United States Department of Agriculture, are shown in tlu^ following table:

•»

MONTANA : INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

LAND VALUES AND CROP YIELDS

How the states rank in ikt acre yield on 9
staple crops over IG-year period (1007-1022 Inc.).

Value good Seventh

State plow lands First Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth or lower

1022 on on on on on on on

Montana

Iowa

$ 3100

181.00

Nebraska

116.00

Wisconsin

lOS.OO

Illinois

Kan.sas

155.00

74.00

Missouri

85.00

Indiana

United States .-

105.00

84.75

3 Crops 2 crops 2 crops

1

4
1

2

1

1 crop

1 •■
4 ••

1

1

2.

2

6

crops

1 crop
1 ••

2

8
8
4

crop

1 '•

AVERAGE YIELDS

Average yields per acre of 16 years. 100 1

PER ACRE

to 1022. inclusive.

.rt.> eriij;t; .\ leiu^ per ;uif ul xu .xfiiis. x;hm h> I'.ij.^. iiiiin.-M\ i-. Kased upon fig-
ures in the 1016 and 1021 Yearltooks of the United States Department of Agricul-
ture and for 1022 upon those given in Vol. 2. No. 26 (December 23. 1922) of
Weather. Crops and Markets.

Corn. Bushels

Winter Wheat. Bushels

Spring Wheat, Bushels

Iowa 36.9

Wisconsin 36.5

Indiana 36.4

Illinois 34.4

Minnesota 34.0

South Dakota 20.4

United States 26.2

Missouri 26.7

Neltraska 24.9

North Dakota 23.6

Montana 22.2

Kan.sas 17.9

Iowa 20.5

Montana 20.1

Wi.^consin 10.8

Illinois 17.7

Minnesota 17.3

Nebraska 16.6

Indiana 155

South Dakota 15.3

United States 15.3

Kansas 13.6

Missouri 13.6

Illinois 18.6

Montana 18.5

Wisconsin 17.1

Iowa 15.0

Indiana 14.5

Minnesota 13.5

United States 12.7

Nebraska 12.4

Missouri 11.9

South Dakota 11.4

Kansas 9.4

Oats. Bushels

Barley. Bushels

Flax. Bushels

Montana 36.2

Wisconsin 35.4

Iowa 34.6

Illinois 34.5

Minnesota 31.9

Indiana 31.1

United States 30.5

South Dakota 28-6

Nebraska 27.3

Kansas 24.9

North Dakota 24.8

Mis.souri 24.7

Illinois 28.9

Wisconsin 2S.S

Montana 27.5

Iowa 27.5

Indiana 25.7

United States 24.7

Missouri 24.2

Minnesota 24.1

Nebraska 22.3

South Dakota 22.3

North Dakota 19.1

Kansas 17.6

Wisconsin 12.5

Iowa 10.7

Minnesota 9.4

South Dakota 8.3

Nebraska 8.1

I'nited States 7.8

Montana 7-7

North Dakota 7.5

Missouri 7.1

Kansas 6.4

R.ve. Bushels

Hay. Tons

Potatoes, Bushels

Minnesota 18.4

Iowa 18.1

Montana 17.7

Wisconsin 16.9

Illinois 16.9

South Dakota 16.3

United States 15.4

Nebraska 15.1

Indiana 14.9

Kansas 13.8

North Dakota 13.7

Missouri 13.5

Montana 173

Kansas 1.61

Nebraska 1.60

Minnesota 1.58

Wisconsin 1.54

South Dakota 1.46

United States 1.44

Iowa 1.41

Indiana 1.29

Illinois 1.27

Missouri 1.15

North Dakota 1.12

Montana 131.5

Wisconsin 99.2

Minnesota 97.6

United States 96.7

North Dakota 88.8

South Dakota 80.9

Iowa 77.9

Nebraska 76.0

Indiana 75.4

Illinois 71.5

Missouri 69.3

Kansas 65.0

LAND VALUE AIDS 23

Land should be bought reasonably us to price, and with payment spread over
a long period, all terms combined being such as can be met without having to

depend upon unusual good luck. Many factors are involved in

Factors in what constitutes a "reasonable price" — location with reference

Land Values to markets and schools, character of soil, value of improvements,

state of cultivation; on an irrigated farm, character and dependa-
bility of the water right : likelihood of water-logging with consequent drain-
age ; on a stock ranch, the average amount of forage that can be raised for
winter feed ; the location of the ranch in regard to the summer range on public or
national forest lands, the amount of summer range the ranch can depend upon, and
water supply. For the ordinary non-irrigated farm, with fair to middling improve-
ments, good depth of moisture-retaining soil, free from alkali, and in recent culti-
vation, reasonable prices under present conditions range from $15 to $35. For the
ordinary irrigated farm, with better improvements and in a higher state of
cultivation than the non-irrigated farm, a dependable water supply, no alkali
troubles or danger of water logging, reasonable prices range from $75 to $100.
So many special factors are involved in stock ranch valuations that it is not
feasible to attempt to give reasonable prices. More capital is required to get
started in this industry than in either non-irrigated or irrigated farming.

Prospective buyers can ascertain approximate land values in a district with
which they are not personally familiar through a number of agencies. There are

146 federal farm loan associations in Montana. Deer Lodge

Land Value and Silver Bow are the only counties with no associations.

Guides The sixth annual report of the Federal Farm Loan Board says :

"The Farm Loan Board or any Federal Land Bank will
be glad to give any legitimate inquirer a statement as to any county in the
United States in which business has been transacted, showing the number of
appraisals made, the number of acres involved, and the average appraisal by
acre in the county. This service should be especially helpful to those who con-
template the pni-chase of lands in territory with the values of which they are
unfamiliar". Inquiries concerning appraisals in Montana counties should be
addressed to the Federal Land Bank, Spokane, AVashington.

The assessed valuation of specifically described tracts can be ascertained upon
inquiry to the county assessor in which the land is located. County commis-
sioners are required by law to provide for the classification of all lands in
their counties, except vacant lands in forest reserves, Indian reservations and
unsurveyed lands, into seven classes : agricultural lands ; irrigated or non-irrigated
lands ; grazing lands ; timber lands and stump lands ; lands bearing stone, coal
or valuable deposits; lands bearing natural gas, petroleum, or other mineral de-
posits ; lands which may be valuable for more than one purpose. The classifi-
cation is to be used as a basis upon \\hich land values shall be fixed by the
county assessors. Some counties have not yet completed the land classification,
which the law requires to be in accordance with legal subdivisions. Inquiries to
assessors should be directed to the County Assessor, addressed to the county seat
of the county in which the inquirer is interested.

The State of ^Montana had granted to it by the federal government sections
16 and 36 in every township in the state. Some of this land has been sold, but
the state still owns large tracts in every county. These tracts have all been
appraised. A person interested in a specific land parcel can ascertain what the
state lands in the same township ai-e valued at by writing the Register State
Land Office, Helena, Montana. The inqairer should give the number and range
of the township and ask that the plat be mark(xl to show the sections or sectional
subdivisions the state owns.

24 MONTANA : INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

Copies of plats shuwinir all survoyed townships in ;Montana can be obtained at
a cost of 75 cents to $1.50 from the United States Surveyor General, Helena, Mon-
tana. If the Surveyor (Jeneral has a negative on hand of the
Topographic town.ship plat the price is 75 cents, but where a negative must

Maps and be made to fill the order, the price is $l..jO. These plats

Soil Surveys show the general topographic features of the township, such
as rivers, creeks, mountains, hills, brakes, etc. To a prospective
land buyer, the topographic features are the chief value. Topographic maps of a
iiuniber of districts in Montana have been issued by the United States Geological
Survey. They cost 10 cents each and are to be olitained from the Director, United
States Geological Survey. AVashington, D. C, who. upon reciuest. will indicate what
districts in the state are covered. These maps show roads, railroads, waterways,
and. by contour lines, the shapes of hills and valleys and the height above sea
level.

Few soil surve.vs have been made in Montana. A detailed soil survey of the
Bitter Root valley was made in 1017 by the United States Bureau of Soils, of the
Gallatin Valley in 1905 and of a small area near Billings at an earlier date. The
Gallatin and Billings surve.vs are considered now out of date as they wei'e based
too much on the geology of the areas, rather than on the soils.

In 1021, in cooperation with the United States Bureau of Soils, the Agronomy
Department of the Montana Experiment Station undertook a reconnoissance soil
survey of the state, ^lore than eleven million acres have been surveyed to the
present time. The work in Sheridan. Daniels. Roosevelt and Valley comities has
been completed, and about one-third of Phillips. Reports on Sheridan. Daniels
and Roosevelt soon will be available for distribution. The Valley county report
will not appear until later. The maps will show the topography, soil, area under
cultivation and the county classification of the lands, combined with a topograph-
ical map.

About three-fifths of the area of ilontaua lies east of the Rocky Mountains

and the remaining two-fifths on the western side. There is not much climatic

or topographic similarity between the two districts. From the

Topography main range to the eastern boundary, the country is mainly a

and Elevation rolling plain, with a gradual descent from an altitude of 4.000

to 5.000 feet at the base of the 7noun tains to less than 2.000

feet at the eastern line. This plain, however, is broken in the north portion here

and there by groups of mountains, and near the southern boundary by spurs from

the main range, with many peaks rising to altitudes of 5.000 to S.OOO feet, and a

few lumamed peaks in Carbon county to 1,3.000 feet. The highest namtnl peak in

the state is Granite, with an elevation of 12.850 feet. The surface of the western

two-fifths of the state is made up of numerous moiuitaiu ranges, shading abruptly

into foothills and valleys, the latter having elevations varying from less than 2.000

feet to 5.000 feet above .sea level

One-fourth of Montana lies at an altitude of less than 2.000 feet, one-half at
less than 3.000 feet, and three-fourths of the state at less than 4.000 feet. The
state's average elevation is 3.400 feet, compared with Colorado's average of 6.800
feet, Wyoming's 6.700 feet, Utah's 6.100 feet. Idaho's 5.000 feet. Nevada's 5.500
feet and Arizona's average of 4.100 feet. Because of its lower altitude, climatic
conditions in Montana for agricultural purposes are more favorable than in many
districts of the states to the south.

The drainage of the western part of the state reaches the Pacific ocean
through the Clark's Fork of the Columbia River; the drainage of a portion of the
northwestern part is into Hudson Bay through St. ilary's River, and the drainage
of the central and eastern districts is into the Gulf of ^lexico through the Mi.s-
.soxu"i. Yellowstone. Milk and Musselshell Rivers, the fotu- largest and most im-
portant streams on the eastern side of the mountains.

THE GEOGRAPHY OF PRODUCTION

Topography and Climate Have Created Three Regions in Montana in Each of

Which Distinct Farming Systems and Methods Have Been

Evolved — The Livestock Industry.

With a potential fanning area, according to experts, as large as the state of
Illinois ; a grazing area the size of Indiana ; and a mountain and forest region
equal in area to Kentucky, Montana has a widely diversified agricultural and
livestock industry. Instead of there being one system of farming and of live-
stock raising, there are several systems, each calling for certain standard crops
and crop rotations, or livestock species and methods of handling them.

The thrust of the main range of the Rocky Mountains, north and south,
through the state, is responsible for this. It places the western one-fifth of the
state on the Pacific slope where climatic conditions and agricultural opportuni-
ties are markedly different from the remainder of the state. Another one-fifth
of the state occupies the east-ern slopes of the mountains, which, at an eleva-
tion of 4,000 to 5,000 feet, sink into the undulating plains which occupy the
remaining three-fifths of the state's area.

The district west of the main range is best adapted to diversified and spe-
cialized farming, dairying and horticulture ; the district on the eastern slope of
the moiuitains and the higher plains, to livestock raising and general farming ;
the plains region, to livestock raising and general farming with a crop standard
somewhat different from that in the eastern slope district.

Heavily timbered mountain ranges occupy most of the surface of western
Montana which is wholly within the Upper Columbia drainage basin. They shade
abruptly into foothills and valleys, the latter having elevations
The Western varying from less than 2.000 feet to 5,000 feet. Most of the
Montana Region larger valleys are open. The agricultural cut-over areas of the
state are in the smaller valleys and on the benches. Agriculture
is confined to the valleys and the benches. Irrigated farming is the dominant
type, though there is some non-irrigated farming In the foothills and on the
benches. In the extreme western comities, farming as practiced in the humid
regions is the rule. The Bitter Root, Flathead and Missoula valleys are the
most important agricultural districts. Soil and climate adapt them especially to
diversified and specialized farming such as dairying, horticulture, poultry and
swine raising. The horticultural reputation of the Bitter Root was achieved and
is maintained on the Mcintosh apple and is expanding on the sour cherry, which
reaches the eastern markets when no other varieties are available and, conse-
(luently. has always commanded a good price. This cherry is also in big demand
by canners. The Flathead Lake region is particularly adapted to the sweet
cherry. The Bitter Root and Flathead valleys rank with the best developed, and
diversified, and, during the past few years, have been among the most prosperous agri-
cultTu-al districts in the state. Marketing organizations of fruitgrowers and dairy-
men there have successfully stood the test of time. What has been accomplished
in the Bitter Root is possible in the other valleys where agriculture was, com-

25

26 MONTANA : INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

paratively, only recently established. Larse bodies of choice irrig:ated land are
awaiting settlement in Flathead, Missoula. Lake, Lincoln and Sanders counties.
In Ravalli county large irrigated holdings are being sub-divided.

The cut-over lands of western Montana, offered at a low price and on
long terms, afford an opportunity to a man of limited means to develop a farm
home. Clover thrives in these districts which, at lea.st in the early stages of de-
velopment, are best adapted to dairying. Work in the lumber camps at good
wages is always available during the winter.

All the cereals, together with alfalfa, timothy and clover, are among the
staple crops grown in western Montana. The staple vegetables and berries and
bush fruits are also raised, many of them finding ready markets in the industrial
districts. Big acreages of see<l peas are annually contracted, particularly in the
Bitter Root and Missoula valleys. A considerable acreage is devoted to com-
mercial potatoes. The non-irrigated districts in the Flathead have developed a
potato and alfalfa seed bu.siness of considerable magnitude.

The special opportunity open to farmers of we.stern ^Montana is sheep-raising.
Thousands of acres of national forest range, adapted to sheep but not cattle, has
not been utilized by residents of the region, so it has been leased to sheepmen
from Washington and from eastern Montana. Resident farm owners, however,
are always given preference by the Forest Service.

Winter temperatures of western ^lontana are milder, and the maximum as
well as the average summer temperatures lower at the same elevations, than in
the remainder of the state. While the average annual precipitation in the
agricultural districts is less than in the eastern slope region but higher than in
the plains region, the mean relative humidit.v is considerabl.v higher than east
of the mountains. Vegetation is more verdant. Of the annual rainfall. 40 per
cent, occurs during the growing season, and. therefore, in the non-irrigated dis-
tricts special efforts to conserve the fall and winter moisture are made.

The average winter temperature of this region is 24 degrees, of spring 41
degrees, of summer 61 degrees and of autumn 44 degrees. Winter minimum tem-
peratures of 20 below zero are seldom recordetl in the agricultural areas and the
region is comparatively free from sudden and marke<l changes in temperature.
The frost free period in the agricultural districts ranges from 92 days to 150
days, with an average of about 120 days.

Many fine agricultural districts are foimd in the valleys of the eastern

slope of the mountains and in the higher plains region at the base of the main

range. The elevation of these agricultural areas is seldom

The Eastern above o.OOO feet and is as low as 3.500 feet. Included within this

Slope and Higher region, for purposes of classification, are those isolated moun-

Plaiiis Region tainous districts by which the eastern plain is broken here

and there in the north portion, and also included are spurs from

the main range near the southern boundary. The drainage of this region is into

the Gulf of Mexico through the Missouri and its tributaries, the Yellowstone,

Milk and Musselshell rivers which are the largest and most important streams.

The annual rainfall over most of this district averages in the agricultural
areas, slightly more than it does over most of the agricultural areas of western
Montana. The growing season is about the same — 78 to 142 days. The extremes
of temperature, both in winter and summer, are greater than in western Montana.
There is less snowfall and less cloudiness. Vegetation is not so verdant. A char-
acteristic of the precipitation peculiarly favorable to agriculture is that more than
one-half of the annual amount is deposited in light rains during the growing
season.

THE PLAINS DISTRICT

27

An Irrigated Potato Field

There is more irrigated land in this region than in either the Pacific slope or
eastern plains regions. It is well adapted to general farming and stockraising.
Dairying is growing.

The Gallatin valley in this district has long been one of the most famous
agricultural districts of the northwest. Wheat, oats, peas, barley and forage are
the leading crops and the livestock industry, in both range and pure-bred herds, is
well developed. The Judith Basin region of central Montana, whose topography
and other features natui-ally place it in the eastern slopes district, for many years
has been one of the leading non-irrigated farming sections of the state. In this
same district are included many fine lands along the Missouri river, from Great
Falls southward to the headwaters of the Gallatin, the Madison and the Jef-
ferson ; and along the Yellowstone where it flows from the Yellowstone Park,
eastward to Carbon county, where it receives the waters of the Clark's Fork.
Many other fertitle irrigated and non-irrigated sections of this district might be
enumerated — the Sun river, the Shield's river, the Smith river, the Prickly Pear
and the Clark's Fork valleys.

The climate of the plains region, which comprises, roughly, the eatsern three-
fifths of Montana, is similar to that of the eastern slope of the mountains.
The extremes of temperatiu-e are more pronounced, both in
The Plains winter and summer, the growing season averages longer and
Region hotter, the snowfall is lighter and the climate drier on the

whole. The growing season averages from 125 to 150 days.
While the annual rainfall is two and a half inches less than in the eastern slopes
region, the annual rainfall during the growing season is only one and two-tenths
inches less, and about seven-tenths of an inch less in May and June.

Broadly speaking, this region, which mostly lies at an elevation under ."i.OOO
feet to less than 2,000 feet, has a broader crop range than the eastern slopes
region. It is well adapted to general farming and stockraising in which promi-
nence is given to crops that require a consistent heat, such as corn and beans,
rather than to crops which do better where the nights are relatively cooler than
the days. It will probalily always be an important wheat district. More than
half of the present production of wheat in Montana comes from the plains district
and as large areas of tillable Iniul now lying idle are brought into cultivation

28

MONTANA : INDUSTRIAL RESOTRCES

Corn Is Bringing in Hogs

when transportation and niarkotinsr factors aro improved, the dominance of this
district in wheat production is more apt to grow than to decline. It is also, and
will continue to be, the doimnant region in the state of corn production. On non-
irrigated farms in this part of the state, corn is becoming one of the most
important crops, for fodder as well as grain. It is not generally known that
eastern Montana raises watermelons so successfully, that Rosebud county water-
melon-growers have organized an association for the marketing of a crop that
finds favor with the consumer and which reaches him when there is no compe-
tition to the Montana grower from other districts.

There is more arable land in the plains region than is found in both the west-
ern and eastern slopes regions combined, and more land is in farms, but with a
few exceptions, agriculture has not reached the same stage of development as in
the districts to the west. The exceptions are found on the irrigated lands, the
acreage of which in comparison to the acreage of the non-irrigated lands is
small, and confined principally to the Yellowstone valley, the Big Horn valley and
the Milk River valleys. Most of the irrigated lands along the Yellowstone, and
many along the Big Horn, are well improved and in a good state of cultivation.
The Milk River lands are just being developed. Smaller irrigated or irrigable
tracts are also found along the ^Missouri and ;MusseIshelI rivers and smaller
streams in this district.

Irrigated and non-irrigated farming, both requiring special methods, the former

to put the water upon the crops and at the time that insures maximum yields, and

the latter to conserve by tillage and the proper crop rotation the

Types of natural precipitation, are the dominant types of agriculture,

Farming though in certain districts, such as the Judith Basin, where

the annual precipit.ition averages 19 inches, the farming sys-
tem of the middle east has proved successful.

Aside from the lands in the valleys of the Yellowstone and the Milk rivers,
and their large tributaries, non-irrigated farming is the rule in the eastern half
of the state. More irrigated lands are found on the eastern slope of the moun-
tains than in any other part of the state, but even here the acreage in non-irri-
gated farms is vastly greater compared to the total agricultural area. Irrigated
farming antedates even the discovery of gold in Montana while non-irrigated
farming developed only after the waning of the range days. It grew slowly in
the first decade of this century and then burst all reasonable bonds, expanding

NON-IKUIOATEL) FARMING 29

to lands that were never adapted by climate or soil conditions to agricultural
purposes. Its proportions are indicated by the 145,000 homestead entries, covering
thirty-five niillion acres of land, made in Montana during the period from 1910
to 1922.

Like all new developments, non irrigated farming has suffered set-backs.

That it is a permanent system of agriculture under which millions of acres of

land will lie turned info real farm homes and that it is a system

N'on-Irrigated which will survive under the most adverse of drouth and

Farming economic conditions was revealed in a special farm survey made

in 1922 by the Mcmtana Agricultural College. Briefly, the
surve.v disclosed the most successful general farmers were those who grew most
of their own living, who handled large acreages — from one to two sections —
with a minimum of labor through the use of ten and twelve horse one-man outfits.
This made the overhead per acre low so that even a small yield showed a profit,
while in the years of bumper har\ests. the per-acre profit was large. Successful
non-irrigated small farms, specializing in dairying and poidtry-raisiug were also
found, as well as many g(Mieral farms that featured alfalfa, brome and other
grasses, potatoes and corn for seed. The plains region of Montana is treeless, but
successful .shelter belt plantings that have become beautiful groves, show it is
possible to change this in every district of the state when the owner is actuated
by a desire to create a home.

The general conditions that surround non-irrigated farmers and under
which they live, are set forth in a report "Farming in Northeastern Montana."
issued .January. 1923. by the Bureau of Agricultural Economics. Ignited States De-
partment of Agriculture. It is based upon a study of the operations of 1,51 farmers
in Sheridan and Daniels counties. Only 26 of the.se farmers bought; the others
h(unesteaded. Only 25 farmers were in the district in 1908, or earlier, and 60 of
them came in after 1913. In Sheridan county the average size farm was 492 acres,
of which 230 acres were in crop and 30 acres in fallow. In Daniels county the
farms averaged 519 acres, of which 210 were in crop and .39 in fallow. Home-
steaders who have been in the area for only three or four years ordinarily have
few improvements and little equipment, while some of the men who took home-
steads in the early years have well-equipped homes and large, well-built farms.
Many farms have windbreaks. :More than half the 151 farmers had automobiles
and 49 owned tractors.

As a result of their farming activities alone, 64 per cent of the Sheridan
farmers and 54 per cent of the Daniels farmers "have made a living and bettered
their financial condition since settling ..... The returns from their farming
activities and the change in the value of land, combined, resulted in the betterment
of the financial condition of 92 per cent of the Sheridan county and of 82 per
cent of the Daniels county farmers". The average net worth of the Sheridan
farmers was $9,138 and of the Daniels farmers .$7,189.

A Sixteen Horse One-Man Outfit

30

MONTANA : INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

A Phase of Stable Farming

These results were attained largely under the one-crop system. Wheat, oats,
and flax were practically the only crops sold. Total annual sales of livestock
per farm averaged $50 for Sheridan county and $86 for Daniels. The sale of
livestock products for all farms amounted to an average of $106 for Sheridan
and $123 for Daniels. The report states the number of horses and cattle per
farm, especially the latter, "seems low for a region which at one time was
wholly devoted to grazing". Few of the farmers kept hogs the year around, but
most of them kept poultry.

This survey corroborates the conclusions reached in the survey by the State
Agricultural College of a different non-irrigated district ; that the number of crop
acres had considerable bearing on the farm income ; the greater the crop acreage
the larger the income. ( In Daniels comity, for instance, the men who had less than 100
acres in crops lost on their farm operations.) It is apparent that not enough
attention has been given to livestock products or to gardens for home use. Corn
was grown by 51 farmers and the majority felt that every farmer in the area
would find the crop profitable.

Non-irrigated farming is just emerging from the formative, one-crop stage.
Corn is making revolutionary changes, paving the way for silos and general
purpose cows whose steer calves will grow into beef on the public or the national
ranges and whose heifers at the pail will increase the creamery check. Corn is
bringing in hogs. The first carload of Montana beef fattened on Montana corn left
the state for a west coast market in March, 1023. Wheat probably will con-
tinue to be the biggest cash crop on the non-irrigated farm, but corn will
be the foundation of a diversified agriculture whose income will be distributed
over the year. The hen is taking its place alongside of the hog and so is the
turkey, which seems e.«:pecially adapted to the Montana environment. The
Montana turkey is more of a factor today on the Chicago market than is the
Montana hen.

Because moisture, (he controlling factor of crop production in Montana, is

under the absolute control of the irrigated farmer, that type of farming affords

a much wider field for diversification or specialization than

Irrigated does the non-irrigated type. In the most prosperous irrigated dis-

Farniing tricts the tendency is toward intensive or specialized farming —

sugar beets, peas for seed and canning, beans, potatoes and

other root crops ; pure-bred livestock, hogs, dairying, winter fattening of lambs and

IRRIGATED FARMING

31

m^mmmmsmmamsmKm

-^v^^f^

W

H

■V^'' ^V

^

^ ^**.

"%^>

Sugar Beets in Yellowstone Valley

Other livestock that come from the nearby ragnes. Perhaps the most frequent
mistake in irrigated farming is the attempt to farm too much land. More labor
per acre is required in this than in other kinds of farming and it is justified by
the increased yields, but if the labor is distributed over too many acres or
applied at the wrong time (as irrigating too late) the crop yields oftentimes are
no larger than on the non-irrigated lands. A tract of eighty acres is large
enough for the beginner. An irrigated farm is especially adapted to the turning
off of concentrated products, but if a farmer does not intend to convert his
cereals and forage crops into beef, mutton, wool, dairy and poultry products, it is
questionable if general farming, with the higher land values and labor costs on
the irrigated farm, will be as profitable as on the well-managed non-irrigated
farm.

Though the range cattle and sheep industry is still important in many dis-
tricts of eastern Montana by reason of grazing lands on Indian reservations or
bad lands on the public ranges that the homesteader passed up,
The Livestock the region of its greatest concentration and developujent is at

Industry present in the mountainous and hill districts along the eastern

slope of the continental divide, and particularly in south-
western Montana. There are a number of reasons for this. Extensive grazing
areas on the national forests are in close proximity to the irrigated lands of the
agricultural districts. In proportion to the tillable area, there is more irrigated
land in this region than in any other in the state. Many of these irrigated lands
are found in mountain valleys, at elevations ranging from 4,000 to 5,500 feet,
where, because of a comparatively short growing season, forage crops are the
most profitable. There are a million and a half acres of public domain in this
region, which, because of its rough nature, probably will not be filed on. Na-
tional forests and public lands furnish summer grazing and the irrigated lauds
winter forage. The formation is chiefly limestone, a feature which is char-
acteristic of all good livestock districts. Numerous streams of good water
abound.

A bird's-eye view of the stockraising industry in Montana appeared in The
Breeder's Gazette December 21. 1022. in an article by Will C. Barnes, assistant
forester in charge of grazing for the National Forest Service. "In my judgment,"

32 MONTANA : INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

he wrote, "Montana stands at the head of the western states in ahnost perfect
balance that nature has provided for its range stockmen, as between the dif-
ferent ranges, spring, fall, summer and winter, together with the forage cover

One might well oxolude winter range, for today no wise stockman in

Montana thinks of depending on winter range exclusively Winter pastures,

however, close to the feedyards, into which stock can be turned while the weather
holds good, are a vital part of their grazing plans.

"The state also is singularly well provided with natural resources which
fit into stockraising. Except in a few sections in the eastern part of the state,
they have everywhere an abundant supply of water, from clear, pure mountain
streams, for irrigation purposes. Natiu'al meadows are plentiful, furnishing as
much as two tons to the acre, the wheat, grama, and Itlue-joint grasses making
excellent hay. Apart from these meadows, supplemented in many cases by
fine fields of alfalfa, we find rolling prairies and charming foothills, where the
same grasses, together with the native biuich grass, furnish fine grazing in the
early spring and again in the fall. Back of these are the moiuitain ranges,
rough and rugged, but famous grazing areas, mostly in the various national
forests.

"The seasons in the mountains are short — not over four months, on an
average — but in that time stocks puts on a wonderful coat of flesh, with the
firmest, whitest of fat

"The hazards of the western range stock business are never entirely oblit-
erated, but I believe that stockraisers in Montana have about the lowest risks
of any western range state."

While asserting that "invariably the livestock of Montana is of high qual-
ity," Mr. Barnes doubts the wisdom of holding steers luitil they are fours, and.
looking to the future, he says, "I have an idea that this aged steer business
will give way to a shorter season of grazing, perhaps dropping clear out the
idea of producing fat beef. and. instead, sending on feeders that will catch
the eye of corn-belt farmers".

In districts that primarily are only adapted to stockraising the present
tendency is toward a consolidation of small holdings into one under a single
ownership. This is especially evident in southwestern Montana- In other
districts where general farming is done, the tendenc.v is the other wa.v and for
the farmer who has been selling his surplus hay to the range men to ac<iuire
sheep or cattle of his own. A most successful farmer on irrigated land explains
his prosperity upon the grounds that if he can only break even on crop produc-
tion he is siu'e of a good profit through the utilization by livestock of by-
I)roducts that otherwise would go to wiiste.

While the ranges of eastern Montana are not turning off the livestock of
former years, that region will come back when diversified farming supplants
the one-crop system on the non-irrigated farm. The change is foreshadowed al-

Sheep Predominate in Livestock

STOCKUAISING IMPORTANT

33

Large Areas Adapted to Beef Making

I'eady in the co-operative associations now successfnlly liandling the stock of
shii)pers of less than carload lots. The number of such carloads steadily in-
creases, but instead of raising beef alone, the small farmer is also producing hogs.

AVhile Montana, as well as the other northwestern states, does not now pro-
duce enough pork to meet consumption, the growing interest and success in
swine-raising indicates this condition will be changed in Mon-
Hog Raising tana. Students of animal husbandry are inclined to believe
there will be two distinct swine industries in the state — one,
located in those irrigated districts not adapted to corn Imt to alfalfa and small
grains where feeders can lie economically raised and disposed of in the corn
districts for finishing.

Most of the agricultural districts west of the continental divide are naturally

adapted to dairying and the industry is more developed in this region than east

of the divide. The grasses are more lush than on the eastern

Dairying side, the season of green pasturage is longer and the climatic

environment is favorable to milk production. "Where these

conditions obtain, and. in addition, the tillable lands are irrigated, dairying is

becoming one of the chief industries. Cow-testing associations are being formed

and many high-producing cows shipped in.

East of the mountains, dairying is largely confined to the irrigated districts.
Its possibilities are just being realized. Irrigated pastures, easily carrying two
cows to the acre, more than double the period of flush production, and insure a
longer grass season than is found in all but a few extremely favored districts in
the northern half of the United States. The irrigated farmer raises his own
alfalfa for winter forage and the grains required in a balanced milk production
ration. What can be done in this line is shown in a report of the United States
Department of Agriculture on thirty-two cows owned by it that completed official
records with an average of 10,910.7 pounds of milk and 461.36 pounds of
butter fat. Four of the records were made by cows on roughage alone at the
government irrigated farm at Huntley. Montana. One cow. brought from the gov-
ernment farm in Maryland, made a higher record on rougha.sie alone at Huntley
than she did on roughage and grain in Maryland.

34 MONTANA : INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

Wheat is the leading crop in Montana and also the chief farm product.

In 1922 its value was $41,162.500 ; it occupied 3.009.000 acres, more than equalling

the value and the acreage of the eight other major crops com-

Crop and Stock bined. These eight other crops were valued at $39,492,000 and

Statistics occupied 2.932.000 acres. The value per acre of wheat was

exceeded only by sugar beets, potatoes and flax. Hay in 1922

held second place in crop acreage and Aalue and second place among farm products.

The crop was worth $22,808,000 and occupied 1.737.000 acres.

Cattle and calves sold and slaughtered ranked third in farm products with
a value of $18,560,000. The decided bent toward diversification is shown by the
fact that combined, dairy, poultry products and honey, took fourth place among
the farm products with a total value of $17,498,000. The sheep industry, both
wool and mutton, ranked fifth with an output valued at $14,019,000.

The acreage, total value, and value per aci'e of the other major crops in
1922 were: Oats, 700.000 acres, value $7.104.0<X>. per acre value. $11.84; corn,
219,000 acres, value $2,JX)2.000. per acre value $13.25: potatoes 46.000 acres, value
$2,318,000, per acre value $50.40; flax, 127.000 acres, value $1,751,000. per acre
value $13.79; sugar beets, 13,500 acres, value $1,022,500, per acre vallxe $75.00; rye,
126,000 acres, value $987,000. per acre value $7.83; barley, 77,000 acres, value
$1>62,000, per acre value $12..jO: apples, value $610,000.

While wheat will probably continue to be Montana's leading crop, its rela-
tive importance is certain to be diminished at the rate of increase shown by
other crops which are adapted to diversified farming. The
Crop Production acreage in wheat is declining, that in oats and hay is holding

Tendencies its own, while the acreage in rye and corn is consistently in-
creasing. All these are feed as well as cash crops. Corn and
rye, experience has proved, are more certain crops on the non-irrigated farm than
wheat and are better adapted to swine and stock raising. In the past five years
the acreage in corn has more than doubled and that of rye was six times larger
in 1922 than in 1918. The acreage in sugar beets, flax, beans, peas for seed
and canning and other crops indicative of increased diversification are also
expanding.

While the last federal census in Montana showed there were thirty-seven
million acres of land in farms, there were only eleven million acres of im-
proved land, fifteen per cent, of which was irrigated. Of the

Irrigation 58,000 farms in the .state. 11.000 were irrigated.

Statistics. The agricultural opportiuiities in Montana can perhaps be

Honiesteading \ isualized by further reference to the census. The average size

Era Gone of a Montana farm was 608 acres, of which 198 acres, or 31.4

per cent, were improved. Only Wyoming and New Mexico have
larger farms and only North and South Dakota have a larger improved acreage
per farm than Montana, but in the percentage of improved acreage per farm, Mon-
tana does not rank high. With more settlement, the acreage per farm will de-
cline but the percentage of improved acreage will increase. Homesteading. so far
as good land is concerned, is a thing of the past in Montana. The opportunity
today is to improve and expand upon the \\ork of the pioneer settlers.

Besides the land actually irrigated the year the census was taken, the state
irrigation commission reports there are approximately a million acres more that
can be irrigated by works being constructed or proposed or by works built but not
in use. Among others, on federal reclamation and Indian projects there are
200.000 acres, in districts organized under state laws 400.000. and on Carey act
projects 85,000 acres. When this land is being farmed, there is still an addi-
tional two million acres that is susceptible of irrigation.

THE CLIMATE OF MONTANA
^

Far Less Rigorous Than Qenerally Realized — Winters Have More Cloudless Days

and Less Precipitation Than the East — Most Moisture Falls During Qrowing

Months — Long Days Make for Maxmium Vegetative Qroiith.*

The winter climate of Montana is much pleasanter and far less rigorous than
most people realize. True, some low temperatures are occasionally recorded, but
these, as a rule, do not continue for long periods and are accompanied by a dry
and comparatively calm atmosphere, which renders them more endurable to animal
life than much higher temperatures where these conditions are absent. It is
largely due to these features that stock can be raised on ranges without shelter
(a system followed now only by big cattle outfits), and that outdoor occupations
can be carried on with little interruption or discomfort during the winter and
spring months. It is no more sensible to interpret the Montana climate in terms
of the extreme minimum temperature recorded than it would be to judge the
climate of some of the southern states by the zero temperatures that have been
recorded in some localities along the east Gulf coast, or by the remperatures of
2.~t below zero that have been recorded in February as far south as Kansas and
Missouri.

A study of the mean average tempei*ature for January, as a typical winter

month, is a better index of the climate. The January mean temperature at Helena,

Montana, is 20 degrees. Des Moines, Iowa, approximately

Some Winter 400 miles to the south, has a January mean of 20.4 degrees.

Temperatures Chicago's January mean is 23.7 degrees. Havre, in northern
^lontana, sometimes erroneously called the coldest place in the
United States, has a mean for Januar.v of 13.5 degrees, which Is considerably
warmer than Duluth. Minnesota, with 10.4 degrees, than St. Paul, Minnesota, with
11.6 degrees, than Devil's Lake, North Dakota, with 0.3 degrees. The January
mean at Yankton, South Dakota, is 15.5 degrees. These mean temperatures do not
tell the whole stor,v. In a dry climate, such as Montana's, a temperature of freez-
ing or lower, is much more bearable than in a region where the relative humidity
is higher, as in Iowa and Illinois. Residents of Montana, visiting eastern cities,
invariably suffer more discomfort and feel the cold more keenly of an average
winter day in those districts than they do during the sharpest "cold spells'' in their
own state. The higher temperature in the east is more than offset by the lower
humidity in Montana. A temperature of 15 above at Chicago gives a more pene-
trating cold and more bodily discomfort than does the occasional temperature of
15 below in Montana.

There are more cloudless winter days in Montana than in most parts of the
country. Over most of the state precipitation falls on only 10 to 20 days during
the winter months of i;»ecember to February, inclusive, compared with 20 to 40
days in all states east of the Mississippi river, and the states west of Montana.
In northwestern IMontana there are 20 to 30 days during this period on which

Foot-note: This article is based upon data found in the "Atlas of American Agri-
culture," Part II, Climate. Section A, Precipitation and Humidity, issued March
15. 1922, by the Office of Farm Management, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture; Bulletin Q of
the U. S. Weather Bureau; Circular 87, IMontana Experiment Station, "A Further Report
on Montana Climate;" annual summaries, Montana Section, and other publications and
reports of the United States Weather Bureau.

35

36 MONTANA : INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

precipitation occurs, ami in the extreme northwestern luirt of the state, 30 to 40
days.

While the annual averaire snowfall, in inches, over most of Montana is the

same as in North Dakota. South Dakota. Nebraska. Iowa, the northern part of

Missouri and parts of Illinois. Indiana, and Ohio. — .30 inches —

Two to Three the snow in ilontana is light and dry. resulting: in a much

Months of lower averajre winter precipitation than is foimd east of Minne-

Snow Cover apolis. Sioux City. Dodge City and Amarillo. West of the

main ransie of the mountains in Montana the snowfall, except in

the hisrh mountains. avera.£;es from 30 to 65 inches, being lowest in the Bitter Root

valley.

Over the greater part of Montana there are only CO to !X) days with snow
cover, which is the same period of snow cover to be found in a part or North
Dakota. Wisconsin, northern Iowa, and districts in ^Michigan. New York and
Pennsylvania. In Montana, west of the main range and. according ro the Atlas of
American Agriculture, in far northeastern Montana, in Sheridan. Roosevelt.
Daniels and parts of Richland and Valley coimties. there are 90 to 120 days
with snow cover, which is the same period of snow cover over most of North
Dakota, the southern part of Minnesota, and a goodly portion of Wisconsin. Mich-
igan and New York. The only district in Montana with an average of more than
120 days of snow cover is in the high mountains near the Yellowstone Park. The
average date of the first snowfall in the autumn in Montana occurs earlier than
it does in the other states named, except most of North Dakota, and northern
Minnesota, and the extreme western part of South Dakota and Nebraska. In
most of Montana the average date of the fii'st snowfall is from October 1 to Octo-
ber 10. but in the southwestern part of the state the average date of the first
snow is prior to October 1. This early snow seldom remains or interferes with
farm operations.

There is less interference with plowing and spring planting operations during
the months of March to May. inclusive, from days on which precipitation occurs, to
most farmers in Montana, than is the case with the farmer in Indiana. Ohio,
Pennsylvania. Kentucky, southern Illinois, and a number of other states. In those
states there are 30 to 40 days during these three months on which precipitation
occurs : in northeastern ^Montana there are only 10 to 20 days, and over the rest
of the state from 20 to 30 days, except for a small district near the Idaho line
which is not agricultural in character. The average March temperature in Mon-
tana is 30.1 degrees, April 46.4 degrees and May .^1.1 degrees. The average precipi-
tation in March is .97 of an inch, in April l.ls inches and in May 2.44 inches.

While Montana does not get the precipitation that the middle western and
eastern states do, there are several factors that help to overcome the deficiency.
A chai'cteristic of the annual precipitation that is peculiarly fa-
Most Precipita- vorable to agriculture is the large percentage deposited during
tion During the growing season. The amount received in the months of
Growing Season May to August, inclusive, nearly eiiuals that for the remaining
eight months. During this same season, over the eastern
two-thirds of the state, more than half of the precipitation occurs at night, when
evaporation is less active, the moistux'e penetrates the soil to a greater depth, a crust
is less likely to form, and a maximum of benefit is derived. From the point of
view of interruption to farm work and therefore of economic production, this
point is also of significance. "It is of interest to note." states the Atlas of
American Agriculture, "that the region of dominant night rainfall is one in which
a large amount of wheat is grown, and al.so that the greatest concentration
of night rains comes in the harvest season. The advantages of this nocturnal
concentration cannot be over-estimated, as otherwise great difficulty would be

THREE RAINFALL DISTRICTS 37

experienced in harvestini; and tlircshinj,' ilu- imiiiciist' (Top urowu." Another com-
pensatinjr factor is that the rains in Montana durinj: the growing season are
rarely of a torrential character and practically all that, falls can be utilized in
plant development.

"It is usually considered." .'Jays the Atlas of American Agriculture, "that
between 15 and 20 inches of annual precipitation, broadly speaking, determines the
dividing line between areas where farming operations can be successfully conducted
by ordinary methods and those where irrigation or other special methods are
necessary, but no hard and fast rule can be laid dovin in this connection. With
an annual precipitation of only l.j inches other conditions must be very favorable
for profitable agriculture by ordinary methods. There are in Montana, eastern
Washington, and elsewhere in the northwest, important grain-producing areas
which receive, on the average, less than l.l inches of precipitation annually. In
fact, wheat is grown in eastern AVashington on only nine inches' annual precipi-
tation, but in these areas special care is given to conserving the moisture of
the non-growing period for use during the following season."

The greatest annual precipitation in Montana occiirs over that portion lying
west of the continental divide and in the higher mountain regions, and the least
over the northeastern plains. There is, however, at least one notable exception to
this rule in a considerable district at the eastern base of the main range in the
central portion with very light rainfall. About one-half of the area receives from
10 to 15 inches annually, and the remainder of the state from 15 to 25
inches. Amounts of 20 inches or more, at the lower altitudes, fall only over lim-
ited areas, principally in the northwestern portion.

"The area of the state falls into three natural rainfall districts," states

Circular 87, Montana Experiment Station. A Further Report on Montana Climate,

"which may be terjned the eastern and the western mountain

Three Rainfall and the plains districts, the plains being the region of later

Districts settlement in an agricultural sense."

The mountain district west of the main range shows an an-
nual rainfall of 20.37 inches, with extremes ranging from 11.29 inches to 34.25
inches. The average rainfall for the growing season of April. May, June, and
July is 6.23 inches or but 40 per cent of the annual. In the northwestern corner
of the state the seasonal rainfall is even a smaller proportion. Only 26 per cent
of the rain of the year comes in May and June. This district must make a special
effort to conserve the fall and winter precipitation.

"In the mountain district east of the main range the average yearly rainfall
is 1&22 inches, varying from 11.09 inches to 23.53 inches. The rainfall for April,
May. June and July is 53 per cent of the annual and that for May and June
is 35 per cent of the annual.

"The plains area of the state is drier than either of the mountain areas. The
average yearly precipitation is 13.63 inches, with a range from 12.06 inches to
15.51 inches. The rainfall for the growing season is about 55 per cent of the
annual and that for May and June is 37 per cent of the annual.

"Contrasting the districts east of the continental divide, it is noted that while
the plains district has over two and one-half inches less annual rainfall it has
only one and two-tenths inches less diu'ing the growing season and about seven-
tenths of an inch less in May and June."

Unusually favorable climatic conditions prevail in Montana during the har-
vest and fall-work season. August is the chief harvesting month with an aver-
age precipitation of only 1.10 of an inch distributed over a
Good Harvest period of three to six days. As a resvdt, practically no time

Weather is lost in the fields and maximiun harvesting efficiency is in-

sui'cd. September is a wetter month with an average of 1.41

inches of precipitation distributed over a period of six to nine days. This in-

38

MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

creasod procipitatlon comes at an opportune time, affording .sufficient moisture
to germinate fall-sowed crops, to revive pastures and stubble fields, and to permit
fall plowing. Rarely does it interfere with digging of potatoes and other root
crops.

October — when the peak of crop marketing is reached in Montana — has an
average precipitation of .99 inches, distributeil over a period of three to six days.
The roads are firm and the average temperature (44.6 degrees) is .iust right to
permit teams to exert their greatest efforts. October is also a busy month for plow-
ing, (the September precipitation normally being retained in the soil) ; for getting
in a year's supply of fuel — wood from the mountains in the western part of the
state, and in tlu^ eastern part of the state lignite or sub-bituminous coal from the
niunerous coal banks that abound. Favored, indeed, is the Montana farmer by
October climatic conditions.

Violent local storms are exceedingly rare, says Bulletin Q of the United States
Weather Bureau, and practically the onl.v climatic element causing directly the
loss of life or i)roperty is the high northerly wind with rain or snow and freezing
temperature, and losses from this cause, which are confined mostly to the eastern
plains, are in a great measure preventable, if not wholly so.

In the articles descriptive of the counties climatolo.gical data are given for

all l)nt Treasure and Daniels counties. The longest growing season is l.")0 days,

found at Miles City, in eastern ^Montana, and at Kali.spell, in

Frost Free northwestern Montana, on the western side of the moiuitains.

Days The number of days in the growing season does not tell the

Heat Units whole story, however. An important factor is the number of

heat units during the frost free period. A heat unit, as the

term is used in agriculture, is each degree of mean temperature above 40° F.

between the last killing frost in the spring and the first killing frost in the fall.

Normal daily tempei-atures are available at only four places in the state — Miles

City, Kalispell, Havre and Helena. During the growing .season at Miles City there

are 3,843 heat units while at Kalispell there are 2.716 heat units over the same

number of frost free days. The growing season at Havre is 126 days and at

Helena 142 days, but both stations have the same number of heat luiits — 3,006.

Some crops will do better under Havre conditions with its shorter growing season

but more intense heat than they will at Helena with a longer growing season but

less inten.se heat, and vice versa.

Another important factor, according to plant pathologists, besides the length
of the growing season and the niunber of heat units, is the number of hours of
sunlight. No state has a larger possible number of hours of sunshine than has
Montana. The state is also fortunate in that, in this northerly latitude, its long-
est da.vs occur during the growing season and the highest percentage of the pos-
sible hours of sunshine is attained during this same season. Referring to the
effect of sinilight on crops, the United States Department of Agriculture says,
"This princii)le affords the clue to the fact that man.v plants grow most lux-
uriantl.v near the northern limit of their range. The long northern da.v allows
them to attain their maximum growth before the shorter day intervenes to check
vegetative growth and start the reproductive process."'

MONTANA AVEATHER*

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

April

May

June

July

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

An-
nual

Mean Temp. 19.8
Mean Prec. .91
Ave. days with

.01 or more

of prec. 6
Ave. clear-days 12
Av. part cloudy 9
Av.cloudy days 10

21.4
.73

5

12
8
8

30 1
.97

6

13
8
9

46.4
1.18

6

12
9
9

51.1
2.44

9

12

10

9

59.5
2.55

9

14

10

6

66.
1.54

6

19
8
4

64.5
1.10

5

19
8
4

54.7
1.41

6

1^6

7
7

44.6
.99

5

16
8
8

32.
1.01

5
12

8
10

23.3

.84

5

12

9

11

42.8
15.67

73
169
102

95

♦Based on records coveringr 1895 to 1922 inclusive.

The

Counties

of

Montana

Grouped into districts as adopted b\- the Montana Co-operative
Crop Repoiting- Service.

39

-'^(X'' * VSP' MONTANA

INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

SOUTH EASTERN MONTANA

_ ^

Stockraising and Non-Irrigated Farming the Chief Industries — One of the Leading

Corn Districts, Large Coal Fields — Rail Facilities Hinder

Development of the Southern Part.

-^

In the days of the trail herds one of the most noted stock districts of the
northwest, stoolcraisinj; still continues to he the leading industry of South
Eastern Montana, which emln-aces Carter, Fallon, Custer, Powder River, Rosebud,
Treasure and Big Horn comities. Except in the Yellowstone and Big Horn val-
leys, non-irrigated farming is the dominant method of agriculture. The one-crop
system has prevailed but in recent years corn, to which the region is well adapted,
has been inti'oduced, and the acreage devoted to it is rapidly expanding. Most
of the southern half of the district is handicapped by lack of railroad facilities.
Considerable alfalfa seed is raised. In the irrigated districts of Rosebud, Treasure
and Big Horn counties sugar beets are grown. In Rosebud and Treasure water-
melons and cucumbers, and in Powder River county, popcorn, are receiving
attention.

The largest coal measures in the state underlay this district, and it is the
leading producer of natural gas. Oil in commercial quantities has been found in
the western part where thei'e is also considerable undeveloped hydroelectric
power and big deposits of gypsum.

The growing season ranges from 120 to 145 days and the elevation from 2,300
to .3.000 feet.

CARTER COUNTY

c

The coal
National

iARTER, in the southeastern corner of
^Montana, bounded by Wyoming on the
south and by South Dakota on the east, is
a county of potential possibilities rather
than of actual development. Lack of rail
transportation facilities is responsible for
this. Livestock raising is the chief in-
dustry. AgricultTU'o has progressed far
enough to demonstrate it has a bright fu-
ture. The county possesses large coal
fields, some deposits of barite, building
stone, and has many potential oil domes, on
several of which drilling is under way.
There is practically no irrigated farming
but in the south end of the county, on the
Little INIissouri, there is a considerable area
that can be irrigated. The county possesses
several resources that help to overcome the
handicap of remoteness from the railroad,
fields provide abundant and cheap fuel, and the timber in the Sioux
Forest, which is in three tracts, lumber for building purposes.

41

42 MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

While here and there the surface is broken, most of the county is inululating
prairie. The regions too rough for cultivation are devoted to grazing. The soil
varies from a sandy loam to a heavy gumbo.

In the early range days the area included within this county was known as
one of the best grazing regions in the northwest. Because of its natural adapta-
tion and the general topographical conditicms which are favor-
Favorable able for livestock production, this industry will probably always
For Livestock be an important one. In the south end of the county, particu-
larly, there a^e many bands of sheep and herds of cattle and
hoi'ses. Owing to the lack of transportation facilities, farmers are finding that
though they can obtain good yields of high quality wheat, products that can be
marketed either on foot or in a concentrated form bring better returns. Consid-
erable dairying is being developed in the central part of the comity and farming
combined with livestock raising is generally followed. Many farmers have found
poultry profitable, especially turkeys, which thrive on the open range and
take care of themselves until almost ready for market. An increasing number
of farmers are coming to believe that corn and hogs are the most winning propo-
sition. Even in 1919, the dryest year known since farming began in the county,
there was some good corn and considerable fodder raised. The hot growing season
and the comparatively low elevation make the region adapted to this crop, a fact
attested to by Carter county winnings at state and inter-county corn shows. For-
age crops include sweet clover, alfalfa and tame grasses. Potatoes and garden
truck, including muskmelons and watermelons, do well.

If oil is discovered, the time will be quickened in which rail transportation
facilities will be furnished. The Miles City-Black Hills Trail crosses in a south-
easterly direction the northern part of the county while the Miles City-Belle
Fourche highway passes through the south end. Baker, on the Milwaukee, is the
rail outlet for the north end, and Bell Fourche, South Dakota, for the south end.
Ekalaka. 42 miles south of the Milwaukee railroad, in the north end. is the
coimty seat, the largest town, and a hustling little community. It has among
other industries two flour mills and a creamery which has
Roosevelfs been an important factor in both an educational and financial
Stamping way in developins: dairying. The second largest town is

Ground Alzada. in the extreme southern part. Piniele is a trading

center for a considerable district. General stores are oper-
ated at Capitol, Albion, Boyes, Belltower, Sykes and Ridge.

This is Theodore Roosevelt's old stamping ground when he operarecl a cattle
ranch on the Little Missouri, just across the line in Dakota. In "Hunting Trips of
a Ranchman.'' he describes it. Medicine Rocks, a fantastically weathered sand-
stone formation in the northern part of the county, has been likened to the
"Garden of the Gods" in Colorado. In the Sioux National Forest attractive
scenery is found.

CARTER COUNTY — Ranks forty-sixth in population (3,972); fifteenth in area
(2,160.000 acres); thirty-fourth in combined 1922 crop and livestock value; twenty-ninth
in 1920 mineral production; fifty-third in hank deposits. 1922; fiftieth in assessed valua-
tion. 1922. Acres public land, 547,406; acres state land, 116,809; acres national forests,
88,342.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value, $644,000: estimated live-
stock value, Januarv, 1923, $2,231,000; coal production. 1920. $6,023; 1921 lumber cut,
276 M feet; total bank deposits, September 15, 1922, $136,297.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation. $9,544,256; total taxable value,
$2,887,251. Total outstanding- county bond indebtedness, $151,299; total outstanding
county warrant indebtedness, $40,968; total outstanding school bond indebtedness,
$47,250; other school debts. $4,007. Total general and special county taxes, $67,316;
total general and district school taxes, $65,196; total municipal taxes, $1,764; total state
taxes, $14,875; total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $37.55.

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools, .60; enrollment, 895. Number high schools,
1; enrollment, 58.

SOUTH EASTERN MONTANA

43

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of manufactures, 11; average number wage
earners, 10: value of products. $52,523. Number of banks, 2. Number general stores,
14: confectionery, etc., 1; groceries and meats, 2: lumber yards, 2; total number mer-
chants. 48. Total assessed valuation 1922 merchandise. $81,313. Number creameries, 1.
Number flour mills, 2. Number saw mills, 7. Number of lawyers, 5. Number of
physicians. 3.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Number farms, 855; farm acreage, 557,495; im-
proved farm acreage, 83,763: irrigated acreage, 380; average value all property, per farm,
$10,784. Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 23,280; number sheep, 75,957; number
horses, 10.854: number swine (census), 1,004.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At Ekalaka. Elevation (estimated), 3,000 feet. Av-
erage date last killing frost in spring, May 25; average date first killing frost in fall,
September 22.

Jan. Feb. Mar
Ave. Prec. .39 .35 .66
Ave. Temp. 18.7 18.6 30.5

County Seat, Ekalaka. ]

County Agricultural Agent — Xo

April May June

July

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

An-
nua]

.91 2.26 2.48

1.7

1.58

1.36

.73

.28

.30

13.

43.6 52.9 63.4

70.4

68.4

59.3

46.0

33.3

21.8

43.9

ipulation County

Seat,

433.

FALLON COUNTY

*^«s^*i.

JHILE non-irrigated farming is the chief in-
dustry of Fallon county, it has expectations
rhat its natural gas field, which is pro-
nounced one of the biggest in the country,
its large coal measures and other minerals
will eventuall.v make it important in an in-
dustrial way. It is one of the best corn
regions in the state. Situated in the extreme
southeastern part of the state, its eastern
l)oundary adjoining North Dakota, the
greater part of the area of Fallon county, 60
miles long north and south, and 40 miles
wide, consists of uplands with gently rolling
prairie lands which are devoted to non-
irrigated farming. The soil varies consid-
erably, ranging from heavy clay loams
which require careful cultural methods, to
lighter sandy and sandy clay loams. In the
western and southern districts, the latter

types predominate. Little land is irri.gated. but large flowing wells have been

developed in some sections.

"Wheat for the cash crop and corn for the cows and chickens that make the

living," is the way one Fallon county farmer epitomizes the agricultural situation.
Most of the farms are operated in small units of 1(K) to 320
acres with spring wheat as the main cash crop and cattle, hogs,
poultry and feed crops important factors in the enterprise.
Many farmers are developing dairy herds. With the growth of
diversified farming, the acreage in corn is increasing, the crop

being used for feed, and assuming an important place in the rotations adopted.

A Fallon county farmer won sweepstakes on corn at the 1923 show of the Montana

Seed Growers' Association.

The Cedar Creek anti-cline runs southeasterly through the county, and in the
Cabin Creek district large natural gas wells have been developed, several of which
are of considerable size. Drilling for oil is being done. A U. S| Geological Survey
report on this field stated that it was not beyond the bounds of reasonable con-
jecture that "one of the greatest oil fields yet discovered" may be developed
on the Cedar Creek anti-cline.

Diversified
Farming:
Growing

44

MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

Biggest Coal
Field in
Country

A carbou black plant has boeu established near Baker which utilizes part of
the gas, and it is also piped to Baker, where it is used for domestic and industrial
purposes. Fallon county is a part of a coal field that the
U. S. <ieoloj.'ical Survey states contains 12.000 square miles of
nu'rchantalile lijinite coal, the largest sinjrle coal area in the
country. The existence of Fuller's earth and kaolin in the
county is reported and it is po.ssible that a market for the
Fuller's earth can be found at the oil refineries now operating in the state,
OUie. in the uorthwe.st corner, is served by a branch line of the Northern Pacific
out of Beach. North Dakota.

Besides the carbon black plant. Baker has a tile and brick yard plant, and
a creamery which has fostered dairyinsr.

The Chicaso. Milwaukee & St. Paul main line is built east and west through
the middle of the county, and is paralleled liy the Yellowstone Trail Highway.

Baker, the comity .seat, is the largest town and a distributing point for a
large area to the south of it. Westmore and Plevna are smaller railroad towns.
Trading points are foimd in the interior.

FALLON COUNTY — Ranks fortieth in population (4,548); tliirty-ninth in area
(1,029,120 acres); thirty-seventli in combined 1922 crop and livestock value; thirty-
fourth in 1920 mineral production: thirty-eight in bank deposits. 1922; fortv-fourth "in
assessed valuation, 1922. Acres public land, 26,038; acres state land. 49,015.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value, $1,432,200; estimated live-
stock value. January, 1923, $1,077,800; ccal pi-oduction, 1920 $1,400; total bank de-
posits, September 15. 1922. $813,855.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation. $13,575,902; total taxable value,
$4,528,873. Total outstanding county bond indebtedness, $681,000; total outstanding
county warrant indebtedness. $9,270; total outstanding school bond indebtedness, $66,070;
other" school debts, $278. Total general and special county taxes, $97,954: total general
and district school taxes. $97,023; total municipal taxes, $38,297: total state taxes,
$21,606: total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita. $56.04.

EDUCATIONAL — Xumber graded schools, 66; enrollment, 1,100. Xumber high
schools. 4; enrollment. 154.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Xumber of railroads, 2; railway mileage, exclusive spurs
and sidetracks. 42.79. Xumlier cf manufactures, 8; average number wage earners, 8;
value of prcducts, $126,132. Xumber of banks, 7. Xumber general stores. 10; confec-
tionery, etc., 7; groceries and meats, 5: lumber yards, 3: total number merchants, 94.
Total assessed valuation 1922 mercliandise, $173,971. Xumber grain elevators, 9: total
capacity. 240,000 bushels. Xumber creameries, 1. Xumber of lawyers, 8. Xumber of
physicians, 4.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Xumber farms. 758, farm acreage, 576,754; im-
proved farm acreage, 171.815: irrigated acreage, 400 (estimated); average value all
property per farm, $14,696. Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 13,703; number
sheep, 7.362: number horses, 8,974: number swine (census). 1,363.

CLIMATO LOGICAL DATA — At Plevna. Elevation, 2.757 feet. Average date last
killing frost in spring, Ma\- 23; average date first killing frost in fall, September 26.

An-
Jan. Feb. Mar. April ^lay June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Xov. Dec. nual

Ave. Prec. .59 .45 .65 1.12 2.11 2.79 1.90 1.32
Ave. Temp. 14.2 15.8 26.2 43.0 52.2 62.8 70.2 66.7

County Seat, Baker. Population County Seat, 1,067.

County Agricultural Agent — Yes.

1.05
56.4

.85
43.8

.46

32.8

.38
18.9

13.67
41.9

Grinnell Mountain: McDermott Lake.

SOUTH EASTERN MONTANA

45

POWDER RIVER COUNTY

i

r~'"?gff^ jHILE stock raising will probably remain the

leading industry mitil a railroad taps the
ri'gion and removes the present transporta-
I at ion handicap, farmers in Powder River
(•(lUiity are making good progress, consider-
ing the limitations under which they oper-
ate, and are laying the foundations of a
(li\ersified system which will influence
future agricultural devolopment. There
are large coal measures in the county, good
stands of timber, and the existence of a

ISJWIJ^S^^' '^^K*^*" "^ S^''^" Jii^-'li quality of glass-making sand is re-

"^ " Powder River county lies in south-

eastern Montana and is about 50 miles
s((nare. The Montana-Wyoming boundary
defines its southern boundary. The northern
and eastern districts are largely composed
of rolling prairie land with pine and cedar
brakes. A low range of timbered mountains and the Custer National Forest
occupy a considerable area of the western part of the county, and this district will
always be best adapted to stock growing. Otter Creek runs in a northerly
direction near the western boundary ; Powder River flows diagonally from the
southwestern corner to the northeastern corner, and the Little Powder River
bisects the southeastern quarter of the county. The Mizpah River and Pumpkin
Creek rise in the county and flow north.

This region was one of the first to be settled after eastern Montana ceased to
be Indian country and for many years was one of the most noted range cattle dis-
tricts in the west. While not conducted on the same scale as
Noted Stock formerly, stock gi'owing continues to be the dominant industry.
Region During the past 15 years many homesteaders have come in. In

the past few years there has been a pronounced movement to
concentrate on crops of relatively small bulk and high value, thus partly over-
coming the long haul to the railroad. The acreage devoted (o alfalfa seed, pop-
corn and beans is increasing. Spring wheat is the chief crop, but the acreage in
corn for both feed and grain is rapidlj' expanding, the long, hot growing season
making the crop particularly adapted to the district. Vegetables and melons do
well, and on the river and creek bottoms alfalfa is successfully raised without
irrigation. The Little Powder valley is the largest producer of alfalfa seed.

The coal resources are extensive, occupying the western three-fourths of the
county. Most of it is lignite bur some approaches the sub-bituminous in quality,
and is found in beds i-anging from 9 to 05 feet in thickness. Investigations have
been made with a view of tapping this field for fuel for mining in the Black
Hills of South Dakota. There were only two counties on the eastern side of the
Rocky ^Mountains whose timber cut in 1921 exceeded that of Powder River.

Pas,senger stages operate daily between Broadus and IMiles City. Tri-weekly
stages are operated between Broadus and Arvada, Wyoming, on the Burlington.
Surveys have been made for a railroad from Belle Fourche. South Dakota, to
Miles City that would serve the eastern half of the county. The new north and
south railroad now being built from Casper, Wyoming, down the Tongue River to
Miles City will pass within a few miles of the western border, i-educing by more
than half the present distance to the railroad.

46

MONTANA : INDUSTRTAT, RESOURCES

Broadus, the county seat, is the largest town and principal trading center.
Biddle, in the southeastern corner, and Powderville. in the northeastern, are trad-
ing points.

Historically, the Powder River region is one of the most interesting in the
state, dating from the time of the early fur traders, through the Indian era,
down to the time when the Texas trail herds came down the Powder River into
Montana.

POWDER RIVER COUNTY — Ranks forty-ninth in population (3,357); sixteenth in
area (2,135,680 acres); twenty-second in combined 1922 crop and livestock value;
fifty-second bank deposits, 1922; fifty-first in assessed valuation 1922. Acres public land,
225,727; acres state land, 134.561; acres national forests, 332,510.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value, $734,500: estimated livestock
value, January. 1923. $2,762,000; 1921 lumber cut, 568 M. feet: total bank deposits, Sep-
tember 15, 1922, $156,362.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation. $9,464,668: total taxable value.
$2,951,777. Total outstanding county bond indebtedness. $77,000: total outstanding
county warrant indebtedness, $12,829; total outstanding school bond indebtedness, $53,775.
Total general and special county taxes, $90,197; total general and district school taxes.
$67,420; total municipal taxes, $646; total state taxes, $15,881; total tax (inclusive
municipal), per capita, $51.87.

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools, 59; enrollment, 794. Number high schools,
1; enrollment, 33.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of manufacturers, 4; average number wage earn-
ers, 4; value of products, $30,654. Number of banks, 2. Number of general stores, 12;
confectionery, etc., 1; groceries and meats, 1; lumber yards, 1; total number merchants,
22. Total assessed valuation 1922 merchandise. $34,444. Number flour mills, l. Number
saw mills, 6. Number of lawyers, 3. Number of physicians, 1.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Number farms, 833; farm acreage, 597.056; im-
proved farm acreage, 75,240; irrigated acreage, 800: average value all property, per
farm, $13,767. Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 45,725; number sheep, 27,112;
number horses, 12.401; number swine (census). 1,961.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At Biddle. Elevation, 3.050 feet — Broadus. Average
date last killing frost in spring. May 23; average date first killing frost in fall, Sep-

tember 18.

Jan. Feb. Mar. April Mav June Julv Aug.
Aver. Prec. .47 .34 .50 1.27 2.58 2.76 1.97 1.57
Aver. Temp. 18.5 22.3 31.2 41.1 52.9 63.4 70.0 67.3

County Seat, Broadus. Population County Seat, 363.

Count>- Agricultural Agent — No.

An-

Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. nual
1.55 .90 .39 .33 14.63
58.5 45.9 32.7 23.0 43.9

CUSTER COUNTY

E

MBRACING at one time the eastern half of
Montana and heralded from Texas to
Tnnada as the stockman's empire, the
march of progress has vastly decreased the
ai'ea of Custer county and brought many
changes to its people, but it is still very
much on the map. The Custer county cry
of "Powder River — let "er buck !" became
the slogan of the American Expeditionary
Forces. A new north and south railroad
is expected to be in operation in 1924 be-
tween Miles City and Casper. Wyomin.g, giv-
ing Custer county and southeastern Mon-
tana rail facilities that long have been
needed, and eastern Montana a direct rail
connection with Denver. AVhile stock rais-
ing is the most important industry, more

attention is being given farming, and plans

are inider way for the irrigation of many
additional acres of land. Custer county lies in southwestern Montana. 60 miles in
length north and south and 50 miles in width east and west. Much of its area is
broken, rolling land especially adapted for grazing. The higher uplands between
the river valley.s — the Yellowstone, the Tongue and the Powder Rivers — are adapted
to non-irrigated farming. There is considerable variation of soil types, ranging

SOUTH EASTERN MONTANA 47

from sandy loam to clay and hoavy clay loams, the latter predominating in the
valleys, with the lighter soil tyites for the most part in the uphinds.

Naturally adapted to stock raising, this industry from the beginning has been
the county's most important business and, while it probably will continue to be
important, in recent years there has been a marked growth in
Stock Raising farming. The uplands are g(>nei'ally devoted to a non-irrigated
Chief Industry system of diversified farming, and the irrigated valleys to al-
falfa, cereal grains and some truck crops and sugar beets.
Spring wheat is the chief cash crop. An increasing acreage is being devoted to
corn, the seasonal conditions being particularly favorable for it. Corn is stimu-
lating the swine industry. Climatic conditions are most favorable to alfalfa. Both
hay and seed are produced, and in high grade seed production the county ranks
among the leaders. There is an increasing interest in dairying. A co-opei"ative
livestock shipping association has been organized.

While there were about 9,000 acres of land irrigated when the census was
taken, it is estimated 14,000 acres are watered. It is hoped to start construction
in 1024 on the Buffalo Rapids project near Miles City, for the reclamation of
125.000 acres of Yellowstone valley land in Custer, Rosebud and Dawson coun-
ties. The plans contemplate a hydro-electric project on the Yellowstone River
developing 17,500 horse power which will be used in pumping at a cost of about
$2.50 an acre a season. The estimated cost is $2,000,000.

The largest industrial enterprise is the Milwaukee repair shops at Miles
City. Custom-made stock saddles from Miles City establishments have found a
market throughout the western United States and the stock-growing districts of
South America. Other industries include an oil refinery and a large creamery.

The county is underlain by beds of lignite coal. Sandstone is abundant.
There has been some exploration for oil.

The main lines of the Northern Pacific and the Chicago, Milwaukee and St.

Paul follow the Yellowstone River southwesterly through the northern part of

the county. The new north and south railroad to Wyoming

A New goes southwesterly up Tongue River. Two main east and

Railroad west automobile highways parallel the Yellowstone and there

are secondary highways running south from Miles City into

South Dakota and Wyoming.

In the south end of the county large cattle ranches, conducted much the same
as in frontier range days, are to be found. The Snow Creek Game Preserve,
created through the efforts of W. T. Hornaday of the New York Zoological Society,
can best be reached from Miles City. Annually, that city stages a frontier rodeo
and wild west show.

Miles Cit.v, the county seat, is the largest city in southeastern Montana, and
a jobbing center for a large area. Operation of the new railroad will enhance
its importance. It is a modern and up-to-date communit.v. For man.v years it was
the largest primary horse riiarket in the world. Trading points in the farming
and stock-growing districts include Ismay, Kinsey, Beebe, Shirley, Ulmer and
Calabar.

CUSTER COUNTY — Rank.s twelfth in population (12,194); eleventh in area
(2,394,240 acres); thirty-sixth In combined 1922 crop and livestock value; twenty-second
in 1920 mineral production; ninth in bank deposits, 1922; thirteenth in assessed valua-
tion, 1922. Acres public land, 136,154; acres state land, 125,955; acres military reser-
vations, 51,840.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value. $717,700; estimated live-
stock value, January, 1923, $1,864,000; coal production, 1920, $18,000; total bank de-
posits, September 15, 1922, $4,339,845.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation, $29,454,892; total taxable value.
$9,784,948. Total outstanding county bond indebtedness, $615,000; total outstanding
county warrant indebtedness, $7,744; total outstanding soliool bond indebtedness.
$511,028; total geneial and special countv taxes, $279,959; total general and district
school taxes, $269,477; total municipal taxes, $111,757; total state taxes, $46,420; total
tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $58.03.

48

MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

EDUCATIONAL — ^Number graded schools, 60; enrollment, 1,975. Number high
Sfhools, 1; enrollment, 478. Other institutions. State Industrial School for Boys, Miles
City.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads, 2; railway mileage, exclusive spurs
and sidetracks, 90.89. Number of manufactures, 19; average number wage earners,
682; value of products, $2,209,804. Number of banks, 6. Number general stores, 10;
confectionery, etc., 11; grocei-ies and meats, 27; lumber yards. 7; total number mer-
chants, 203. Total assessed valuation 1922 merchandise, .fl, 429, 542. Number grain
elevators, 5; total capacity, 135,000 bushels. Number creameries, 1. Number flour
mills, 1. Number of law.sers, 23. Number of physicians, 10.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Number farms, 941; farm acreage, 997,169; im-
proved farm acreage, 121,688; irrigated acreage, 8,469; average value all nropertv, per
farm, .$16,143. Livestock assessed 1922 — Number cattle, 25,779; number sheep, 27,820;
number hoi-.ses, 11,926; numl)er swine (census), 1,947.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At Miles City. Elevation, 2,378 feet. Average date
last killing frost in spring, Mav 5: average date first killing frost in fall, October 2.

An-
Jan. Feb. Mar. April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. nual

Ave. Prec. .65 .51 .90 1.02 2.16 2.83 1.58 1.06 .94 .85 .55 .50 13.55
Ave. Temp. 15.3 16.9 31.1 46.6 56.7 66.4 73.6 71.7 60.1 47.4 32.9 21.6 45.

County Seat, Miles City. Population County Seat, 7,937.
County Agricultural Agent — Yes.

ROSEBUD COUNTY

TOCK growing is the leading industry in
Rosebtul county, but diversified farming is
expanding, and 1924 will witness an indus-
trial development of considerable magnitude
when the Northern Pacific Railway Com-
pany .starts coal mining in the southern
part of the county. A railway 30 miles in
length will be completed before the close
of 1923 to tap the coal district. The North
and South Railway between Miles City and
Casper, Wyoming, now under construction,
follows the Tongue River for 60 miles
through the southeastern part of the county,
giving it a long-needed outlet.

Rosebud county lies in southeastern
Montana. From the Musselshell River,
\'\hich defines two-thirds of its western
boundary, it extends eastward about 85
miles. Its sotithern boiuulary lacks 12
miles of meeting the Montana-Wyoming line. It is about 115 miles in length, north
and south. Midway, the Yellowstone river flows east and west across the county,
receiving from both the northern and southern parts of the county the drainage
of some smaller streams. Parts of the Northern Cheyenne Indian reservation and
of the Custer National Forest occupy practically the entire area of the extreme
southern district.

Farming south of the Yollo-wstone valley is stibordinate to the livestock in-
dustry, with hay as the principal crop, which provides winter forage for the
large niunber of sheep and cattle that are run on the range
Alfalfa Seed basis. Alfalfa .seed production in this part of the county is
and Melons expanding. The region north of the Yellowstone valley is de-
voted to non-irrigated farming and stock raising. In the
northern part of the county a heavy clay type of soil predominates. In other
districts the soil types range from sandy to clay loams. In addition to the
acreage at present irrigated along the Yellowstone River, it is estimated 35,000
acres are irrigable.

SOUTH EASTERN MONTANA 49

Spring wheat, corn, rye and flax are tlie principal crops in the non-irrigated
districts, and hay, corn, oats and wheat in the irrigated districts. Corn has done
well on both the irrigated and non-irrigated farms. Besides stimulating the
swine industry it is directing attention to the po.ssibilities of fattening sheep
and cattle, thus expanding the winter feeding operations which have been exten-
sively carried on in the alfalfa districts of the Yellowstone valley. Diversification
in other lines is taking place. Considerable alfalfa seed is raised along creek
bottoms in some of the non-irrigated districts. The throwing of watermelons
which reach the market when there is little competition from otlier regions is
another development in the non-irrigated districts. In 1923 a small acreage was
contracted in the irrigated districts for watermelon and cucumber seed, 25,000
pounds of which were exported to Holland and France. Northern-grown melon
seed is reported to be in good demand in the states to the south.

The opportunity presented in Rosebud county for strip mining coal will re-
sult in the establishment of a new industry. According to the report of the
Northern Pacific to the Interstate Commerce Commission, geoh)-
Large Coal gists examined 940 square miles of land in Rosebud county and
Measures reported the existence of 11,550,000,000 tons of coal, with indi-

cations that the coal extended southward over a much greater
area. The report stated the Northern Pacific coal mining operations would cover
an area of 15 square miles and it was expected to produce an output of 1,400,000
tons of coal a year, to be used on its system between Maudan and Missoula. While
the coal is of lower grade than that now used, it can be mined for 65 cents a
ton, and test runs indicate it to be a satisfactory locomotive fuel. Soapstone and
brick clay are also found in the coiuity. Drilling has been done for oil on the
Porcupine Dome, one of the largest potential oil domes in the state, which starts
foiu- miles north of Yananda.

The main lines of the Northern Pacific and of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St.
Paul Railway traverse the county through the Yellowstone valley, the ^Milwaukee
swinging through the northwestern quarter. The Northern Pacific branch to
the new coal mines follows Armells Creelis south from the Y'ellowstone.

Forsyth, near the geographical center, is the county seat and the largest
town. It has all modern municipal improvements. Rosebud, in the eastern
half of the county, is the second largest community and in the center of a good
agricultural district. Vananda, Ingomar and Sumatra, on the Milwaukee, are
shipping points. There is a shearing plant at Ingomar with a capacity of 6.000
sheep daily. Vananda serves an extensive corn district.

Rosebud county lies in the heart of the old buffalo and Indian I'egion. It is
reported that 75,000 buffalo were killed in this part of the Yellowstone valley in
1881. The council of war held June 21, 1876, by Generals Custer, Terry and
Gilibons on the steamer Far "West at the confluence of the Yellowstone and the
Rosebud, in what is now this county, broke the Indian power in the northwest.
The following day Custer's command rode to its death up the Rosebud. General
Miles fought the Indians at Lame Deer, and on the Rosebud occurred the fight
with Crazy Hor.se. The Tongue River trail, first used by Indians and fur traders
and then by soldiers, became a memory with the passing of the southern trail
herds.

ROSEBUD COUNTY — Ranks twenty-fifth in population (8,002); sixtli in area
(3,195,520 acres); nineteenth in combined 1922 crop and livestoclv value; twenty-third
in bank deposits, 1922; fourteenth in assessed valuation, 1922. Acres public land,
129,292: acres state land, 167,224; acres national forests, 96,759; acres Indian reserva-
tions (all unallotted), 232,243.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value, $1,431,300; estimated live-
stock value, January, 1923. .$2,340,000; 1921 lumber cut, 444 M feet; total bank deposits,
September 15, 1922. $1,426,988.

50

MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation, $27,683,517; total taxable value,
$10,615,813. Total outstanding- county bond indebtedness, $656,000; total outstanding
county warrant indebtedness, $47,360; total outstanding school bond indebtedness,
$278,560; other school debts, $94,712. Total general and special county taxes, $400,970;
total general and district school taxes, $232,187; total municipal taxes, $48,632; total
state taxes, $50,285; total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $91.48.

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools, 77; enrollment, 1,438. Number high
school.s, 8; enrollment, 264.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads, 2; railway mileage, exclusive spurs
and sidetracks, 136.53. Number of manufactures, 15; average number wage earners,
63; value of products, $778,996. Number of banks, 8. Number general stores, 18; con-
fectionery, etc., 3; groceries and meats, 12; lumber yards, 7; total number mercliants,
135. Total assessed valuation 1922 merchandise, $397,182. Number grain elevators, 10;
total capacity, 186,000 bushels. Number flour mills, 2. Number saw mills, 6. Number
of lawyers, 16. Number of physicians, 8.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Number farms, 1,136; farm acreage, 1,608,235; im-
proved farm acreage, 226,113; irrigated acreage, 20,814; average value all property, per
farm, $20,815. Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 25,066; number sheep, 87,738;
number horses, 9,256; number swine (census), 3,368.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At Forsyth. Elevation, 2,515 feet. Average date last
killing frost in spring. May 19; average date first killing frost in fall, September 22.
No. Yrs. An-

Record Jan. Feb.Mar.Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. nual

Ave. Free 7 .73 .39 .56 .68 2.89 2.4 1.65 .64 1.78 .89 .59 .32 13.52

Mean Temp 9 15.2 18.3 33.6 47.7 54.4 64.9 71.7 71.4 60.4 47.5 36.4 24.9 45.5

County Seat, Forsyth. Population County Seat, 1,838.
County Agricultural Agent — Yes.

TREASURE COUNTY

NE of the smallest counties of the state in
area and population, Treasure, is just begin-
ning to develop its agricultural possibilities,
particularl.v on irrigated lands. Livestock
raising is the most important industry, and
certain portions of the county will always

i-j— ifi^^i^^^ ^*^ ^^^^ adapted to it, but with the

lyM^J89||^^j|[^^^^Htfk^ .general establishment of a diversified sys-
^^^^■^H^PSi^^l^l^^^lBa ^^'"^° ^'^^'^^"^^ '^'^'^^ take the lead.
vcf^BMT^iMi^Bi^^^MV Treasiu'e county lies in south central

Montana, about 36 miles in length, north and
south and 24 miles in width. The "Wolf Moun-
tains define its eastern boundary south of
the Yellowstone River, and it stretches
westward to the confluence of the Big
Horn and the Yellowstone Rivers. The lat-
ter stream flows easterly across the middle
of the county, and in its valley lies most of
the irrigated land. The 1920 census /igures
on irrigated land, are not considered representative of the average acreage irri-
gated, which is estimated at 20.000 to 24,000 acres. Projects are contemplated
looking to an enlargement of the area under water. Soil types vary from sandy
to clay and heavy clay loam, the latter requiring careful handling, particularly
in the irrigated districts, to insure maximum crop returns.

Wheat at present is the principal crop, followed by alfalfa, oats and wild
hay. In the irrigated districts sugar beet growing has become estjiblLshed. Yields
of 21 t<ms to the acre have been obtained and average yields are high.
The comparatively low elevation and long and hot growing season permit a wide
crop range. The production on non-irrigated land of watermelons for commercial
purposes is expanding, and cantaloupes, tomatoes and other vegetables do well.
Corn is working into the crop rotation, particularly in the non-irrigated districts,

SOUTH EASTERN MONTANA 51

furnishing forage for cattle and groin for hogs. Considerable alfalfa seed is being
raised, the Sarpy Creek district in the southeastern part of the county being the
chief producer. Bee-keeping is growing.

Coal is found in some districts. One vein on Box Elder Creek, five miles
south of Ilysham, has been opened to provide fuel for local consumption. The
existence of a large deposit of bentonite, five miles long and up to a mile wide,
10 to 30 feet in tbickess, is reported six miles northwest of Hysham.

The main line of the Northern Pacific follows the Yellowstone valley and is
paralleled by the main east and west highways. Trade from the northern part of
the county finds its nearest rail outlet through the Chicago, Milwaukee & St.
Paul on the north.

Hysham, the only incorporated town, is the county seat. It has modern
municipal improvements. Sanders, Myers, Rancher and Big Horn are shipping
points. Big Horn serves a district along the Big Horn River and Tullock Creek,
as well as in the Yellowstone valley.

Historically, Treasure county is one of the most interesting parts of the
state. Here, on the south side of the Yellowstone and the east side of the Big
Horn Rivers, in 1807, ]\Iauuel Lisa erected the first trading post on the upper
rivers of the northwest and the first building in what is now Montana. Other
posts followed — Fort Benton, Ashley -Henry post, Fort Sarpy and Fort Cass, but
scarcely their memory remains toda.v. There was a revival, in 1875, almost
at the same place, of the dream of empire concei\ed by Lisa in 1807. Fort Pease
was built on Pease Bottoms, near the present station of Myers, considered the
bead of navigation on the Yellowstone, with the intention of wresting from Fort
Benton the trade of the gold mines. The post was immediately invested by the
Sioux. Many of its defenders were Ivilled or wounded. Finally one man volun-
teered to seek help. In the dead of winter he made his way to Fort Ellis, 175
miles westward. In March of 1876 four troops of cavalry appeared and relieved
the emaciated garrison.

TREASURE COUNTY — Ranks fifty-fifth in population (1,990): fiftieth in area
(614,400 acres); forty-eighth in combined 1922 crop and Uvestock vahie; forty-nintli in
bank deposits, 1922; fifty-fourtli in assessed valuation, 1922. Acres public land, 6,561;
acres state land, 35,628.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value, $489,100; estimated live-
stock value, Januarv, 1923. $637,900; 1921 lumber cut, 35 M feet; total bank deposits,
September 15, 1922, $265,348.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation, $6,849,088; total taxable value,
$2,220,005. Total outstanding county bond indebtedness, $85,000; total outstanding
county warrant indebtedness, $102; total outstanding school bond indebtedness, $98,551;
other school debts, $17,765. Total general and special county taxes, $94,734; total gen-
eral and district school taxes, $53,183; total municipal taxes, $10,686; total state taxes,
$10,800; total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $85.12.

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools, 19; enrollment, 465. Number high
schools, 4; enrollment, 72.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads, 1; railway mileage, exclusive spurs
and sidetracks, 27.88. Number of manufactures, *. Number of banks, 2. Number
general stores, 4; groceries and meats, 1; lumber yards, 1; total number merchants, 24.
Total assessed valuation 1922 merchandise, $71,307. Number grain elevators, 2; total
capacity, 8,000 bushels. Number saw mills, 2. Number of lawyers, 3. Number of
physicians 3.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Number farms, 330; farm acreage, 237,133; im-
proved farm acreage, 44,933; irrigated acreage, 7,788; average value all property, per
farm, $14,158. Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 7,814; number sheep, 13,843;
number horses, 2,800: number swine (census), 1,196.

No climatological data. See Forsyth, Rosebud County.

County Seat, Hysham. Elevation, 2,667 feet. Population County Seat, 360.

County Agricultural Agent — No.

♦Statistics on the number of manufactures, average number wage earners and the
value of products are not available, the 1920 census grouping Lewis and Clark, Deer
Lodge and Treasure counties together so as not to disclose the operations of individual
establishments.

52

MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

BIG HORN COUNTY

D

EVELOPMENT in Bis; Horn county up to the
present has been confined cliiefly to its
fertile agricultural areas, which probably
will always be its principal resource, but it
has others of much industrial importance.
These include petroleum, large coal meas-
xires, the largest known gypsum deposits in
Montana, and an undeveloped hydro-electric
site on the Rig Horn River of approxi-
mately 100,000 horse power. It is the sec-
ond largest sugar beet district in the state.
The principal operations of the largest
farming corporation in the world are con-
ducted in this county. About two-thirds of
the area of the county is included in Indian
ri'servations. Much of this Indian land is
available for piu'chase, and much is leased,
the grazing land principally in large tracts
to stockmen. It is expected the allotment
of the reservation lands will be completed in 1923 and 1,596,042 acres distributed
among 1,768 Indians of whom 121 will receive title in fee simple. Trust patents
will be given the others, preventing them from disposing of their holdings without
the consent of the Indian department.

Big Horn county lies in southeastern Montana, its southern boundary adjoin-
ing "Wyoming. Isolated mountain ranges rise near both the eastern and western
boundaries, ))Ut most of the surface is level or rolling, with
broad bench uplands. The valley of the Big Horn, approxi-
mately 75 miles in length and averaging from 20 to 25 miles
miles in width, is the principal agricultural district, though
there are a number of other fertile smaller valleys. Soil types
are fairly uniforni and on the rolling benches extending down from the Big
Horn mountains, soils are very fertile. In some of the irrigated districts the
bottom lands are heavy clay types which require careful handling to secure the
best crop results. It is well watered by the Big Horn, which is one of the
largest I'ivers in the state, and by its numerous tributaries.

In the reservation section of the county, considerable farming is carried on by
companies leasing large acreages and subleasing smaller units to farmers. In the
northern part both irrigated and non-irrigated farming is practiced, the former
being confined to the valley along the Big Horn River, and the latter to the bench
lands sloping away to the east and west. Both winter and .spring wheat are
generally grown with good results. Other small grains produce well, and in the
irrigated districts sugar beets are taking a prominent place in crop production.
In 1922, 343 cars of sugar beets were shipped. Near Hardin and on the irrigated
valley lands many farms have apiaries, and honey is rapidly becoming an im-
portant product Corn may be grown in all districts but does especially well in
the lower valleys which have a hotter growing season than is found on the
uplands. Large cattle outfits operate on leased Indian lands in the southern
part of the county. There is a co-operative livestock shipping association with
headquarters at Hardin.

Large Valleys

and
Broad Benches

SOUTH EASTEKX MONTANA 53

The only mineral resource which has been developed is oil. On Soap Creek,
40 miles southwest of Hardin, six producinsr wells have been drilled. No trans-
portation facilities are available juul the wells are capped. Drill-
Coal, Gypsum ins is also under way on Woody Creek, 20 miles south and west
and Oil of Hardin. Coni.sderable coal exists and big deposits of gypsum.

The Burlington railroad runs northerly through the central
portion of the county to Hardin and then turns northwest. A 12-mile branch line
has been built north of Hardin down the Big Horn valley, and a 40-mile road
up the valley is projected. The northeastern part of the county will be served
by a branch line the Northern Pacific is building, in Rosebud county.

Hardin, with all modern improvements, situated near the center of the
county, is the largest town and the chief trading and distributing point. Other
towns are Crow Agency, Lodge Grass and Wyola.

The most famous Indian battlefield in the United States, where Custer's com-
mand was annihilated by the Sioux in 1S7G, is in this county. It was in this
region that the first jNIontana fur traders were established. The Big Hole canyon,
a narrow gorge 50| miles long with bare walls of rock rising to heights of
1,500 feet, is worth seeing. At many places the vivid coloring of the canyon walls
is beautiful and the view from the top is of appealing grandeur. The Bonneville
expedition of 1S31-1S33 is credited with being the first party to explore the
Big Horn, which they followed from Wyoming down to its mouth and then
down the Yellowstone.

BIG HORN COUNTY — Rank.s thirtieth in population (7,015); fifth in area (3,178,240
acres); thirteenth in combined 1922 crop and livestock value; thirty-sixth in bank de-
posits, 1922; thirty-first in assessed valuation, 1922. Acres public land, 26,945; acres
state land, 64,307; acres Indian reservations (most of it allotted but held in trust),
2,301,849.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value, $1,457,200; estimated live-
stock value, January, 1923, $2,518,000; 1921 lumber cut, 427 M feet; total bank deposits,
September 15, 1922, $870,424.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation, $19,790,125; total taxable value,
$6,460,174. Total outstanding- county bond indebtedness, $379,000; total outstanding
county warrant indebtedness, $9,443; total outstanding school bond indebtedness,
$252,000; other school debts, $7,296. Total general and special county taxes, $111,970:
total general and district school taxes, $156,269: total municipal taxes, $17,507; total
state taxes, $31,660; total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $45.24.

EDUCATIONAL — ^Number graded schools, 47; enrollment, 1,464. Number high
schools, 4; enrollment, 183.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads, 1; railway mileage, exclusive spurs
and sidetracks, 82.98. Number of manufactures, 22; average number wage earners, 22;
value of products, $148,733. Number of banks, 5. Number general stores, 20; confec-
tionery, etc., 4; groceries and meats, 18; lumber yards, 6; total number merchants,
147. Total assessed valuation 1922 merchandise, $461,157. Number grain elevators, 5;
total capacity, 115,000 bushels. Number creameries, 1. Number flour mills, 1. Number
saw mills. 5. Number of lawyers, 9. Number of physicians, 8.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Number farms, 791; farm acreage, 748,749; im-
proved f;irm acieage, 158,363; irri^■uted acreage, 48.306: average value all property, per
farm, $22,949. Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 43,573; number sheep, 13,180;
number horses, 7,427; number swine (census), 2,885.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At Crow Agency. Elevation, 3,041 feet. Average date
last killing frost in spring, May 14; average date first killing frost in fall, September 26.

An-
Jan. Feb. IVIar. April May June

Ave. Prec. .78 .62 .92 1.33 2.5 2.65
Ave. Temp. 18.6 20.2 32.6 46.4 56.7 65.0

County Seat, Hardin. Population County
County Agricultural Agent — No.

July

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

nual

1.26
71.2

.89
69.1

1.03
58.7

1.23
47.1

.79
33.3

.70
24.5

14.70
45.3

Seat,

1,312.

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54

SOUTH CENTRAL MONTANA

^

Comhines Characteristics of Both the Eastern Slope and Plains Regions — Includes

Tii'O of the Best Known Agricultural Districts- — Tourist

Attractions and Minerals.

The northeastern part of the South Central district, which is composed of
Yellowstone, Carbon, Stillwater, Sweet Grass, Park and Gallatin counties, par-
takes of the characteristics of the plains region of Montana, while the western
and southern parts partake of the characteristics of the eastern slope or
mountain region. The best known agricultural districts are the Yellowstone and
the Gallatin valleys where farming has been long followed and where diversifi-
cation has been well established. Both irrigated and non-irrigated methods are
followed. The district leads the state in alfalfa and sugar beets ; it ranks second
in coal production ; is an important producer of livestock ; and in the southwestern
part contains varied mineral resources which include one of the largest deposits
of chrome ore in the United States, and considerable undeveloped waterpower.
It contains many tourist attractions. The northern, or Gardiner entrance to the
Y'ellowstone park, is within its borders.

The growing season ranges from 135 days in the eastern part to 110 days in
the v^-estern. The agricultural areas range in elevation from 3.000 to .5.000 feet,
but in the high mountains in the .southern part are found the highest elevations
in the state. Granite Peak. 12.850 feet, is the highest named pinnacle.

Three of the larger cities of the state are in the district.

CARBON COUNTY

IGAR beets, fruit and honey in the lower
valleys ; livestock in the upper valleys and
on the foothills ; then coal ; in the high
mountain regions, glaciers, scenery and
tourists — this is Carbon county. Its chief
industry is coal mining. In value of coal
product it is easily the foremost county in
the state. For variety and grandeur of
.scenery and excellence of hunting and fish-
ing few regions equal it and none surpass
it. The first producing oil wells in the
state were found here. It has many ini-
(]e\ cl<>i)('(l mineral resources.

Situated in south central Montana, the
Yellowstone River marking its northern
boundary. Carbon county rises from an
approximate elevation of 3.300 feet to more
than 13,000 feet in the Beartooth moun-
tains near the Wyoming boundary. Gran-
ite peak, the highest named mountain in the state, with an elevation of 12.850
feet, is in Carbon county, but there are several unnamed peaks in the same

55

56 MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

range that are above 13,000 feet, aeeordiim to the United States Geological Survey.
The well-watered valleys, running north and .south, widen out in the northern
part of the county and the mountains give way to rolling benchlands. The
soil in the valleys is a deep alluvial loam ; on the benchlands it is a chocolate-
colored loam.

In irrigated acreage, this county is one of the leaders. (\)nst ruction has

started on a project to reclaim an additional 32.000 acres and other projects are

contemplated or inuler way for the irrigation of another

Much Irrigated 20,000 acres. Wore than half of the farms are irrigated.

Land Spring wheat is the primary grain crop and alfalfa the leading

feed crop. A considerable irrigated acreage is devoted to sugar

beets, fruit and vegetables. Honey is an important product. Small grains return

good yields in the non-irrigated areas. Corn is adapted to the lower valleys.

Along the foothills near the mountains mixed livestock and grain farming are

types generally followed. Many districts, because of good water, green pastures

and alfalfa hay, are naturally adapted to dairying, and more attention is being

given this industry. Many of the smaller farms are developing good herds of

pure-bred swine.

About a fourth of the area of the county is included within national forests.
Lumbering operations are conducted on a small scale. The high areas within
the forests are utilized as summer range l)y many bands of sheep. Aside from the
manufacture of brick, coal and petroleum are the only minerals commercially
produced. Petroleum was first produced in this count.v in 1916 in the Elk Basin
field near Wyoming, but the output is declining. Red Lodge, Bear Creek and
Washoe are the centers of coal production. Other mineral resources include
gypsum, chromite, oil shale, natural gas, limestone and sandstone and possibly
pottery clay, fire clay and uranium.

The rail and highway transportation facilities are good. The Denver-Billings
line of the Burlington runs northerly through the eastern part of the county, down
the Clark's Fork, and is paralleled by the Cody-Billings highway ; the Northern
Pacific has a branch to Red Lodge that serves the middle of the county ; and
an independent railway serves the Bear Creek district in the south central part.
A highway which meets the main east and west highway at Laurel rims
north to Red Lodge and is the main route into the Beartooth mountains. It
also connects with the Bear Creek coal fields, the Wyoming oil fields and Cody.

Red Lodge, modern and the county seat, is the largest town and the principal

trading point. It is in the heart of the Beartooth region. Bear Creek and

AVashoe are coal camps. Fromberg, Bridger, Edgar. Silesia,

Many Tourist Boyd, Roberts, Roscoe and Luther ai'e in the agricultural and

Attractions livestock districts.

Rugged moiuitains, a titanic plateau on the "roof of the
woi'ld."' beautiful canyons and lakes and a unique glacier — the Grasshoppei*^
named after the millions of insect pests that are embedded in its ice, make the
Beartooth region of this county unusually attractive to tourists. A number of
summer resorts have been established.

CARBON COUNTY — Ranks tenth in population (15.279): thirty-second in area
(1,318,400 acres): twentieth in combined 1922 crop and livestock value: second in 1920
mineral production: thirteenth in bank deposits, 1922: nineteenth in assessed valuation,
1922. Acres public land, 149,322; acres state land, 45,651: acres national forests, 302,190.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value, $2,071,900; estimated live-
stock value, ,7anuar\-, 1923, $1,516,000: metal production, 1920, $71; coal production.
1920, $6,071,000; 1921 lumber cut 301 M feet; total bank deposits, September 15, 1922.
$3,108,169.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation. $23,250,930: total taxable value,
$8,359,745. Total outstanding countv bond indebtedness, $533,000; total outstanding
county warrant indebtedness, $103,818; total outstanding school bond indebtedness.

SOUTH CENTRAL MONTANA

57

$419,867. Total general and special county taxes, $193,749; total general and district
school taxes, $282,825; total municipal taxes, $33,857; total state taxes, $39,434; total
tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $35.98.

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools, 65; enrollment, 3,542. Number high
schools, 8; enrollment, 528.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads, 3: railway mileage, exclusive spurs
and sidetracks, 121.37. Number of manufactures, 47; average number wage earners,
146; value of products, $761,218. Number of banks. 13. Number general stores, 36;
confectionery, etc., 17; groceries and meats, 30; lumber yards, 13; total number mer-
chants, 273. Total assessed valuation 1922 merchandise, $620,933. Number grain ele-
vators, 14; total capacity, 383,000. Number creameries, 2. Number flour mills, 1.
Number saw mills, 4. Number of lawyers, 11. Number of physicians, 12.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Number farms, 1.353; farm acreage, 446,386; im-
proved farm acreage, 178,503: irrigated acreage. 99,336; average value all property, per
farm, $15,454. Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 18,672; number sheep, 27,709;
number horses, 8,961; number swine (census), 8,707.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At Bridger. Elevation, 3.664 feet. Average date last
killing frost in spring. May 19; average date first killing frost in fall. September 14.

No. Yrs.
Record Jan.Feb.Mar.Apr. May June July Aug.

Ave. Prec 12 .26 .23 .34 .81 1.73 1.44 .62 .65

Mean Temp 12 20.7 23.9 34.6 45.1 53.4 63.5 68.6 66.5

County Seat, Red Lodge Population County Seat, 4,515.
County Agricultural Agent — No.

Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.

1.57 1.25 .19 .39
57.2 45.3 35.5 23.0

An-
nual

9.48
44.8

YELLOWSTONE COUNTY

A

FIRMLY established system of diversified
farming on well tilled irrigated lands,
plus a strategic location for trade distribu-
tion in an interstate territory are the pri-
mary factors that have given Yellowstone
county the third largest population and
made Billings the third largest city in the
state and the leading city of eastern Mon-
tana. The possibilities of the region are
lieginning to be realized but their develop-
ment has scarcely begun.

Yellowstone county lies in south central
Montana. From the confluence of the Big
Horn with the Y'ellowstone River it extends
southwesterly about 74 miles, and from the
Bull Moimtains on the north it stretches
.■southward about oo miles. The Yellowstone
River flows the entire length, and the
fertile valley lands bordering it are prac-
in cultivation. Soil types in the valley range from
Xon-irrigated farming is the prevailing method on
the uplands back of the valley, and a sandy loam the predominating soil type.

Spring wheat is the principal crop in the non-irrigated districts, but the
acreage in corn is rapidly being increased, and a more diversified system of farm-
ing is being evolved. Sugar beets, beans, dairying, swine rais-
ing and winter feeding of livestock, principally sheep, supple-
ment the production of small grain in the irrigated districts. A
number of pure-bred herds of beef and dairy cattle and of hogs
have been established a long time. Yellowstone county is the chief producer of
sugar beets and bean.s ; it fattens more sheep and cattle for winter and spring
markets than any other part of the state, and it has Iieen the pioneer in the
movement for the establishment of irrigated pastures which carry two cows
to the acre during the growing season. Records of four of the thirty-two cows
owned by the United States Department of Agriculture that were placed on official

tically all under irrigation and
silt clays to heavy clay loam.

Diversification
Established

58 MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

test were made on roughage alone on irrigated lands at Huntley, and one cow's
production was larger when fed roughage alone at Huntley than it was at the
government farm in Maryland when she was fed roughage and grain. The use of
irrigated pastures is stimulating dairying. Around Billings there is considerable
truck gardening. Near Huntley in 1J)22 one farmer grew white hurley tobacco ex-
perimentally. It produced at the rate of 2,500 pounds to the acre. The tobacco
was five feet tall and the leaves 17 inches across. Yellowstone is one of the lead-
ing counties in honey production. Because diversified farming has been further
developed in this district than in most other parts of the state, the irrigated farms
will average smaller in size, there being many 40, GO and 80 acre units. Bulletin
No. 144 of the Agricultui-al Experiment Station at Bozeman gives a survey of
farming in the irrigated district around Billings.

Coal, brick clay and sandstone are the principal minerals. The Bull Mountain
coal field, which extends into Yellowstone from jNIusselshell county, is one of the
largest undeveloped fields in the state, according to the United States Geological
Survey.

Rail facilities are excellent and they have made Billings one of the most im-
portant jobbing and distributing centers in the state. The main line of the
Northern Pacific, east and west, passes through the county.
Billings Serves One line of the Burlington from Alliance, Nebraska, and Sheri-
Blg Territory dan, Wyoming, and another from Denver, Cheyenne and Cody,
both have their northern terminus at Billings. The Billings-
Great Falls-Shelby line of the Great Northern, comes in from the northwest, and
is used by Burlington trains to the coast, as is also the Northern Pacific. Twenty
passenger trains pass through Billings daily, of which ten are through trains, four
are locals and six are branch lines. The most Important branch lines are those
of the Northern Pacific tapping the coal mining and agricultural districts of
Carbon county, and the agricultural district in the Lake Basin region of Yellow-
stone and Stillwater counties. The interchange of traffic between the three
railroads entering Billings totals 50,000.000 tons a year.

The sixth largest sugar beet plant in the world is located at Billings. It
also has flour mills, a meat packing plant, creameries, a pickle factory, brick
yards, seed houses, wood and metal working establishments, and many other in-
dustries. It is the most important point in the state for the distribution of farm
machinery and is also one of the principal jobbing centers, not only serving a
large territory in Montana, but much of northern "Wyoming. While there are no
commercial oil wells in the county, many of the larger companies maintain head-
quarters at Billings, from which the Montana and Wyoming fields are easily
reached.

Billings is a well built, thoroughly modern city, as attractive in a residential
way as its location has made it important in a business way. It is supplied with
natural gas from the Elk Basin field, 72 miles to the south. The Billings
Polytechnic Institute, an institution of higher learning, draws students from a wide
area. Laurel, west of Billings, is an important railroad town, and the trade center
of a well developed agricultural district. Huntley is the chief town on the gov-
ernment reclamation project. Broadview, on the Great Northern, is a shipping
point for the non-irrigated district in the northwestern part of the county.
There are many smaller communities.

Billings is the gateway from the main lines of travel to the Beartooth region
of Carbon county, noted for its scenery, hunting and fishing. The main east and
west highways intersect at Billings with the Custer Battlefield highway.

YELLOWSTONE COUNTY — Ranks tliird in population (29,600); twenty-second in
area (1,733,120 aci-es) ; eighth in combined 1922 crop and livestock value: fourth in bank
depo.sits, 1922: tliird in assessed valuation, 1922. Acres public land, 4,082; acres state
land, 68,653; acres Indian reservations (most of it allotted), 225,920.

SOUTH CENTRAL MONTANA

59

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value,. $3,042,000; estimated live-
stock value, January, 1923. $2,067,000: lfi21 lumlier cut, 147 M feet; total bank deposits,
September 15, 1922. $7,327,147.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation, $75,971,311; total taxable value,
$23,119,234. Total out.«tanding county bond indebtedness, $894,000; total outstanding
county warrant indebtedness, $12,709; total outstanding scbool bond indebtedness,
$989,442; other school debts, $51,634. Total general and special county taxes, $489,146;
total general and district school taxes, $576,465; total municipal taxes, $461,818; total
state taxes, $107,608; total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $55.23.

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools. 99; enrollment, 6,159. Number high
schools, 7; enrollment, 1,021. Other institutions, Billings Polytechnic Institute.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads, 4; railways mileage, exclusive spurs
and sidetracks, 164,55. Number of manufactures, 105; average number wage earners,
1,184; value of products, $9,064,815. Number of banks, 15. Number general stores, 27;
confectionery, etc., 35; groceries and meats. 105; lumber yards, 25; total number mer-
chants, 698. Total assessed valuation 1922 merchandise, $4,562,049. Number grain
elevators, 18; total capacity, 536,000 bushels. Number creameries, 5. Number flour
mills, 2. Number saw mills, 1. Number of lawyers, 68. Number of physicians, 35.
Developed hydro-electric plant capacity, 1,440 horse power.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Number farms, 2,211; farm acreage, 1,067,425; im-
proved farm acreage, 333,174; irrigated acreage, 101,378; average value all property, per
farm, $16,474. Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 20,375; number sheep, 30,045;
number horses. 12,475; number swine (census), 9,566.

CLIMAT0L03ICAL DATA — At Billings. Elevation, 3,115 feet. Average date last
killing frost in spring. May 16; average date first killing frost in fall, September 26.

An-
Jan. Feb. :\rar. April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. nual

Ave. Prec. .68 .40 .80 1.16 2.79 2.37 1.20 .98 1.13 1.21 .80 .44 13.96
Ave. Temp. 22.5 25.0 34.2 47.2 54.8 63.0 70.8 68.9 58.7 48.1 34.7 26.5 46.2

County Seat, Billings. Population County Seat, 15,100.
County Agricultural Agent — Yes.

STILLWATER COUNTY

ESOURCES of Stillwater couuty are almost
as diversified as its elevations, which range
from 12,700 feet on Mount Wood, the second
highest named peak in the state, to 4,000

_ feet in the non-irrigated areas of the north-

S^ ^ ^ ern part, (iood agricidtural and stoek-rais-

f,MSbi. iJ k ^ i^-M^..,^.^ i"S districts, natural gas, water power, and

among other minerals what is asserted to
he the largest deposit of chromite in the
L'nited States, and coal are probably the
most important assets.

Stillwater county lie!«' in south central
Montana. It is about 80 miles in length
from the northea.st to the southwest, and
in width about 25 miles. The Yellowstone
River crosses it east and west, about mid-
way of its length. High mountains rise in
the southern end. The Stillwater, East and
West Rosebud Rivers and Fishtail Creek
are the chief streams in the south half of the county. Oppt)rtunities exist for
the extension of the irrigat(>d lands.

Non-irrigated farming is follnwcd in the northern part of the coiuuy. particu-
larly in the Lake Basin district. Soil types here vary from clay loams to sandy
loams, Unless careful cultural practices are observed with the sandy loams, soil
Mowing causes trouble. Suinnu'i- fallow and corn production are generally prac-
ticed in the rotation system followed in the non-irrigated districts. There is much
irrigated land in the Yellowstone valley. Alfalfa and corn are the principal
feed crops. There is a considerable a<'reage devoted to sugar beets in the eastern
part of the county which has developed the winter feeding of stock, especially
sheep. Irrigated farming is followed in the mountain and hill valleys south

v%

60 MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RP^SOURCES

of the Yellowstone River, and non-irrigated farming on the bench lands. It is
asserted there has never been a crop failure in the region south of the Yellow-
stone. Considerable livestock is raised, the mountainous areas affording good
summer pasturage.

Wheat is the principal cash crop, both winter and spring varieties being ex-
tensively grown. The county has won many prizes on its small grains. In 1922,
at Pendleton, Oregon, it took sweepstakes on both hard red winter and hai'd spring,
and in 15)21, at the International Hay and Grain Show at Chicago, in world
competition, took first on hard red winter, and a total of seven places on eleven
entries.

While coal is the only mineral the county has produced in commercial (luan-
tities, there is a deposit of chromite that begins near McLeod. Sweet Grass county,
and extends through the south half of Stillwater county as far
Big Chroniite east as Fishtail Creek, a distance of 27 miles. It is reported to
Deposit be the largest deposit in the United States. It has only been

examined a distance of leSs than four miles along its course,
and, while little development has been done, assays indicated that at least some
of it will meet the requirements of steel manufacturers. Near Antelope Point, in
the Lake Basin district, large flows of natural gas were discovered while drilling
for oil, which is being continued. On the W^est Fork of the Rosebud River, in
the south end of the county, at Mystic Lake, a hydro-electric plant with an initial
development of 15,000 horse power is being constructed. Plans call for its com-
pletion in 1924. The plant will operate under a head of 700 feet fall, which is
greater than is found at any plant in Montana, Idaho, Oregon or Washington.

The main line of the Northern Pacific follows the Yellowstone valley through
the middle of the county. The north end of the county is tapped by a branch
line of the same road that comes in from the east and has its terminus at Rapelje.
The main east and west highway follows the Yellowstone River.

Columbus, at the junction of the Yellowstone and Stillwater Rivers, is the
largest town, the chief trading center, and the county seat. Park City and Reed
Point are trading points on the main line, and Rapelje and Wheat Basin on the
branch. Al)sarokee, on the Stillwater, is a trading point for the southern part
of the coimty.

Majestic scenery is found in the mountains in the southern end, and big
game hunting in season. The Lake Basin region draws many duck hunters each
fall. Good fishing is found in most of the streams. Historical and scenic attrac-
tions include the Bridger trail, the Lewis and Clark trail. Mystic Falls, Woodbine
Falls, East Rosebud Lake, Cathedral Peak and Stillwater Palisades.

STILLWATER COUNTY — Ranks twenty-seventh in population (7,630); fortieth
in area (1,137,280 acl•e^5) ; twenty-seventh in combined 1922 crop and live.stock value;
twenty-eighth in 1920 mineral production; twenty-seventh in bank deposits, 1922;
thirtieth in assessed valuation, 1922. Acres public land, 16,863; acres state land, 32.464;
acres national forests, 86,561.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value, $1,364,400; estimated live-
stock value, .January, 1923, $1,750,000; coal production, 1920. $7,304; 1921 lumber cut,
122 M feet; total bank deposits, September 15, 1922, $1,216,762.

TAXATION 1922 — -Total assessed valuation, $19,961,750; total taxable value,
$6,620,390. Total outstanding county bond indebtednes.s, $742,500; total outstanding
county warrant indebtedness, $1,631; total outstanding school bond indebtedness,
$278,471; other school debts, $13,300. Total general and special county taxes, $202,757;
total general and district school taxes, $166,340; total municipal taxes, $20,239; total
state taxes, $30,306; total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $55.00.

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools, 79; enrollment, 1,608. Number high
schools, 6; enrollment, 222.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads, 1; railway mileage, exclusive spurs
and sidetracks, 66.15. Number of manufactures, 14; average number wage earners, 19;
value of products, $93,153. Number of banks, 8. Number general stores. 18; confec-
tionery, etc., 5; groceries and meats, 17; lumber yards, il; total number merchants, 145.
Total assessed valuation 1922 merchandise, $441,056. Number grain elevators, 14; total
capacity, 400,000 bushels. Number creameries 1. Number flour mills, 1. Number
saw mills, 2. Number of lawyers, 5. Number of physicians, 9. Hydro-electric devel-
opment completed in 1924, 15,000 horsepower.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Number farms, 1,370; farm acreage, 660,996; im-

SOUTH CENTRAL MONTANA

61

proved farm acreage, 278.040: irrigated acreage, 33,039; average value all property, per
farm. $16,443. Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 21,889; number sheep, 26,195;
number horses. 9,526; number swine (census), 5,381.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At Busteed. Elevation. 4,050 feet. Average date last
killing frost in .spring. May 25; average date first killing frost in fall, September 23.

No. Yrs. An-

Record Jan.Feb.Mar.Apr. Mav .June .July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. nual

Ave. Prec 14 .71 .44 .75 1.21 3.08 2.16 1.46 1.19 1.76 1.34 .66 .50 14.90

Mean Temp 13 22.2 23.5 32.9 43.1 50.0 59.5 65.8 64.0 54.9 44.5 34.8 26.3 43.5

County Seat, Columbus. Population County Seat, 987.

County Agricultural Agent — Yes.

SWEET GRASS COUNTY

L

r-—

■■

SS^-"'-""" ' ARGE areas of this county are naturally

adapted to livestock raising. While this is
by far the most important industry, there
are other large areas suitable for farming.
Development has proceeded faster than set-
tlement, there being a considerable acreage
of irrigated land awaiting colonization and
from 25.000 to 40.000 additional acres of
land that is irrigable. There has been prac-
tically no development of the mineral pos-
sibilities.

Sweet Grass county lies in south cen-
tral Montana. The southern third is occu-
pied l)y the high and rugged ranges of the
A])saroka and Beartooth Mountains. Much
of the surface of the northwestern part is
covered by the Crazy Mountains, a high,
bold isolated range. The sui'face of the
northeastern part is broken by the Cayuse
range of hills. These are the chief stoclc-raising districts and range areas. Both
sheep and cattle are carried, the former predominating.

The Yellowstone valley, which midway crosses the county, east and west, and
the valleys of the Boulder. Big Timber, Sweet Grass, American Fork and Otter
Creeks are the chief agricultural areas. Alfalfa is the principal crop in the irri-
gated districts, winter feeding of livestock providing a market outlet. Wheat, both
winter and spring, is the leading cash crop in the non-irrigated districts of the
northern part, and occupies more than double the total acreage of hay, the second
leading crop. Oats is in third place. Corn is still in the crop experimental stage
liut results have been satisfactor.v. Dairying, bee-keeping and swine raising are
indicative of a growing interest in diversification.

Chromite is probably the most important mineral resource. A deposit has
been traced from McLeod, on the West Fork of the Boulder River, southeasterly
across the county into Stillwater county, a distance of 27 miles.
Varied The deposit has been examined for less than four miles. Some

Mineral chromite samples assayed were found to be suitable to the re-

Resources ((uirements of steel manufacturers. Some coal is found, and
Iceland spar. Some exploration work on veins carrying lead-
silver ore has been done in the Crazy Moiuitains but has not been carried far
enough to indicate the commercial importance of tlie prospects.

The main line of the Northern Pacific follows the Yellowstone River. The
drainage of the northern end of the count.v is into the Musselshell River, and
much of the traffic follows the water grade to the Milwaukee railroad. Rapelje
is the most accessible rail point from the northeastern district. The main east
and west highways parallel the railroad.

62

MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

Big Tiniher. in tho gt'ographical center of the county, is the county seat and
largest town and chief distributing point. Considerable irrigated land lying a
few miles north of it is awaiting settlement. Midville in the northern, and
McLeod in the southern district, are the chief interior points.

Beautiful scenery and fine fishing are found in both the northern and south-
ern mountainous regions. Several dude ranches have been established near the
Crazy Mountains.

SWEET GRASS COUNTY — Ranks forty-first in population (4.452); thirty-fourth
in area (1,236.480 a< res) ; twent%-.sixtli in combined 1922 trop and livestock value;
thirty-second in bank deposits, 1922; thiity-fifth in assessed valuation, 1922. Acres
public land, 25,669; acres state land, 45,133; acres national forests, 389,186.

WEALTH PRODUCTION— Kstiniated 1922 crop value, .$1,042,700; estimated live-
stock value, January, 1923. $2,135,000; 1921 lumber cut, 575 M feet; total bank deposits.
September 15. 1922. $1,038,621.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation, $17,871,692; total taxable value,
$5,685,945. Total outstanding county bond indebtedness, $395,000; total outstanding
countv warrant indebtedness, $8,057; total outstanding school liond indebtedness,
$100,481; other school debts, $3,356. Total general and special county taxes, $104,849;
total general and district school taxes, $113,367; total municipal taxes, $21,747; total
state taxes, $27,606; total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $60.10.

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools, 60; enrollment, 923. Number high
schools. 1; enrollment 130.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads,
and sidetracks, 37.35. Number of manufactures, 16;
value of products, $135,212. Number of banks, 3.

tionery, etc., 5; groceries and meats, 9: lumber yards, 4; total number merchants, 72.
Total assessed valuation, 1922 merchandise, $310,178. Number grain elevators, 4; total
capacity, 150,000 bushels. Number creameries, 1. Number flour mills, 2. Number
saw mills, 4. Number of lawvers, 8. Number of physicians, 3.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census)* — Number farms. 863; farm acreage, 645.120; im-
proved farm acreage. 138,530; irrigated acreage, 47,306; aveiage value all property, per
farm, $22,348. Livestock assessed in 1922 — number cattle, 22,425; number sheep, 53,104;
number horses, 5,740; number swine (census), 3,869.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At Big Timber. Elevation, 4,094 feet. Average date
last killing frost in spring, INIay 23; average date first killing frost in fall, September 14.

An-
Mav June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. nual
3.0'4 2.24 1.5 1.02 1.75 1.35 .82 .43 15.68
53.4 62.7 68.6 67.4 57.2 41.1 29.5 28.8 45.1

1 ; railway mileage, exclusive spurs
average number wage earners, 24;
Number general stores, 4; confec-

Ave.
Ave

Feb. Mar. April
.57 1.03 1.25

27.7 33.8 45.0
County Seat, Big Timber. Population County Seat, 1,282.
County Agricultural Agent — No.

Prec.
Temp.

Jan.

.68

25.6

♦These figures include the territory now in Golden Valley County.

PARK COUNTY

X PARK comity, the livestock and farm
wealth of the valleys and lower lands is
supplemented l>y mineral and forest re-
sources and a variety of tourist attractions
in the mountains. "While stock raising is
the leading industr.v. the county has won
a reputation on the quality of its small
grains and forage crops. It is one of the
most hi.ghly mineralized regions in the state
and in the past year or two there has been
a decided mining revival. Tiivingston, the
count.v seat, is a division point on the
Northern Pacific and is also the gateway
to the northern or Gardiner entrance of the
Yellowstone Park, which continues to hold
its popularity with tourists.

Situated in south central ^Montana,

Park county extends into the Yellowstone

Park about three miles. The southern half

of the county lies between the (lallatin range of mountains on the west and the

Absarokee Mountains on the east. Between them lies the Upper Yellowstone val-

SOUTH CENTRAL MONTANA 63

ley frow two to 25 milos wide, wliich extends in a iKirtlu-rly dirt'cliou to the
middle of the county and thin turns oast. In the northeastern part of the
county are the Crazy Mountains. The Shields River valley occupies the center
of the northern half of the county. It is from 15 to 30 miles wide and extends
south for a distance of 50 miles where it merges with the Yellowstone. In irri-
gated acreage Park ranks among the leading ten counties. Considerable addi-
tional land can be reclaimed.

Practically all the tillable land in the county is confined to the Yellowstone
and Shields River valleys. The growing season in the upper valleys is compara-
tively short ; these areas are better adapted to forage crops and
Dairying livestock. The proximity of the national forests, which

and Stock afford summer grazing, accounts, probably, for the fact that
livestock production is more important in the county than crop
production. On the foothills flanking the valleys non-irrigated farming is followed.
On both non-irrigated and irrigated lands the small grains raised are of excellent
quality, attested to by the many winnings Parle county products have made at
national shows. But little corn is raised. Natural conditions well adapt the
region to dairying and it is steadily growing in importance. Jhe largest cheese fac-
tory in Montana has been successfully operating for a number of years near
Wilsall, in the Shields River valley, and at Livingston there are two creameries.
There are a number of good-sized pure-bred beef herds in the county and some
large stock ranches. Near Livingston is a truck farm whose products are in de-
mand on the fancy markets of St. Paul and Seattle.

Among other minerals which have been produced on a commei'cial scale in
Park county are gold, silver, lead, coal, arsenic, tungsten and brick clay. It
also has gypsum, gems, molybdenum and a variety of building and monumental
stones. Drilling for oil is under way (1923) in the northern end of the county.
Most of the mineral resources are in the southern end of the county. In the
Jardine district some low-grade gold properties are being worf^ed, primarily for
their arsenical content, the gold being a by-product. The Cooke City district,
in the southeastern coimer, is considered one of the most promising mining dis-
tricts in the state, but its inaccessibility has retarded its development. Consider-
able commercial timber grows on the national forests, which occupy more than
a third of the county's area.

The largest industrial acti\it.v is found in the railroad shops at Livingston.
Granite works, a brick jilant, a lime kiln and other industries are also estab-
lished.

Park county has excellent transportation facilities. The main line of the
Northern Pacific goes east and west through the middle of the county, and at
Livingston, in the geographical center of the county, a branch runs north up
the Shields valley to Wilsall and another south up the Yellowstone to the Yellow-
stone Park. A main east and west highway crosses the county and the western
Park to Park route from Gardiner to Glacier station traverses the county north
and south.

Livingston, the county seat, is one of the larger cities of the state. It is
thoroughly modern and the trading center of a rich livestock, agricultural and
mining region. Each summer it is host to thousands of tourists en route to the
Y'ellowstone Park. Wilsall and Clyde I'ark are the principal towns in the Shields
River valleA'.

64

MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

There are a number of health resorts in the county, among them being
Hunter's Hot Springs, Chico Hot Springs and Corwiu Hot Springs. Among the
dude ranches and hunting lodges in the county are Montanapolis,
Tourist in the Absarokee Mountains, Randall's O-T-O ranch, and the

Attractions Smith ranches. Fine fi.shing, big game hunting, rugged scenery
and natural caves and wells, many of them as yet unexplored,
are among the other attractions. Many sight-seers insist that the Gardiner en-
trance is the only proper way to tour the Yellowstone, and that to appreciate
the park, it must be seen as one would witness a play, from a logical beginning
to an impressive climax, which the northern entrance provides.

PARK COUNTY — Ranks thirteenth in population (11,330); twenty-third in area
(1,703,040 acres); fourteenth in combined 1922 crop and livestock value; fourteenth in
1920 mineral production; seventh in bank deposits, 1922; twelfth in assessed valuation,
1922. Acres public land, 15,146; acres state land, 35,635; acres national forests, 766.656;
national parks, 79,104.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value, $1,589,100: estimated live-
stock value, January. 1923, $2,349,000; metal production, 1920, $89,360; coal production,
1920, $1,000; 1921 lumber cut, 386 M. feet; total bank deposits, September 15, 1922,
$4,643,658.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation, $31,790,209; total ta.xable value,
$9,999,056. Total outstanding county bond indebtedness, $501,000; total outstanding
county warrant indebtedness. $2,308; total outstanding school bond indebtedness.
$142,178; other school debts, $2,004. Total general and special county taxes. $185,709;
total general and district school taxes, $206,198; total municipal taxes, $171,960; total
state taxes, $47,522; total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $53.96.

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools, 71; enrollment, 1.828. Number high
schools, 3; enrollment, 393.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads. 1; railway mileage, exclusive of
spurs and sidetiacks. 108.99. Number of manufactures. 46; average number wage
earners. 741; value of products. $1,856,050. Number of banks. 10. Number general stores.
17; confectionery, etc.. 31; groceries and meats, 30; lumber yards. 10; total number mer-
chants, 281. Total assessed valuation 1922 merchandise. $890,662. Number grain eleva-
tors, 11; total capacity, 405,000 bushels. Number creameries, 2. Number flour mills. 1.
Number saw mills, 15. Number of lawyers, 10. Number of physicians. 13. Developed
h\dro-electric plant capacity, 3,100 horse power.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Number farms, 756; farm acreage, 613,597; im-
proved farm acreage, 168,679; irrigated acreage, 52,854; average value all property, per
farm. $28,561. I..ivestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 24.142; number sheep, 46.577;
number horses, 7,249; number swine (census), 6,402.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At Livingston. Elevation. 4.491 feet. Average date
last killing frost in spring. May 18: average date first killing frost in fall, September 19.

An-
Jan. Feb. Mar. April May June July Aug. Sept.

Aver. Prec. . .60 .55 .87 1.20 3.19 1.77 1.16 .88 1.60
Aver. Temp. 25.1 27.3 33.8 43.1 51.2 60.2 68.0 66.6 57.2

Ccunty Seat, Livingston. Population County Seat, 6,311.

County Agricultural Agent — No.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

nual

1.03
48.1

.89
36.2

.49
29.3

14.23
45.5

SOUTH CENTRAL MONTANA

65

GALLATIN COUNTY

-^s^myi^ ::«?^i^-

I

Farm Areas
in North End

N EARLY territorial day.s when gold was
the only iiidiui'inout for people to come to
.Montana, a few far-seeing immigrants
Miiprccialcd the value of the fertile soil
of the (iallatin valley and established farms
there instead of going on to the gold
camps. It (luickly became the banner crop
l)nidu('ing regi(m of ^Montana. Though
several other counties that by reason of
large wheat producing areas surpassed
it in 1922 in total crop production, it ranks
third in combined crop and livestock value,
in diversified farming and a stabilized sys-
tem of agriculture it is one of the fore-
most. In scenic and tourist attractions, it
is surpassed by no district. It has many
mineral resources of considerable indus-
trial value which have not received the
attention they deserve.
Situated in south central Montana, Gallatin county is 115 iniles long north and
south, and 20 to 40 miles wide. Over 100.000 acres along the eastern boundary
are included within the Yellowstone National Park. The con-
tinental divide of the Rocky Mountains marks the southern
boundary where Montana adjoins Idaho. More than a third
of the county's area is included within national forests. Most
of the farming areas are in the north half of the county, the largest and
best known of which is Gallatin valley. Mountain streams furnish abundant
water for irrigation purposes. A deep black loam soil predominates in the Gal-
latin valley. On the extensive encircling bench lands the soil is a rich clay
loam with some gravelly loam.

Considering the prevailing type of farming and the large irrigated aci'eage,
the average Gallatin farm is large, containing about 200 acres. Non-irrigated
farming is followed on the benches. The valleys and some of the uplands are
under irrigation. Wheat, oats, peas, barley and hay crops are grown. Wheat Is
the chief crop, that raised on the benches usually bringing a premium. Oats
yield well and weigh heavy. Peas are an important crop, both for seed and
canning. Alfalfa, timothy and clover are the chief forage crops. The livestock
industry, both range and pure-bred herds, is well developed. Summer grazing is
found in the national forests. There are probably more pure-bred livestock^
cattle, sheep and swine — in Gallatin than in any other county. Conditions in the
Gallatin valley are ideal for dairying, and the industry is growing. The oppor-
tunity for experienced dairymen is exceptionally good.

Copper, gold and silver have been commercially produced. The county also

has coal, oil shale, manganese, asbestos, corundum, brick clay, pottery clay, large

deposits of onyx, cement materials, limestone and several

Variety of kinds of building stone.

Minerals A number of manufacturing establishments using the

]»roducts and resources of the region have been established.

These include flour and cereal mills, a cement plant at Trident, creameries and

cheese factories, saw mills, a planing mill and a brick and clay plant. There is

a cannery at Bozeman with a capacity of IfjO.OOO cases of peas.

66 MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

Transportation fatilitios are nnusiially sood. The main lint- (if tho Northern
Pacific crosses the comity oast to west, a branch runs south out of Manhattan to
Anceney. Tlie main line of the Chicago. Milwaulvce & St. Paul follows the
western Ijoundary lino, and it has a long branch line out of Three Forks that
loops through the heart of the (Jallatin vallo.v. and two branches running north
and south out of Bozoman. The Oregon Short Line branch to Yellowstone, the
western entrance of tho Yellowstone Park, has its terminus in the southern end
of the county. The main east and west highways cross the county, and a new
90-mile highway from Rozeman up the Gallatin River to Yellowstone has just
been completed.

Bozeman is the largest city in the comity and thoroughly modern. The
State Colle.ge of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts is situated here. Many families
are drawn to it by the educational facilities offered. Three Forks, with two
railroads, has a population of 2.000, and is a modern little city, with its own
water plant and well lighted ])y electricity. !\[anhattan is a milling and shii)ping
point. Belgrade has flouring mills and elevators and is a grain buying and .^hip-
ping point. Willow Creek is located in the heart of a prosperous agricultural
district. At Trident there is a large cement factory employing a large number of
men. I>ognn is a junction point on the North(M-n Pacific railroad. Salosville. in
the southern part, and Maudlow, in the northern part, are shipping points.

GALLATIN COUNTY — Ranks eighth in population (15,864); twenty-sixth in area
(1,604,480 acres); third in combined 1922 crop and livestock value; eighth in bank de-
posits, 1922; seventh in assessed valuation, 1922. Acres public land, 13,347; acres state
land, 51.190; acres national forests, 578,590; acres national parks, 129,792.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Kstimated 1922 crop value, $3,640,000; estimated live-
stock value, Januarv, 1923, $2,099,500; 1921 lumber cut, 1,207 M feet; total bank de-
posits, September 15, 1922, $4,563,734.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation, $47,332,213; total taxable value,
$15,401,690. Total outstanding county bond indebtedness, $695,000; total outstanding
county warrant indebtedness, $5,401; total outstanding school bond indebtedness,
$441,385. Total general and special countv taxes. $335,096; total general and district
school taxes. $350,748; total municipal taxes, $150,331; total state taxes, $72,065; total
tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $57.25.

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools, 78; enrollment, 2,841. Number high
schools, 8; enrollment, 821. Other institutions. State College of Agriculture and Mechan-
ic Arts. Bozeman — 1.062 students, 98 instructors.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of lailroads. 3; railway mileage, exclusive spurs
and sidetracks, 249.35. Number of manufactures, 55; average number wage earners,
336; value of products. $4,368,359. Number of banks, 12. Number general stores, 20;
confectionery, etc., 23; groceries and meats, 44; lumber yards, 14; total number mei'-
chants, 376. Total assessed valuation 1922 merchandise. $1,631,540. Number grain
elevators, 21; total capacity, 1,382,000 bushels. Numlier creameries, 3. Number flour
mills, 4. Number saw mills, 11. Number of lawyers, 26. Number of physicians. 17.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Number farms, 1,349; farm acreage, 783,189; im-
proved I'arm acreage, 350,776; irrigated acreage, 103,!i75; average value all property,
per farm, $31,769. Livestock assessed 1922— number cattle, 22,636; number sheep,
18,028; number horses, 11.194; number swine (census). 11.504.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA. — At Bozeman. Elevation, 4,771 feet. Average date last
killing frost in spring, May 22; average date first killing frost in fall, September 12.

An-
.Tune July Aug. Sept.
3.00 1.27 1.02 1.72
57.0 63.6 62.5 52.6
Ciiunty Seat. 6,183.

County Agricultural Agent — Yes.

.Tan.

Feb. Mar

April .May

Ave. Prec.

.85

.81 1.26

1.72 3.49

Ave. Temp.

21.2

22.4 30.2

40.4 48.8

County

Seat.

Bozeman.

Population

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

nual

1.35

.94

1.02

18.45

43.4

31.4

23.3

41.4

SOUTH WESTERN MONTANA
^ -

Holds Front Rank in Mining, Stockraising and Irrigated Acreage — Butte the

Largest City in Montana and Most Important Distributing

Point — Ranches Above the Average in Size.

Through Beaverhead and ^ladisoii eouuties. South "Western Montana takes first
place in stockraising. irrigated acreace and wild hay production, and through
Silver Bow <'(Uint.v it also leads in mining, and has the largest city and the
most important distributing puinr in The state. Largely, perhaps, because of in-
adequate rail facilities, agricultural possibilities of Madison county have not re-
ceived the recognition to which they seem to be entitled. Except for a part of
Silver Bow county, the district lies in the slope region east of the main range
of the Rocky Mountains.

While Silver Bow is the leading producer in the state, as well as one of the
most important in the country, of copper, zinc, silver and arsenic, an unusually
wide variety of minerals are found in Beaverhead and Madison counties, many
of which are undeveloped. Considerable developed and undeveloped waterpower
is in the district.

Madison county is reputed to be one of the finest fi.shing regions in the
United States. In the district are many tourist attractions. The western entrance
to the Yellowstone National Park is here.

The agricultural areas range in elevation from 4.000 to ."5.000 feet. The
upper mountain valleys are devoted to hay for winter livestock forage. The grow-
ing season averages from 90 to 110 days.

SILVER BOW COUNTY

UTTE. the world's largest mining camp, is to
all intents and purposes Silver Bow
county. While it was founded and grew to
fame upon its mineral resources, it has de-
veloped into the largest distriliuting point
in the state and is an important industrial
center. In production of butter and paclc-
ing-house products, it leads the state. The
largest city between the Twin Cities on the
east and Spokane on the west. Butte is an
odd and interesting combination of mining
canii>. modern metropolis, manufacturing
liiiiiit and well-kept residential center.

Silver Bow. the third smallest county,
lies in soullnvcstern Montana. The summit
of till' main range of the Rocky Mountains
forms most of its eastern l>oxuidary. the
Highland Mountains. Camp Creek and the
Big Hole River its southern boinidary. while
its irregidar western and north(>rn lioundaries are formed by hills and mountains.

67

68 MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

The elevation of the county ranges from a minimum of approximately 5.000 feet
above sea level to a maximum of 10.000 feet. The growing season i.s short and
the tilhible areas small, factors which limit the crop production range. What
agriculture there be is influenced by the Butte market. Trucli gardening and
dairying are its most important phases.

Butte takes its name from the huge isolated butte that stands sentinel-like

on the western end of town. Founded in 1S04 as a placer camp, it was nearly desertetl

January 1. 1875. when William L. Farlin re-located the Travona

Vast quartz lode, and. with nearly every blow of the pick luicovered

I'nderground ore so rich that it led to the development of the entire district

Workings and the building of the greatest mining camp in the world.

More than 90 per cent of the total Montana mineral production
normally comes from the Butte di.strict. which contains 150 mines with iinder-
ground workings totaling 2.700 miles. When working to capacity the 16 larger
companies, operating 40 mines, employ 22.000 miners who hoist 20.0<X> tons of ore
every 24 hours. One mining company alone employs in normal times as many
metal miners as the states of Colorado, Utah and New Mexico combined. The Stew-
ard is said to be the deepest mine in Butte, measuring 3.653 feet from the collar
to the sump. Most of the ore now comes from between the 2.000 and 3.000 foot
levels. Through scientific ventilation methods, excessive underground tempera-
tures at the lower levels have been reduced as much as 10 to 15 degrees, and it is
believed tliat in case the ore bodies reach to a depth of 5.000 feet. atmo.-<pheres that
allow of safe and efficient work can be attained. In some parts of the district
imderground fires have been burning for many years. The most widely known
and extensive fire has burned continuously since 1SS9.

The total value of the mineral output of Butte .since its discovery is variously
estimated from a billion to a billion and a half dollars. Copper, zinc and silver
are the chief metals, although gold, lead, arsenic and a score of other minerals
are obtained as by-products. The normal production of copper ranges from
200.000.000 to more than 300.000.000 pounds a year: of silver, approximately
12.000.000 ounces, and of zinc from 30.000 to 100.000 tons annually. While the
large manganese deposits are not being worked at present, they are pronounced
by the U. S. Geological Survey as among the most valuable reserves of this metal
in the country. Gems, bismuth, antimony, cadium. brick clay and clay assay
goods are all produced commercially.

Besides being a distributing point for a wide variety of farm and manufac-
tured products, Butte is an important manufacturing center, and the largest con-
suming market in Montana. Indu-stries include smelters, concentrators, foundries
and machine shops, monumental works, bakeries, creameries, brick, clay and assay
goods, planing and saw mills, meat packing, bottling works, .sporting goods and
plants making macaroni, mattresses, overalls, saddles and harness, tents and awn-
ings, metallic packing and other products.

Butte enjoys the best rail facilities of any city in the state and is strategetic-

ally located to command the trade of an interstate region. The main lines of the

Northern Pacific and of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul bring

Its Rail it trade from east and west : the Butte-Great Falls branch of

Facilities the Great Northern brings it trade from the north, and it is the

northern terminus of the Pocatello branch of the Oregon Short
Line that lirings trade from the south. An electrified rail system connects it
with Anaconda. The trade from many branch lines in the district naturally gravi-
tates to Butte. The city is also on the principal east and west highways, and on
two Park-to-Park highways.

The Stare School of Mines is located at Butte. Thoroughly equipped, and
with a large faculty, the school draws students from all parts of this as well as

SOTTH WESTERN MONTANA

(i!)

from foreign coiintrii's because of its in-oxiniity lo ilic wmlds Iju-irest iiiiiies iiiul
mills. Besides the system of imMic irraded and liit;h schools, there is a parochial
system of graded and high schocds.

A contribution to tlu' cause of good goxi'rnmenl was made liy P.ullc wlieii,
through the efforts of some of its citizens, an amcn<lnicnl to the stale constitu-
tion and supplementary legislation \\.as enacted, perniittinu' the consolidation of
city and county governmeiUs. "A far-reaching piece of h'gislation which will en-
able ^Montana to blaze the trail for the nation in <-ounty government. "" was the
opinion expressed ))y Dr. A. K. Ilatton of (ieveland. consultant of the National
Municipal League.

For many years Butte ha.s been one of the uniipie cities of the country from
till' sightseer's point of view. Leading the nation in electrically operated mining,
milling, smelting and refining enterprises. Butte draws mining and scientific men
from all over the world to stud.v the methods used in its mines. Colund)ia Gardens,
Butte's most popular playgrounds, are noted for varieties of flowers which riMpiire
long sunny days and relatively mild sun-heat during the growing season. Pansies
and begonias do especially well.

SILVER BOW COUNTY — Ranks first in population (60.313); fifty-tliird In area
(464.640 acres): fift^'-seco^d in comlained 1922 crop and livestock value; first in 1920
mineral production; first in bank deposits, 1922; first in assessed valuation, 1922. Acres
public land, 20,288; acres state land, 15,871; acres national forests, 185,470.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value, $156,300; estimated live-
stock value. .lanuarv. 1923. $524,000; metal production, 1920, $60,929,101; total bank
deposits, September 15. 1922, $25,363,908.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation, $116,920,290; total taxable value,
$30,861,635. Total outstanding county bond indebtedness, $1,138,000; total outstanding
countv warrant indebtedness, $187,298; total outstanding- school bond indebtedness,
$431,683; other school debts, $69,779. Total general and special county taxes, $683,622;
total general and district school taxes, $635,039; total municipal taxes, $458,626; total
state taxes. $141,838; total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita. $31.82.

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools. 35; enrollment, 6,689. Number high
schools. 2; enrollment, 1,706. Other institutions, State School of INiines, Butte, 138
students, 16 instructors.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads, 6; railway mileage, exclusive spurs
and sitletracks, 155.99. Number of manufactures, 125; average number wage earners,
1,238; value of products, $13,979,782. Number of banks. 6. Number general stores. 15;
confectionery, etc., 116; groceries and meats, 257; lumber yards, 7; total number mer-
chants, 1,045. Total assessed valuation 1922 merchandise, $6,691,630. Number cream-
eries, 4. Number saw mills, 2. Number lawyers, 128. Number of physicians, 60.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Number farms, 331; farm acreage. 100.170; im-
proved farm acreage. 28.238; irrigated acreage, 11,519; average value of all property, per
farm, $8,799. Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 5,136; number sheep, 9,002;
number horses, 2,003; number swine (census), 1,375.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At Butte. Elevation. 5.716 feet. Average date last
killing frost in spring, .Alav 29; average date first killing frost in fall, September 18.

An-

Jan. Feb. Mar. April Mav .Tune July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. nual

Ave Prec 84 .78 1.09 1.13 2.09 2.23 1.26 .85 1.18 .97 .81 .82 14.05

Ave. Temp. 23.6 25.0 31.2 40.7 48.3 56.4 64.1 63.0 53.1 43.7 32.9 25.1 42.3

County Seat, Butte. Population County Seat, 41,611.

County Agricultural Agent — No.

70

MONTANA : INDUSTRIAL KESOURCES

MADISON COUNTY

M

ADISON niiulit well bo called the parent
{•ouiity of Montana. "While the original
gold discovery in the state was made else-
where, it was the finding of the rich dig-
gings on Alder Gulch by the AVilliam Fair-
weather party in the summer of 1SG3 that
brought the first rush of people to the ter-
ritory and led to the development of the
entire region. It is estimated this one
gulch produced ifloO.OOO.OOO In placer gold,
most of it taken from the sluice boxes of
the early-day miners. The balance was
recovered by giant dredges during the past
fifteen years. From a mining countj' of 50
years ago, Madison developed into an im-
portant stock-raising and agricultural re-
gion. It ranl^s among the leaders in stock-
raising, crop production and also mining.
The latter industry has declined, not because
the mineral resources were exhausted, Init because development was turned into
other lines. It is one of the most highly mineralized districts in the state and
possesses many minerals that are principally used as process materials and alloys.

Madison county is situated in southwestern Montana on the eastern side of
the Rocky Mountains, the crest of which forms part of its border in the south-
ern corner on the Montana-Idaho l)oundary. It extends north
Mountains to the Jefferson river, touches the Big Hole river on the west
and Valleys and on the east, and takes in most of the Madison range of
mountains. It is a region of mountains and long, well-waterefl
valle.vs whose general coiu'se is north and south. The valleys range in elevation
from 4.200 to 5.000 feet. The principal ones are the Madison. Jefferson, Ruby,
Beaverhead, Big Hole and the South Botdder. There are more than 115,000 acres
of irrigated land in the county and it is estimated an additional 60.000 acres
can be irrigated at reasonable cost.

Stock raising is the leading industry, with large ranches and large scale pro-
duction as a rule. More than a fourth of the county is included within the
national forests, which, with an additional 180,000 aci'es of unreserved public
domain, and an abutidance of springs and streams, provide ideal summer grazing.
In the higher valleys, better adapted to alfalfa and wild hay than to othi-r
crops, the home ranches of most of the stock outfits are found. Madison has
never received the x'eco.gnition in an agricultural way to which its yields per acre
entitle it. This is due. perhaps, to the fact that only along its northern border is
there a main line of travel. The lower valleys and benches are devoted mostly
to general farming. AVheat. oats, barley and rye all produce good yields. JIadison
county oats are in demand for cereal purposes. Hardy varieties of corn are
grown in a number of districts. For many years seed peas have been grown.
(1700 acres were under contract in 1023.) Soil and climate are favorable for
potato growing, about 1.000 acres being grown annually for commercial purposes.
There is a trend toward diversified farming that includes milk cows, hogs and
poultry. While soil types vary, a deep alluvial soil predominates, with some
heavy clays and gravel in places. In the northern part of the county, near
Harrison, there is some non-irrigated farming, but irrigated farnung is the rule.

SOUTH WESTERN MONTANA 71

The Tobacco Root Mountains, runninjr north iind south through the middle

of the county, between the Ruby and Madison Rivers, is one of the most highly

mineralized regions in the west. l)ut no deep development has

Kieli in been done. There is scarcely a district in the county but has

Minerals produced some sort of mineral wealth. (Jold. silver, copper.

lead and zinc have been produced commercially. Coal, gypsum.

gems, manganese, molybdcMuun. nitrate, asbestos, barite, mica, tungsten and

fluorite are among the other minerals whose existence is reported.

Their presence, considered in connection with 16.700 developed hydro-electric
horse power and 70.000 undeveloped horse power on the ^Madison river, may lead
some day to the establishment of industries. Near the headwaters of the Madison
is the Hebgen reservoir of the Montana Power Company with a storage capacity
of 325.000 acre feet, the seventh largest storage reservoir in the world, which
furnishes, with the aid of the smaller storages available at the plants of the
company, "a regulation of the flow of the Madison and Missouri Rivers probably
unequaled by any power s.vstem in the world".*

The northern part of the county is served by the main lines of the Northern
Pacific and the Chicago. Milwaukee & St. Paul. The western part of the county
is served by a branch line of the Northern Pacific from Whitehall, south through
the Jefferson and Ruby valleys to Alder, which is near the geographical center
of the coimt.v. The eastern district, through the Madison valley, is tapped by
another Northern Pacific branch out of Sappington. which forks at Harrison, one
fork going to Pony and the other to Xorris. There is a big and promising district
in the south end of the county whose development is retarded by lack of trans-
portation. A highway connecting with the West Yellowstone entrance to the
Yellowstone Park runs north up the ^ladison to a junction with a main east and
west highway via Butte. At Ennis this road connects with another highwa.v that
swings west through Virginia City and thence north through Sheridan and
Twin Bridges to Whitehall.

Twin Bridges, on the western side of the county, where the Ruby. Beaver-
head and Big Hole Rivers unite to form the Jefferson, is the largest town, accord-
ing to the 1020 census, and a few miles south of it lies Sheridan,
Noted Fishing the second largest. Ennis, in a stock-growing region, is the
District laraest town on the eastern, or Madison River side. On the

lower Matlison are Pon.v. Harrison and Xorris. The latter is
the terminus of the branch line railroad up the Madison and a distributing and
shipping point for a large territory. Virginia City, situated in almost the exact
geographical center of the count.v, was the first incorporated city in the territor.v
and for a number of years the territorial caiiital. Waterloo, in the northwestern
l)art. is a shipping point for a good agricultiu-al district. Adjacent to most of
these towns are mining districts.

Many sportsmen consider the finest trout fishing in the United States is to
be had in Madison count.v. There is also good big game hunting. There are
four hot springs resorts in the count.v. the Xorris at Xorris. the Potosi near
Pony, the Barkell at Silver Star, near Twin Bridges, and I*ullers Hot
Springs near Alder. The territorial history of Montana was largely made in
Madison count.v and there are many points of interest to historians as well as
tourists, siu'li as the Road Agents' cemeter.v at Virginia City, the Robbers' Roost
on Ramshorn Creek, and the collection of relics and curios in the Thompson
Memorial T>ilirarv at ^"irginia ('Uv.

♦Brochure of Montana Power Company.

(Z

MONTANA : INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

MADISON COUNTY — Ranks twenty-eighth in population (7,495); thirteenth in
area (2.318,080 a<i-f.s); seventh in c()rnl)ine(l i;i22 crop and livestock value; eleventli in
1920 mineral production; tliirtieth in bank deposits, 1922; tvventy-nintli In assessed
valuation. 1922. Acres public land, 181,140; acres state land, 125,071; acres national
forests, 759,349.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — K.^timated 1922 crop value, $2,077,900; estimated live-
stock value, .lanuary. i;i23, $3,129,000; metal production, 1920, $393,140; 1921 lumber
cut, 586 -M feet: total bank deposits, September 15, 1922, $1,124,078.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation, $20,017,662; total taxable value,
$6,561,594. Total outstanding t-ounty bond indebtedness, $150,000; total outstanding
county warrant indebtedness, $6,418; total outstanding school bond indebtedness,
$147,662; otlier school debts, $10,436. Total general and special county taxes, $139,781;
total general and district scliool taxes, $137,107; total municipal taxes, $9,690; total
state taxes, $32,342; total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $42.55.

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded scliools, 57; eniollment, 1.365. Number liigh schools,
10; enniiinunt. L'o'.i. ( ither institutions, State Orplians' Home, Twin Bridges.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of rialroads, 2; railway mileage, exclusive spurs
and sidetracks, 79.39. Number of manufactures, 19; average number wage earners, 17;
value t.f pioduct.«. .$89,244. Numhei- c f banks, 6. Numl)er general stores, 18: confec-
tioneiy, etc., 11; grci cries and meats. 10: lumber \-ards, 8: total number merchants, 127.
Total assessed valuation 1922 merchandise, $307,289. Number grain elevators, 4;- total
capacity, 91,000 bushels. Number flour mills, 1. Number saw mills. 17. Number of
lawyers, 7. Nunil)er of physicians, 7. Developed hydro-electric plant capacity, 16,700
horsepower.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Number farms, 901; farm acreage, 564,516; im-
proved farm carcase, 168,635; irrigated acreage, 115,598; average value all property,
per farm, $24,613. Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 36,992; number sheep,
127,717: number licrses, 9.392: numbei- swine (census), 7,111.
CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At Xnrris. Elevation, 4.846
killing frost in sjuing. May 16: averaffe date first killing frost
No. Yrs.

Record Jan.Feb.Mar.Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.
. .14 .56 59 .97 1.41 3.73 2.69 1.25 1.09
. .15 25.1 28.1 3,'").3 43.6 50.2 59.5 67.6 66 5

Ave. Prec.
Mean Temp.

County Seat, Virgingia City. Population County
County Agricultural Agent — Yes.

Seat, 342.

feet. Average date last
in fall, September 28.

An-
nual

1 92 1.71 .68 .47 17.07
52.6 46.6 36.5 26.6 44.8

BEAV.ERHEAD COUNTY

1

N 1SG2 the .^cciu' of the sold (li.scovery that
first put MdiitMiia on the niap, Keaverhead
couiity h.Ms ki'pt pace with progress in the
years since then, a fact better appreciated
■^heu it is kn()^vn it is the banner county of
the statt> in livestoclc value and in irri,irated
acrea.sie. In combined crop and livestock
N.ilne it stands second and in mineral pro-
duction eleventh. Stock raisins, farmins
and miiiinjr are the leading industries and
they (•(lutinue steadily to expand. More
than a third of the county's area is \vithin
national forests.

It is a region of mountains and ^vell-
watcrcd valleys, flanki'd on the north\vest.
the .sotuiiwcst and the south by encircling
folds of the i-ontineiual divide. Smaller
ranges are found in the interior of the
county. Clay loam is the principal type of
soil in the cultivated areas.

Topo.sraphy and elevation make P.eavcrhcad coiiiuy peculiarly well adapted to
livestock raisins. The ranches are c<msiderably above the state avera.tre in size
and for the past few years the tendi'iicy here in the livestock business has been
toward a consolidation of individual holdin.ss under one individual or corporate
ownership. The higher valleys, the Bis Hole, Hor.M' Prairie, (;rasshoi)per. Cen-
tennial. Blacktail, Sase Creek. Sheep Creek and :\Iedicine Lodse are the winter
feedins sronnds for beef steers and larse bands of sheep. The steers, raised
on grass and hay without a pound of si'ain, are turned off fat for the spring

^t^^jMgWt

SOUTH WESTERN .MONTANA 73

lUiirkft. coast and middle western buyers usually contract in.u: them in the pus-
tur«"s for delivery at the loadinj^ stations. The unusually nutritious grasses permit
the handling of cattle in this way, a method followi'd in no other northwestern
districts. The lower valleys, like the Beaverhead, run more to mix(>d farming and
smaller holdings. Small grains, potatoes, seed peas and alfalfa are the principal
crops. ]Much of rhe farm truck finds a ready market in the adjoining mining
county of Silver Bow. Considerable grain is rai.sed on the non-irrigated bench
lands, but irrigated farming is the dominant type.

The irrigated acreage is being enlarged. Near Dillon all the preliminary

field work has been completed on the East Bench project for the reclamation

of 23,000 acres of land and near Lima in the south end of the

Enlarge county a project is nearing completion that will reclaim

Irrigated from s,(KK) to 10.000 acres. The lands to be irrigated near

Acreage Lima are partly settled but the project was put in so that

additional settlers can be taken care of on land heretofore used

for grazing.

Beaverhead comity has abundant mineral resources, many of which have
not been developed. It has conunercially produced gold, silver, copper, lead and
graphite. The graphite is said to l)e the best in quality in the United States. It
also has coal, oil shale, phosphate, manganese, iron, mica, l)rick clay and lime-
stone, sandstone and quartzite. A plant for the treatment of oil shale has been
built. The principal mining districts are in the Elkhorn Mountains in the northern
part of the county. Industries include flour milling, lumbering and dairy prod-
ucts. There is a primary horse market at Dillon.

The Oregon Short Line railroad from Salt Lake to Butte runs through the
center of the south half of the county and then continues north near the eastern
boundary. A subsidiary of the Northern Pacific runs west and south through the
south end, and a narrow gauge railroad penetrates the Elkhorn Mountains.

Dillon, the county seat, is the largest town in southwestern Montana. It is

modern in all respects and one of the most important livestock shipping points in

the state. Armstead is a trading center for the south end of

Old West the county and a district in Idaho. Lima, in the southern end,

Lingers is a thriving little town of 500 persons, a division point between

Idaho Falls and Butte with railway shops.

The county is rich in historic lore of the early days and holds many other
attractions for tourists ; excellent hunting and fishing, large cattle ranches in the
Big Hole basin where the flair of the old west still lingers, and three hot springs,
the Zeigler, near Apex, Elkhorn. near Dillon, and the Hotel Hot Springs, at
Jackson. The main trunk line highway between Montana and Utah and California
traverses the county, and also the western scenic route between the Yellowstone
and Glacier National Parks.

BEAVERHEAD COUNTY — Rank.? twenty-ninth in popnlation (7,36!)); seconrt in
area (3,620,480 acres); second in combined 1922 crop and livestock value; twelftli in
t920 mineral production; eleventh in bank deposits, 1922; seventeenth in assessed
valuation, 1922. Acres public land, 625,212; acres state land, 205,299; acres national
foiests, 1.399,676; acres Indian military resei-vations, five.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Kstimated 1922 crop value, $2,405,300; estimated live-
stock value, .Tanuarv, i:)23, .$4,960,000; metal production, 1920, $287,064; 1921 lumber
cut, 213 M feet; total bank deposits September 15, 1922, $3,823,676.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation, $24,776,027; total ta.Ka1)le value,
$7,930,826. Total outstanding- county bond indebtedness?, .$30,000; total outstanding
count.v wanant indebtedness, $18,909; total outstanding scliool bond indelitedness,
$275,955; other school debts, $7,315. Total general and special county taxes, $154,580;
total geneial and distiict scliool taxes, $154,030; total municiptal taxes, $39,657; total
state taxes, $40,015; total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $52.69.

EDUCATIONAL — Numbei- graded schools, 41; eni-ollment, 1,235. Number high
schools, 3; enrollment, 272. Other institutions. State Nornial School, Dillon — 1654 stu-
dents and 82 instructors.

74

MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads. 3; railway mileage, exclusive spurs
and sidetracks, 152.06. Number of manufactures, 23; average number wage earners, 61;
value of products, $343,181. Number of banks, 6. Number general stores, 14; confec-
tionery, etc., 11; groceries and meats, 16; lumber yards, 4; total number merchants, 165.
Total assessed valuation 1922 merchandise, $601,544. Number grain elevators, 3; total
capacity, 85,000 bushels. Number creameries, 1. Number flour mills, 1. Number saw
mills, 9. Number of lawyers, 11. Number of physicians, 6. Developed hydro-electric
plant capacity, 4.770 Imrsc' pnwer.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Number farms, 642; farm acreage, 637,009; im-
proved farm acreage, 270,603; irrigated acreage. 302,375; average value all property,
per taim, .?41.163 Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 65,219; number sheep,
158,724; numbci- horses. 12.208; number swine (census), 2,558.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At Dillon. Elevation, 5,143 feet. Average date last
killing frost in spring, June 1; average date first killing frost in fall, September 5.

An-
ay June July Aug.

.25 2.66 1.44 1.17
50.6 58.3 63.7 61.8

Jan.

Feb.

Mar. April i

Ave. Prec.

.92

.74

1.31 1.89 5

Ave. Temp.

24.2

27.6

33.5 42.3 .

County

Seat,

Dillon

Population

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

nual

1.61

1.00

.95

.78

17.72

53.1

46.1

35 1

26.3

43.6

County Seat, 2,701.

County Agricultural Agent — No.

1

4

^^^

4

4

i

^i^^g^

<.V^XJL.^^C^£xrrl'jL i-u -WiLIIPWB

In a Montana Oil Field

EAST CENTRAL MONTANA

^

Qrouing Season Long and Hot — In Acreage Devoted to Corn Leads State — Large
Areas in the Western Part Are Awaiting the Coming of a
Railroad — Irrigation in Yellowstone Valley.

Throe docados ago dovotod exclusively to stoekraisins, orop production has
taken the lead in the eastern tier of counties — Richland. WiV)aux and Dawson — in
East Central Montana, but stockgrowing is the chief wealth producer in Prairie,
McCone and Garfield in the western tier. While non-irrigated farming is the
dominent method, there being little irrigated land outside of the Yellowstone
valley in the southeastern quarter, the irrigated district of Richland county has
made good progress toward the establishment of a diversified system of agricul-
ture that includes a generous amount of livestock. Seed production here is im-
portant.

The western half is handicapped by inadequate transportation facilities, and
development of its resources has been retarded. Spring wheat is the principal
crop within hauling distance of the railroad. More remote districts are turning
to flax, alfalfa seed and less bulky crops. The district leads all others in corn,
which gives good yields of both grain and forage. Swine production is increasing.

Lignite coal abounds. Natural gas has been discovered, and is used in Glen-
dive. Barite, iron, potash and clay deposits are reported to exist.

The growing season ranges from lOo to 125 days and the elevation from 1,978
feet in the eastern district to 2,800 in the western.

WIBAUX COUNTY

0

part. The Golden Valley soils are
feed and grain. Along the bottom

NE of the noted stock districts of the north-
west in the old range days, agriculture has
forged ahead until it is now the dominant
industry of Wibaux county. The one-crop
system has prevailed, but an expanding
acreage in corn and a broader interest in
swine, foreshadow the advent of diversified
farming.

Wibaux lies in east central Montana.
The Dakota-Montana boundai-y marks its
eastern Itorder. It is about 50 miles long,
north and south and 25 miles wide. The
western and southwestern portions of the
county ar(> devoted almost exclusively to
grazing, because of their rough, broken na-
ture. The principal agricultural areas are
the Beaver Creek valley, running north and
south through the middle of the county,
and the (Jolden Valley, in the southeastern
very fertile. Corn is generally grown for
lands of Beaver Creek alfalfa does well.

75

76

MONTANA: JXDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

Sprini;' wheat is the chief cniii. its acreiiiie heiiiir lariier than that of all other
crops (•(uubiiieil. Oats. hay. corn, fhix ami rye foHow in order.

Coal is produced in coniniercial (piantities and larjie deposits of barite are
reported to exist.

The main line of the Xortliern I'acific crosses the county. The northern
district. \vho.><e drainage is into the Yellowsione. finds its nearest rail haul ferryinji
across the Yellowstone to the Clendive-Sidney branch of the Northern Pacific.
The Colden Valley district is served by a branch line of the Northern I'acific
rnnnini: .southeasterly from Beach. North Dakota. A main east and west high-
way parallels the main line of the Northern I'acific.

Wiliaux. the county .seat, is the princii>al town. It has all modern miuiicipal
impnneiueuts and commands the trade of the Beaver Creek farming district.
Carl.vle is the principal tradin.g point in the county of the (Jolden Valley district.

WIBAUX COUNTY — Ranks fift.v-fiist in population (3.113); fifty-first in area
(565,120 acres); fortieth in combined 1922 crop and livestock value; twenty-fifth in
1920 mineral production; forty-third in banli deposit.s. i;t22; fifty-third in assessed val-
uation. 1922. Acres piibhc land, 17,555; acres state land, 31,757.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Kstimated 1922 -rop value, $1,398,900; estimated live-
stock vahie. .Iaiuiar\-, 1923, .'!;754,000; coal production, 1920, $10,734; total bank deposits,
Septcinb.T 15, 1922. $643, 246.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation, $9,381,451; total taxable value,
$3,034,783. Total outstanding i-ounty bond indebtedne.<;s. $153,000; total outstanding
count.v warrant indebtedness, $7,588; total outstanding school bond indebtedness,
$51,232; total general and special count.v taxes, $69,005; total general and district school
taxes. $69,701; total municipal taxes. $10,434; total state taxes, $14,527; total tax (in-
clusive iiinnii ii)al), per capita, $52.57.

EDUCATIONAL — Xuniber graded schools, 41; enrollment, 815. Number high
schools, 2; cnrollnioiit. l.Tl.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads, 1; railway mileage, exclusive spurs
and sidetracks, 21. (i6. Number of manufactures, 3; average number wage earners, 4;
value of products, $21,294. Numlter of Ijanks, 3. Number general stores, 3; groceries
and meats, 3; lumber \ards, 4; total number merchants, 48. Total assessed valuation
1922 merchandise, $157,080. Number grain elevators, 9; total capacity, 320,000 bushels.
Number of lawyers. 5. Numl)er of physicians, 2.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Number farms. 532; farm acreage, 336,167; im-
proved farm acreage, 140.299: iirigated acreage, 200 (estimated); average value all
property, per farm, $17,653. I.,ivestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 9,116; number
sheep, 2.713; number horses. 6,575; number swine (census). 1.899.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At Wibaux. Elevation. 2,674 feet. Average date last
killing frost in .-^iiiin.u. Ma.\- 2S; average date first killing frost in fall, September 10.

No. Yrs. An-

Record Jan. Feb.Mar.Apr. Mav June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. nual

Normal Prec .54 .25 .68 .88 2.28 4.27 1.54 1.38 1.10 .80 .59 .42 14.73

Mean Temp 14 14.4 16.5 26.6 44.2 54.7 61.0 69.2 66.2 55.7 44.1 29.0 18.0 41.8

County Seat, Wibaux. Population County Seat, 611.

Count.v Agricultural Agent — No.

RICHLAND COUNTY

A

GRICULTURAL in character. Richland
count.v (dTers jiossiliilities in both irrigated
and non-irrigated farming. In the develop-
ment of a diversified type of farming that
includes a gemn'oiis amount of livestock, it
is one of the leading districts of the state.
Kichland lies in east central ^lontana,
the I)akola-Montana boundary marking
its eastern and the Missouri River its north-
ern borders. It is approximately 55 miles
long east and west and 35 to 45 miles
wide north and soiuh. In elevation, it is
one of the lowest parts of Montana, ranging
from l.!MH) to 2.500 feet. The growing sea-
son is hot and fairly long. In the Yellow-
stone valley, which cuts diagonally across
the .southeastern part, is the only large
body of irrigated land in the county. It is
included within the Lower Yellowstone
project of the United States Reclamation^ Service. Some smaller tracts are irri-

EAST rENTRAL .MONTANA 77

gatetl by pumpiiiir. and it is estimated about 2r).(M)0 acres additional, of which
10,000 acres lie alonir the Missouri River, are irri^ralih-. A clay loam .soil pre-
dominates in the Yellowstone valley, while on the upbuids devoted to non-irrijLjated
farming soil types range from sandy to day loam. Lignite coal is found through-
out the county. Except for certain areas along the Missouri Kiver. most of the
county Is tillable.

Si>rlng wheat, corn, alfalfa, potatoes, sugar beets, barley, oats and begjis are
the principal crops in the irrigated district ahmg the Yellowstone. Spring wheat
is the principal cash crop in the nou-irrigated districts, with
reatiires Need oats, corn and liarley the leading feetl crops. The corn acreage
I reduction jj.^g greatly expanded in recent years and has returned excel-
lent yields of both grain and fodder. Seed production is be-
coming increasingly important. Alfalfa, corn, oats, sweet clover, beans and
Triumph potatoes are the principal seed varieties. Two seed hou.ses have been
established at Sidney, primarily to handh> the production of the comity which is
steadily finding a wider market. Investigations have been made looking to the
establishment in the county of a factory for canning sweet corn and tomatoes,
and of a sugar beet factory.

Since corn became a standard crop in rotation, the swine industry has rapidly
developed. Dairying is expanding. Considerable stock is carried in the non-irri-
gated districts, and in the western end of the county the range stock industry
survives, liut on a greatly reduced scale from that of earlier years.

The Northern Pacific has a branch line running down the Yellowstone valley
from Glendive to Sidney, and the Oreat Northern has a line that conies up the
Y'ellowstone from Moudak. at East Fairview meeting another line that comes in on
the east from Dakota. This line continues up the Yellowstone to Sidney and then
swings west. Its present terminus is at Riche.v. .iust across the western border
of the county, but its extension to Lewistown. forming another main line, is
projected.

Sidney, the county seat, is the largest town and chief distributing center. It
has all modern municipal improvements. Fairview lies in the heart of the
irrigated district.

Richland comity is a rich field for the student of early-day western history,
much of which in the days of the fur trader was written on the Missouri and
Yellowstone River.s.

RICHLAND COUNTY — Ranks twenty-third in population (8,989); thirty-fifth in
area (1.345,920 acres); ninth in combined 1922 crop and livestock value; sixteenth in 1920
mineral production; twentieth in bank deposits, 1922; twentv-seventh in assessed valua-
tion, 1922. Acres public land. 19.399; acres state land, 70,291.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value. $2,740,000; estimated live-
stock value, January, 1923. $1,688,700; coal production, 1920, $70,417; total bank deposits,
September 15, 1922. -SI, 886, 976.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation. $20,790,419; total taxable value, $6,417,-
429; total outstanding- county bond indebtedness, $370,000; total outstanding county war-
rant indebtedness, $10,409; total outstanding- school bond indebtedness. $104,407; other
school debts, $88,461. Total general and special county taxes. $203,991; total general and
district school taxes. $177,955; total municipal taxes, $19,258; total state taxes, $30,762;
total taxes (inclusive municipal), per capita, $48.05.

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools, 107; enrollment, 2,010. Number high
schools, 4: eniollmcnt. 522.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads, 2; railway mileage, exclusive spurs
and sidetracks, 81.76. Number of manufactures, 16; average number wage earners, 41;
value of products, $847,965. Number of banks. 10. Number general stores. 22; confec-
tionery, etc., 8; groceries and meats, 11; lumber yards, 11; total number merchants, 161.
Total assessed valuation 1922 meichandise, $361,770. Number grain elevators. 16: total
capacity, 485.000 bushels. Number creameries, 1. Numljer flour mills, 3. Number of
lawyers, 8. Number (if pli\'sicians, 6.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Number farms, 1.577; farm acreage, 812,194; im-
proved farm acreage, 311,006; irrigated aci-eage, 15.450; average value all property, per
farm. $13,306. Livestock asse.ssed 1922 — number cattle, 20,974; number sheep, 1,607;
number Imrses, 16.779; numbei- swine (census), 3,978.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At Sidney. Elevation. 1.978 feet. Average date last
killing frost in spring, .Mav 20; average date first killing frost in fall, September 22.

An-

Jan. Feb. :Mar. April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. nual

Aver. Prec. .51 .42 .58 .91 2.10 3.28 1.97 1.63 1.77 .83 .39 ,50 14.89

Aver. Temp. 10.2 12.8 25.4 43.8 55.0 63.2 68.7 67.0 55.9 44.5 28.8 17.6 41.1

County Seat, Sidney. Population County Seat, 1,400.

County Agricultural Agent — Yes.

78

MONTANA : INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

DAWSON COUNTY

I

4'i -.

'^I^Cv'*^'-*;;?^,

^gJ^'B^-

/

N EAST Central Montana, one county west of
the Dakota boundary. Dawson county two
ik'cades a£:o was noted for its bands of
sheep and herds of cattle. Stock-raising
still continues but has been supplanted in
importance by farming. Olendive. the county
si'Mt. is the largest town of the region and
a division point on the Northern Pacific
which maintains thei'e shops, a hospital,
and the only suppl.v station for dining
cars between St. Paul and the coast.
The Yellowstone river runs in a north-
easterly direction through the soiUheastern
part of the count.v. The land adjacent to
many small streams that empty into the
Yellowstone is rough and broken, but the
uplands between the valleys offer good
_^^_^^^^^^_^^_^^^^__^_^ ^ areas of fertile soils for non-irrigated farm-
ing. It is estimated that about 60 per
cent of the land of the county is tillable.

Development of the irrigation possibilities along the Y'ellowstone has been
undertaken. In 1023 water was furnished to 1.100 acres under a pumping project
with a 40-foot lift, and the reclamation of an additional 2..">(X) acres under a 7.j-
foot lift is planned. The lands under the 40-foot lift wen* colonized in 1J)23
and planted to beans, but the settlers contemplate specializing on sugar beets.

Spring wheat is the chief crop in the county. Winter wheat does not

generally survive the winters imless seeded with some kind of stubble to protect it.

Other small grains are also grown and corn is an important

Corn an crop, doing well in practically all districts and returning good

Important Crop yields of both fodder and grain. Latterly farmers have been

turning more to diversified farming with corn an important

feature in the program. The rough and broken lands are good grazing areas.

Both cattle and sheep are carried. There is a farmers' shipping association at

Glendive.

There are large fields of lignite coal in the county which furnish cheap and
abundant fuel for both urban and rural homes and is also utilized as a source of
electrical enercry. Natiu-al gas is foiuid on the Cedar Creek anti-cline in the south-
eastern part of the county and is utilized in Glendive for domestic and industrial
purposes. Moss agates are found along the Yellowstone river.

Railway shop and repair work at Glendive is the largest and most important
industrial activity in the county. Extractive industries at the same point include
a creamery and a floiu- mill.

Transportation facilities are good except in the west central part. The
main line of the Northern Pacific ti'aAerses the southeastern quarter, and a
l)ranch runs northeasterly from Glendive down the Yellowstone River through the
irrigated district in Richland comity. Richey. near the northern county boundary,
is the terminus of a Great Northern branch. Surveys have been completed and
much construction done to carry this branch westerly to Lewistown. making an
alternate main line. The war interfered with the completion of this railway,
but it is thought work may be resumed in 1024. The Yellowstone Trail Highway
goes through the county.

EAST CENTRAL MONTANA

79

GleiKlivc. nuidcni in iill respects, is tho hirsfst tnwn in llic sialc oast of
Miles City, and an important tradini; and disirihutint;- jwint. A diiniiitory for
housiniz; students from tlie rui'al districts is operated in con-
Sonie School nection with tlie Dawson county hijj;h school. A feature of
Features the urade school system is the musical training:. Out of an

(Mirollnient of about 1.000 pupils, 200 are enrolled in the boys'
bands and the school orchestras. Rii-hey is the second lari;est town. Stipek. In-
take. Bloomfield. I'nion and Lindsay are trading centers.

DAWSON COUNTY — Ranks twentieth in population (9,239); twenty-seventh in
area (1,509,760 acres); twenty-first in combined 1922 crop and livestuck value; fifteentli
in 1920 mineral production; fifteenth in bank deposits, 1922; twentieth in assessed
valuation. 1922. Acres public land, 36,628; acres state land, 83.789.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Kstinmted 1922 crop value, $1,979,900; estimated live-
stock value .January. I!t23, $1,577,400; coal production, 1920, $83,619; total bank deposits,
Sept. 15. 1922. $2,262,888.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation. $22,691,658; total taxable value,
$7,421,680. Total outstanding county bond indebtedness. $583,000; total outstanding
county warrant indebtedness, $166,385; total outstanding school bond indebtedness,
$i;a,127; ether school debts. $34,345. Total smpral and special c<umtv taxes. $263,710:
total general and district school taxes, $195,972; total municipal taxes, $41,993; total
state taxes, $35,259; total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $58.11.

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools, 86; enrollment, 1,961. Number higli
schools. 2; enrollment. 299.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads, 2; railway mileage, exclusive spurs
and sidetracks. 77.77. Number of manufactures, 11; average number wage earners,
205; value of products, $706,126. Number of banks, 7. Number general stores, 21;
confectionery, etc., 6; groceries and meats, 15; lumber yards, 7
chants, 171. Total assessed valuation 1922 merchandise, $570,001.
vators. 13; total capacity. 417.000 bushels. Number creameries, 1.
1. Number of lawvers. 12. Number of physicians, 7.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Number farms, 1,195; farm acreage, 747,993; im-
proved farm acreage, 298,620; irrigated acreage, 1,674; avei-age value all property per
farm, $13,692. Livestock assessed 1922 — -number cattle, 19,656; number sheep, 12,236;
number liorses. 15,234; number swine (census), 2,214.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At Glendive. Elevation, 2,091. Average date last
killing frost in spring, May 14; average date first killing frost in fall, September 22.

total number mer-

Number grain ele-

Number flour mills.

Jan. Feb. Mar. April May
Ave. Free. .64 .52 .98 1.12 2.3
Ave. Temp. 13.4 14.2 27.2 46.2 55.9
County Seat, Glendive. Population
County Agricultural Agent — No.

June .Tulv Aug. Sept.
3.18 1.78 1.41 1.33

65.8 72.2 70.4 58.5
County Seat, 3,816.

An-

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

nual

.88

.51

.60

15.25

46.9

30.6

19.6

48.4

PRAIRIE COUNTY

F

>^^

mF^'

.jtr-

OR many years in the old range days having

the reputation of being the largest livestock

shipping point in the northwest, Terry, the

£■ JL county seat of Prairie county, is looking

forward to the time when it will again
be an important shipping point under pres-
ent conditions — of hogs and cattle fattened
on the c(nn crop of the county which is
rapidly expanding in acreage. Livestock
continues to be the dominant industr.v. Imt
crop production, in value, is not far behind.
Prairie county is situated in east cen-
tral Montana, with a maximum len,iith from
the northwest to the southeast of about To
miles, ami an avearge width of 25 miles.
Tlu> Yellowstone River flows across the
south half from the southwest to the north-
east. The I'owder River comes in from
"^^^^^^""^ ^^^^^"^"^ the south near the western side and

O'Fallon Creek is the largest stream on the eastern side. Brackett, Cedar and
Cherry Creeks flow into the Yellowstone from the north. The northwestern part
of the county is occupied by a low range called Mountain Sheep Bluffs. Upland

'rfy

80 MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL KESOURCES

ruUiug prairies sloping away from the Yellowstone valley embrace the largest
areas. Soil types on the uplands range from samly to clay k)ams. The lower
valley soils are mostly heavy claj loams.

For almost half a century this was in the heart of the range stock region

and the industry was conilucted ou an extensive scale. The grazing areas were

broken up by the homesteading movement in 1905-1010 and

Increase with few exceptions the old-time cattle empires have been

Livestock divided into smaller farms. Non-irrigated farming prevails.

Holdings Spring wheat is the chief cash corp, with corn and summer fal-

low as the alternate cropping system used in rotations. The
low elevation and the long growing season are favorable to corn, which does
well on both the bottom and the uplands, producing good yields of both fodder
and grain. Since corn became a standard crop, there has been a pronounced in-
terest taken in hog growing, and the county is establishing a reputation as a
producer of pure-bred swine. The trend at present is to increase all livestock
Jioldings so as to provide a cash market for corn. There is a co-operative livestock
shipping association.

Engineers estimate 52.000 acres in Yellowstone and Powder River valleys can
be irrigated. A pumping project is contemplated looking to the reclamation of V2o.-
0(X) acres along the Yellowstone in Custer. Rosebud, Prairie and Dawson comities.

There are extensive areas tuulerlain with coal, which has been commerciall.v
mined in a limited way for home markets. Natural gas has been found on
Cabin Creek, in the eastern part of the county.

The main line of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. I'aul enters the county in
the southeastern quarter, and runs northwesterly to Terry on the Yellowstone
River, which it follows westward. The main line of the Northern Pacific parallels
the river all the way across the county, as does the National Parks highway from
the Twin Cities, while the Yellowstone Trail follows the Milwaukee.

Terry is situated near the geographical center of the county in a natural
artesian basin. It is the principal shipping and distributing center and has
modern municipal impro\ enients. Mildred is the largest community in the south
end of the cmuity. Fallon, on the Northern I'acific, is a sliipping point for the
eastern district.

PRAIRIE COUNTY — Ranks forty-eigrhth in population (3.684); thirty-ninth in area
(1,114.880 acres); thirty-eightli in combined 1922 crop and livestock value; twenty-fourth
in 19:i0 mineral production; forty-first in bank deposits, 1922; forty-second in assessed
valuation, 1922. Acres public land, 38.695; acres state land, 58,698.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Kstimated 1922 crop value, $936,700; estimated livestock
value, .Ianuar\-. i;i23. $1,325,700; coal production, 1920, $15,615; total bank deposits,
September 15, 1922. .■?685.144.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation, $15,4^3,877; total taxable value,
$5,164,374. Total outstanding county bond indebtedness, $147,500; total outstanding
county warrant indebtedness-. $584; total outstanding school bond indebtedness, $87,181;
other school debts. $4,017. Total general and special county taxes, $92,463; total general
and district school taxes, $100,521; total municipal taxes, $14,035; total state taxes,
$24,669; total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $62.89.

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools, 49; enrollment, 841. Number high
schools. 2; enrollment, 73.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads, 2; railway mileage, exclusive of
spurs and sidetracks, 76.72. Number of manufactures, 4; average number wage earners,
6; value of products, $27,738. Number of banks. 4. Number general stores, 6; confec-
tionery, etc., 4; groceries and meats, 4; lumber yards, 4; total number merchants, 53.
Total assessed valuation 1922 merchandise, $197,985. Number grain elevators, 5; total
capacitv. 120.000 bushels. Number of lawyers, 5. Number of phvsicians, 2.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Number farms. 673; farm acreage, 548,989; im-
proved farm acreage. 126,134; irrigated aci-eage. 486; average value all property, per
farm. .?15.307. Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 14,258; number sheep, 23,560;
number lioises. 10.156: number swine (census), 999.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At Fallon. Elevation. 2,211 feet. Average date last
killing frost in spring. May 27; average date first killing frost in fall, September 18.

No. Yrs. An-

Record Jan. Feb.Mar.Apr. Mav June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. nual

Ave. Prec 11 .35 .19 .31 .48 2.7 3.29 1.02 1.69 1.23 .95 .34 .22 13.69

Mean Temp 12 10.4 15.1 30.3 45.7 52.8 63.4 70.4 68.1 58.7 .45 32.9 17.7 42.5

County Seat, Terry. Population County Seat, 794.

County Agricultural Agent — Yes.

EAST CENTRAL MONTANA

81

McCONE COUNTY

HEN tlu' rails arc laid across the gap hc-

twocn liiclicy uii the east and Lewistown

on the west of the line projected by the

Great Northern, the greatest need of Mc-

Conc county, in east central Montana, will

he filled. Lack of transportation facilities

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^_^ li'i^ retarded development of its resources,

EjUw||^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H|l which are

I^Kii^H^H^H||^^H^^^^Hri A noted the

raniie days, stock raising still continues
to lie the dominant pursuit. Large areas
of fertile land, coupled with an average
annual precipitation considerably higher
than in most parts of eastern Montana,
have attracted many farmers into the re-
,gion. When transportation facilities are
improved, it is believed the development of
the count,v will be rapid.

From the Missouri River, its northern
boundary, jNIcCone county extends southerly about 55 miles, and easterly from
Big Dry Creek about 40 miles. The Redwater river rises in the southern end
and runs northeasterly across a corner of Dawson county and then liack into
McCone county, joining the Missouri at the northwestern corner. While there are
some rough and broken areas, most of the county is tillable, consisting of rolling
uplands and flat benches. Soil types vary from a clay loam in the valleys to a
sandy loam on the benches. Non-irrigated farming is followed almost exclusivel.v,
lint there are a number of opportunities for the construction of small irrigation
systems. The net irrigable land in the county is estimated at 20.000 acres.

More progress has been made farming in the eastern and northern parts of

the county, the distance to market being less than in other districts. Spring

wheat is the leading cash crop. Oats and flax are next in im-

Corn and portance, flax being the easiest to transport and carrying the

Hogs highest value of any of the small grains. Corn is assuming an

important place in the cropping system, producing an abund-
ance of fodder and fair yields of grain. A creamery at Circle reflects the interest
manifested in diversified farming. The swine industr.v is growing. As long as
shipping distances remain so great the livestock industry on a range liasis
will flourish.

Lignite coal aboiinds in many places. It is expected the region will be ex-
plored for oil and gas.

Richey, the present terminus of the Great Northern's new projected line
across Montana, lies 12 miles east of McCone's eastern border. Being the nearest
rail point for a large McCcnie count.v area, it is the most important distributing
and shipping point. The southern part of the county finds an outlet through
Terr.v, on both the ISIilwaukee and the Northern Pacific railways, while the
northern district reaches the main line of the Great Nortlnn-n across the Missouri
at AVolf Point and Poplar.

Circle, the count.v seat, in the south central part, is the largest town. Brock-
way, 12 miles soiuh of Circle, is the second lai'gest town. Both are on the line of
the proposed railroad.

82

MONTANA: INDI'STKIAL RESOURCES

McCONE COUNTY — Ranks thirty-ninth in population (4,747); twenty-first in area
(l,6i>2,800 acres); tliirtieth in comliined 1922 crop and livestoclc value; thlrty-tliird in
1920 mineral production; forty-seventli in bank deposits, 1922; forty-first in assessed
valuation, 1922. Acres public land. 119,945; acres state land, 85,440.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value, $1,409,500; estimated live-
stock value, Jaiuiaiy. 1H2.3. .$1,650,000; coal production, 1920, $1,800; total bank deposits,

Scptciiiljor 15, 1922, $355,763.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation, $16,194,937; total taxable value,
$4,870,423. Total outstanding county bond indebtedness, $124,900; total outstanding
county warrant indebtedness, $43,962; total outstanding school bond indebtedness,
$76,818; other school debts, $20,008. Total general and special county ta.xes, $119,508;
total general and district school taxes, $94,972; total municipal taxes, $721; total state
taxes, $23,621; total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $50.31.

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools, 67; enrollment, 906. Number high schools,
2; enrollment, 69.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of manufactures. 5; average number wage earn-
ers, 3; value of products. $61,305. Number of banks, 4. Number general stores, 15;
confectionery, etc., 1; groceries and meats, 1; total number merchants, 38. Total as-
sessed valuation 1922 merchandise, $69,416. Number grain elevators. 1; total capacity,
35.000 bushels. Number creameries, 2. Number flour mills, 1. Number of lawyers, 6.
Number of physicians, 1.

AGRICULTURE — (1920 census) — Number farms. 1,284; farm acreage, 668,686; im-
proved farnx acreage. 229.566; irrigated acreage, 400 (estimated); average value all
property, per farm, $9,143. Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 16.475; number
sheep. 27,132; number horses (estimated), 17,297; number swine (census), 1,676.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At Springbrook (near Circle). Elevation. 2.800 (esti-
mated) feet. Average date last killing frost in spring. May 28; average date first kill-
ing frost in fall, September 16.

An-
.Taii. Feb. Mar. .April May .lune .July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. nual
Ave. Prec. .98 .93 1.50 1.20 2.36 4.49 1.83 1.66 1.27 1.07 .75 1.02 19.06
Ave. Temp. 14.1 15.3 27.7 43.7 52.8 62.9 68.6 67.4 57.6 45.6 31.9 19.3 42.2

County Seat, Circle. Population County Seat, 452.
County Agricultural Agent — No.

GARFIELD COUNTY

ICH in potential resources, but handicapped
by laclc of rail facilities, Garfield county,
in oast central Montana, is confident that
when this handicap is overcome, it will
take the rank to which its area and possi-
l)ilities entitle it. Livestock growing is the
most important industry and will continue
to be until marketins facilities are pro-
vided that place the county on an
equality with other regions. Oil has been
discovered in the west end. It has large
beds of coal, and the existence of large de-
posits of iron is reported. There are
more than half a million acres of public
land in the county.

Garfield county is approximately 80 miles
long, east and west, and Go miles wide, north
and south. It is bounded on the west by
the ^Iiissclshell River and on the north by
the Missouri River. Big Dry Creek runs northerly along the eastern boundary,
emptyin.g into the Mi.ssouri. Artesian flows of water have been developed in
soiiio districts at dcjitlis of l.")0 to 175 £eot. The soil types in the Missouri and
Musscl.><hell valleys and the brakes back of them, ranire from clay to heavy clay
that retiuire timely and careful handling. More sandy loams are found on the
uplands which, for the most part, are fertile and yield good returns.

EAST CENTRAL :M0NTANA 83

While small ixraiiis such as wheat, oats, liarlcy and rye aii<l early acclimated
varieties of corn do well, the loiiir hauls to rail points make this type of farmin;:
iinprofitaMe. The most successful farmers are devoting their
Marketing attention to products that can he marketed on foot or in a
A Problem concentrated form. For in.«!tance. on the hottom lands of the
^lissouri Kiver and in a few jdaces on the uplands, alfalfa
seed production has lu-eii undertaken and liecause of favoral)le soil and cli-
matic conditions combined with small l)ulk. comparatively high value and ease
of transportation has become an important cash crop. A start in swine raising
has been made by some farmers who are growing corn. The hogs are fat-
tened on corn, dressed, hauled to the railroad and expres.<ed to Montana cities.
There are a consideralde iminlier of range herds of cattle and sheep in the county,
the areas of broken and had lands in the western and northern j)art affording
good grazing.

Coal abounds in all parts of the county. Some oil has been discover(>d in the
west end of the county, east of the Mussel.shell river, in the Cat Creek district. It
is reported that Smoky Butte, a dome-shaped eminence nine miles southwest of
Jordan, about a mile square and rising about 500 feet above the surrounding
plain, is a solid mass of iron ore. Much meteoric iron has been picked up in the
vicinity. The existence of beds of clay, chalk and of potash in the county are
also reported, but so far as known, no geological examination of the county's
mineral resources has been made.

The only industrial plant is a small flour mill at Jordan.

The Great Northern has surveys running through the middle of the county

for the so-called Mondak cut-off. It has l)een iiuilt west from Mondak as far

as Richey and the grade and necessary tunnels have been com-

Railroad pleted from Lewistowu east nearly to the western lioundary

Is Projected of Garfield county. It is believed that the gap of about 150

miles will be cojupleted as soou as financial conditions permit.

At present th(> .southeastern quarter of the county finds an outlet through a

stage from Jordan to Miles City ; the trade of the northeastern part of the county

goes to Glasgow; of the northwestern part to Malta, and of the western part to

Wiunett. Fergus county.

Jordan, the county seat, is the lai'gest community and the principal trading
center. Many small trading centers are scattered throughout the region.

The Suow Creek Game Preserve, along the Missouri River, in the northern
part of the count.v, created through the efforts of W. T. Hornaday of the New
Yoi'k Zofdogical Society, is as remarkable for its weird .scenery as for its wild
game, which includes species that are almost extinct. The scenery in Ilell Creek
Canyon is pronounced as romantically attractive as some of the best found in the
national parks. The old west of cowboys and cattle still flourishes in parts of
Garfield county.

GARFIELD COUNTY — Ranks thirty-sixth in population (5,368); eighth in area
(3,095,680 aore.s): twenty-fourth in combined 1922 crop and livestock vaUie; fiftieth in
bank depo.sits, 1922: fortieth in assessed valuation, 1922. Acres public land, 580,833;
acres state land, 157.373.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value, $1,023,900; estimated live-
stock vahie, .laniiarv. V.H':!. .$2,216,(100; total bank deposits, September 15, 1922, $195,118.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation. $16,293,093; total taxable value,
$4,908,630. Total oiitstunding county bond indebtedness, $234,500; total outstanding
countv warrant indebtedness. $34.9,39; total outstanding school bond indebtedness,
$31,096; otlier school debts. $15,233. Total general and special county taxes, $171,547;
total genei-al and district school taxes, .$115,831; total municipal taxes, $864; total state
taxes, $24,092: total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $58.18.

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools, 86; enrollment, 1,052. Number high
si-hools. 2: ctirohment, 62.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Numlier of manufactures. 5; nverage number wage earn-
eis, 3; value of piudut ts. .^33,770. Number of banks, 2. Number general stores, 14:

S4

MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

groceries and meats, 5; lumber yards
valuation \'J22 men-handise, $69,537.
Numbei- of physicians. 3.

1; total number merchants. 36.
Number flour mills, 1. Niimber

Total assessed
of lawyers, 5.

i-NUIMUCI Ol pii^\ JMt. let Xir%. o.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Number farms, 1,532: farm acreage, 874,129; ir
proved farm acifat;e. \:]^,5'>i: irrigated acreage, 370; average value all property, p
farm, $8,951. Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 22,145; number sheep, 68,56
number horses, 15,413; number swine (census), 1,460.

m-
per

9:

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At .Jordan
date last killing frost in spring, May 19;
tember 19.

IClevation, 2,800 (estimated) feet. Average
average date first killing frost in fall, Sep-

.Tan. P>b. Mar. April May June July Aug. Sept.
Ave. Prec. .74 .61 .60 .76 2.07 2.77 1.64 1.05 .83
Ave. Temp. 12.7 16.2 29.8 42.9 51.8 62.8 71.4 70.4 57.1
County Seat, Jordan. Population County Seat, 813.

Count\- Agricultural Agent — No.

An-
Oct. Nov. Dec. nual

.22 .67 12.63
3(1.5 18.3 42.5

.67
4 6.3

:;? /

/?

CENTRAL MONTANA

^ ^

In Developed Energy Resources Stands in First Place — Most of Its Area Included

Within the Mountain Region — Stockraising and Qeneral

Farming Varied Industrial Development.

Orisixially a mining and a stockraising region, Central Montana, which ex-
tends from the Musselshell river on the east to the crest of the continental
divide on the west, and includes the counties of Fergus, Musselshell, Golden
Valley, Wheatland, Judith T'asiii. Meagher, Cascade, Lewis and Clark, Broad-
water and Jefferson, is one of the principal industrial regions of the state.
Mining, stockraising and general farming are also important. Diversified agricul-
ture is hetter established in the western two-thirds, or eastern slope district, than
in the eastern third of the plains i-egion.

The district ranks first in production of petroleum, in tonnage of coal mined
and in developed hydro-electric power. In undeveloped water power it is second.
Because of the wheat acreages of Fergus and Judith Basin counties it holds
second place on this crop. It also ranks second on potatoes and alfalfa. In the
western half are many national forests and other grazing areas. There is much
irrigated land.

Zinc, silver, lead, gold and sapphires are mined, as well as coal. The
existence of large deposits of commercial iron ore and other minerals of industrial
importance are reported. This district is the chief producer of gypsum products.

Three of the larger cities are here. There has been consideral)le industrial
development, which is emerging from the extractive into the processing stage.
Elevations 3.100 to 5,000 feet ; growing season three to nearly four months.

MUSSELSHELL COUNTY

C

OAL mining is the principal industry, but
the records would seem to indicate the domi-
nant characteristic of Musselshell county is
a pioneering spirit. In 1919 venturesome
]iorsons drilled in Devifs Basin field of the
county and succeeded in finding some oil.
While the field has not yet attained com-
mercial importance, this discovery induced
the exploration of other districts whose
successful development placed Montana on
the oil map of the nation. In March, 1923,
the first carload of Montana steers fat-
tened on Montana corn to be shipped to
market came from this county, blazing a
path that will help to restock the non-
irrigated farms in the old grazing areas.

Situated on the rolling bench lands of
central Montana, the principal topographic
fciilnres of ^Musst'lshcll county are the Bull
Mountains, near the southern border, and the Musselshell Kiver, which flows

85

86 MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

throuffh tlio niiddlo of the county iuid then aluMiptly turns to the north and defines
the north half of the eastern liorcU'r. The niaxiniuni length, east and west, is
55 miles, and the niaxiniuni lircadlh alimit 44 miles. There is some irrigated farm-
ing along the hottom lands of the Musselshell valley, and it is estimated an addi-
tional 2(>.(HH) aeres in the county can be irrigated.

North of the Musselshell there are chiefly rolling bench lands, devoted to non-
iri'igated farming. South of the rivi-r the topography is more broken and in
what is known as the Pine Hills district mixed grain and stock growing pre-
dominates. In the northern half of the county soil types range from sandy loams
to clay and heavy clay loams. All of them reipiire careful handling iis moisture
is usually a controlling factor in crop production. Koth winter and spring wheat
are grown, the latter being the main cash crop. The region is well adapted to
corn, which returns good yields of both grain and fodder.

The average value of the coal production of the connry cuiisidciably exceeds
the coiuliint'd value of crop and livestock products. The coiiibincd daily produc-
tion of the mines near Roundup is O.iMX) to IJM) tons. It is one

Big Coal of the leading coal districts (tf the .state. One of its mines has

Resources the deepest shaft of any coal propei'ty west of the Mississippi.

Millions of tons of a good grade of coal are awaiting develop-
ment in the P.till ^Mountains, but the mines already established have a capacity
larger than the present market demand. Considerable drilling for oil is being
d(me in the Devils Basin and other potential oil fields of the county in the hope
that with depth larger flows of lighter grade oil will be encountered. I'ractically
all the present production of oil is used in the fields. Sapphires have been found
from time to time in the Arkwright Bench district.

The main line of the Chicago, :Milwaukee & St. I'aul Railway follows the
Musselshell River and is paralleled by a main east and west highway. The
Custer Battlefield highway crosses the county north and south.

Roundup, the largest town and county s(>at, has all modern municipal im-
provements. The coal mines lie within four miles of the city, which is also an
important distributing and shipping point for the farm and stock districts.

Lake Ma.son, north of Roundup, is one of the noted duck hunting districts
of the state.

MUSSELSHELL COUNTY — Ranks twenty-fourth in population (8,330): seventeenth
in area (1,224,320 acres): forty-second in combined 1922 crop and livestock value;
fourth in l!t20 mineral production: twenty-fourth in bank deposits, 1922; thirty-third in
assessed valuation. 1922. Acres public land. 3,862; acres state land, 52,966.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value. $732,900; estimated live-
stock value, January, 1923, $1,065,500; coal production, 1920, $3,422,000; 1921 lumber
cut, 416 yi feet; total bank deposits, September 15, 1922, $1,320,148.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation, $19,382,385; total taxable value,
$7,480,868. Total outstanding county bond indebtedness, $1,174,748; total outstanding
county warrant indebtedness, $156,543; total outstanding school bond indebtedness,
$244,306; other school debts, $19,665. Total general and special county taxes, $212,854;
total general and district school taxes, $234,756; total municipal taxes, $86,740; total
state taxes, $35,060; total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $68.35.

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded school, 83; enrollment, 2,185. Number high
schonls, 4; eiirollinent, 352.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads, 1; railway mileage, exclusive spurs
and sidetracks, 55.02. Number of manufactures. 42; average number wage earners,
135; value of products, $625,645. Numl)er of banks, 6. Number general stores, 21;
confectionery, etc., 9; gioceries and meats. 21: lumber yards, 8: total number merchants,
178. Total assessed valuation 1922 merchandise, $492,197. Number grain elevators, 17;
total capacity, 384.000 bushels. Xumbei- creameries. 1. Number flour mills, 1. Num-
ber saw mills, 3. Number of lawyers, 19. Number of phvsicians, 11.

AGRICULTURE (1920 csnsus)* — Number farms, 1,604; farm acreage, 999.389; im-
proved farm acreage, 382,159; irrigated acreage, 4,138; .average value all property, per
farm, $17,996. Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 14,509; number sheep, 9,853;
number liorses, 7,3 72: numl)ei- swine (census), 4.309.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At Roundup. Elevation, 3,184 feet. Average date last
killing frost in spring. May 17; average date first killing frost in fall, September

Jan. Feb. Mar. April Mav June Julv Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov.
Ave. Free. .94 .44 .69 .95 2.36 3.62 1.82 .88 1.17 .96 .68

Ave. Temp. 24.5 24.0 31.8 44.3 51.6 64.1 72.1 66.9 59.7 46.4 35.1

County Seat, Roundup. Population County Seat, 2,434.

County Agricultural Agent — No.

mber

30.

An-

Dec.

nual

.89

15.40

19.3

45.0

♦Tliese figures include the territory now in Golden Valley County.

CENTRAL MONTANA

87

FERGUS COUNTY

'— A.KGEST in iirca. first in combined crop and
livestock value in 1!)22. first in oil produc-
lioii. an iniportani in'odiicer of coal and
precious minerals, Kerjius county, in the
sreoixraphical center of ^lontana, has been
richl.v endowed with diversified resources.
A start alons industrial lines has been made.
Ferjrns count.v has a niaxinium length
east and west of loO miles and a maximum
width of 00 miles. The northern and
eastern portions are rolling uplands, more
or less broken by the brakes alons? the
^Missouri Itiver. which marks the northern
lioundary. and by l)rakes along the Mussel-
shell River. Avhich defines the eastern
boundary. The central and western areas
are occupied by mountain ranges, isolated
from the main ran.ije of the Rockies, con-
siderable portions of which are included
within national forests and can be utilized for grazing purposes. There is a wide
variation in soil types. In the western half of the county the prevailing type is
a sandy loam underlain with a limestone gravel which is fertile. The county is
well watered, by both streams and springs. In some districts good artesian
flows have been found.

For many years Fergus county has been the banner wheat county of the state
in both acreage and production, though this development is largely confined to the
western half of the county. Winter wheat is a leading crop.
Banner Wheat Occasionally winter killing occurs, but most of the time the
County crop comes through in good shape. Other small grains, such

as oats, barley and rye, are widely grown. Corn is a promi-
nent crop in the eastern part of the county and in certain areas of the central
and western districts. In regions adjacent to the mountains, and in the broken
areas, in the east and north, livestock production has become more general than
small grain farming, summer range for moderately sized herds being available on
the national forests. In recent years interest has been aroused in a more diver-
sified type of agriculture. Many farmers are taking up dairying and some are
establishing pure-bred livestock herds as a supplement to general grain farm-
ing. While the irrigated acreage, in comparison with the total improved farm
acreage is small, projects have been launched which, when compl(4(>d. will nearly
double the land now under irrigation.

The International Harvester Company is planning the establishment in this
county of a farm to carry on a demonstration of the possibilities of diversified
farming — more corn, alfalfa, sweet clover and other crops to be consumed on the
farm and marketed through livestock or livestock products.

Gold in considerable quantities has long been produced in Fergus county. It
has also produced commercially silver, copper, and lead, and annually marketed
nearly a million dollars' worth of coal before the cri'ation of Judith Basin
county. Many of its coal measures have not been touched. It also has
gypsum in big quantities. Other mineral resources some of which are
awaiting development, include alabaster, soapstone, lirick clay, pottery clay,
limestone and sandstone. Natural gas has be(>n found. The ((lUiity's most
valuable mineral resource at present is oil. In the winter of t.il'k the first pro-

88 MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

ducinfj well was discovered in tbe Cat Creek field. Three years later there were
110 prodiiciu}^ wells in the field which yielded in 1922 more than 2,000,000 barrels
of high grade oil. Drilling is being done on many other structures, widely scat-
tered over the county.

There are three oil refineries in the county — two at Lewistown and one at

Winnett. Near Hanover is a large cement and stucco plant. Other extractive

establishments include large flour mills, creameries, a brick

Three Oil and clay plant, saw mills and monumental works.

Refineries Transportation facilities in the western and southern por-

tions of the county are adequate. The Billings-Great Falls
branch of the Great Northern, used as a through line by the Burlington, serves the
western district. A bi'anch line of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul runs
through the southwestern part of the county to Lewistown, and another branch
runs east out of that city to Winnett. The Great Northern's proposed Mondak
cut-off will open the eastern part of the county. The heaviest part of the con-
struction, including tunnels, through this county has been completed. It is thought
work, which was suspended at the beginning of the war. will shortly be resumed.
The Custer Battlefield highway, from Omaha to the Glacier Park, traverses the
county in a northwesterly direction.

Lewistown, the county seat, is a thoroughly modern city, attractively situated
on the eastern slope of the Judith Range. It is a distributing and wholesaling
point for a large and growing territory. Winnet. in eastern Fergus, has enjoyed
a rapid growth in the past two years, due to the development of the oil fields.
"Winnett, Denton, in the northwestern part, and Moore, in the southwestern part
of the county, are the largest towns next to Lewistown.

Moore, Garniel and Straw, on the Milwaukee, south of Lewistown, are in the
center of a rich farming section. Buffalo, on the Great Northern, is surrounded
by splendid farms and ranches. Hanover has a large cement factory. North
of Lewistown lie Roy and Winnifred. Large grain-growing and stock-raising
sections are adjacent to them. Kendall, a gold mining camp five miles from
Hilger, has produced over .$5,000,000 in gold. Grass Range and Teigen lie in
eastern Fergus and are surrounded by agricultural and stock-raising country.

FERGUS COUNTY — Ranks fourth in population (25,808); first in area (3,816.960
acres): first in combined 1922 crop and livestock value; sixth in 1920 mineral produc-
tion; sixth in bank deposits, 1922: fourth in assessed valuation, 1922. Acres public
land, 326,705: acres state land. 219.552: acres national forests. 89,331.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value, $4,604,700; estimated live-
stock value, January, 1923, $4,546,000: metal production. 1920. $137,567; coal production.
1920. $859,114; 1921 lumber cut, 99,000 feet; total bank deposits, September 15, 1922,
$6,579,556.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation, $70,301,471: total taxable value.
$22,690,451. Total outstanding county bond indebtedness, $1,947,000; total outstanding
county warrant indebtedness, $319,132; total outstanding school bond indebtedness,
$987,762; other school debts, $198,435. Total general and special county taxes. $541,627;
total general and district school taxes, $534,900: total municipal taxes, $120,743; total
state taxes, $107,437; total tax (inclusive municipal) per capita, $50.55.

EDUCATIONAL. — Number graded schools, 214; enrollment, 4,864. Number high
schools. 11: t'iMolhnciit. 1.251.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — ^Number of railroads, 2; railway mileage, exi'lusive spurs
and sidetrarks, 231.12. Number of manufactures, 84; average number wage earners,
319; value of products, $1,802,493. Number of banks, 19. Number general stores, 58:
confectii}ner>-, etc., 27: giocfries and meats. 46; lumber yards, 21: total number mer-
chants, 509. Total assessed valuation, 1922 merchandise, $1,815,988. Number grain
elevators, 57; total capacity, 1,441.000. Number creameries. 2. Number flour mills, 4.
Number saw mills. 8. Number of lawyers, 53. Number of physicians, 24. Developed
hydro-electric plant capacity, 1,050 horse power.

AGRICULTURE (1920 cenpiis^* — Number farms. 4,226: farm acreage, 2,573.981; im-
proved farm acreage, 1,037,819: irrigated acreage, 33,499; average value all property
per farm, $22,223. Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 57,711; number sheep,
62,883; number horses, 27,610; number swine (census), 11,089.

CENTRAL MONTANA

89

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At

killing frost in spring:, .May 29

Lewistown.
average date t'iist

Ave. Prec.

Ave. Temp.
County
County

Jan. Feb. Mar.
.80 .82 1.08

20.7 22.8 30.0
seat, Lewistown.
Agricultural Agent

April May
1.39 3.05
42.2 50.1
Population
Yes.

Elevation 3,950. Average date last
killing fiost in fall, September 7.

An-

.Tuno Julv Aug. .Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. nual
3.54 2.42 1.35 1.61 1.26 .79 .78 18.89
58.2 64.3 62.8 53.3 44.6 32.2 25.5 42.2
county seat, 6,120.

•miOi^i^KmiiKisaiisu

♦These figures include most of Judith Basin, whicli was created from Fergus and
Cascade counties.

GOLDEN VALLEY COUNTY

ITUATED in coiitral Montana, most of its
area included witliin tho MusseLshell val-
ley drainage system, Golden Valley county
is almost wholly agricultural in character,
although it has large coal measures and
prospects of petroleum. One of the more
recently settled districts, the one-crop sys-
tem has been dominant, but a wider interest
in dairying and an expanding acreage in
corn are indicative of the emergence of a
more stable type of farming. A project is
under way looking to the irrigation of more
than 22,000 acres of land near Franklin.

Outside of the Musselshell valley most of
the comity consists of rolling bench lands
gradually sloping away to the Snowy
Mountains on the north and to the Pine
Hills region on the south. Eighty-five per
cent of the county, it is estimated, is
tillable. Soil types are quite uniform. The uplands range from sandy to clay
loams, with the lower bottom vallejs clay to heavy clay soils.

Except in the Musselshell Aalley, where some irrigated farming is done, non-
irrigated farming prevails. AVhile all small grains do well, spring wheat is the
primary grain crop. The growing season is hot and good
results have been had with corn, particularly as a feed crop.
Cream buying stations that have been established in the past
year or two at several points reflect the .growing interest in a
mixed type of farming. Moisture is the controlling factor in crop production,
especially in the northern part of the county, necessitating careful cultural prac-
tices to insure good crops.

The commercial production of coal is small, and confined to fuel for local
needs. The existence of alabaster is reported from the north end of the county.
Five potential oil structures have been mapped by geologists and some drilling
has been done.

The main line of the Chicago, Milwaulcee & St. Paul Railway follows the
Musselshell river east and west through the county, and the Billings-Shelby
line of the Great Northern, which is used by Burlington trains to the coast,
goes northwesterly through the county. The Buffalo highway, from Cody,
Wyoming, to the Glacier Park, crosses the county in a northerly direction, and
a main east and west automobile highway winds through the Musselshell valley.
Ryegate, on the Milwaukee, is tlie county seat. Lavina, Franklin and Belmont
are trading centers on the railroads.

GOLDEN VALLEY COUNTY — Ranks forty-third in population (4,276); forty-ninth
in area (752,000 acres): forty-third in combined 1922 crop .and livestock value; forty-
sixth in bank deposits, 1922; forty-third in asse.ssed valuation, 1922. Acres public land,
7,063; acres state land, 41,023; acres national forests, 23,570.

Corn Does
Well

90

MONTANA : INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value, $808,100; estimated live-
stock value, .lanuary, i;t23. .$941,000; 19-.'l lumber cut, 130 M feet; total bank deposits,
September 15. 1922, $468,463.

TAXATION 1922 — Total as.'^essed valuation, $14,995,705; total taxable value,
$5,281,964. Total out.standing county bond indebtedness, $475,000; total outstanding
county warrant indebtedness, $90,186; total outstanding school bond indebtedness,
$129,172. Total geiieial and special county taxes, $122,526; total general and district
school taxes, $118,941; total municipal taxes, $16,282; total state taxes, $24,931; total
tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $66.11.

EDUCATIONAL^Xumber graded schools, 37; enrollment, 695. Number high
school.s. 4: trirdllniont, 121.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads, 2: railway mileage, exclusive spurs
and siiU-ti a< Us, 68. Number of banks, 5. Number general stores, 12; groceries and
meats, 4; lumber yai-ds, 6; total number merchants, 62. Total assessed valuation 1922
merchandise, $162,485. Number grain elevators, 6; total capacity, 144,000 bushels.
Number flour mills, 1. Number saw mills, 1; Numlier of lawyers, 3. Number of physi-
cians, 1.

AGRICULTURE (Estimated) — Number fiarms, 1,000; farm acreage, 645,103; irri-
gated acreage, 3,500. livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 12,769; numbei' sheep,
8,884; numlier hnrsos. 6.417.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At Yale. Elevation, 3.638 feet — Ryegate. Average
date last killing frost in spring, June 10; average date first killing frost in fall, Sep-
tember 11.

No. Yrs. An-

Record Jan.Feb.Mar.Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. nual

Normal Prec .78 .61 1.36 1.22 1.96 1.67 1.69 .53 .69 .68 .97 .67 12.83

Mean Temp 11 22.3 23.1 28.1 41.3 49.6 57.4 64.8 64.7 53.6 43.3 31.6 27.2 42.2

County Seat, Ryegate. Population County Seat, 405.
County Agricultural Agent— No.

WHEATLAND COUNTY

>^^#W.j.

TOCK raisiiiu-. irrifiatod and non-irrigated
farming arc tlu> leading pnrsnit.s of Wheat-
land county. Its principal town. Harlowton,
is a railroad division and junction point
:uid is favorably situated to command the
trade of a considerable region which has
led to the establishment of industries there
iiased upon the primary rc'sources of the
region. Considerable drilling for oil is be-
ing done. INIany acres of land are already
irrigated and reclamation of much more
is projected.

The county lies in central Montana.
The Big Belt and Big Snowy mountains
iii:irk its northern border, and the lower
lrvi>ls of the Crazy Moimtains extend over
i. into the southwestern part. The Mu.ssel-

shell river runs east and west through the

middle of thi' cotnit.v, and receives the

drainage of many tributaries from both the north and the south. (Jontly rolling

plains extend back from the valleys to the foothills of the mountains. The county

is about 45 miles long, east and west, and .36 miles wide.

Soil types on the bottom lands vary from clay to heavy clay loams, luiderlain
in most parts with a gravelly limestone substance. There is greater variation on
the bench lands and foothills, the soils ranging from sandy to gravelly loams,
which are rich in limestone. A peculiar subsoil is f(»und in a comparatively small
area of the northeastern district, impervious, and lying in some instances within
six inches of the surface. It does not permit storage of much reserve moisture,
and unless three or foin- feet of surface soil cover it. grain farming is not apt to
be successful. Soil borings will easily and quickly determine the conditions that
exist.

CE.NTlfAI. .MONTANA *)1

Most of the western part is dcvoicd to calllc ami sheep raisini:. The steers

from one raneh in the southwestern part have consistently, for the past ten years,

been the top cattle from Montana on the Chicajro market. The

Fariuiiig and bottom lands of the Musselshell river and of its trilmtaries are

Livestock largely under irriuation . I'reliiiiiiiary steps for the reclamation of

an additional I'M.OOO acres have hei-n tala'n. Non-irriy;ated farm-
ing is the pre\ailin.n- type in the eastern part of the county. Sprinir wheat is the
chief crop of the county, followed in order by tame hay, wild hay, winter wheat,
oats, corn and flax. Alfalfa is the chief crop in the irrigated districts, providing
winter forage for the livestock rjiised. On the non-irrigated bench lands sweet
clover has been found satisfactory as a forage crop and the acreage devoted to it
is expanding. Dairying is also growing in favor.

Coal is the only mineral known to exist, but it is believed deposits of gyp.sum
occur near the Big Snowy Moinitains and there are several domes in the
central and eastern parts of the county that are being drilled for oil.

At Harlowton is one of the largest flour mills in the state, which gives
the county fourth rank in total milling capacity. A creamery there draws from
a large territory. A small oil refinei'y is operated at Hedgesville.

Transportation facilities are good. The main line of the Chicago, Milwaukee
& St. Paul follows the Musselshell Ri^•er through the middle of the county. Har-
lowton. in the geographical center of the county, is a division point where the
electrified portion of the road across the mountains begins. The Lewistown-
Great Falls branch runs north out of Harlowton across the county. The Billings-
Great Falls-Shelby line of the Great Northern quarters the northeastern district.
Highways give direct connection with points north and south and al.so east and
west.

Harlowton is tlie county seat, and modern in all respects. Two Dot and
Shawmut are trade centers on the line of the Milwaukee, and Judith Gap and
Hedges on the Great Northern.

Fishing and hunting are found in the mountains along the northern border
and in the southwestern district.

WHEATLAND COUNTY — Ranks thirty-fourth in population (5,619); forty-fourth
in area (903.040 acres); thirty-third in combined 1922 crop and livestock value; twenty-
sixth in bank deposits, 1922: eighteenth in assessed valuation, 1922. Acres public land,
1,714; acres state land. 55.121; acres national forests, 58,512.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value, $1,021,000; estimated live-
stock value, .January, 1923, $1,974,000; 1921 lumber cut, 340 M feet; total bank deposits,
September 15. 1922, .$1,245,386.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation, $23,597,769; total taxable value,
$7,870,429. Total outstanding- county bond indebtedness, $295,000; total outstanding
county warrant indebtedness, $13,840; total outstanding- school bond indebtedness,
$114,820; other scliool debts, .$10,341. Total general and special county taxes, $160,431;
total general and district school taxes, $154,577; total municipal taxes, $39,278; total
state taxes. $36,407; total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $69.53.

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools, 39; enrollment, 1,103. Number high
schools, 1; enrollment, 197.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads, 2; railway mileage, exclusive spurs
and sidetracks. 93.86. Number of manufactures, 15; average number wage earners, 173;
value of products, $1,430,565. Number of banks. 8. Number general stores. 13; con-
fectionery, etc., 3; groceries and meats, 19: Unnber yards, 7; total number merchants,
140. Total assessed valuation 1922 merchandise, $396,108. Number grain elevators, 7;
total capacitj^ 215,000 bushels. Number creameries, 2. Number flour mills, 1. Number
saw mills, 3. Number of lawyers, 10. Number of physicians, 4.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Number farms, 688; farm acreage, 589,827; im-
proved farm acreage, 205,076; irrigated acreage, 14,478; average value all property, per
farm, $26,881. Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 24,542; number sheep, 56,059;
number horses, 6,036; number swine (census), 2,486.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At Harlowton. Rlevation, 4.160 feet. Average date
last killing fmst in spring, June 7; average date first killing frost in fall, September 4.

An-

Jan. Feb. Mar. April Mav .June .July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. nual

Ave. Prec. .78 .68 .80 .95 2.22 2.31 1.51 .71 1.28 .77 .81 .61 13.43

Ave. Temp. 19.4 21.9 29.9 40.8 49.0 57.9 62.8 61.3 50.8 44.9 30.8 23.6 41.1

County Seat, Harlowton. Population County Seat, 1,856.

County Agricultural Agent — No.

92

MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

JUDITH BASIN COUNTY

UMEROUS small towns and many big grain
elevators in the eastern and northern parts
of Judith Basin county reflect the promi-
nence of agriculture. Sapphire and some
gold, silver and copper mining characterize
the southwestern region, while at Lehigh,
in the geographical coiter of the county,
loal mining is important. The annual pro-
duction of sapphires from this county ex-
ceeds in value the output of precious stones
of all the rest of the United States. Large
deposits of good iron ore are awaiting de-
velopment. For a while at least it is prob-
able that the development of this county
will he more along agricultural than in-
dustrial lines.

.ludith r.asiu county lies in central
Montana, with a maximum length and
breadth of about ;jO miles. The crest of
the Little Belt range of mountains defines its southern and the Highwood moun-
tains most of its northcni boundary. Numerous small streams, rising in the Little
Belt mountains, flow nortlu-asterly through the county. Springs are numerous
and good well water is found at depths of 15 to 75 feet. Most of the agricultural
areas are rolling bench lands on which limestone soil types predominate, while
sandy and clay loams arc found along the foothills extending to the mountain-;.

Non-irrigated farming is generally followed, the acreage of irrigated lands
being relatively small. The Judith Basin district occupies the eastern portion
of the county and extends into Fergus comity. It has long en-
The Judith joyed a reputation as one of the leading wheat producing centers
Basin of the state. In 1922 Judith Basin county I'anked eighth in wheat

production. Wheat, both winter and spring, is the leading
cash crop, and good yields are usually obtained. The records of the U. S.
Weather Bureau show the annual precipitation is greater than over most of
the plains regions of the state. The elevation of the agricultural areas is about
4,000 feet. Except for fodder, corn is not generally grown. Alfalfa and timothy
give good yields on the valley lands. Oats, barley and rye are staple crops. The
lighter soils on the benches require careful tillage methods to prevent soil
blowing which sometimes causes trouble. In localities adjacent to the mountains,
livestock raising is the chief agricultural activity, with small grain farming
secondary. There has been a gradual change throughout the county in recent
years toward a more diversified system of farming and many farms are now carry-
ing small herds of pure-bred livestock as a supplement to general farming. A little
more than a fourth of the area of the county is included within national forests
which afford summer grazing.

The sapphire production of the county averages in value about .$200,000 a

year. The output is regulated, however, by the market demand. Coal takes

second i>lace. Large coal measures exist in the county but

Coal, Iron the main operation is at Lehigh. Mining for gold, silver and

and Jewels copper is l)eing done on a small scale. It is probable that

eventually the iron deposits in this county will rank as the

most important mineral resources, the proximity of coal and limestone being factors

calculated to influence their development.

CENTRAL MONTANA

93

The Billiiitrs-Sholhy line of the (Jrcat Northern, used by the Biuiingtou for its
transroiitiiientiil trains, runs north westerly thr<)Uf,'h the heart of the agricultural
districts, and is paralleled l)y the Custer Battlefield highway. At Junction, near
the western boundary, a branch line run.s ea.st to licwistown which eventually will
be extended east, making an alternative transcontinental line.

The branch line ot" the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. I'aul to Creat Falls skirts
the south half of the eastern border, dips east into Fergus county and then runs
northwesterly near the northern border.

Stanford, the county seat, and Hob.son are the largest towns. Other towns are
Mendon, Moccasin, Windham. Spion Kop. (Jeyser. Benchland. Ftica and Lehigh.

Attractive scenery is found in the mountains in the southwestern part of the
county. The sapphire mines on Yogo Creek, 25 miles southwest of Hobson, are of
interest to tourists.

JUDITH BASIN COUNTY — Ranks forty-second in population (4,283); tlnrty-si.xth
in ana. ( 1.1 7'.»,5:iU acres); twelfth in combined 1922 crop and livestock value; tliirty-first
in bank deposits, 1922; fifteenth in assessed valuation, 1922. Acres public land, 7,434;
acres state land, 57,425; acres national forests, 304,170.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value, $1,841,900; estimated live-
stock value. January, 1923, $2,228,000; metal production, 1920, figures not available;
1921 lumber cut, 30 M feet; total bank deposits, September 15, 1922, $1,099,351.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation, $26,940,663; total taxable value,
$8,626,310. Total outstanding county bond Indebtedness, $360,000; total outstanding
< 1 unty warrant indelUedness. $10,255 ; total outstanding school bond in(lcl)todiiess, $73,242;
other school debts, $16,714. Total general and special county taxes, $133,537; total gen-
eral and district school taxes, $183,453; total municipal taxes, $5,788; total state taxes,
$41,263; total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $84.99.

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools, 58; enrollment, 1,623. Number high
schools, 5; enrollment, 286.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads, 2; railway mileage, exclusive spurs
and sidetracks, 103.13. Number of banks, 12. Number general stores, 19; confectionery,
etc., 6; groceries and meats, 8; lumber yards, 7; total number merchants, 156. Total
assessed valuation 1922 merchandise, $361,298. Number .grain elevators, 26; total ca-
pacity, 670,000 bushels. Number flour mills, 2. Number saw mills, 1. Number of
lawyers. 5. Number of physicians, 5.

AFRICULTURE (1920 census)* — Farm acreage, 802,840; irrigated acreage, 18,000
acres (estimated). Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 27,346; number sheep,
30,645; number horses, 9,036.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At Utica. Elevation, 5,000 feet. Average date last
killing frost in spring. May 26; average date first killing frost in fall, September 18.

An-
Jan. Feb. Mar. April May .Tune .Tulv Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. nual
Ave. Free. .65 .38 .80 1.17 2.'83 3.39 2.10 1.19 1.38 1.15 .81 .58 16.43
Ave. Temp. 23.0 24.1 29.9 42.1 49.4 58.0 64.8 64.6 54.6 45.0 34.3 26.8 43.0

County Seat, Stanford. Population County Seat, 300.

County Agricultural Agent — No.

♦Included in Cascade and Fergus Counties.

MEAGHER COUNTY

A

of the

{ NOTED stock-raising region in the early
da.vs, with some mining, Meagher county,
in central Montana, has been little affected
by the passing of time. Natural conditions
are such that the stock industry, in one
j^.. ^^ form or another, will probably continue to

''"*S!<4|M'^^f^»J*^>_*,^,f hP:;^^ be the major agricultural pur.suit. Mining

operations have declined, but the unde-
\eloped mineral resources justify the con-
clusion the time will come when the in-
(lustr.v will be revived on a larger scale
than in the past. Ideally adapted to dairy-
ing, pronounced progress has been made in
this branch of the livestock industry in the
past few years, and many of the farmers
in the lower valleys and on the non-irri-
gated benches are re-arranging their farm
methods to make it a major enterprise.
Mountain and grazing lands occupy most
area of the county, which extends to the crest of the Big Belt mountains

94 MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL KES'OUKCES

on the southwest, and to the crest of the Little Belt moimtaias on the northeast.
Between these ranj;es lies the Smith River and many smaller valle.vs. In the
southern part the Castle Mountains, an isolated ran.tre, rise. The Crazy Moun-
tains, another i.solated ranw. extend over from the south in the suutheastern
corner. This part of the count.\' is in the Musselshell river draiuajie system.
Practically all the farming land is in the .southern and eastern parts.

Farming is confined to the lower valleys and bench lands, the higher lauds

being devoted to forage and grazing purposes. Both irrigated and non-irrigated

farming is doiie. and it is estimated an additional 20.0(K) acres

Take Up can he reclaimed at reasonable cost. Spring wheat is the

Dairying chief grain crop. Oats and barley, generally grown for seed,

yield well. Alfalfa is the principal forage croii luider irrigation.
Moistiu'e is the controlling factor of crop ])rodnction on the non-irrigated lands
and its successful conservation requires that careful cultural practices be fol-
lowed. Rapid progress is being made in dairying. In the past two years more
than a thousand dairy cows have been shipped into the county. The largest
dair.v barn in the state is located in the county. A creamery was opened in 1923
at White Sulphur Springs which furnishes a home market for the new industry.
More than a fourth of the county's area is included within national forests
which furni.sh summer grazing. Tlie range sheep industry is more important
than the range cattle business. Some of the largest stock-growing outfits in the
state operate in Meagher county.

Meagher county has produced in commercial (piantites gold, silver, copper,
and lead. There are large deposits of iron ore in the northern part of the
county, which are reported to be of high grade, but not enough development has
been done to determine their economic value. Oil shale, manganese and coal are
also found. There are three well defined structures in the county which ma.v be
valuable for oil. The Ringling structure and the Potter Basin structure ai'e being
drilled (1923).

The main line of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul traverses the southern
part of the county, and a branch line from Rinsling runs to AA'hite Sulphur
Springs, 18 miles north. The eastern I'ark-to-Park highway, from the Gardiner
entrance of Yellowstone Park to the Glacier entrance of Glacier Park, crosses the
county north and south, and there is also an east and west highway via Ilar-
lowton. Ringling and Helena.

White Sulphur Springs, one of the old established towns of Montana, is the
county .seat. It is well built, modern, and for many years was rated as one of the
richest towns, per capita, in the state. Ringling is a shipping and distributing
point for a considerable area.

Scenei'y, fishing and big game limiting in season are among the county's
tourist attractions. The springs after which the town of White Sulphur is named
are reputed to be of high curative value. They are owned by the Ringling family
of circus fame and their development into a resort has been projected.

MEAGHER COUNTY — Ranks fifty-second in population (2,622); twenty-ninth in
area (1,516,160 acres); twenty-third in combined 1922 crop and livestock value: thirty-
first in 1920 mineral production; forty-fifth in bank deposits. 1922; thirty-eighth in
assessed valuation. 1922. Acres public land, 5,400; acres state land, 82.984: acres
national forests, 437.933.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value, $586,400; estimated live-
stork value January. 1923, $2,761,700; metal production. 1920, $2,756; 1921 lumber cut,
168 M feet: t'>tal hank deposits September 15, 1922, $585,439.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation. $16,652,620: total taxable value,
$5,277,487. Total outstanding county bond indebtedness, $447,000; total outstanding
county warrant indebtedness, $41,616: total outstanding school bond indebtedness,
$111,891: other school debts, $240. Total general and special county taxes, $121,850:
total general and district school taxes, $76,903: total municipal taxes, $11,331; total
state taxes. $26,015: total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $90.04.

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools, 28: enrollment, 414. Number high schools,
2; enrollment, 76.

CENTRAL MONTANA

95

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads, 2; railway mileage, exclusive spurs
ami .sidetraiks, 72.27. Number of manufactures, 11; average number wage earners, 43;
value of products. $105,204. Number of banks, 4. Number general stores, 10; confec-
tionery, etc., 5; groceries and meats, 5: lumber yards, 4; total number merchants, 59.
Total assessed valuation 1H22 merchandise, $217,368. Number grain elevators, 3: total
capacity, 45,000 bushels. Number creameries, i. Number saw mills, 8. Number of law-
yers, 6. Number of physicians, 2. Developed hydro-electric plant capacity, 75 horse
power.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Number farms, 447, farm acreage, 801.801; im-
pruvtd farm acreage, 136,839; irrignted acreage, 25,075; average value all propertv, per
farm, $33,815. Livestock assessed 1022 — number cattle, 21,654; number sheep, 123,652;
number horses. 5.028; number swine (census). 1.575.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At White Sulpliur Springs. Elevati.in 5.280 feet. Average
date last killing frost in spring. June 2; average date first killing frost in fall. Sep-
tember 4.

Jan. Feb.

Mar. April May

June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov.

Dec.

An-
nual

Ave. Prec.
Ave. Temp.

.34 32
21.2 22.6

.38 .82 1.43
27.9 40.2 47.8

1.99 1.59 .81 1.30 .70 .39
56. 8 62.5 61.2 50.4 41.2 31.6

.46
21.7

10.53
40.4

County
County

Seat, White
Agricultural

Sulphur Springs.
Agent — No.

Population County Seat, 574.

CASCADE COUNTY

w

"'ITH mountMins in its back-yard and roUinf?
uplands in it.s front, Cascade county, in
central Montana, is not only strategically
located, but by reason of a variety of nat-
ural resources is looking forward to a mul-
tiple-industry development along manufac-
turing, commercial and agricultural lines.
J-^^m^m.' •-'■ ^ 111 popoulatlon it is the second largest

t^S^ , • -xiata*!-, county in the state, ranks among the first

°* ten in combined crop and livestock pro-

duction, and, in developed hydro-electric
power and also value of manufactured
products, outstrips all other counties. Some
of its most important natural resources

If^^^^^^^K^^M ^ have scarcel.v been touched. Great Falls,

^^^^^^^^^H^^u%' '^ in this county, is the second largest city

^^^^^^HHHHHI^ the

_ ^^^^mWlMM&W^ "^Hl^HB Cascade county is about 60 miles long,

east and west, and 54 miles wide, north and
south. The south half, which is mostly mountainous, is chiefly devoted to live-
stock raising and metal mining ; the north half, which consists of rolling up-
lands, to farming and coal mining. The soils vary, ranging from clay silt to sandy
loam with a clay sub-soil. The INIissouri River runs diagonally through Cascade
county, with a sudden descent over a series of falls and rapids, from the moun-
tains to the southwest, and with a more gradual flow toward the northeastern
boundary, below the Great Falls. Flowing from the north and west is Sun River,
which has its conflux with the INIissouri at the city of Great Falls. The Dearborn
and Smith Rivers also traverse Ca.scade county, flowing into the Missouri River.
Another fertile valley is formed by Belt Creek, a stream which heads in the
Little Belt Mountains and flows north 100 miles, emptying into the Missouri near
Great Falls.

In the Sun and Missouri River valleys there are approximately 50,000 acres
now under irrigation with a possibility of expanding it to 128,000 acres. Alfalfa,
oats, barley and potatoes are the chief crops on irrigated farms, while wheat is
the predominating crop in the non-irrigatod areas. In the central and south-
eastern areas of the county winter wheat is grown to some extent which normally
produces good yields. Many of the non-irrigated sections are below the average

96 MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

altitude of the county — 3.400 feet — which makes it possible to produce corn
both for forage and grain. In six years the land in corn grew from eleven acres to
five thousand acres. There is considerable truck gardening near Great Falls.

Coal has been the chief mineral product of the county. In the number of
coal mines operated, it ranks first. It is also an important producer of silver,
lead and zinc and has commercially produced gold and copper.
Wide Variety There has been some development of its brick clay, fire clay
of Minerals and uypsuni resourci-s and of limestone and sandstone for
l)uildiug purposes. It also has iron, mica and manganese de-
posits. The iron deposits are extensive, and, because of the proximity of
process materials and of power, are perhaps the most valuable undeveloped re-
source. Drilling for oil is inider way at several places in the county.

Great Falls is one of the important distributing and commercial districts of
the state and the financial center of northern Montana. It is headquarters for
most of the oil companies operating in the northern Montana oil fields. In the
variety and magnitude of its manufacturing enterprises it is the most important
city in the state. Approximately 100,000 horse power has been developed on the
Missouri at Great Falls with additional imdeveloped sites in reserve. The in-
dustries include copper and zinc refineries, oil refineries, a copper rod, wire and
cable mill, a ferro-manganese plant, flour milling, brick and clay products, a pack-
ing plant, four creameries, the largest railroad shops on the Great Northern be-
tween St. Paul and Hillyard, "Washington, and metal and wood working plants.

No county has better rail transportation facilities. It is served by the Great
Northern, the Chicago. Mihvaukee & St. Paul and the Burlington. Nine branch
lines tap the agricultural and mineral regions. Great Falls is on the Montana link
of the National Park-to-Park highway, the Grand Canyon to Banff highway,
the Cutser Battlefield and the Buffalo Trail highways. Large sums have been
expended on gravel-surfaced trunk line roads.

Great Falls, the principal city of northern Montana, is noted for its civic

pride. It has 30 miles of street and alley pavements, 20 miles of boulevard, 725

acres of parks and pla.vgrounds. a half million dollar munici-

A Modern pally-owned water system, a public natatorium and a city
Community market. It has two daily newspapers, 40 factories, three
large hotels, six banks, a country club and golf course. Cascade,
in the western part of the county, is a .good town in a rich agricultural district.
Sand Coulee and Stockett are coal mining camps. Neihart and Monarch metal
mining camps. Belt and Armington are trading centers in the non-irrigated dis-
tricts in the northeastern part of the county.

Great Falls takes its name from the cascades of the Missouri at that place
that were so designated by Lewis and Clark on their exploration of the Louisiana
purchase. Giant springs, near the falls, one of the largest fresh water springs
in the world, was also discovered by the explorers. Excellent fishing and hunting
is to be found in the mountains in the western and southern parts of the county.

CASCADE COUNTY — Ranks second in population (37.145); twentieth in area
(1,758,720 acres); tenth in combined 1922 crop and livestock value; third in 1920 mineral
production: third in bank deposits, 1922; second in assessed valuation, 1922. Acres
public land, 19,834: acres national forests, 185.667.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value, |1, 582, 500; estimated live-
stock value. .January. 192.", $2,832,000: metal production. 1920, $825,515: coal production,
1920, $2,679,000; 1921 lumber cut, 45 M feet; total bank deposits, September 15, 1922,
$11,616,865.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation, $107,713,498; total taxable value,
$33,057,441. Total outstanding county bond indebtedness, $1,781,000; total outstanding
county warrant indebtedness, $18,819; total outstanding school bond indebtedness,
$552,050: total general and special county taxes. $622,174; total general and district
school taxes, $529,749; total municipal taxes, $317,523; total state taxes, $153,416; total
tax (inclusiyc municipal), per capita, $43.69,

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools, 102; enrollment, 6,473. Number high
schools, 6; enrollment, 1,471,

CKNTKAL M( )NTA.\A

07

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads, 2; railway mileage, exclusive spurs
and sidetracks, L'oT.'JtJ. Number of manufactures, 86; average number wage earners,
2,129; value of products, $59,443,547. Number of banks, 15. Number general stores, 34;
confectionery, etc., 85; groceries and meats, 127; lumber yards, 23; total number mer-
chants, 944. Total assessed valuation 1922 merchandise, $5,264,223. Num.ber grain ele-
vators, 28; total capacity, 1,120,000 bushels. Number creameries, 4. Number flour
mills, 5. Number saw mills, 3. Number of lawyers, 96. Number of physicians, 50.
Developed hydro-electric plant capacity, 130,815 horse power.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census)* — Number farms, 1,703; farm acreage. 1,252,282;
improved farm acreage, 378,035; irrigated acreage, 14,864; average value all property,
per farm, $29,309. Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 29,594; number sheep, 75,159;
number liorses, 10,608; number swine (census), 6,367.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At Great Falls. Elevation, 3,350 feet. Average date
last killing frost in spring. May 8; average date first killing frost in fall, September 24.

An-
Feb. Mar. April May June July Aug. Sept.
.56 .83 1.21 2.48 3.29 1.69 1.07 1.40
24.7 33.1 45.9 53.5 61.6 68.5 66.5 56.8
Great Falls. Population County Seat, 24,121.

Jan

Ave. Prec. .68

Ave. Temp. 23.4

County Seat.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

nual

.89

.74

.62

15.46

47.7

35.6

28.7

45.5

County Agricultural Agent — Yes.

*These census figures include the territory now in Judith Basin county.

BROADWATER COUNTY

S

MALL iu area but possessing diversified
resources, development in Broadwater
county lias proceeded along tbe lines of
live-stoclv raising, irrigated and non-irri-
gated farming, and mining. It has sev-
eral undeveloped hydroelectric sites, in
connection with one of which on the
Missouri River the irrigation of a large
acreage is contemplated. It has extensive
but undeveloped marble deposits which
are reported to be of unusually high
grade. There has been a revival in
mining recently.

Broadwater county is situated in cen-
tral Montana with a maximum length,
north and south of 60 miles and a maxi-
mum width east and west of 30 miles.
The crest of the Big Belt range of
mountains marks its eastern border, and
the Elkhorn range a portion of its western border. Considerable areas in both
the eastern and western districts are included within the Helena National Forest
which furnish good summer grazing for many herds of both cattle and sheep.
The Missouri River valley runs northerly through the county. The soils in
this valley, and also in the Crow Creek valley, which is the second important
irrigated district, vary from a black loam to a gravelly loam. In the extreme
southern section of the county, soil conditions are different from those in the
Missouri River valley. For the most part the soil types are sandy loams which
require careful handling to prevent soil blowing. The rainfall is also limited,
necessitating careful cultural practices to conserve the moisture supply.

Extensive irrigation systems are in operation and are being further developed
along the Missouri River bottom lands and its tributaries. In the central
and northern portions irrigated farming predominates. Alfalfa
Two Kinds is grown as a feed crop and both winter and spring wheats
of Farming as primary cash grain crops. Oats, barley and rye are also
grown. Practically the same crops are produced on the non-
irrigated foothills which join the mountains and gradually slope away to the
lower valley lands. Corn is grown in the lower valleys primarily as a feed crop.

98 MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

The good sumiiuT rauge in the national forests and the areas too rough for
cultivation make the region especially fitted to livestock production. Small stock-
men have organized several co-operative range bull associations. On many of the
smaller farms are found splendid herds of pure-bred hogs. Broadwater county
has long held a leading place in swine production. One of the finest Hereford
herds in the country, and the one that produced the grand champion bull at the
11V22 International show in Chicago, is located in this county. In the irrigated
regions considerable attention is paid to dairying.

In the west central part of the county, in the foothills of the Elkhorn range,
at Radersburg and Winston, there is considerable quartz mining. On Confederate
Gulch, in the northeastern part of the county, which in etirly
Several Mining days was one of the big gold placer camps of Montana, large
Districts scale dredging operations have been resumed to extract values

left by the pioneer miners. This county has commercially pro-
duced gold, silver, copper and lead. It also has coal and marble, gems and pre-
cious stones. Industries include lumbering on a small scale, flour milling and
the manufacture of butter.

Rail facilities are good. The main line of the Northern Pacific follows the
Missouri river and is paralleled by a tnmk line highway. The Chicago, ^lilwaukee
and St. Paul goes through the southern end of the county.

Townsend, the county seat, situated in the geographical center of the count.v,
is the principal town. Other towns are Toston, Radersbui-g, Winston. Lombard
and Canton.

The scenery is attractive in the mountainous regions and the hunting and

fishing good.

BROADWATER COUNTY — Ranks fiftieth in population (3,239); forty-seventh in
area (771,840 acre.s); foity-fir.st in combined 1922 crop and livestock value; eighteenth
in 1920 mineral production; forty-second in bank deposits, 1922; forty-fifth in assessed
valuation, 1922. Acres public land, 48,856; acres state land, 22,128; acres national
forests, 148.630.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value, .$891,000; estimated livestock
value, Januarv, 1923, $1.215.0u0: metal production, 1920, $56,811; 1921 lumber cut, 95 M
feet; total bank deposits, September 15, 1922, $669,114.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation, $12,693,834; total taxable value,
$4,206,019. Total outstanding county bond indebtedness, $267,859; total outstanding
county warrant indebtedness, $6,849; total outstanding school bond indebtedness. $87,400;
other school debts, $1,586. Total general and special county taxes, $126,563; total gen-
eral and district school taxes, $79,601; total municipal taxes, $12,951; total state taxes,
$20,149; total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $73.87.

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools, 31; enrollment, 552. Number high schools,
1; enrollment. 115.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads, 2; railway mileage, exclusive spurs
and sidetiacK's. 60.26. Number of manufactures. 5 ; av-erage number wage earners 16; value
of products, $771,103. Number of banks, 3. Number of general stores. 10; confectionery,
etc., 2; groceries and meats, 4; lumber yards, 4: total number merchants, 65. Total
assessed valuation 1922 merchandise, $195,466. Number grain elevators. 5; total ca-
pacity, 140.000 bushels. Number creameries. 1. Number flour mills, 1. Number saw
mills, 4. Number of lawyers, 6. Number of physicians. 3.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Number farms, 466; farm acreage, 299,428; im-
proved farm aircage, 107,744, inigated acreage, 25,733; average value all property per
farm. $23,794. livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 13,753; number sheep, 28,324;
numlier horses, 4.661; numlier swine (census), 2,853.

CLIMATALOGICAL DATA — At Toston. Elevation, 3,905 feet. Average date last
killing frost in spring, .lune 1; average date first killing frost in fall, September 6.

An-
Jan. Feb. ;Mar, April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. nual

Norm. Prec. .24 .44 .38 .61 1.73 2.23 1.21 .68 1.13 .60 .47 .60 10.32

Mean Temp. 24.4 25.7 32.8 43,2 52.0 57.6 64.9 64.4 54.7 44.9 32.2 23.3 43,3

County seat. Townsend. Population county seat, 897.

County Agricultural Agent — No.

CENTRAL MONTANA

99

I

LEWIS AND CLARK COUNTY

\E of tlu' orijiiiiiil countit'S of the territory

of Moiitiuia, brouiiht into Ix'ing on the

wealth of its phicer jjold and further de-

\k^l_ "^i • '^^^^'si^'^N velopod throuiih its (jiiartz treasures, tliere

Ik'-jTSiUB*' J "^■6* '"*« i^ every indicalion tliat tlie mining industry

of Lewis and Clarlc coiinty is on the verge
of a revival, and that Marysville, Rimini,
Unionville. Scratch Gravel and other old-
time camps will a.uain he important pro-
ducers of lead-silver and gold-silver ores.
While mining has been the most im-
portant industry, stock raising has also
heen extensively followed, and in recent
years agriculture has advanced. l)Ut the
tillable area in proportion to the county's
total area is small. Helena, the county
seat, is also the state capital.

Situated in central Montana, the domi-
nant topographic feature of Lewis and
Clark county is the main range of the Rocky Mountains, the crest of which de-
fines more than half of the western boundary, which is upwards of 100 miles in
length. Midway, north and south, the range swings easterly toward the middle
of the county, placing a portion of its area on the Pacific slope side. The
county is about 40 miles in width, and in the southeastern quarter is flanked
on the east by the Big Belt Moimtains. The only considerable expanse of open
country is in the northeastern part, though there are some larger valleys which
give way to bench lands before meeting the mountains.

The Missouri River flows northerly through the south half of the county and
many good-sized tributaries, whose source is in the continental divide and the
Big Belt range, empty into it. On the western slope of the comity the headwaters
of the Big Blackfoot River rise. On the Missouri River are the large power
plants. In developed horse power the county ranks second.

Because the toiiogi-aphy of the county naturally fits large areas for livestock

production, this industry is about four times as important as agricultui'e. Only

about half the area of the county is in private ownership.

Adapted to Sheep are run in large bands by big concerns, for the most

Livestock part, Init the cattle are in herds seldom larger than 200 to 400
animals, owned by stock farmers who live in the mountain
valleys. The chief farming areas are in the northern part of the county around
Augusta and in the Prickly Pear valley at Helena. Alfalfa hay, small grains, and
potatoes are the principal crops. Near Helena there are specialized truck and
poultry farms. While the irrigated acreage is variously estimated from 33,000 to
4G.000 acres, the non-irrigated acreage is larger with spring wheat, oats, barley
and r.vo as the leading crops. The average elevation of the farming area is 4.000
feet. Some good yields of corn have been obtained on non-irrigated lands. That
part of the county lying on the western slope of the mountains is devoted almost
wholly to stock raising and mining. There is considerable acreage of irrigated
land awaiting settlement.

Minerals are the most important undeveloped resources of the count.v, in the
opinion of many persons. The camp of Marysville produced $30,000,000, all above
a depth of 1.600 feet. Upwards of $10,000,000 were taken from the Unionville

100 MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

district, south of Helena, ^YhiIe the placers of Last Chance Gulch, now the main
street of Helena, yielded $16,000,000. While the district is an old one, there
are many iiromising claims awaiting exploration and development. There has been
no change in the situation since the state mining engineer in his biennial report
for 1911-1912 said : "The Rimini district and the districts adjacent to Helena
afford great opportunities for investments. These districts merit more attention
from the mining public than they have so far been accorded. ... I am strongly of
the opinion that were a limited amount of capital judiciously expended in the de-
velopment of these several districts, as good mines as have been found in the
state would be discovered. All that is necessary is for capital to become interested
in the proper development of the many himdreds of promising bearing prospects."
The county has produced commercially gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc. It also
has sapphires, phosphate, fluorite, marble, brick and fire clay, dimension and
structural slate and much building stone. Coal is reported to exist. More than
SOO.O(X) acres of the county are in national forests. The lumber output is small,
the cut being principally poles, lagging and cordwood.

The only custom silver-lead smelter in the state is located at East Helena,
while at Helena are manufacturies for the production of biscuits and crackers,
candy, coffee and tea, mining machinery and structural steel.
Many Public farm machinery, ornamental lighting standards, brick, tile and
Offices terra cotta, dairy products, soap, glycerine, store and office

fixtures, granite and marble works, tents and awnings and
large book and job printing establishments. Helena is an important jobbing
center, chiefly in hardware, groceries, men's clothing and automobiles. There are
many public offices, in addition to the state offices, located at Helena. These
include a branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of the Ninth district and fourteen
federal offices of a state-wide character, besides the United States Veterans'
Bureau, the U. S. Veterans' Hospital at Fort Harrison, and the War Finance Cor-
poration, and several other federal district offices. It is asserted there are
more federal than state employes in Helena.

The main line of the Northern Pacific crosses the southern part of the county,
the Havre-Butte branch of the Great Northern runs north and south, and another
Great Northern branch out of Great Falls has its terminus at Augusta, in the
northern area. A main east and west highway crosses the county; the middle
route of the Park-to-Park highway, from the Gardiner entrance of Yellowstone
to the eastern portal of Glacier Park, runs north and south and is also a link in
the Banff-Grand Canyon road.

Helena, the largest city, situated on the southern rim of the Prickly Pear
valley, was founded as. a mining camp in 1S64. It has developed into an attrac-
tive residential community, and besides being the governmental center is also
the financial center of the state. The state fair is held at Helena each fall.
Among other institutions of a state-wide character located here are the State
Girls' Vocational School, the Odd Fellows* Home, the Masonic Home, the Mon-
tana Children's Home Societ.v, the St. Joseph's Orphan Home, the House of the
Good Shepherd and the Florence Crittenden Home.

Two denominational colleges are located at Helena. Mount St. Charles,
under Catholic auspices, and the Intermountain Union College. The last named
was under Methodist auspices the past 20 years, but in 1923 a merger was effected
with the Presbyterians. The- only veterans' vocational school in the state is main-
tained at Helena. Fort Harrison, three miles west of Helena, has been converted
into a veterans' hospital of 300 beds for tuberculosis patients.

Besides the smelter at I^ast Helena, the town also serves a considerable
agricultural district. Augusta is the principal town in the northern end of the

CENTRAL MONTANA 101

i-ounty. Marysville aud Riiuini arc niiniiii; camps. Lincoln, (ni tho western slope
of the Rockies, attractively sitnatetl on the Big Blackfoot, is the most favored
location in the county for the erection of snminer homes.

There are many beautiful mountain drives out of Helena. Two miles from
the city are the Broadwater Hot Spriniis where the largest covered hot water
plunjie in the world has been erected. The Gates of the Mountains, on the Mis-
souri River, where the stream has cut a gorge hundreds of feet deep for many
miles through limestone rock, were named by Lewis and (^lark. Fishing streams
abound and in the western and northern parts of the county there is big game
hunting.

LEWIS AND CLARK COUNTY — Ranks sixth in population (18,660); fourteenth in
area (l'.l'06.(iS0 acrvs); twcuty-fifth in combined 1922 crop and livestock value; ninth
in 1920 mineral production: second in bank deposits, 1922; fifth in assessed valuation,
1922. Acres public land, 115.904; acres state land, 105,376; acres national forests,
^1)9,379: acres military reservation, 1,799.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value, $983,500; estimated livestock
\alue, January. 1923. $2,246,700: metal production. 1920, $496,894; 1921 lumber cut
:'.40 M feet: total bank deposits, Sept. 15, 1922, $12,895,822.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation, $58,855,369; total taxable value,
S17,060,000. Total outstanding- county bond indebtedness, $635,000; total outstanding
ounty warrant indebtedness, $12,692; total outstanding- school bond indebtedness,
>i;96.400: other school debts, $11,731. Total general and special county taxes, $286,187:
total general and district school taxes, $358,485; total municipal taxes, $176,634; total
state taxes. $79,725: total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $48.28.

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools, 60: enrollment, 2,467. Number high
schools, 3: enrollment, 604. Other institutions, Mt. St. Charles College; Intermountain
Union College. Helena; also State Vocational School for Girls, Helena; also Veterans'
Vocational School, Helena.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads, 2; railway mileage, exclusive spurs
and sidetracks. 133.98. *Number of manufactures, Helena only, 52; average number
wage earners. 539: value of products, $3,016,238. Number of banks, 10. Number general
stores, 19: confectionery, etc., 42; groceries and meats, 59; lumber yards, 6; total number
merchants, 429. Total assessed valuation 1922 merchandise, $2,495,055. Number grain
elevators, 5: total capacity, 94,000 l)ushels. Number creameries, 2. Number flour mills, 1.
Number saw mills, 4. Number of lawyers, 73. Number of physicians, 22. Developed
hydroi-electric plant capacity, 87,335 horse power.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Number farms, 816; farm acreage, 754,135; im-
proved farm acreage. 132.576: irrigated acreage, 33,226: average value all propertv, per farm
$20,887. Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 29,786; number sheep, 58,138; number
horses, 5,734: number swine (census), 3,378.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At Helena. Elevation, 4,110 feet. Average date last
killing frost in spring, :May 9; average date first killing frost in fall, September 28.

Jan. Feb. Mar. April May June July

Ave. Preo. .94 .67 .77 1.06 2.15 2.32 1.14
Ave. Temp. 20.3 23.0 32.2 43.8 51.4 59.6 67.0

County Seat. Helena. Population County Seat,

County Agricultural Agent — Yes.

Aug. Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

An-
nual

.70 1.25
66.1 55.7

.90
45.4

.72
32.7

.77
26.0

13.39
43.6

12,037.

*Statistics on the number of manufactures, average number wage-earners and the
value of products are not available for the county, the 1920 census grouping Lewis and
Clark. Deer Lodge and Treasure counties together so as not to disclose the operations of
individual establishments. The combined figures for the three counties are: Number
of establishments, 83; average number wage earners, 3,445; value of products, $44,560,516.
By far the larger number of wage earners, and much of the value of the product can
be credited to the operations of the Anaconda Copper Mining Company at Anaconda.

102

MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

JEFFERSON COUNTY

X THE variety ami value of its metal produc-
tioJi over a jieriod of years, Jefferson is
probably the seeoml most important county
in the state. Though small in ai'ea and
population, it ranked seventh in mineral
production in 1920. Mining likely always
will he its premier industry. Large area-?
of the county are hilly and mountainous,
making it naturally adapted to range live-
stock. More than a third of the area is in-
cluded within national forests which pro-
vide good summer grazing. The tillable
area.s are relatively small, and while there
are good farming districts in the county,
the livestock industry is the predominant
agricultural enterprise.

Jefferson count.v, in central Montana,
stretches east from the crest of the main
range of the Rocky ^Mountains about 40
miles; its northern boundary is not far from the city limits of Helena and its
most extreme southerly point not far from the confluence of the Boulder river with
the Jefferson. The ^^■estern half of the county is wooded and mountainous.

Irrigated farming is confined principally to the Boulder and smaller mountain
valle.vs and also to the Whitehall district in the southern part of the county. Hay
is the chief crop. In the southeastern part of the county there is some non-
irrigated farming with wheat as the primary crop, and moisture the chief
factor controlling crop production. In the irrigated district around Whitehall
farmers have specialized in potatoes and dairying, the location being especially
favorable from which to reach the Butte market.

Millions of dollars have been taken from the lead-silver ores of the Corbin,
Wickes, Elkhorn and other mining districts in the northern part of the county.
INIuch gold and some copper and zinc have also been produced
Large Mineral commercially. Other mineral resources include gypsum, phos-
Wcalth phate. 3nangane.se, platinum, gems, fii'e clay, limestone and

granite for building purposes. The wings of the State Capitol
at Helena were constructed of Jefferson comity granite. Considerable mining de-
velopment is projected at a niunber of districts in the county and indications are
there will be more activity in the near future than for several years past.
Arrangements looking to the re-opening of many old-time producers are under
consideration and interest is lu>ing (ninced in many new and little developed
properties.

Rail facilities are excellent. Tbe main lines of the Chicago. Milwaukee & St.
Paid and the Northern Pacil'lc cross the south end of the county; the Northern
Pacific main line via Helena touches the north end. and the Butte-Havre branch
of the (ireat Northern runs northerly through the western part of the comity.
Transcontinental and north and south highways parallel the railroads.

Boulder, near the geographical center of the county, is the .seat of government,

the princii)al livestock sliipi)ing point, and is also important in a mining as well

as tourist way. Whitehall is the center of tbe irrigated farming

Many Hot district, and. being the junction for a Northern I'acific branch

Springs Resorts southerly into ]Matlison county, is also a good trade center. Sap-

pington, in tbe southeast corner, is the junction point for another

Northern Pacific branch that taps the Madi.><on river districts in ^Madison county.

CENTRAL MONTANA 103

There are luany pleasure and hot springs resorts in Jefferson county. The
Pipestone Hot Springs, near Whitehall, the Boulder Hot Springs, at Boulder, and
the Alhambra Hot Springs, in the north end of the county — all have modern hotels,
large plunges, individual cabins and other tourist attractions. One of the two
national monuments in Montana is the Lewis and Clark cavern, in the south-
eastern part of the county. It is said to rival Mammoth Cave in l)eauty and
impressiveness.

JEFFERSON COUNTY — Ranks thirty-seventh in population (5,203); forty-first in
area (1,044,480 acres); forty-sixth in combined 1922 crop and livestock value; seventh
in 1920 mineral pioduction; forty-fourth in Viank deposits, 1922: thirty-sixth in assessed
valuation, 1922. Acres public land, 51,602; acres state land, 25,556; acres national for-
ests, 448,014; acres other federal reservations, 160.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value, $619,400; estimated livestock
value, .lanuarv, i;i2:^, .'«9o8.600: metal production, 1920. .$928,484; 1921 lumber cut,
1,186 M feet; total bank deposits, September 15, 1922, $611,634.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation, $17,280,292; total taxable value,
$6,173,817. Total outstanding- county bond indebtedness, $106,570; total outstanding
countv v\arrant indebtedness, $24,384; total outstanding school bond indebtedness,
$106,100; other school debts. $3,450. Total general and special county taxes, $99,086;
total general and district school taxes, $118,683; total municipal taxes, $10,248; total
state taxes, $28,991; total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $49.39.

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools, 40; enrollment, 835. Number high schools,
3; enrollment, 224. Other institutions. State School for Deaf and Blind at Boulder.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads, 3; railway mileage, exclusive spurs
and sidetracks, 156.38. Number of manufactures, 10; average number wage earners, 48;
value of products, $150,469. Number of banks, 3. Number general stores, 12; confec-
tionery, etc., 12; groceries and meats, 7; lumber yards, 2; total number merchants, 82.
Total assessed valuation 1922 mei-chandise. $239,226. Number grain elevators, 2; total
capacity, 57,000 bushels. Number creameries, 1. Number saw mills, 3, Number of
lawyers, 4. Number of physicians, 3.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Number farms, 555; farm acreage, 281,494; im-
proved farm acreage, 80,933; irrigated acreage, 24,946; average value all property, per
farm, $15,722, Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 13,883; number sheep, 3,285;
number horses, 3,975; number swine (census), 2,215.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At Renova. Elevation, 4,360 feet. Average date last
killing frost in spring, ;\ray 26; average date first killing frost in fall, September 9.

Mar. April May June
.52 1.27 2.19 2.25

34.3 43.9 51.0 59.1
County Seat, Boulder. Population County
County Agricultural Agent — No.

Jan.

Feb,

Ave.
Ave.

Prec.
Temp.

.43
24.4

.34
26.4

July

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

An-
nual

1.18
65.3

.86
63.7

1.35
54.8

.94
45.8

.45
35.6

.31
26.0

12.09
44.2

Seat,

682.

^^.^■^

r.<?J>\$vO^

104

WEST CENTRAL MONTANA

^ ^

Diversified Farming, Fruitgroiving, Lumbering and Smelting Are the Principal

Industries — First in Dairying and Potato Production — On

the Pacific Slope Side of the Mountains.

A pleasant land of timbered mountains, fertile valleys and clear streams,
West Central Montana, lying on the Pacific slope side of the Rocky Mountains,
embraces the counties of Powell, Deer Lodge, Granite, Missoula, Ravalli and
Mineral counties. The principal industrial activities are smelting, lumbering and
mining. Its agriculture is diverse in character and well established. It is one
of the principal fruitgrowing regions of the state, ranks first in dairying and
potato production and third In tame hay acreage. It ranks second in lumber
production. Its smelters at Anaconda are the largest in the world.

In the eastern part of this region, in Powell and Granite counties, stoclcraising
and general farming predominate, while in Ravalli and Missoula counties dairying,
horticulture, swine and poultry production are becoming increasingly important.
Irrigated farming is the dominant type and the tendency is to reduce the size
of the farm units. The Bitter Root, Clark's Fork (or Missoula) and Flathead
valleys are the best known farming districts. Two large cities are here.

Lumbering is confined to the western and mining to the eastern and south-
eastern districts. Granite county produces annually more manganese than all the
rest of the United States. Tremendous beds of phosphate are found, which the

U. S. G. S. reports are of commercial importance and of higher grade than de-
posits in the southern states. They have not been developed. Elevations of farm-
ing regions, 2,000 to 5,000 feet ; growing season under three to more than four months.

POWELL COUNTY

TOCK raising, agriculture and lumber are
the principal developed resources of
Powell county, which lies in west central
Montana, on the western slope of the
Rocky Mountains, with the continental di-
^ ide defining much of its eastern boundary.
^Mining and many varied tourist attractions
are resources that have been developed only
to a limited extent.

The county is 90 miles in length, north
and south, with an average width of 25
miles. Most of its area is mountainous,
but there are large mountain valleys and
licnchlands in the central and soulhern
districts. The northern part ot the county
is one of the least explored parts of the
state and a noted big game region. The
South Fork of the Flathead River rises
bore and flows north ; on the southern slope
many streams have their source, which flow south and empty into the Big Black-

105

lOG MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

foot River, which flows westerly across the middle of the county. The
Clark's Fork of the Colmnbia (locally called the Deer Lodge River), flows north
and thence west across the southwestern quarter. It is a well watered, good
grass region. In the Deer Lodge valley the stock growing industry of ilontana
was established.

The farming areas are confined to the south half of the county, in the
Deer Lodge valley around Deer Lodge, the Big Blackfoot and Ne^■ada Creek
valleys, near Helmville. and the Little Blackfoot valley around Avon. Hay and
grain are the principal crops, except in the Deer Lodge valley, where potatoes
and truck crops, which find a ready market at Butte and Anaconda, are im-
portant. The potato production of the Deer Lodge valley gives the county third
place on this crop in counties west of the main range. In the order of
their importance, alfalfa leads, followed by wild hay, oats, and then spring wheat.
In most districts stock growing is combined with crop production, the national
forests, which cover more than a third of the county's area, furnishing fine sum-
mer grazing for both cattle and sheep.

Mining in earlier years was an important industry, principally in the south-
ern and eastern parts, and there are still many promising looking properties
inviting development. Gold, silver, copper, lead and lime have
High Grade been produced commercially. Near Elliston a valuable diamond

Phosphate was found. A large part of the county is underlain by high-
grade phosphate deposits and it also has beds of coal, marble,
brick clay, fire clay, pottery clay and a variety of building stone.

Deer Lodge is a division point on the Chicago. Milwaukee & St. Paul, which
maintains shops there. The largest lime burning plant in the state is at Elliston.
Considerable logging and lumbering is carried on.

Railroad tran.^portation is confined to the south end of the county. The
main line loops of the Northern Pacific, via Butte and Helena, meet at Garrison.
The Milwaukee railroad parallels the Butte line of the Northern Pacific. The
main east and west highways via Butte and Helena traverse the county, and a
subordinate highway between :Missoula and Helena follows the Big Blackfoot
River via Ovando and Helmville. The north half of the county is practically
virgin mountain wilderness opened only by pack trails of the Forest Service.

Deer Lodge, the coimty seat, is one of the oldest established towns in Montana,
well built and modern. Helmville is the trading center for the Big Blackfoot and
Nevada Creek valleys, and Avon for the Little Blackfoot district. Elliston is a
mining and logging village. Ovando, as well as Helmville. are outfitting points
for hunting parties.

Much of the early history of :\Iontana was made in the Deer Lodge valley.
The discovery of gold in this county, on Gold Creek, a few miles west of Garrison,
by a half-breed Indian in 1852. launched the first real development of the Montana
region. Beautiful scenery and excellent fi.shing as well as hunting make the
county popular with tourists.

.1 4o'^°r^^'-^ ^P^J^Jy—'P-^^^s thirty-first in population (6.909); twenty-fifth in area
(1.490,560 acres); thirty-first in combined 1922 crop and livestock value: twentieth in
1920 mineral production; fourteenth in bank deposits. 1922; twentv-fourth in assessed
valuation. 1922. Acres public land, 158,018: acres state land, 54,752- acres national
forests, 516,098.

WEALTH PRODUCTION— Estimated 1922 crop value. $1,231,500; estimated live-

??^n Ar^^y%'^''i"y'Vl' ^;'-l -^l'."'9|00: me^^l production, 1920. $33,477; 1921 lumber cut.
1,300 M. feet: total bank deposits, September 15, 1922, $2,318,274.

,. „.1;AXATI0N 1922— Total assessed valuation. '$22,083,814; total taxable value,
$<,0(0,10o. Total outstanding county bond indebtedness. $285,000- total outstanding
^2n",V- S.'^r?"^ indebtedness, $39,252: total outstanding school bond indebtedness.
$80.42o Total general and special county taxes, $108,860; total general and district school
taxes, $128, eOc total municipal taxes. $51,845; total state taxes. $33,591; total tax (in-
clusive municipal), per capita, $46.73. > ^ • , >. a.i lcv.^.. ym

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools, 36; enrollment. 960. Number high schools.
1; enrollment. 222. Other institutions— State Prison, Deer Lodge.

WEST CENTRA!. :MnNTAXA

107

BUSINESS STATISTICS— Number of railrcads, 2: railway mileage, exclusive of
spurs and sidetracks. 97. 5S. Number of manufactures, 15; average number wage earners,
440: value nf prothicts. $1,180,626. Number of banks. 4. Number general stores. 14;
confectionery, etc.. 11: groteries and meats, 11: lumber yards, 3; total number merchants,
120. Total assessed valuation 1922 meicliandise, $701,484. Number of grain elevators, 3;
total capacity. 120.000 busliels. Number of saw mills, 8. Number of lawyers, 8. Num-
ber of physicians. 4.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — ^Number farms. 476; farm acreage, 520,065; im-
proved farm acreage. 125,924; irrigated acreage, 64,045: average value all property, per
farm. $34,904. Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 15,366; number sheep, 94,277;
number horses. 4.479: number swine (census), 1,951.

Deer Lodge.. Elevation, 4.509 feet. Average date
average date first killing frost in fall, September 6.

An-
May June July Aug. Sept.
1.65 2.22 .90 .81 1.26
51.3 61.1 67.7 64.1 55.4
Population Countv Seat, 3,780.
-No.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At
last killing frost in spring, June 11;

Jan. Feb. Mar.
Ave. Prec. .70 .48 .92
Aver. Temp. 21.6 24.0 30.1

County Seat, Deer Lodge.

County Agricultural Agent

April

.82

40.6

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

nual

.74

.67

.62

11.79

44.0

33.1

21.0

42.8

DEER LODGE COUNTY

D

EER LODGE, in southwestern Montana, its
northern half on the Pacific coast slope and
its southern half on the Atlantic side of the
continental divide, is primarily an indus-
trial county. At Anaconda, the county seat,
is the largest and most modern ore reducing
plant in the world. One-fourth of all cop-
per ore produced in the United States is
treated here. "N^'hen operating at capacity
it employs 4.000 men. Plants for the utili-
zation of smelter by-products have been
erected, including one for making sulphuric
acid, another for making arsenic, and an-
other that manufactures super-phosphate
fertilizer. There is some farming and truck
gardening in the Deer Lodge valley, on the
Pacific coast slope. Stock raising is the
principal industry on the eastern side of the
mountains, winter forage being put up in
the valley along the Big Hole River, while good summer range is found in the
national fox'ests that occupy more than half the total area of the county.

While the Deer Lodge valley was one or the first places iti Montana to be
settled, and Deer Lodge county one of the original nine counties when the territory
of Montana was created, the present county did not assume
importance until INIarcus Daly decided to build a smelter for
the treatment of Butte ores. For this purpose, he founded in
1SS3 the town of Anaconda, and built a I'ailroad, since electri-
fied, to connect it with Butte, 28 miles distant. From a plant
treating 500 tons of ore daily, the works have been enlarged until now they have
a capacity of 12.000 tons of ore every 24 hours and a monthly payroll of .$300,000.
Besides having the largest copper smelter in the world. Anaconda is the
largest producer of unrefined arsenic in the United States and ranks second in
refined white arsenic. The sulphuric acid plant has a capacity of 70,000 tons a
year. The acid is used in making super-phosphate fertilizer. The capacity of the
present phosphate plant is 10,000 tons a year, but work of enlarging it to a
capacity of 30.000 tons is under way. The phosphate rock is shipped from mines
at Conda, Idaho.

A fire brick plant is operated in connection with the smelter, being built to
make refractory brick that would take the place of a product that was imported

Biggest Copper

Smeller in

World

108 MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

from Wales. So satisfactory has tlio sulistitiUe proven that it has captured the
market in the western copper-producing states. A hirge foundry, boiler and
machine shop plant is also operated which does custom work as well as work
for the smelter and the mines.

A large research department is conducted at Anaconda by the Anaconda Cop-
per Mining Company, which, besides developing new processes for the treatment
of ore, also develops processes for the utilization of by-products.
Expect More An electrolytic process for the treatment of zinc ores was
Manufactiu'ing developcul by the department which has resulted in Montana
taking third rank among the states in the production of this
metal. A new method for coloring copper shirigles was per-
fected here. The more complete utilization of smelter by-products and the pro-
duction of a variety of manufactui'od articles in Montana is said to be only a
question of time.

While most of the ore treated in the Anaconda plant conies from Butte, there
are a number of mining districts in the northern part of the county. The
county has produced commercially gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc. It also
has coal and limestone. Sapphires have been found along Dry Cottonwood Creek.

The main lines of the Northern Pacific and of the Chicago. Milwaukee &
St. Paul follow the Deer Lodge River west, and two east and west highways
traverse the county. Between Butte and Anaconda is the only hard-surfaced
highway in the state.

Anaconda, modern and up to date in all respects, is the only city in the
county. Beautifid scenery is found in the moiuitains. and attractive Alpine lakes.
The smokestack at the smeltt^r is the highest in the world — 585 feet. A large state
fish hatchery is maintained at Anaconda from which many streams are
stocked aiuumlly.

DEER LODGE COUNTY — Ranks ninth in population (15.323); fifty-second in area
(476,800 acres); fifty-first in combined 1922 crop and livestock value; thirteenth in
1920 mineral production; twelfth in bank deposits. 1922; eleventh in assessed valuation,
1922. Acres public land, 7.052; acres state land, 8.718; acres national forests, 239,352.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value, $302,500; estimated livestock
value, January, 1923, $455,000; metal production, 1920, $146,599; total bank deposits,
September 15. 1922, $3,820,709.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation. $32,590,627; total taxable value,
$10,078,615. Total outstanding- county bond indebtedness, $143,000; total outstanding
county warrant indebtedness, $22,306; total outstanding school bond indebtedness,
$32,600; other school debts. $300. Total general and special county taxes, $154,267;
total general and district school taxes, $174,716; total municipal taxes, $91,647; total
state taxes, $46,464; total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $30.48.

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools, 18; enrollment, 1.536. Number high
schools, 1 : enrollment, 526. Other institutions. State Hospital for Insane at Warm
Springs; State Tuberculosis Sanitarium at Galen.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads, 3; railway mileage, exclusive spurs
and sidetracks, 84.06. 'Number of manufactures (.Anaconda only), 22; average number
wage earners, 272; value of products. $1,340,695. Number of banks, 2. Numbei' general
stores, 4; confectionerv, etc., 30; groceries and meats, 49; lumber yards, 3; total number
merchants, 217. Total" assessed valuation 1922 merchandise. $1,154,235. Number cream-
eries, 1. Number of lawyers, 12. Number of physicians, 17.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — NumVier farms. 202; farm acreage, 58,484; im-
proved farm acreage. 24,210; irrigated acreage, 13,474; average value all property,
per farm. $12,405. Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 3,877; number sheep, 6,206;
number horses, 1,415; number swine (census), 1,410.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At Anaconda. Elevation, 5.288 feet. Average date last
killing frost in spring, June 10; average date first killing frost in fall, September 11.

An-
Jan. Feb. Afar. April Mav June .Tulv Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. nual
Ave Prec .90 .70 .87 .92 2.22 2.22 1.33 .95 1.28 .91 .80 .75 13.85

Ave! Temp. 23.5 25.5 31.9 40.8 47.8 55.5 63.2 61.9 52.8 44.7 33.7 25.3 42.2

County Seat, Anaconda. Population County Seat, 11,668.

County Agricultural Agent — No.

♦Statistics on the number of manufactures, average number wage earners and the
value of products are not available, the 1920 census .grouping Lewis and Clark, Deer
Lodge and Treasure counties together so as not to disclose the operations of individual
establishments. The combined figures for the three counties are: Number of establish-
ments, 83; average number wage earners, 3.445; value of products, $44,560,516. By far
the larger number of wage earners, and much of the value of the product can be credited
to the operations of the Anaconda Copper Mining Company at Anaconda.

WEST CENTRAL MONTANA

109

GRANITE COUNTY

JNIALL ill area and population, Granite county,
in west central Montana, on the west side
of tlie main range of the Rocky Mountains,
is unusually well diversified in industrial
as well as agricultural resources. Millions
of dollars have been extracted from its sil-
ver mines. It is the only important pi'o-
ducer of man,u:anese at the present time, the
output of its mines being greater than
the combined output of all other mines
in the country. The sapphire mines on
Rock Creek are reputed to be the largest
in the world, though not the finest. The
gems are mined on a big scale and shipped
east by the ton to be used in watches
and other precision instruments. It has
enormous deposits of high grade phosphate
which the U. S. Geological Survey predicts
will lie commercially developed. It also
has lignite coal, large forests, numerous mountain streams, beautiful scenery
and unexcelled hiuiting and fishing. Mixed farming is the prevailing type in
both the irrigated valleys and on the non-irrigated table lands. While the propor-
tion of tillable land to the total area of the county is small, the untillable areas
afford fine grazing.

It is a county of balanced industry, its annual crop, livestock and metal pro-
duction being of about equal value, although it has more undeveloped mineral than
other resources. The agricultural areas of the county are in the
Balanced Flint and Rock Creek valleys, the Hell Gate River valley and

Industry on the talde lands back of them. The valleys are narrow and

protected by high mountains. The soil is alluvial, fertile and
deep. Good water is abundant from the many mountain streams and springs.
Both irrigated and non-irrigated farming are followed and generall.y good
yields are obtained of small grains and forage crops. The national forests and
a considerable acreage of public domain provide fine summer grazing areas and
the livestock industry is as important as crop production. The county is well
situated as regards the larger Montana markets. Natural conditions are well
adapted to dairying and the industry is growing.

Granite county for many years has l)een one of the most important mining
regions of the state in continuity of operation and gross production. It has been
a commercial producer of gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, sapphires, manganese,
and lignite coal for home use. Its phosphate reserves have not been developed.
It is also reported to have platinum, corundum and deposits of brick clay. The
mining payroll runs about $75,000 a month. There is also some lumbering in the
county.

The main lines of the Northern Pacific and of the Chicago, Milwaukee &

St. Paul cross the county near the northern border, and a Northern Pacific

Itrnnch rims south up Flint Creek in the center of the county

New East and to Philipsburg. The Yellowstone Trail parallels the railroads.

West Highway There is a direct highway into Anaconda from Drummond via

Philipsburg, and a state highway has recently been completed

across the mountains into the Bitter Root valley near Hamilton, which will give

an alternative main east and west route through the western part of the state.

110

MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

Philipsliiu-jr, the county seat, lies upon the upper terrace of the Flint Creek
valley, at the base of the continental divide. It is the largest and most important
town, with water system, electric lights and other modern conveniences. Many
of the most important mines in the county lie near it. Hall, in the northern
part, lies in one of the most fertile agricultural districts of the county. Drum-
mond, the junction point witli the main line of the Northern Pacific branch to
Philipsbui'g, is the trading center for the northern end of the county.

The county possesses many and varied tourist attractions.

GRANITE COUNTY — Ranks forty-fifth in population (4,167); thirty-eighth in area
(1,098.880 acre.s): forty-fiftli in coinliintHl 1922 crop and livestock value; eighth in 1920
mineral production; thirly-fifth in bank deposits, 1922; forty-seventh in assessed valua-
tion, 1922. Acres public land, 11)0,450; acres state land, 17,882; acres national forests,
664,835.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value, $792,200; estimated livestock
value, January, 1923, .$873,700; metal production, 1920, $787,015; 1921 lumber cut,
75 M feet; total bank deposits, September 15, 1922, $958,027.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation, $11,307,220; total taxable value,
$3,940,963. 'I'otal outslantling county bond indebtedness, $275,000; total outstanding county
warrant indebtedness, $30,172; total outstanding school bond indebtedness, $9,000. Total
geneial and special countj- taxes, $111,252; total general and disti'ict school taxes,
$74,283; total municipal taxes, $9,151; total state taxes, $18,727; total tax (inclusive
municipal), pei- capita, $51.21.

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools, 23; enrollment, 680. Number high schools,
2; enrollment, 13.').

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads. 2; railway mileage, exclusive spurs
and sidetracks, 83.55. Number of manufactures, 9; average number wage earners, 17;
value of products, $131,981. Number of banks, 4. Number general stores, 7; confec-
tionery, etc., 2; groceries and meats, 9; lumber yards, 5; total number merchants, 85.
Total assessed valuation 1922 merchandise, $212,233. Number grain elevators, 2; total
capacity, 45,000 bushels. Number saw mills, 6. Number of lawyers, 6. Number of
physicians, 3. Developed hydro-electric plant capacity, 2,340 horse power.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Number farms, 354; farm acreage, 254,148; im-
proved farm acreage, 72.336; irrigated acreage, 31,177; average value all property, per
farm, $26,182. Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 11,679; number sheep, 10,754;
number horses, 3,496; number swine (census), 878.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA. — At Philipsburg. Elevation, 5,273 feet. Average date
last killing frost in spring, June 14; average date first killing frost in fall, August 29.

Jan. Feb. Mar. April Mav June Julv Aug. Sept.
Ave. Prec. .71 .69 .97 1.27 2.38 2.84 1.40 .93 1.56
Ave. Temp. 22.2 24.5 31.6 41.1 47.1 55.4 62.2 60.7 52.5

County Seat, Philipsburg. Population County Seat, 1,724.

County Agricultural Agent — No.

An-

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

nual

1.17

.96

.58

15.46

43.0

32.1

24.4

41.4

MISSOULA COUNTY

NDUSTRIALLY, Missoula ranlvs fourth, and
in population, fifth in the list of Montana
counties. In lumber production it ranks
first. While its agricultural area, since the
creation of Lake county, is small, the stra-
te.gic location of its leading city, Missoula,
makes it the principal shipping and distribut-
ing point for iill that portion of Montana
lying west of the main range of the Rockies
and south of Flathead Lake which includes
two of the state's best valleys, the Bitter
Root and the Lower Flathead. The location
of the State University at Missoula has
made the city one of the chief educational
centers of Montana.

Unlike many of the older settled dis-
tricts of Montana the development of the
Mi.s.soula region did not originate in a min-
ing boom. During the first half of the
nineteenth century trappers and voyageurs hmited through the region, and the

WEST CENTRAL MONTANA 111

Hell Gato canyon, near the city of Mis.suiila, was the easiest pass throiij^h which
the Flathead, Nez Perce and other tribes could go to the hunting grounds for
buffalo on the eastern slopes of the nioiinlaius. The canyon was given its name
by trappers interpreting the Indian word for a place of fear, as it was here that
the Blackfeet ambushed the western tribes. In 1S60 a trading post was started
five miles below the city of Missoula and the same year the county of Missoula
was created by the territory of Washington. In 1865 the trading post was
removed to the present site of Missoula. A grist mill and a saw mill were also
built, the former to grind the grain of the pioneer farmers who had settled in
the district. Placer gold discoveries on the Kootenai in 1864 and on Cedar
Creek (now in Mineral county) in 1869 brought in people, many of whom turned
to agriculture. First surveyed in 1853, the line of the Northern Pacific was finally
opened in 1883 and lumbering began to de\elop, steadily growing in importance
with the expansion of mining and agriculture in other parts of Montana.

Missoula county lies in west central Montana. The Idaho-Montana boundary
defines the border of the southwestern corner. Lake county acquired the north-
western quarter leaving, Missoula an inverted ,«J in shape, with a maximum
length east and west of 60 miles and a maximum breadth north and south of 66
miles. The northeastern stem of the county extends from the crest of the Mis-
sion range on the west to the Flathead range on the east and takes in the head-
waters of Swan River, flowing north, and of the Clearwater River, flowing south.
This part of the county lies wholly within national forests.

The Missoula and Grass valleys near Missoula, containing 70,000 acres, the
lower Bitter Root, of which 20.000 acres are in the county, and the lower Blackfoot
of which about 20,000 acres are also in the county, are the
Big Industry principal farming areas. Soil types range from sandy and clay
Is Lumbering loam in the valleys and on the lower benches to coarse gravel
at the higher elevations. In the Big Blackfoot valley the prin-
cipal crops are grain and hay. Considerable stock is also raised. In the other
agricultural districts small grains, alfalfa, apples and bush fruits, potatoes and
garden truck are the principal crops. Dairying and hog raising are well estab-
lished. Sugar beets, grown experimentally, have done well. Irrigated farming
is the dominant type.

Missoula has the largest saw mill capacity of any county. Much timber
from other counties is made into lumber in them. At Bonner, seven miles east of
Missoiila, is a plant with an annual capacity of about 100,000.000 board feet; at
Milltown, close to Bonner, is another plant with a capacity of 40,000,000; at
Missoula another plant with a capacity of 20,000,000 feet, and there are smaller
plants in the county with a capacity of about 5.000,000 feet. AYhile there has
never been any large scale mining in the county it has commercially produced
gold, silver, copper, lead and some coal. It also has barite, brick clay, pottery clay
and a variety of building stones.

Other industries besides lumbering include car shops and roundhouses of
the Northern Pacific Railway, several large wood-working plants, metal working
plants, brick, tile and concrete products, flour and cereal mills, creameries, and a
number of other manufacturing plants. In 1923 the Missoula Chamber of Com-
merce started work on an industrial survey to ascertain what industries are best
adapted to the natural resources of the region and to the markets available.

The main lines of the Northern Pacific and of the Chicago, Milwaukee &
St. Paul traverse the southern half of the county. Branch line trains of the
Northern Pacific, out of Missoula, run south through the Bitter Root valley, north-
west through the Mission valley to Poison, on Flathead Lake, and west to Coeur
d'Alene mining camps of Idaho. The Milwaukee has built a branch a short dis-

112 MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

tance up the Blatfoot River whose origiual i»i-ojected destination was Great Falls.
An iuterurbau line connects Missoula and Bonner. The main east and west
highways parallel the transcontinental railways and the western Park to Park
route from West Yellowstone to Belton, the western entrance to the Glacier
Park crosses the comity north and south.

Missoula is the largest city in Montana on the western side of the main range

of the Rockies, and is also one of the largest in the state. It is thoroughly

modern, well huilt. and besides being an important industrial

The State and distributing center, is considered one of the most attractive

University residential cities of the state. The State University is .steadily

growing in size and influence. Among other distinctions, it is

the first higher educational institution in the United States to give academic

recognition to the profession of pul>lic relations. The head(iuarters of the United

States Forest District No. 1, embracing several states, are at Missoula.

At Fort Missoula, known as the '•Million Dollar Post" because of the excel-
lence of its construction, is now located a battalion of the Fourth infantry, U. S.
army. The monthly payroll is about $19,000. This is the only army, post in Mon-
tana today.

Beautiful drives, well-stocked fishing streams, hmiting, and a wide variety of
scenery ai"e among the tourist attractions. A tourist re-sort is maintained at
Lolo Hot Springs, in the southwestern corner of the county, on the route of the
Lewis and Clark expedition.

MISSOULA COUNTY — *Ranks fifth in population (18,935); twenty-fourth in area
(1,702.631 acres); thirty-ninth in combined 1922 crop and hvestock value; thirty-second
in 1920 mineral production: fifth in bank deposits, 1922; sixth in assessed valuation,
1922. Acres public land, 44,185: acres state land, 75.234; acres national forests, 567,525;
acres Indian (most of it allotted) and other reservations, 208,940.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value, $1,114,100; estimated live-
stock value, January, 1923, $1,083,500; metal production, 1920, $1,830; 1921 lumber cut,
77,065 M feet: total bank deposits, September 15, 1922, $7,240,228.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation, $57,180,312: total taxable value,
$17,748,898. Total outstanding county bond indebtedness, $840,100: total outstanding
county warrant indebtedness, $233,456: total outstanding school bond indebtedness,
$890,550. Total general and special countv taxes, $372,971; total general and district
school taxes, $481,950; total municipal taxes, $160,562: total state taxes, $82,071; total
tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $45.65.

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools. 64; enrollment, 3,700. Number high
schools. 10; enrollment, 848. Other institutions. State University, Missoula, 1,855 stu-
dents. 100 instructors.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads, 2; railway mileage, exclusive spurs
and sidetrack.s, 229.08. Number of manufactures, 61; average number wage earners,
1,888; value of products, $6,857,815. Number of banks, 9. Number general stores, 31;
confectionery, etc.. 28; groceries and meats. 69; lumber yards, 18; total number mer-
chants, 459. Total assessed valuation 1922 merchandise, $5,119,007. Number grain
elevators, 12; total capacity. 555,000 bushels. Number creameries, 2. Number flour mills, 2.
Number saw mills, 14. Number of lawyers, 66. Number of physicians, 35. Developed
hydro-electric plant capacity, 3,200 horse power.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Number farms. 1,323; farm acreage, 388,408; im-
proved farm acreage, 173,031; irrigated acreage, 50,237; average value all property, per
farm, $13,383. Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 11,671; number sheep, 3,532;
number horses, 5,452; number swine (census), 5,535,

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — .\t Missoula. Elevation, 3.225 feet. Average date last
killing frost in spring. Ma\- 23; average date first killing frost in fall, September 18.

An-
.Tan. Feb. Mar. April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. nual

Ave. Free. 1.35 .86 1.02 1.03 2.12 2.15 1.02 .86 1.34 1.20 1.18 1.43 15.56
Ave. Temp. 22.2 26.0 35.2 44.9 52.3 59.4 66.8 65.2 55.4 44.6 33.3 24.9 44.2

County Seat, Missoula. Population County Seat, 12,668.

County Agricultural Agent — No.

♦All the statistical information on Missoula County, except those for population and
rank, area and rank and acres of reservations other than national forests are based on
the boundaries of Missoula County before Lake County was created which took from
Missoula County 362 square miles and from Flathead County 1,224 square miles.

WEST CENTRAL MONTANA

113

RAVALLI COUNTY

HE cradle of a.irriculture in Montana when
Father DeSniet, in 1S45, at St. Marj-'s Mis-
sion, near the present town of Stevensville,
first brolve the sod and first planted grain
and vegetables, Ravalli county continues to
hold a place among the leaders in farm and
livestock progress. For many years it was
one of the most important lumber-producing
counties in the state and operations are still
conducted on a considerable scale.

Ravalli county lies in west central Mon-
tana, on the Pacific slope side of the
Rockies. On three sides it is completely
walled in by mountains. The crest of the
Bitter Root mountains, which is also the
Idaho-Montana boundary, defines its west-
ern and half of its southern border, the
continental divide marking the east half of
its southern boundary. It extends east to
the crest of the Sapphire range of mountains. Averaging 30 miles in width east
and west, the county is approximately 75 miles long, through the center of which
flows the Bitter Root River, the waters of which are augmented by numerous
tributaries flowing easterly out of the Bitter Root I'ange and westerly out of the
Sapphire Mountains. More than two-thirds of the comity is included within
national forests.

The agricultural areas are confined to the Bitter Root valley, and the bench
lands back of it. No county in the state probably has a larger proportion of its
tillable lands under irrigation than has Ravalli. Practically
Much Irrigated all the land in the Bitter Root valley and much of it on the
Land lower bench lands is irrigated. On the higher benches be-

tween the irrigated lands and the mountains, non-irrigated
farming is followed with small grains as the chief crops. Diversified farming is
well established, climatic, soil and other conditions making the region well adapted
to fruit raising, truck gardening, dairying, swine and poultry raising, agriculture,
potatoes, alfalfa and small grains. The growing of peas for both seed and can-
ning has become an important enterprise. In potato production the county ranks
second. The Mcintosh ai)ple, the sour cherry, bu.sh fruits and berries are the
chief horticultural products. A canning factory at Hamilton has provided a market
for string beans, cherries and strawberries, and another factory at Stevensville
a market for peas and cherries.

Dairying is probably further advanced in the Bitter Root valley than in any
other part of the state. There are good herds of Guernsey, Holstein and Jersey
cattle. The first cow-testing association in the state was launched here, and
at Stevensville, in the north end, the first co-operative creamery, which is one
of the largest and most successful of a co-operative nature in the northwest.
Thei'e is another creamery at Hamilton, in the south end of the count.v. Cheese
manufacture is expanding with factories at Corvallis, two at Stevensville, and a
fourth one at Victor for the jiroduction of Swiss cheese.

There are some good beef herds in Ravalli county and some cattle and sheep
are grazed by local owners on the adjacent national forests, but an opportunity
exists for range livestock growing to be expanded. For several years many

114 MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

thousand head of sheep from Washiniiton have been shipped in to utilize the
range on the national forests which otherwise would not have been grazed.
Swine raising, in connection with dairying, is growing and a number of pure-
bred herds have Ix'cn established. So also is poultry raising, both for eggs and
day-old chicks, with "White Leghorns as the most popular variety.

Lumbering operations are on a much reduced scale compared with those
of two decades ago, but the industry is still important. While there have never
been any large mining operations, the county has produced commercially gold,
silver, copper, lead, zinc and coal. The existence of aluminum clays is reported.
Beds of brick and pottery clay are also found.

So far as the immediate future is concerned, the industrial development of

the county is apt to be along agricultural lines. Hamilton and Stevensville have

openings at present (1!)23), it is said, for plants making horti-

By-Products cultural by-prcducts such as cider, vinegar and apple butter.

IMants Excellent transportation facilities are afforded the agricul-

Openings tural districts of the county by a branch line of the Northern

Pacific out of Missoula, which runs south through the heart
of the Bitter Root valley to Darby. The western route Park to Park highway,
from West Yellowstone to Belton, traverses the county north and south. A new
state highway was completed in the fall of l!)2o. over the Skalkaho pass in the
Sapphire mountains, that directly connects Hamilton with Butte and Anaconda,
via Philipsburg.

Hamilton, situated about midway north and south of the comity, is the county
seat and the largest town, with all modern conveniences. It is the principal
shipping and distributing point for a large area. Stevensville, in the north end
of the valley, is the second largest town, and in the heart of the dairying district.
Florence, Corvallis, Victor, Grantsdale and Darby are shipping points.

Beautiful scenery, fine hiuiting and good fishing are among the tourist
attractions. The region is of much historic interest. Lewis and Clark followed
the Bitter Root River through the county on their journey westward in 1S05 ; the
Bitter Root valley was the tribal home of the Flathead Indians until their re-
moval by treaty 30 years ago ; the first church in Montana was built here ; and the
Nez Perce Indians in their outbreak of 1877 swept through the valley. Through
the loyalty of Chief Charlo of the Flatheads they left the settlers unmolested. The
INIarcus Daly racing stud which swept the American turf was establi.shed near
Hamilton.

RAVALLI COUNTY — Ranks seventeenth in population (10,098); twenty-eighth in
area (1.530,240 aere.s) ; fifteenth in combined 1922 crop and livestock value; tliirty-fifth
in 1920 mineral production: twenty-first in bank depcsits. 1922; twenty-fifth in assessed
valuation, 1922. Acres public land, 5,280; acres state land, 26,737; acres national forests,
1,035,315.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value, $2,022,100; e.stimated live-
stock value, January, 1923, $1,856,000; metal production. 1920, $130; 1921 lumber cut,
16,4.")!t M. feet: tutal liank deposits, September 15, 1922, $1,777,839.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation, $21,732,311; total taxable value,
$6,658,861. Total outstanding county bond indebtedness, $531,000; total outstanding
county warrant indebtedness, $75,808; total outstanding school bond indebtedness,
$230,620; other school debts, $32,232. Total general and special county taxes, $235,341;
total general and district school taxes, $184,249; total municipal taxes, $22,654; total
state taxes, $32,288; total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $46.99.

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools, 27; enrollment, 2,177. Number high
schools, 6: fiuollment, 529.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads, 1; railway mileage, exclusive spurs,
and sidetracks, 4t>.71. Xunilier manufactures, 25; average number wage earners, 124;
value of products, $699,916. Number of hank.s, 8. Number general stores. 17; confection-
ery, etc., 4; groceries and meats, 21; lumber yards, 6: total number merchants, 191. Total
assessed valuation 1922 merchandise, $772,798. Number grain elevators, 4; total ca-
pacit.v, 130,000 Inishels. Number creameries, 2. Number flour mills, 2. Number saw
mills. 13. Number of lawxers, 11. Numlier of physicians, 13.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Number farms. 1,231; farm acreage. 245.965; im-
proved farm acreage, 114,473; irrigated acreage, 107,028; average value all property, per
farm, $15,451. Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle. 20,044; number sheep, 22,817;
number horses, 5,898; number swine (census), 10,386.

WEST CENTRAL MONTANA

115

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At Hamilton. Elevation, 3,583 feet. Average date last
killing frost in spring. May 17; average date first killing frost in fall, September 23

Jan. Feb. Mar. April May June July Aug.
Aver. Prec. .87 .67 .72 .97 1.68 1.66 .68 .64
Ave. Temp. 27.9 29.2 38.2 46.9 53.3 60.6 66.7 65.2

County Seat. Hamilton. Population County Seat, 1,700.

County Agricultural Agent — Yes.

MINERAL COUNTY

Sept.

1.11

56.6

Oct.

.93

46.8

Xov.

.87

36.5

An-

Dec. nual

.49 11.29

26.5 46.2

W

IIILE Mineral county has the fewest farms
and the smallest farm acreage of any
Montana county, within its borders is the
largest nursery for growing forest trees in
the United States. The annual capacity
of the nursery is three million seedlings.
There ai'e areas of cut-over land, which,

I "fniiTi^ .-«=■-.,.. j,i^^^^^^^Lmm ^"^'^^^^ cleared, wlil be adapted to agricul-

BH^^lBiK'Si^^^j^Bfl^^HHI tural piu-poses. Three-fourths of the
PJ^H^^^KJy^aPVHpJII^^^HI county is included within national forests

which provide excellent summer grazing
for sheep. Until the past year or two this
was not utilized. Init since then sheepmen

I"'fefi-„|Jt |- --^^^^^^i fi'oiii the state of Washington have obtained

■^iJB^., ^^^^1 permits. In 1923 about 60.(X)0 head of

-^^KH^KBf \ * 2 western sheep were grazed here.

The county lies in west central Mon-
tana, the crests of the Bitter Root range
on the Idaho-Montana boundary marlving its
southern and western borders, while the crest of the Coeur d'Alene mountains de-
fines the western half of its northern liorder. It is about 60 miles in length from
the southeast to the northwest, with a maximum width of about 30 miles. The
Clark's Fork of the Columbia runs lengthwise through the middle of the western
half of the county, and at St. Regis, where it swings north, receives the waters
of the St. Regis River, whose course is easterly from the Idaho line through the
center of the western part. The river affords opportunity for power development
at several sites. It is estimated about 14,000 acres of land are susceptible of
irrigation.

The agricultural lands consist of narrow strips, in many places of bench lands
200 feet above the river. Livestock growing is more important than farming.
The principal crops are clover and timothy, grain, vegetables and small fruits and
berries.

The timber resources of Mineral county are of considerable importance. A
modern two-band saw mill is operated at Henderson by the Mann Lumber Com-
pany, and there ai-e several portable mills which operate in
Logging the county, largely from National Forest timber. Active logging

and Milling operations are maintained by the Anaconda Copper Mining
Company, the logs being shipped to the Bonner mill. The na-
tional forest timber in Mineral county is estimated at nearly 1.200.000 M. feet.

Lead and zinc have been produced commercially within the comity. Large
amounts of placer gold have been taken from streams emptying into the Clark's
Fork from the south. There are man.v indications of copper.
Gold, Silver, but development work has been limited.

Copper The main line of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul trav-

erses the county east and west, and a main line of the
Nortlu'rn I'iicific runs through the eastern half of the county as far west as St.

116

MONTANA : INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

Regis, whei'e it turns northward. From St. Ro^'i.s a Northern Pacific brancli line
runs \Aest\vard and taps tlie Coeur d'Alene mining district of Idaho. A main east
and west highway parallels the railroads.

Superior is the county seat and the largest town. At Haugan. in the west end
near Saltese, is the tree nursery of the Forest Service. St. Regis is a railroad
junction point.

Beautiful scenery, splendid fishing and good big game hunting are among
some of the tourist attractions of the county. Several hunting lodges are main-
tained by licensed guides.

MINERAL COUNTY — Ranks fifty-fourth in population (2,327): forty-eighth in area
(787,200 acres); fifty-fourth in combined 1922 crop and livestock value; twenty-first in
1920 mineral produition; fift>-fourth in bank deposits, 1922; forty-sixth in assessed
valuation, 1922. Acres public land, 55,100; acres state land, 26,085; acres national
forests, 581,979.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value, $64,500: estimated livestock
value, Januarv, lli23. .«;81,100: metal production, 1920. ?23,054; 1921 lumber cut, 367 M
feet; total bank depi sits, September 15, 1922, .$126,545.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation, $11,481,992; total taxable value,
$4,266,864. Total outstanding county bond indebtedness, $185,000: total outstanding
county warrant indebtedness, $8,798; total out.slan<ling school bond indebtedness,
$109, (JOO. Total general and special county taxes, $103,304; total general and district
school taxes. $101,088; total state taxes, $19,584; total tax (inclusive municipal), per
capita, $96.25.

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools, 14; enrollment, 398. Number high
school.-^. 3: enrollment, 100.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads, 2; railway mileage, exclusive spurs
and sidetracks, 168.50. Number of manufactuies, 7; average number wage earners,
167; value of products, $332,246. Number of banks, 1. Number general stores, 14;
confectionery, etc., 5; groceries and meats. 6: lumber yards, l; total number merchants,
54. Total assessed valuation 1922 merchandise, $47,805. Numlier saw mills, 4. Num-
ber of lawyers, 1. Number of i)hysicians, 2. Developed hydro-electric plant capacity,
144 horse power.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Number farms, 95; farm acreage, 20,209; im-
proved faim acreage. 5,160: irrigated acreage, 967: average value all propeity. per farm,
$7,559. Livestock assessed 1922 — -number cattle, 872; number sheep, 69; number horses,
580; numbei- swine (census), 327.

CLIMATO LOGICAL DATA — At Superior. Elevation, 2,975 feet. Average date last
killing frost in spring, June 7; average date first killing frost in fall, September 7.

Ave. Prec.

Ave. Temp.
County
County

Jan.

1.38

24.3

Seat,

Feb. Mar.

1.15 1.87

28.2 36.4

Superior.

April May
1.16 2.34
41.8 49.8

Population

Agricultural Agent — ^No.

June July Aug. Sept.
1.62 1.03 .90 1.60
57.8 66.0 65.0 55.0

Countv Seat, 865.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

An-
nual

.92
43.3

1.32
32.0

2.21
24.7

17.50
43.7

Water-Power Electricity Is Abundant

NORTH EASTERN MONTANA

^

Ranks First in Wheat and Oats — Lirtle Irrigated Land Outside of the Milk River

Valley and Fort Peck Reservation — Tendency to

Abandon the One-Crop System.

Nortli Eastern Montana is nmre nearly exclnsively ayricultnral in diaracter
than any other district in the state. Daniels. Sheridan and Roosevelt counties,
which occupy the eastern part, aside from coal minins;. are devoted almost wholly
to farming. Most of the land south of the Milk River, in Phillips and Valley
comities, which occupy the western part, is devoted to stockraising.

Non-irrigated farming predominates, there being practically no irrigated lands
outside of the Milk River valley and the old Fort Peck Indian reservation. Both
of these are government projects. Reclamation has proceeded faster than settle-
ment and development in the Milk River valley, the lands of which have been
devoted chiefly to native hay and operated in units so large as to preclude diver-
sified farming, though well adapted to it. In the past year or two a movement
has developed to reduce the size of the units and bring in farmers.

Production on non-irrigated land in the three eastern counties makes this the
banner wheat producing district. It is first in oats. Scobey. in Daniels county,
lays claim to being the largest primary wheat market in the world. The one-crop
system has prevailed since farming began fifteen years ago. but recently there has
been an increase in the corn acreage ; dairying is developing, and other evidences
exist of a movement toward diversification.

The northwestern part of the district is handicapped by lack of rail facilities.

Elevations, 1,900 to 2.490 feet. The growing season is three and a half to
four months.

ROOSEVELT COUNTY

w

t

souri River its southern border:

ITH 95 per cent of its area tillable and a
tenth irrigable. Roosevelt county, which,
with only a sixth of its acreage improved,
ranks eighth in crop production, seems des-
tined to be one of the banner agricultural
districts of the state when more of its lands
are cultivated. Two-thirds of its area is in-
cluded within the Fort Peck Indian reserva-
tion. Some years ago the reservation was
opened to homesteading on an appraised
land basis, and while many filings were
made, much of the homestead land and
many tracts belonging to Indians are not
being farmed at present.

Roosevelt county lies in northeastern
^lontana. It is about S5 miles long, east
and west, and from IS to 36 miles wide,
north and south. The Dakota-Montana
boundary marks its eastern, and the Mis-
Non-irrigated farming will always be the

117

118 MONTANA : INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

domiuant type, but wlu'U the Fort Peck project, the laruest irriiiatinii enterprise
in the United States of the Indian Service is completed, more than KMI.OOO acres
will he under the ditch. Sandy loam types of soil predominate in tlie eastern part
and in the western and northern districts they ranire from sandy to clay loams.
The lijihter soils require careful cultural metliods to avoid soil hlowinj;. The re-
sults of a preliminary soil survey made by the State Collejie of Airriculture in
this county will shortly be available. Lignite coal is found in many districts.

Spring wheat, flax and oats are the principal cash crops with rye and corn

the leading feed crops. The average elevation of the county is i:.(HM» feet, the

growing seas<m is hot. and corn has i>roven one of the most

Tlie Leading dependa])le crops for the district. It is assuming an important

Crops place in the crop rotation plan and bringing livestock back to

the region which was a noted range three decades ago. Fort

Peck reservation lands which are in native sod are being leased to farmers

and stockmen, and several i)ig range stock concerns are operating there.

Tlie southern and eastern districts have adequate transpcu'tatiou facilities,
but hauls to the railroad from the northwestern part of the county are long.
The main line of the Great Northern follows the Missouri River valley near the
sourhcrn border. A l)ranch line runs fnmi Bainville. in the southeastern corner.
runs northwesterly across the <-ount.v into Sheridan and Daniels counties. The
Theodore Roosevelt highway parallels the main line of the Great Northern.

"Wolf Point, in the west end of the county, is a division point on the Great
Northern, the shipping and trade center for a good agricultural district lying to
the north, and the largest town. Poplar, midway across the county, is the
county .seat and the headquarters of the Indian service. Annually an Indian
fair is held here. Culberts(.n. in the eastern end of the county, is one of the

oldest towns in northeastern Montana, and the principal marketing point for the
best developed agricidtural and stock raising district. Some good ht-nls of regis-
tered Shorthorns are found in this district, and a stock show is usually held
once a year at Culbertson. Rainvllle. a railroad junction point, and Mc('al>e and
Froid are shipping points on the Balnville-Scobey branch.

Some of the first fur trading posts and Indian forts l)uilt in Montana were
established in what is now Roo.s(>velt county along the Missouri river.

ROOSEVELT COUNTY — Ranks sixteenth in population (10.347): thirtieth in area
(1,505,020 acres): eighteenth in combined 1922 crop and livestock value: twent.v-seventh
in 1920 mineral production: sixteenth in bank deposits, 1922; thirty-fourth in assessed
valuation. 1922. Acres public land, 2,606: acres state land. 19.359: acres Indian reser-
vations (most of it allotted). 1.015,373.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value, $2,575,000: estimated live-
stock value, .January, 1923. §1.240,900; coal production. 1920, $9,000; total bank deposits,
September 15, 1922. $2,165,486.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation, $18,240,711: total taxable value.
$6,086,632. Total outstanding county bond indebtedness. $754,000; total outstanding
county warrant indeljtedness. $171,072; total outstanding school bond indebtedness.
$347,010: other school d-ebts. $35,041. Total general and special county taxes, $174,183:
total general and district school taxes. $201,709; total municipal taxes. $82,908; total
state taxes. .'?28.7rtl; total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita. $47.12.

EDUCATIONAL — Xiiniber graded schools, 58; enrollment, 2,068. Number high
Schools. I) : enrnllincnt. :)9S.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads, 1: railway mileage, exclusive spurs
and sidetracks, 118.46. Number of manufactures, 21: average number wage earners,
39; value of products. $940,849. Number of banks, 12. Number general stores, 25;
confectionery, etc.. 5; groceries and meats. 14; lumber yards, 9; total number merchants,
216. Total assessed valuation 1922 merchandise. $636,760. Number grain elevators,
21: total capacity, 554.000 bushels. Number creameries, 1. Number flour mills, 1. Num-
ber of lawvers, 13. Numl)er of phvsicians, 8.

AGRICULTURE (1920 Census) — Number of farms, 1,215; farm acreage, 673.936; im-
proved farm acreage. 302,519; iriigated acreage, 1.190: avera.ge value all property, per
farm. $14,297. Livestock assess.-d 1922 — number cattle, 13,331: number sheep, 626; num-
ber horses, 9.887: numlier swine (census) 2,595.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At Poplar. Elevation, 2.020 feet. Average date last
killing frost in spring. Mav 15: average date first killing frost in fall, September 16.

An-

Jan. Feb. Mar. April Mav June .luly Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. nual

Ave. Pre\ .59 .45 .81 .90 1.84 3.02 1.73 1.14 .94 .70 .65 .43 13.20

Aver. Temp. 6.1 8.6 23 8 43.8 54.9 62.7 70.6 67.9 57.2 44.7 27.7 14.7 40.2

County Seat. Poplar. Population County Seat, 1,152.

County Agricultural Agent — Yes.

XOTITTT EASTERX MONTANA

119

SHERIDAN COUNTY

w

ITII only about ball' of its tillable aiva

improved, Sheridan was the leading county

in the eastern half of Montana in crop

production in lD2li, and ranked second in

the whole state. It is one of the older uon-

irrigiited districts of the state and conse-

■ifc'"^'^^" '''^*"' *vls**'' ■"- *> quently there has been greater development

mW' J^KS^S^MK^ "'^^ p(>rmanently improved farms and of a

^^^^■■^*^^* -—-■•■■■^ staliilized lyi)e of aiiriculture than in some

of the other districts. Aside from coal pro-
duction, it is exclusively agricultural and
stock raising in character.

It lies in northeastern Montana. From
the Canadian border on the north it extends
southward about 42 miles and from the
Dakota boundary on the east westward
about 4~) miles. The Big Muddy, which
rises in Canada and runs southeasterly, is
the only stream of any size. About a
third of the county is classified as sharply rolling or as bad lands. Much infor-
mation concerning Sheridan county is found in Bulletin No. 158, Montana Experi-
ment Station, Bozeman. The soil has been classified into five types, the most im-
portant of which is the Williams loam, with a surface soil of 7 to 10 inches
of friable to mealy dark chocolate brown to brown loam, and a gray to grayish
brown calcareous loam sub.soil. This soil covers 68 per cent of the county.

For 25 to 30 years prior to 1906 stock raising was the leading industry. The
homesteading era in this region began in 190S and reached its climax between 1910
and 1916. Spring wheat and flax are the principal cash crops
Farm Survey with oats, barley and corn as feed crops. A detailed report on
of Region farming in Sheridan county is given in "Farming in North-
eastern [Montana," issui'd January. 1923. by the Bureau of
Agricultural Economics, U. S. Department of Agriculture. The average size farm
in Sheridan county was 492 acres, according to the report, of which 230 acres were
in crop and 30 acres in fallow. Farming operations alone resulted in the better-
ment of the financial condition of 64 per cent of the Sheridan farmers included
in the survey, while farming activities and increased land values, combined, re-
sulted in the betterment of the financial condition of 92 per cent of them. The
one-crop system predominated. Ijivestock prodvicts amounted to an average of
only .$106 per farm, which the report says, "seems low for a region which at one
time was wholly devoted to grazing." With the expansion of the corn acreage,
more attention is being given livestock.

There are no large coal mines in Sheridan, but considerable lignite is mined
for home markets, ])rincipally during the winter months. Near Redstone the
U. S. Geological Surve.v reports the existence of an extensive bed of clay, which is
suital)le for brick making and, aside from its color, for pottery. The proximity of
lignite coal plus nearness of the railroad are factors that give the clay beds poten-
tial commercial importance.

A branch of the Great Northern Railway out of Bainville runs north to
Plentywood, near the geographical center of the county, and then swings westward
into Daniels county. A branch line of the Soo road enters the count.v from
Dakota, near the northern border, and runs westerly to a terminus in Daniels
county.

VJO

MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

Plentywood, the county seat, is the largest town. Medicine Lake, Antelope |
and Redstone are smaller communities on the Great Northern. Westby, near the
eastern border, and Outlook, in the northwestern part, are the chief towns on the
Soo line.

The region is of geological inti-rest. geologists holding to the opinion that
before the ice invasion the Missouri River flowed northwai'd into Hudson Bay.

marked by a ln-oad deiiression from Medicine Lake northeast

its former channel
to Westby.

SHERIDAN COUNTY — Ranks eighteenth in population (9,376); thirty-seventh in
area (1,125,120 acres); fifth in combined 1922 crop and livestock value; fifth in 1920
mineral production; eighteenth in bank deposits, 1922; thirty-sec< nd in assessed valua-
tion, 1922. Acres public land, 1,666; acres state land, 40,408; acres Indian reservations
(most of it allotted), 115.200.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value. $4,004,500; estimated live-
stock value, January, 1923, $1,635,500; coal production, 1920, $1,551,000; total bank
deposits, September 15, 1922. $2,024,804.

TAXATION 1922 — Total asses-'sed valuation, $19,574,763; total taxable value.
$6,077,473. Total outstanding county bond indebtedness. $810,000; total outstanding
countv warrant indebtedness, $426,508; total outstanding school bond indebtedness,
$228,641: other school debts, $39,722. Total general and special county taxes. $213,167;
total general and district school taxes, $248,133: total municipal taxes. $18,196; total
state taxes. .?29.162; total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $54.25.

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools, 87; enrollment, 2,174. Number high
schonls. 7: enrollment. 207.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — ^Number of railroads, 2; railway mileage, exclusive spurs
and sidetracks, 104.96. Number of manufactures. 30*; average number wage earners,
182*; value of products. $542,809*. Number of banks. 16. Number general stores, 23;
confectionery, etc., 6; groceries and meats, 13: lumber yards, 15: total numlser mer-
chants. 213. Total Assessed valuation 1922 mercliandise. $545,116. Number grain
elevators, 37: total capacity, 921,000 bushels. Number creameries, 1. Number flour
mills. 3. Number of lawvers. 17. Number of physicians. 7.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census)** — Number farms, 2.408; farm acreage. 1,155,859;
improved farm acreage. 570,955; irrigated acieage, 3.879; average value all property,
per farm, $12,826. Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 16,738; number sheep, 5,049;
numbei- liorses, 13,782: number swine (census). 4,360.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At Medicine Lake. Elevation, 1,969 feet. Average date

average date first killing frost in fall, September 15.

An-
>Iav June Julv Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. nual
1.72 2.92 2.11 1.53 1.54 .88 .29 .30 13.85
52.1 63.4 66.3 65.3 54.0 41.4 25.0 13.8 38.0
Seat. Plentywood. Population County Seat, 888.
Agricultural Agent — Yes.

last killing frost in spring, May 23;

Ave. Prec.

Ave. Temp.
County
Countv

Jan.
.47
5.6

Feb. Mar.
.44 .49
7.7 19.9

April
1.16
41.6

*Includes Daniels.

♦♦These figures Include the territory now in Daniels county.

DANIELS COUNTY

0

1 NE of the smaller, more recently created coun-
ties, Daniels, in northwestern Montana, has
not been slow in gathering laurels. Scobey,
its county seat, in 1922 laid claim to the
I title of being the greatest primary wheat
j shipping point in the United States. Two
million bushels, or l.So.j car.s of the 1922
^^heat crop moved from Scobey. In such
(luantities has it sometimes poured in from
the farms that in a sin.sle day 30 cars have
l)oon loaded from farmers' wagons, without
taking a pound from the elevators. Except
for about 1.200 acres, non-irrigated farming
is followed exclusively.

The northern boundary of Daniels ad-
.ioins Canada and it lie.-^ one county west of
North Dakota. It is approximately 30 miles
wide north and south and 40 miles lon.n east
and west. For years the region, which is
mostly rolling prairie, was devoted exclusively to stock raising, but between

NORTH EASTERN MONTANA 121

1900 and 1910 settlers flocked in iuul now there are less than 1.400 acres of
public land remaining. Soil types are fairly uniform, sandy loams predominating
except along the bottom lands of the Poplar River which carry the heavier clay
types. The best crop land is located on the benches, while grazing is carried on
in the valley and on the hillsides.

There are a few large flocks of sheep but the pastoral era is virtually gone,
with farming as the count.v's only important industry. Spring wheat is the lead-
ing cash crop, accounting for about 80 per cent of the total farm
An Agricultural receipts, and followed b.v dairy and poultr.v products and then
District flax. Both hard spring and macai'oni varieties of wheat are

grown and are of high quality. Oat.s, occupying aboiit one-
fourth of the acreage in wheat, is the second most important crop. Flax, a cash
crop, vies with hay, a feed crop, for third place. A little rye and barley is grown.
Corn is gradually assuming a place in the crop rotation plan, assuring a feed
crop every year, which will permit of diversified farming and an increase in live-
stock, thereby lessening the risk always attendant in the one-ci'op system.
Interest in flax reviving, a number of farmers using a mixture of wheat and flax
to overcome the weeds, the worst enemy of flax. During the first years of settle-
ment, flax was the principal crop.

While most of the country is tillable, only one-third of it is included in farms

and less than a fifth of it is improved. The State of Montana owns 240,000

acres, or more than a fourth, and another sixth is included in

Much Land the Fort Peck Indian reservation, iluch of this reservation

Available land is open to homestead entry, but the settler must pay

the appraised price, from .$S to $12 an acre. The state land can

also be purchased at auction for not less than the apprai.sed price. It can also

be leased for either farming or grazing.

Two railroads serve the eastern part of the county, but the western half needs
more transportation facilities for pi-oper development. "Whitetail. in the northeast-
ern part of the county, is the terminus of a branch of the Soo. The Bainville-
Plentywood branch of the Great Northern ends at Scobey in the east central part
of the county.

Scobey is the largest town and most important distributing point. Whitetail
is the second largest town. Madoc and Flasville serve the needs of the heaviest
wheat producing districts.

There are extensive beds of lignite coal in the county.

DANIELS COUNTY — Ranks thirty-fifth in population (5,480); forty-fifth in area
(910,080 acres): seventeenth in combined 1922 crop and livestock value; thirty-fourth
in bank deposits, 1922; fifty-second in assessed valuation. 1922. Acres public land,
1,360; acres state land, 241,987; acres Indian reservation (most of it allotted), 137,149.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value, $2,767,000; estimated live-
stock value, .January, 1923, $1,096,000; total bank deposits. September 15, 1922, $960,621.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation. $9,436,997: total taxable value,
$2,829,174. Total outstanding- county bond indebtedness, $80,000; total outstanding
county warrant indebtedness. $285,758; total outstanding- school bond indebtedness,
$143,250; other school debts, $31,098. Total general and special county taxes, $117,797:
total general and district school taxes, $103,127: total municipal taxes, $31,193; total
state taxes, $13,843; total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $48.53.

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools, 44; enrollment, 1,061. Number high
schools, 4; enrollment, 114.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads. 2; railway mileage, exclusive spurs
and sidetracks. 26.99. Number of banks, 6. Number general" stores, 14; confectionery,
etc., 2; groceries and meats, 4; lumber yards, 9; total nunvber merchants, 112. Total
assessed valuation 1922 merchandise, $333,088. Number grain elevators. 11; total ca-
pacity. 292.000 bushels. Number flour mills, 1. Number of lawyers, 10. Number of
physicians, 2.

AGRICULTURE (estimated 1922) — Number farms. 1,200; farm acreage, 336,819;
improved farm acreage, 162,150; irrigated acreage, 1,075; average value all property,
per farm. $11,009. Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 10,295; number sheep, 3,862;-
number horses, 10,582.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — Not available. See Sheridan County.

County Seat. Scobey. Elevation, 2,458 feet. Population County Seat, 1,170.

County Agricultural Agent — Yes.

MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

VALLEY COUNTY

&a

XE of the largest counties of the state in
area, the possihilities of atrricnlture in Val-
ley are just being apiui-hendeil. When they
are fully developed it will rank then, as it
does now, among the leaders in crop and
livt'stock production. It already possesses
a considerable acreage of irrigated land
that is not all in use. and projects undt>r
construction will more than double the
amount under water.

Valley county lies in northeastern Mon-
tana. It stretches from the Canadian
boinidary southward to the Mi.ssouri River
a maximum distance of 1(X> miles and ex-
tends east and west about 05 miles. Aside
from the bottom lands along the Missoiu'i
Ki\er that part of the county north of the
Missouri and .south of the Milk Rivers is
almost all too rough and cut up by badlands
to be adapted to other than stock-i-aising purposes. The irrigated land and that
included in projects under construction lies almost wholly within the Milk River
valley and east of the confluence of the Milk and the Missoiu-i along the latter
stream. Most of the land now irrigated is in the Milk River project of the
U. S. Reclamation Service, ami most of the land to be irrigated is either in the same
project or in the Fort Peck i)roject of the Indian Service. On the north side of
the Milk River valley are rolling uplands that stretch north into Canada. Soil
types vary from silt and clay loams in the bottoms to sandy and gravelly loams
on the uplands.

There is more nt)n-irrigated than irrigated farming. Spring wheat is the
chief crop, with oats. flax, corn and rye next in order. Ah)ng the Missouri River
bottoms, particularly in tlio.se districts remote from the railroad, alfalfa is the
principal crop, which is marketed as seed. Valley is one of the leading seed-
producing counties. Most of the farms in the irrigated districts are large, and
their chief product is "blue joint' hay, a native hay of high nutritive quality.
Alfalfa is also raised. The aci'ea.ge in corn is rapidly expanding and there is a
decided bent at present toward a more diversified system of farming, smaller
irrigated holdings, and more farm livestock. More attention is being given dairy-
ing and a co-operative creamery was established ( 1!)22 1 at Glasgow. The cattle
and sheep range industry continues important. Small flocks of .sheep are found
on some of the farms.

Coal is foinid in some parts of the county and also brick clay. Drilling for
oil is projected.

The main line of the Great Northern follows the Milk River valley through the
county. The non-irrigated districts in the northern part of the county are retarded
in development because of the long haul to the railroad.

Glasgow, the coxuity seat, is the largest town in the county as well as in
northeastern Montana. It has all modern municipal improvements. Other towns
on the railroad are O.swego. Frazer. Nashua and Hinsdale. Glentana is the
largest coninuinity in the northern district.

VALLEY COUNTY — Rank.': fifteenth in population (10,533): seventh in area
(3.240,960 acres): sixth in combined 1922 crop and livestoclv value: nineteenth in bank
deposits, 1922: sixteenth in assessed valuation. 1922. Acres public land, 568,275; acres
state land, 231,454; acres Indian reservations (most of it allotted), 677,836.

NORTH EASTERN MONTANA

123

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value, $2,656,400; estimated live-
stock value. .Taiuiarv. i:iJ3, $2,893,300; total bank deposits, September 15, 1922
$1,954.5;»!'.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation, $26,767,434; total taxable value,
$8,425,702. Total outstanding county bond indebtedness, $63 7,000; total outstanding
county warrant indebtedness, $76,806; total outstanding school bond indebtedness,
$221,979: other school debts, $13,566. Total general and special county taxes, $237,770;
total general and district school taxes, $223,845; total municipal taxes, $3,408; total
state ta-\e.<. $40.S2H: total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $48.02.

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools, 94; enioUment, 2,212. Number high
school-"^. 3; tnriillnii'nt. 222.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads, 1; railway mileage, exclusive spurs
and sidetracks, 76.45. Number of manufactures, 19; average number wage earners, 35;
value of products, $412,614. Number of banks, 15. Number general stores, 31; con-
fectionery, etc., 5; groceries and meats, 16; lumber yards, 12; total number merchants,
205. Total assessed valuation 1922 merchandise, $681,992. Number grain elevators, 17;
total capacity, 407.000 bushels. Number creameries, 1. Number flour mills, 2. Number of
lawvers. 18. Number nf phy.sicians. 9.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census)* — Number farms. 2.169; farm acreage, 1,126,872; im-
proved farm acreage, 344,335; irrigated acreage, 20,800; average value all property, per
farm, $10,386. Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 24,680; number sheep, 59,983;
number horses. 2.5,921: number swine (census), 2.680.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At Glasgow. Elevation. 2,092 feet. Average date last
killing frost in spring. May 21; average date first killing frost in fall, September 17.

An-

Jan. Feb. ^lar. April May June Julv Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. nual

Ave. Prec. .61 .48 .98 .96 2.29 2.57 1.4 1.11 1.05 .67 .50 .55 13.17

Ave. Temp. 8 0 10.8 24.4 44.0 55.2 63.6 70.0 67.9 56.2 43.6 26.8 15.0 40.5

County Seat. Glasgow. Population County Seat, 2,059.

Countv Agricultural Agent — Yes.

*These figures include the territory now in Daniels County.

PHILLIPS COUNTY

A

N ASPIRANT to the di.stinction of having
the largest acreage in 192.3 devoted to corn
of any county in the state, the Phillips
county claim i.s undisputed in the region
lying north of the Missouri River, but the
official figures will be required to deter-
mine the titleholder. A new coimty agri-
culturally. Phillips in the last year or two
has made progress and when its tillable
and irrigated lands are all settled and
farmed it seems destined to be one of the
leading agricultural districts of the state.
It lies in north central Montana, extend-
ing from the Canadian boundary on the
north to the Missouri River on the south,
approximately l(X) miles in length by 50
miles east and west. In the southwestern
corner the Little Rocky Mountains, an
isolated mountain range, ari.se. Soil types
are quite uniform, varying from clay loams along the valley of the :Milk River
which occupies the middle of the county, east and west, to sandy loams on the up-
lands and undulating prairie which stretch northward into (^'anada. Much of the
land in the south half of the county is rolling and broken, especially adapted to
grazing purposes.

Wheat has been the principal ca.sh crop on the non-irrigated, and blue

joint hay on the irrigated lands, but there are many evidences of change in the

crop program. On the non-irrigated lands the increase of acreage

Diversification devoted to corn has been phenomenal. While wheat will prob-

Is Growing ably continue to be the chief cash crop, corn is bringing in hogs

and chickens and turkeys and winter feeding of .she<>p and cattle.

Idaho colonists who recently settled on the irrigated lands in the Milk River valley

124 MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

have j^ono in for divi'r.sifird laniiiiii; that iiiL'kulod small grains, corn, sugar beets
and potatoes. The.v had good success with these crops and indications are the
acreage in sugar beets will be considerably increased the next crop season, perhaps
leading event Tiall.v to the establishment of a sugar beet factory. Much irrigated
land in thi' Milk Jii\er project of the goxcrnment is not being farmetl at all, or is
only devoted to native blue joint hay. Arrangements have been made under which
surplus private holdings are offered at reasonable prices on easy terms. Alfalfa
ranks next to ])lue joint in importance as a forage crop. It is also grown as a
seed crop, and around >Saco. where the (Jrimm variety predominates, a (irimm seed
association has been organized. Potatoes are becoming an important crop in this
county. At the Pacific Northwest Potato Show in 1922, in competition with grow-
ers from seven states, I'hillips county took first on Irish cobblers. Seed from Phil-
lips county was included in the Montaiui potatoes that scored highest in conixie-
tlon with seed from luiiiiy other states in a test conducted by the Louisiana Ex-
periment station. A noted pastoral region in the old days, stock growing, in
value of products, is still dominant and in the southern part of the comity is
conducted on a large-scale range basis.

For many years gold and silver mining has l)een carried on in the Little
Rocky Mountains, and Phillips county has been an important producer. A re-
vival of the industry there was noted in 102;!. There are extensive lignite coal
fields in the county, and near the Little Rockies, one of the larger oil companies
is drilling for oil.

The main line of the Great Northern follows the course of the Milk River
through the county and is i)aralleled l»y the Roosevelt Memorial highway. A sec-
ondary highway from Lewistown enters the county on the south and runs to Malta.
A secondary highway runs from Malta into Canada connecting with a
road to Moose Jaw.

INIalta, the county seat, is the largest town and principal trading center. Saco
is a distributing point in the east end of the county, and Zortman, in the south-
western district, for the Little Rockies region.

Lake Bowdoin, east of Malta, is one of the finest duck hunting regions in the
west. The Little Rockies region is rich in romance, dating from the days of the fur
trader and the Indian down to the time when the "•Kid" Curry outlaw gang made
its headquarters there.

PHILLIPS COUNTY — Ranks nineteenth in population (9.311); third in area
(3,313,920 aci'es) ; eleventli in combined 1922 crop and livestock value; twenty-cig-htli in
bank deposits, 1922; twenty-sixth in assessed valuation, 1922. Acres public land, 662,504;
acres state land, 171,886; acres national forests, 28,317; acres unallotted Indian reserva-
tions, 121,317.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value, $1,715,000; estimated live-
stock value, .January, 1923. $2,628,000: total bank deposits, September 15, 1922, $1,157,268.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation, $21,392,602; total taxable value.
$6,755,954. Total outstanding county bond indebtedness, $581,500; total outstanding
county warrant indebtedness, $58,295; total outstanding school bond indebtedness,
$311,104; other school debts, $4,111. Total general and special county taxes, $206,880;
total general and district scliool taxes, $185,851; total municipal taxes, $17,261; total state
taxes, $32,925; total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $47.56.

EDUCATIONAL — Numl)er graded schools, 105; enrollment, 1,810. Number high
schools, 4; enrollment, 171.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads, 1; railway mileage, exclusive of
spurs and sidetracks, 52.24. Number of manufactures, 13; average number wage earners,
98; value of products, $203,229. Number of banks, 7. Numbei- general stores, 24; con-
fectionery, etc., 9; groceries and meats, 17; lumber yards 8; total number merchants, 144.
Total assessed valuation 1922 merchandise, $362,880. Number grain elevators, 14; total
capacity, 348,000 bushels. Number creameries, 1. Number flour mills, 1. Number saw
mills, 1. Number lawyers, 12. Number of physicians, 5.

AGRICULTURAL (1920 census) — Number farms. 1,914; farm acreage, 1,084,725; im-
proved farm acreage, 227,811: irrigated acreage, 28,047; average value all property, per
farm, $11,249. Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 24,626; number sheep, 58,901;
number horses, 20,065; numlici- swine (census), 1,735.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At Malta. Elevation, 2,250 feet. Average date last
killing frost in spring, May 21; average date first killing frost in fall, September 25.

An-

Jan. Feb. Mar. April May June .July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. nual

Aver. Prec. .58 .43 .43 .69 2.22 3.57 1.85 1.23 1.24 .55 .40 .39 13.58

Aver. Temp. 8.6 12.6 26.2 44.2 54.0 63.8 69.8 67.9 56.8 44.4 29.6 15.3 41.1

County Seat, Malta. Population County Seat, 1,427.

County Agricultural Agent — Yes.

I NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA

^

Farming, Stockraising, Oil and Coal Production Are the Chief Industries — Eastern

Half of the Qlacier 'National Park on Western Border —

Most of the Area in Plains Region.

IiK-liulinsr within its area the eastern half of the Glacier National Park the
North Central ilistrict stretches far eastward. Most of it is included within the
plains region, but the western part and some isolated mountain ranges belong to
the eastern slopes region. Blaine, Hill, Choteau. Liberty, Teton, Pondera, Toole
and Glacier counties are in it.

The only irrigated district of any size in the eastern part is in the Milk
River valley. There is considerable irrigated land in the western part, and the
reclamation of more is projected. Non-irrigated farming ijredominates. Moisture
has been the chief factor limiting crop production. Livestock is a more important
source of wealth than crops. The district is new in a farming sense, however,
and a type best adapted to it is being evolved. More settlers and smaller farm
units are a need of most of the irrigated regions. Areas in the western and
southern parts are naturally adapted to stockgrowing.

Spring wheat is the principal cash crop, in which the district ranks third.
It leads in rye, and ranks well forward in hay. both tame and wild. Good results
have been had with corn, except at the higher altitudes near the mountains.

Ciial is mined commercially in Hill and Choteau counties. More drilling for
oil and gas is probably being done in this than in any other part of the state.
Gas in large quantities has been found in half a dozen districts, but the only
commercial oil field up to the present (1923) is the Kevin-Sunburst in Toole county.

The elevation of the tillable areas range from 2.9(X) to .3.000 feet. The highest
altitudes are upwards of 10,000 feet in the Glacier National Park. The gi'owing
season is more than four months in the eastern part and about three months and
a half in the western.

BLAINE COUNTY

APID strides in an agricultural way are be-
ing made in Blaine county through diversi-
fied farming, irrigated land and co-opera-
tion. It offers good opportunities to the
settler. It ranks fourth in combined 1022
crop and livestock value and boasts of more
pure-bred hogs than any other county. Its
principal commodities are cattle, grain,
sheep, coal, hogs, wool, horses, hides and
bay. Construction is under way for the
reclamation of an additional 23.000 acres
of land, the work to be completed in Octo-
ber, 1!I24.

Located in north central Montana with
its northern boundary adjoining Canada,
Blaine county is approximately 75 miles
long, north and south, and 45 miles wide,
east and west. The Bear Paw mountains
cross the central and southern parts of the
county, making this region principally grazing land. The Fort Belknap Indian

125

126 M(^NTANA : INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

reservation Dicupics the suiUliwe.stern part of the couiily. Soil types vary from
chocolate loam to the heavier clay loams on the bottom lands adjacent to the
Millv River valley, Mhich rvnis east and west throusjli the central part.

In the early days this region was one of the important ranjie districts, the
sontliern part of the county lieiny settled hy ranclinien who ran both sheep and
cattle, .yrazinj; them tliron.^h tlie norllierii i)art of the county
An 01(1 and into Canada. With its settlement al)out 1910, all the north-

Ranjje District ern district was relincpiished by the stockmen and is now
devoted to uon-irri.i;ate<l farmintr. as is the area south of the
^Iill< River valley, extendiuc: to the foothills of the Bear Paw mountains. The
southern part is still almost wholly devoted to stock raisint;'. the valleys in the
Bear Paws being fertile and producing plenty of feed to maintain large herds of
both sheep and cattle. Small private iri-igation plants are scattered through the
northern region and the bottom lands of the Milk River valley and are prac-
tically all imder irrigation through the oruanization of private irrigation projects
between Chinook and Harlem. Water is secured from the government Milk River
reclanmtion project and covers the bottom lands of the lower Milk River valley.
These irrigated areas in Blaine county probably offer as cheap irrigated land
as are to be had in the state. Alfalfa, blue joint and tinKtthy are the leading
feed crops grown in the irrigated areas, with oats, barley, wheat and corn the
leading cereals. Considerable development work is being done with sugar beets,
and it is probable that this crop will be added to the list of those gi-own on the
irrigated lands. A big increase in corn acreage on both non-irrigated and irri-
gated lands has taken place in recent years and this crop now has taken a
prominent place in rotations.

The Blaine County Marketing Association and the Purebred Swine Growers'
Associations are among the most flourisliing co-operative associations in the
state. More than usual interest is being taken in swine and
Co-operative poultry raising.

Marketing The main line of the Great Northern runs through the

heart of the county, and is paralleled by the Roosevelt
Memorial highway. Chinook, the county seat, and Harlem are the most important
towns. Both are modern and up to date. Many farm families move in from outlying
districts during the winter months to give their children the modern school ad-
vantages that are available. Other towns and trading centers are Coburg. Zurich.
Savoy and Lohman.

The Battle of the Bear Paws where, October 5, 1S77, Chief Joseph surrendered
to General Nelson A. Miles, was fought in the southwestern part of
Blaine county. It brought to an end an Indian journey which, for rapidity,
resourcefulness and daring, military experts say is comparable to Hannibal's
passage across the Alps. Relics of the fight are iniearthed from time to time.

Blaine county has extensive deposits of lignite coal. It also has clay deposits
suitalile for brick making.

BLAINE COUNTY — ^Ranks twenty-secdnd In population (9.057): ninth in area
(■2.706.560 aires); fourth in comliined 1922 r-rop and livestock value; nineteenth in 1920
mineral production; twenty-fifth in bank deposits, 1922; twenty-second in assessed val-
uation, 1922. Acres public land, 205,040; acres state land, 156,459; acres Indian and
other reseivations, 501,601.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value. $1,715,000; estimated live-
stock value. .Tanuarv, 1923. $3,829,200; coal production, 1920, $42,000; 1921 lumber cut,
500 M feet; total bank deposits, September 15, 1922, $1,248,653.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation, $22,515,412; total taxable value,
$7,122,510. Total outstanding' county bond indebtedness, no data; total outstanding
county warrant indebtedness, no data; total outstanding- school bond indebtedness,
$137,388; other school debts. $24. Total general and special county taxes, $189,721;
total general and district school taxes, $156,173; total municipal taxes, $36,701; total
state taxes, $35,451; total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $46.15.

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools, 83; enrollment, 1,613. Number high
schools, 3; enrollment, 240.

XOKTH CENTRAL :M0NTAXA

127

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads, 1; railway mileage, exclusive spurs
and sidetracks, 55.34. Number iif manufactui'es, 10; averase number wage earners, 14;
value of products, $163,011. Number of banks, 10. Number general stores, 21; con-
fectionery, etc., 4; groceries and meats. 13; luml)er yards, 5; total number mercbants,
133. Total assessed valuation l!t2L' niercliandise, $498,467. Number giain elevators, 13;
total capacity, 313,000 bushels. Numlier creameries, 1. Number flour mills, 2. Number
saw mills, 1. Number nf la\\\ers, 10. Num:ber of physicians, 5.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Number farms, 1,761; farm acreage, 1,150,056; im-
proved fartn aci'eage, 291.43]; irrigated acrca.i;*-. 59.119: average value all propcrtx-, per
farm, $13,103. I^ivestock assessed 1922 — numl)er cattle, 36,549; number sheep, 105,642;
number luirses. 17.832: numlier swine (census), 1,677.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At Chinook. Elevation,
killing fi-ost in spring, May 14; average date first killing

2,502 feet. Average date last
frost in fall, September 18.

Jan. Feb. Mar. April May June
Ave. Prec. .63 .37 .43 .76 2.09 2.56
Ave. Temp. 14.1 15.9 26.0 44.1 54.4 63.5

County Seat, Chinook. Population County
County Agricultural Agent — Yes.

An-

July

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

nual

1.41

1.16

1.36

.70

.51

.46

12.44

70.0

67.1

56.0

45.3

30.1

20.2

42.2

Seat,

1,217.

HILL COUNTY

CJRICl'LTURALLY. one of the newer counties
of the state. Hill county, in nortli central
JNlontana, is just beginning to find the most
successful farming methods that are adapted
to the region. The era of settlement Avas about
1910. and, as is true of all new regions, the
one-crop system has predominated but diver-
sification is making progress. Non-irrigated
farming is followed almost exclusively.
A project for the reclamation of 200.000
acres in the southern part of the county
is projected. One of the first commer-
cial natural gas developments in Montana
was at Havre in this county. Consider-
able interest is being evinced in oil pros-
pects. Coal mining is the most important
industr.v aside from farming and stock
raising. In 1922 there were 10 coal mines
operated with an output of 50,000 to
55,000 tons, valued at approximately $25,000.

The International boundary is the northern line of the county which is about
sixty miles in length and width. The southeastern corner extends into the
Bearpaw mountains where the Rocky Boy Indian Agency is located. Fort Assin-
niboine, near Havre, for many years an important frontier post, is now the
Northern Montana Agricultural Experiment Station. Except in the vicinity of
the Bear Paw moinitains, most of the surface consists of rolling prairies and
bench lands. A fertile sandy loam is the prevailing soil type, on which blowing
sometimes causes trouble.

In the old range days Hill county was an important livestock region, and it
seems strange little attention is given stock now, but this can be accounted for be-
cause the district is new, in a farming sense, and the one-crop
system has prevailed. Moistiu-e is the controlling factor in
crop production and safe farming calls for special methods to
conserve it. Acclimated varieties of corn do well here and
furnish forage for livestock. The most successful farmers have been those
handling large acreages — .300 to 500 acres cropped each year — with a miniminn of
hired labor, through the use of ten to twelve horse one-man outfits, and who, in
addition, raise most of their own farm and livestock living. Shelter belt plant-

All Farmuig
Now

128 MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

ings by a few farmers on the non-irrisated treeless prairies have demonstrated
that every farm where the owner takes the interest can have a j^rove of trees. The
initial photoijraph shows what can be done. Sprinj; wheat, oats and flax are the
chief crops. The acreage in corn is increasing. There is some commercial pro-
duction of potatoes.

Coal and natural gas are the principal mineral products, although there has
been some commercial utilization of clay beds for brick and of sandstone for
building purposes.

The winter climate of this region is much warmer than the minimum extremes
occasionally recorded at Havre would indicate. Records of the V. S. Weather
Bureau show that the mean January temperature of
The Winter Havre is 13..5 degrees, compared with 10.4 degrees at Duluth,
Climate Minnesota, or ll.G degrees at St. Paul, or 0.3 degrees at

Devil's Lake, North Dakota. It should also be remembered
that the Montana climate is exceedingly dry, making extreme minimum tempera-
tures much more bearable than higher temperatures in more humid regions.

The main line of the Great Northern crosses the county east and west, and
at Havre the Butte branch runs southwesterly through the county. The Roosevelt
Memorial Highway follows the main line of the railroad.

Havre, the county seat, is the largest town and modern in all respects. It
is a railroad division point and shops are maintained there. Rudyard. Hingham,
Gildford and Kremlin, on the main line, and Box Elder on the Butte branch, serve
important farming areas.

Attractive scenically, the Bearpaw mountains are of historic interest dating
from the days of the trappers to those of Indian warfare. The region is becoming
a recreational center for northern Montana. Picturesque l)adlands are a feature
of the Milk River, which enters this county from Canada and then turns eastward.

HILL COUNTY — Ranks eleventh in population (13,958): eig-hteenth in area
(1,850,880 acres); thirty-second in combined 1922 crop and livestock value; seventeenth
in 1920 mineial production; twenty-second in bank deposits, 1922; tenth in assessed
valuation, 1922. Acres public land, 42,760; acres state land, 117,599; acres Indian res-
ervation (all unallotted), 39,040.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value, $1,672,300; estimated live-
stock value, .Tanuary, Ut23, $1,336,000; coal production, 1920, $65,000; total bank de-
posits, September 1.5. 1922, $1,515,516.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation. $33,313,564; total taxable value,
$10,412,861. Total outstanding county bond indebtedness. $1,092,000; total outstanding
county warrant indebtedness, $5,629; total outstanding school bond indebtedness, $438,313;
other school debts, $33,265. Total general and special county taxes, $237,481; total
g-eneral and district school taxes, $260,542; total municipal taxes, $59,375; total state
taxes, $48,737; total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $43.42.

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools, 84; enrollment, 2,268. Number high
schools, 8; enmllment, 400.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads, 1; railway mileage, exclusive spurs
and sidetracks. 81.16. Number uf manufactures, 25; average number wage earners, 414;
value of products, $1,060,142. Number of banks, 13. Number general stores, 22; confec-
tionery, etc., 7; groceries and meats, 33; lumber yards, 8; total number merchants, 253.
Total assessed valuation 1922 merchandise, $847,955. Number grain elevators, 27;
total capacity. 906.000 bushels Niunber i reameries, 1. Number flour mills, 3. Number
of lawyers. 29. Number of physicians, 13.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Number farms 2,257; farm acreage, 1,107,399; im-
proved farm acreage, 491,358: irrigated acreage, 2,528; average value all propertv per
farm. $12,005. Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 12,863; number sheep, 10,552;
number horses, 14.032; number swine (census), 1,772.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — uA.t Havre. Elevation, 2,505 feet. Average date last
killing frost in spring, May 16; average date first killing frost in fall, September 19.

An-
Jan. Feb. Mar. April Mav June Julv Aug.
Ave. Prec. .78 .51 .53 .90 1.90 2.74 1.81 1.20
Ave. Temp. 12.5 13.8 27.0 43.7 53.1 61.5 68.0 66.0
County Seat, Havre. Population county seat, 5,429.
County Agricultural Agent — ^No.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

nual

1.27

.69

.63

.58

13.54

55.8

44.2

30.2

21.0

41.4

NORTH CENTRAL :\IONTANA

129

CHOUTEAU COUNTY

H

EADQUARTERS for the fur trade of the
Upper Missouri in early days, after 1860
the head of river navigation and an im-
portant supply point in territorial times,
later still a stockman's paradise in the
open range era, Chouteau county at present
is treadiiii; along diverse paths — livestock
and mixed farming in some districts, big
scale farming in other districts, and in still
others the development of big natural gas
wells and energetic drilling for oil. Farm-
ing and stoelc raising, at present, are the
chief industries.

Chouteau comity lies in north central

Montana, with an extreme width east and

west of 87 miles and a maximum length of

GO miles. The northeast coi'ner extends

into the Bearpaw mountains and the High-

Avood mountains form the south central

border. The Missouri River enters at the southwest, and after being joined by

the Teton and Marias Rivers, near the center of the coimty, makes a big bend

to the southeast.

Stock raising was first undertaken in what Is now Montana between 1832-3-1
at Fort McKenzie, situated on the left bank of the jNIissouri River six miles
above the mouth of the Marias. Alexander Culbertson, in
charge of the post, writes they had 30 to 40 horses, 10 or 12
cattle, a number of hogs, ''and one of the most splendid Durham
bulls that can be found in the United States*'. Culbertson was
a generation ahead of the times, and it was not until the early seventies that
the range industry became established, flourishing until the settlers came in
between 1900 and 1910. It is found today only in the mountainous districts.
Little attention is as yet being given by the farmers on non-irrigated lands to
livestock. Soil types vary, but in the main are fertile and suitable for farming.
Some soil blowing occurs on the lighter soils when improperly handled. The
topography is favorable to large scale farming, consisting mostl.v of broad bench-
lands with little rou,gh or broken lands. Moisture is a limiting factor in crop
production, necessitating, for successful farming, special methods of intensive
moisture conservation. Successful farmers are replacin.g the one-crop system com-
mon to all new countries with diversified methods, the handling of maximum acre-
ages at a minimum of cost and outside labor, and the growing of feed for live-
stock. Corn is rapidly becoming one of the main crops.

There is a small acreage along the three rivers that is being irrigated
through the use of water wheels and electricall.v actuated pumps. It is asserted
the costs are considerably lower than on most irrigation pr().iects. Additional large
acreages are su.sceptible of irrigation by this method. In the western part of
the county a large tract of land is included in a propo.sed extension of the
Sim River project of the U. S. Reclamation Service. There has been some
slight utilization by individual farmers of floodwaters now going to waste. Thou-
sands of acres in this county could be given one soaking floodwater irrigation
which oftentimes woidd be sufficient ot insui-e a crop. An irrigation district for
the reclamation of 50,000 acres in the northern part of the county and 200,000
acres in Hill county is projected.

Early Day
Stock Raising

130

MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

Coal lias hot'ii iniiicil on a small scale in tho fuiinty for many years. Near
the eastern boundary, while drillinj; for oil in 1923, a flow of natural gas esti-
mated at o.tMMJ.CMX) cubic feet was encountered. Drilling for oil

Coal and is under way at several other places in the county. Eastern

Gas capital lias liecouie interested in a project for the recoverj- of

sodium cry.stals from lake beds near Montague.

The Havre-Butte branch of the Great Northern runs northea.sterly through
the central part of the county. The Lewistown-(Jreat Falls branch of the Chi-
cago. Milwaukee and St. Paul makes a loop through the southeastern district.

Fort Benton, the county seat, established as a trading post in 1,S4(J. is the oldest
town in Montana east of the main range. F^roni 18(50 to 1,SS(» steamers plied on
the Mis.souri between there and St. Louis. With the passing of river navigation
its importance declined but when the farming era began its central location made
it again a trading and distributing point. Big Sand.v is the principal town and
trading center in the northern part and (leraldlne in the southeastern area of
the county.

CHOUTEAU COUNTY — Ranks fourteenth in population (11.051): tenth in area
(2,532,480 acres); sixteentli in combined 1922 crop and livestock value; twenty-third in
1920 mineral production; seventeenth in bank deposits. 1922; ninth in assessed valua-
tion. 1922. Acres public land, 88,518; acres state land, 182,571; acres national forests,
29,697; acres Indian reservations (unallotted), 15,480.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value, $1,359,000; estimated live-
stock value, .January, 1923, $2,509,500; coal production, 1920, $16,200; total bank de-
posits, September 15. 1922. $2,072,753.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation, $33,989,001; total taxable value,
$10,756,090. Total outstanding- county bond indebtedness, $1,097,000: total outstanding
count.v wari'ant indebtedness. $16,068; total outstanding school bond indebtedness,
$160,452: other school debts, $42,219. Total general and special county taxes, $210,101;
total general and district school taxes, $281,770; total municipal taxes, $22,334; total
state taxes, $51,208; total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $51.16.

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools, 121; enrollment, 2,325. Number high
schools. 6: enrollment. 344.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads, 2: railway mileage, exclusive spurs
and sidetracks, 138.63. Number of manufactures, 10; average number wage earners,
12; value of products, $140,252. Number of banks, 15. Number general stores, 28: con-
fectionery, etc.. 6; groceries and meats, 12: lumber yards, 10: total number merchants,
207. Total assessed valuation 1922 merchandise. $755,966. Number grain elevators. 35;
total capacity, 828.000 bushels. Number flour mills, 2. Number of lawyers, 14. Num-
ber of physicians. 5.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Number farms, 2.573; farm acreage, 1,508,898; im-
proved farm acreage. 599.542; irrigated acreage, 6,029; average value all property per
farm. $16,326. Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 25,890; number sheep, 39,856;
number horses. 17,693: number swine (census), 3,246.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At Fort Benton. Elevation, 2,565 feet. Average date
last killiim- frost in spring. :Mav 11; average date first killing frost in fall, September 23.

An-

.lan. Feb. Mar. April Mav .Tune .lulv Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. nual

Ave. Free. .74 .45 .57 1.15 2.67 2.44 1.59 1.00 1.10 .64 .54 .55 13.44

Ave. Temp. 18.4 22.2 31.0 45.1 55.0 63.0 69.4 67.3 56.7 46.5 31.9 23.4 44.2

County Seat, Fort Benton. Population County Seat, 1,065.

County Agricultural Agent — Yes.

NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA

131

TETON COUNTY

-\';3j;T^a'--sr»ia»ai"::«^'*'**^..^j-'?^.c*?,'.!8

OR iiiaiiy yciirs one of the loadiii!,' livestock
reiiions of Montana, stock raising still con-
tinues tlu> (louiinant industry in Teton coun-
ty, tliouiih a.iii-iculture is not far behind.
When the agricultural areas are developed
and the Irrigated and irrigable lands come
into production, agriculture will easily be
in the lead. The western part, however,
will proliably always continue to be de-
\()ted to stock raising.

Teton county lies in north central ilon-
tana. extending eastward from the crest of
the continental divide a distance of 70
miles, and from the North Fork of the
Sun Ri\er which defines its southern
boundary northward about 40 miles. The
eastern two-thirds of the county is com-
posed of broad valleys and rolling bench
lands, of an average elevation of 3,500 to
4.000 feet. Steep rugged mountains occupy most of the area of the western third.
The Teton and Sun Rivers and Willow and Muddy Creeks are the principal
.streams, whose waters are gathered from numerous mountain tributaries.

Both irrigated and non-in-igated farming is followed, with spring wheat as
the chief crop in acreage and value, followed liy wild hay, oats, tame hay and
flax. Much land in the county is irrigated, but some is not being used. Projects
under construction and contemplated will reclaim an additional 70,0(X) to 170.000
acres. When all the irrigable land is reclaimed, it will be one of the best
watered comities in the state. While the acreage in wild hay greatly exceeds that
of tame hay. more areas are being seeded on the irrigation projects each year
to alfalfa. In some of the non-irrigated districts there are opportunities for
flood-water irrigation by diversion from coulees and spring freshets over the land.
The best known non-irrigated district is the Porter bench which has never had an
entire crop failure. Other non-irrigated districts are the Teton Ridge, East
Button, Power and Bole. Some lands lying along the foothills of the Rockies,
rocky and rolling in character, were farmed during the height of the land set-
tlement movement in Montana, but are gradually going back to range purposes.
Agriculturally, this county is just getting under way. The main reliance has been
wheat, on both the irrigated and the non-irrigated lands, but a trend toward
diversification is noticeable. Though on a small scale, commercial potato pro-
duction has been successful, and dairy cattle and hogs are beginning to appear
in the irrigated districts where alfalfa is expanding.

Coal is found at a few places in the coiuity, and drilling for oil is actively
under way (1})2.'V) at a numlier of plac(>s. Some good-sized flows of natural gas
were struck, but cased off so drilling for oil could be continued.

The central and eastern portions of the county enjoy excellent railway fa-
cilities. The Shelby-Creat Falls line of the Great Northern, which is used by the
coast trains of the Burlington, and the (ireat Northern trains to Sweet Grass, on the
International border, traverse tlie eastern third of the county. A branch line from
Power, ruiniing east and iiortli, serves the central district. A branch line of the
Chicago, Milwaukee & St. I'aul, out of (Jreat Falls, also taps the central part.

Founded during the days of. the range herds and the Indian tnider, Choteau,
the count.v seat, near the geographical center of the (•ount,v. is the largest town

132

MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

and chief distrilnitint; and supply point. It has all modern nuinicipal improve-
ments. Diitton, Collins and Power, in the eastern district, Fairfield and Asawam.
on the Milwaukee, and Boyle, Bynum and Pendroy, on the Great Northern, in
the central district, are shipping points.

The western part of the comity is noted for its scenery, fishing and big
game hunting. The best hunting regions are accessible only by pack outfits.

TETON COUNTY — Rank.s thirty-second in population (5,870); thirty-first in area
(1,430,400 acres): tiiiriy-t'iflh in combined 1922 crop and livestock value; thirty-ninth
in bank deposits, 1922; twenty-thiid in assessed valuation, 1922. Acres public land,
37,882; acres state land, 81,135; acres national forests, 249,896.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Kstimated 1922 crop value, $1,275,000; estimated live-
stock value, Jaiuiaiy, i;r':i. $1,382,500; 1921 lumber cut, 134 M feet; total bank deposits,
SeptemtuT 15, 1922. $771,473.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation, $22,297,947; total taxable value,
$6,897,454. Total outstanding county bond indebtedness, $698,334; total outstanding
countv warrant indebtedness, $25,175; tntal outstanding school bond indebtedness,
$257.6"54; other school debts, $13,194. Total general and special county taxes, $230,673;
total general and district school taxes, $150,359; total municipal taxes, $18,316; total
state taxes. •'?32.749: total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $73.61.

EDUCATIONAL — Numbei- graded schools, 71; enrollment, 1,264. Number high
schools, ?r. cnrollnu-nt, 218.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads, 2; railway mileage, exclusive spurs
and sidetracks, 116.26. Nunilier of manufactures, 9; average number wage earners,
147; value of products, .'i:283.S26. Number of banks, 9. Number general stores, 19;
confectionery, etc., 2; groceries and meats, 6: lumber yards, 7; total number merchants,
132. Total assessed valuation 1922 merchandise, $529,961. Number grain elevators, 26;
total capacity, 774,000 bushels. Number creameries, l. Number flour mills, 1. Number
saw mills, 2. Number of lawyers. 8. Number of physicians, 7.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Number farms. 1,135; farm acreage, 613,506; im-
proved farm acreage. 234,833; irrigated acreage, 55,433; average value all propertv, per
farm, $17,846. Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 16,331; number sheep, 25,834;
number horses. 9,038; number swine (census), 2,002.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — AT Choteau. Elevation, 3,815 feet. Average date last
killing frost in spring, Mav 25; average date first killing frost in fall, September 14.

An-
Jan. Peb. ^lar. April Mav June July Aug.
Ave. Prec. .77 .55 .47 .76 2. 3.2 1.85 .96

Ave. Temp. 23.1 22.8 34.0 41.1 48.9 57.8 64.9 62.1

County Seat, Choteau. Population County Seat, 1,043.

County Agricultural Agent — Yes.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

.94

.47

.42

.55

12.94

54.3

44.5

33.4

28.4

42.9

PONDERA COUNTY

>-<^

clay loam to a sandy loiini,
sandstone or gravel. The
elevation.

NE of the more recently settled districts of
Montana, Pondera county, in the north
central part of the state, is beginning to
find the methods and crop systems best
adapted to agriciUture, which is its most
important industry, and the one capable
of the greatest expansion. The western
third of the county is mountainous and
broken and adapted to livestock production,
the middle portion is the irrigated district
and the eastern third is c'evoted chiefly to
non-irrigated farming.

The continental divide of the Rocky

Motnitains marks the western boundary and

the county stretches eastward about 75

miles. The ^larias River defines part of

its northern boundary from which it ex-

^^^ tends south 25 miles. Soil types are fairly

uniform, ranging from a chocolate-brown

from five to eight feet in depth and imderlain with

agricultural areas range from 3,800 to 4,500 feet

NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA 133

Stock raisiiij; for many years was the Icailiiiu industry, but with the sottlumeut
of the lands in the eastern part of the ((nuity and the huiUlinii of a large Carey
irrifration iirojcct in the middle part, was restricted to the
Much Irrisated rousiht'r lands and the national forest areas in the western dis-
Laiid triet. \N'att'r is available for jdiout li2r).(t(i<( acres of land in the

Care.v project of the X'alier [Montana Land and Water Company,
but considerable of it has not yet been settled. The irriiiated district is well
adapted to all types of farming and there is a stronj; tendency at present toward
diversification and 80-aci-e farms, with dairying;, swine and poultry raisins impor-
tant enterprises. Four pure-bred dairy bull associations were formed in the county
in 1023 and nian.v hiiih-srade (}uernse,v and Hcdstein cows have been .shipped in.
In 1922 the county shipped ."i.OOO head of turkeys. A (urkey growers' association
has been formed.

Wheat, oats and liarU'y are the principal grain crops in both the irrigated and
non-irrigated districts. Alfalfa is the chief forage crop on irrigated lands. Farm-
ers on non-irrigated lands in the lower altitndes are turning to corn as a feed
crop. Moisture is the controlling factor of crop production in the non-irrigated
districts east of the Great Northern line.

Coal exists in the comity and at several places drilling for oil is being done.

The Billing.s-Shelby line of the Great Northern, used by the through coast
trains of the Burlingtoji. runs north across the eastern part of the county. An
independent railroad runs northwesterl,v from Conrad to Valier, serving the irri-
gated district. Pendroy. in Teton county, a few miles from the southern bound-
ary, is the terminus of a (ireat Northern branch which serves the southwestern
part of Pondera county. The main highway of the eastern Park-to-Park I'oiite
crosses the western part of the county and there are other north and south high-
ways direct to Great Falls, Shelby and Choteau.

Conrad, in the eastern district, is the comity seat and the largest community.
It has all modern municipal improvements and is substantially built. It is the
shipping and distributing center of a large area. "Valier. in the heart of the
irrigated district, is the second largest town and has modern improvements. At
Williams, lying between Valier and Conrad, is a modern creamer.v whose products
are in demand on Montana markets. Brady and Fowler, in the non-irrigated dis-
tricts, and Dupuyer, in the stock-raising region, are trade center.s.

Fishing and hunting are enjoyed in the moimtains in the western part of the
county. Near Dupuyer, on Birch Creek, the highest rock filled dam in the
United States has been built, to store irrigation water.

PONDERA COUNTY — Ranks thirty-third in population (5,741); twenty-ninth in area
(1.061,120 acres); twenty-nintli in combined 1922 crop and livestock value; twenty-sec-
ond in 1920 mineral production; twenty-ninth in bank deposits, 1922; thirty-ninth in
assessed valution, 1922. Acres public land, 8,702; acres state land, 43,930; acres national
forests. 121,616; acres Indian reservations (partially patented), 162.213.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value, $1,796,800; estimated live-
stock value, .lanuary, 1923, $1,270,400; coal production, 1920, $18,000; total bank deposits,
September 15, 1922. $1,130,256.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation. $16,565,215; total taxable value,
$5,152,565. Total outstanding county bond indebtedness, $544,000; total outstanding
county warrant indebtedness, $24,051; total outstanding school bond indebtedness,
$151,767; other school debt.s, $3,876. Total general and special county taxes. $84,736;
total general and district school taxes, $129,717; total municipal taxes, $20,087; total
state taxes. $24,620; total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $45.14.

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools, 56; enrollment, 1,181. Number high
schools, 3; enrollment, 200.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Xmnber of railroads, 2; railway mileage, exclusive of
spurs and .sidetracks. 56.60. Number of manufactures, 7; average number wage earners,
4; value of products, $40,488. Number of banks. 8. Number general stores. 16; confec-
tionery, etc., 2; groceries and meats, 4; lumber yards. 8; total numlier mercbants, 116.
Total assessed valuation 1922 merchandise, $531,651. Number grain elevators, 19; total
capacity, 531,000 bushels. Number creameries, 1. Number of lawyers, 10. Number of
physicians, 6.

134

MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Xo. farms, 1,060; farm acreage, 629,995; improved
farm acreage, 266,150; irrigated acreage. 55,754; average value all property, per farm,
$19,376. Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 12.510; number sheep, 13.110; number
horses. 0.186; number swine (census), 1.908.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At Valier. Elevation. 3,825 feet. Average date last
killing frost in spring, May 21; average date first killing frost in fall, September 28.

An-

Jan. Feb. Mar. April May .Tune July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. nual

Aver. Prec. .35 .22 .25 .67 1.61 2.18 1.65 1.43 1.63 .78 .21 .38 11.36

Aver. Temp. 17.5 20.4 28.1 42.5 49.8 58.7 64.8 63.9 53.6 43.1 33.1 21.9 41.4

County Seat, Conrad. Population County Seat, 988.

County Agricultural Agent — Yes.

LIBERTY COUNTY

f

0

NE of the smallest counties in the state in
area and itnpnlatiiui. Lihi-rty county has
been devoted almost wholly to stock rai.siug
and non-irrigated farminir. but in recent
months larse SJis flows have lieeii foiuid
and the indiciitions are ccmsidered promis-
in.c; for the brinjiin.i: in of commercial oil
wells. Pipinu of jjas from the Liberty
county field for hou.sehold and industrial
ust's in Great Falls is projected.

It lies in north central Montana, about

20 miles wide east and west, and .>o miles

lona: nordi and south, reaching: to the

^^^ "^t-"'lf'» » International I)oundary line. Mo.st of its

'■HHMlK''JB^ surface consists of rollinir prairie and l>ench

land.><. except in the northwestern (piarter,
where the Sweet Grass hills lie. The
Marias River flows easterly through the
southern part of the county, and the only
other stream of consequence is Cottonwood Creek, which rises in the Sweet
Grass hills and flows in a southerly direction until it empties into the Marias.

Thirty and forty years ago the region \\as all public ran.ge and a stock
country. During the past fifteen years many .settlers have come in and the
range has disappeared.

Save for certain areas of unglaciated soils in the western part of the county,
soil types are fairly uniform, ranging from sandy to clay and heavy clay loams.
All of them require special care in handling to prevent soil blowing. Special till-
age methods must l)e practiced to insure moisture conservation. The controlling
factor of crop production is moisture The one-crop sytsem of farming pravails
and wheat is the princi])iil crop. The most successful fanners are those who
handle lar.ge acreages, 200 to .')00 acres of crop each year, with a minimum of
hired labor through the use of large team one-inan outfits, and who. in addition,
I'aise their livestock feed and family living. Sheep growing is the most im-
portant phase of the livestock industry.

^Mining operations on a small scale have intermittently l>een carried on in

the Sweet Grass hills and small quantities of gold, silver, lead and copper have

been recovered. Coal and marl>le also are found in the county.

^luoh The most notable mineral development was the discovery in

Natural Gas l!>2o of natural gas in large iiuantities. Considerable drilling

for oil is being done.

The main line of the Great Northern crosses the county east and west and

is paralleled by the Roo.-evelt highway. There is a direct highway from the south

betv.een Chester and Fort Benton.

NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA

135

Chester, the county seat, is the larsost coinmuuity and the principal trading
point. Grain elevators are located at Chester. .Toplin. Tiber and Lothair, on the
railroad. There are a numhcr of inland trading points.

The Sweet Grass hills and the region along the Marias were the locale of
many thrilling scenes during the time of the fur-traders and in early territorial
days.

LIBERTY COUNTY — Ranks fifty-third in population (2.416) fortv-tliird in area
(928,640 acres): fiftieth in combined 1922 crop and livestock value: forty-eighth in bank
deposits, 1922: forty-eig-hth in assessed valuation, 1922. Acres public land, 20,760; acres
state land, 88,415.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value, $334,800; estimated livestock
value. January, Ht23. $495,800: total bank deposits, September 15, 1922, $282 154

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation, $10,525,465; total taxable value,
$3,313,685. Total outstanding county bond indebtedness, $52,000; total outstanding
county warrant indebtedness, $186,004: total outstanding- school bond indebtedness,
$81,048; other school debts, $397. Total general and special county taxes, $94,370;
total general and district school taxes, $74,839; total municipal taxes, $3,951; total state
taxes, $15,563; total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $78.11.

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools, 48; enrollment, 544. Number high schools,
3; enrollment, 93.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads, 1; railway mileage, exclusive spurs
and sidetracks. 26.08. Number of manufactures, 3; average number wage earners, 1;
value of products, $14,110. Number of banks, 2. Number general stores, 7; confec-
tionery, etc., 3; groceries and meats, 4: lumber yards, 1; total number merchants, 49.
Total assessed valuation 1922 merchandise, $147,617. Number grain elevators, 11; total
capacity, 299,000 bushels. Number of lawyers, 1. Number of plivsicians, 2.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Number farms, 517; farm acreage, 310,742; im-
proved farm acreage, 99,225: irrigated acreage. 800; average value all propertv, per
farm, $14,675. Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 4,8l4; number sheep, '6,387;
number horses, 4.194; number swine (census), 399.

CLIMATO LOGICAL DATA — At Chester. Elevation, 3,132 feet. Average date last
killing frost in spring. May 25; average date first killing frost in fall, September 7.

Jan. Feb. Mar. April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov.
Ave. Prec. .60 .26 .34 .47 1.60 2.77 1.02 1.18 1.30 .30 .32
Ave. Temp. 9 7 12.8 25.9 41.8 51.9 59.3 66.5 64.0 53.4 44.9 30.4

County Seat, Chester. Population County Seat, 402.

County Agricultural Agent — No.

Dec.

.34

18.3

An-
nua]
10.50
39.9

TOOLE COUNTY

HE discovery of petroleum March 14, 1922,
in the Kevin-Sunliurst field, changed the
character and hopes of Toole county over-
night. From a stock-raising and non-irri-
.eated farming region it has been converted
into an oil and gas region, the limits of
which are as yet imdetermined. It is an
amliitious county, evidenced for one thing
in the creation of an irri.gation pro.iect de-
signed to place 200.000 acres of land under
the ditch. Much preliminary work has
been done.

Toole county lies in north central Mon-
mW^'^-^m,^- .: ^^^^^^„^^^§ tana. Tt extends .southward from the Inter-
IHr^^^H^^^JBH^^^^^^Bl national boundary average distance of

"^IM^^^^^^^^Sw^^^^^Bl 50 miles, and is about 40 miles wide,

^A^W^W^ • -.SKI ^^^^ ^"^^ west. Save for the northeastern

■■r-Zl ^>*ft~_ '€^H1 quarter, where the Sweet Grass Hills, an

isolated mountain range, arise, topography

Soil types range from sandy and gravelly

loams to heavier types of clay and heavy clay loams in the Marias River district

in the southern part. The Marias is the only stream of any size. Willow Creek,

in the eastern part, is the largest of .several streams who.se flow is intermittent.

The first settlement of any consequence in what is now Toole county was

precipitated in the early eighties by the di.scovery of gold in the Sweet Grass Hills.

is rolling prairie and bench lands.

136 MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

The minins exeitomout was sliort-lived. lu 18S7 a considerable area of the
Blackfeet Indian reservation, whieli included most of Toole county, was thrown
open to entry, and the big range cattle outfits moved in along the Marias and the
streams near the Sweet Grass Hills. About 1910 the homesteading era began and
nearly half the area of the county was filed upon. "While the number of stock-
raising outfits has declined, this industry is still dominant over agriculture, and
indications are that a considerable area heretofore devoted to non-irrigated
farming eventually will be used for grazing purposes. On rhe heavier types of
soil, blowing sometimes causes trouble, and special tillage methods must be
observed both to eliminate drifting and to conserve moisture, which is a limiting
factor in crop production. Spring wheat is the principal crop, followed by oats
and tame bay. In the eastern and southern districts acclimated varieties of
corn do fairly well and provide forage for livestock. If the proposed irrigation
project is carried to completion, agriculture will be markedly stimulated.

The Kevin-Sunburst oil field is the largest in area in the state, so far as
present knowledge goes, and its production has been increasing rapidly. It lies
in the western half of the county and is about 30 miles across, according to the
U, S. Geological Survey. In September, 1923. outlying producing wells were
20 miles apart. A total of So producing oil wells and 20 gas wells were reported
at that time. The settled production of the largest well was given as 2.000
barrels daily, but the settled production of most of the wells ran from 50 to 100
barrels daily. They range in depth from 1,500 to 1.800 feet. The estimated flow
of the largest gas well was placed at 15.000,000 cubic feet of gas daily. This well
was 2.570 feet in depth. The pipe line production of the field for the three
months" period ending September 30. 1923. was 202.000 barrels. It is said that
marketing conditions and lack of storage prevented a much larger output.
Drilling operations are being expanded to new areas, to test out structures other
than the Kevin-Sunburst. Coal is found in some districts.

Mau.v machinery and suppl.v houses, foundries and iron working shops have
been established in the county since oil was discovered. Several pipe lines have
been laid, including one to the Canadian border at Sweet Grass, and at Kevin
a small refinery is operating. A larger one is projected at Shelby. The big
flows of natural gas have not yet been commercially utilized, but arrangements
to pipe it t(i Shelby for household and industrial uses have been completed, and
a pipe line to Great Falls is projected.

Transportation facilities are good. The main line of the Great Northern
crosses the county east and west. The Burlington-Great Northern line from the
south connects with the main line at Shelby, and a branch line of the Great
Northern runs north from Shelby to the Canadian border, where it connects with
the Canadian Pacific. The Roosevelt highway follows the main line of the Great
Northern, and the Montana-Alberta highway from Great Falls to Lethbridge
parallels the railway north and .south through the county.

Shelby, the county seat, is the largest town, the headquarters for the oil in-
dustry and the principal distributing point for a large region. It has experienced
a phenomenal growth since oil was found. Sweet Grass, on the border, is a port
of entry. Kevin and Sunburst are the chief towns in the oil fields.

TOOLE COUNTY — Ranks forty-seventh in population (3.724); thirty-third in area
(1.253,120 acres); forty-seventh in combined 1922 crop and livestock value; twenty-sixth
In 1920 mineral production; thirty-third in bank deposits. 1922; thirty-seventh in
assessed valuation. 1022. Acres public land, 30,954; acres state land, 100.040.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value. $165,500; estimated live-
stock value, Januarv. 1923, $976,500; metal production, 1920. $1,076; coal production,
1920. $7,992; total bank deposits, September 15. 1922. $994,006.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation. $17,138,369; total taxable value,
$5,564,953. Total outstanding county bond indebtedness, $654,000; total outstanding
county warrant indebtedness, $30,769; total outstanding school bond indebtedness.

NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA

137

$127,922; other school debts, $13,045. Total general and special county taxes, $130,297;
total general and district school taxes, $113,057; total municipal taxes, $27,587; total
state taxes, $26,190; total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $79.78.

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools, 62; enrollment, 780. Xumber high
schools, 2; eiiroUnient, 64.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Xumber of railroads, 1; railway mileage, excUisive spurs
and sidetraiks, H3.40. Xumber of manufactures, 5; average number wage earners, 3;
value of products. $25,912. Xumber of banks, 8. Number general stores, 20; confec-
tionery, etc., 5: groceries and meats, 6; lumber yards, 6; total number merchants. 111.
Total assessed valuation 1922 merchandise, $142,181. Xumber grain elevators, 15; total
capacity, 271,000 bushels. Xumber of h\wyers, 7. Number of physicians, 7.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Xumber farms, 933; farm acreage, 570,163; im-
proved farm acreage, 153,852; irrigated acreage, 839: average value all property, per
farm, $14,117. Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 5,637; number sheep, 26,987;
number liorses, 5,918; luiniber swine (census), 815.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At Shelby. Elevation, 3,276 feet. Average date last
killing frost in spring. May 27; average date first killing frost in fall, September 14.

An-
Jan. Feb. Mar. April Mav June July
Ave. Prec. .38 .36 .30 .71 1.76 2.07 1.28
Ave. Temp. 15.1 14.9 26.9 42.1 50.5 60.4 66.6
County Seat, Shelby. Population County Seat, 537.

County Agricultural Agent — X"o.

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

nual

1.43

1.57

.79

.21

.37

11.23

65.2

53.8

42.7

30.2

18.8

40.6

GLACIER COUNTY

w

I

HILE stock raising is now and probably al-
ways will continue to be the leading agri-
cultural pursuit. Glacier county, in north
central ^lontana. through potential indus-
j trial resources, may experience development
along other lines. It has an immense de-
posit of iron ore, bitniuinous coal measures,
and several potential oil domes on which ex-
ploratory work has been projected. More
Than two-thirds the area of the county is
within the Blackfeet Indian reservation,
jgMjfJlMr Jp - <»M^ „,.^' find a sixth of it is included within the

(„„,,J^HP|pi^^W(^ ^ Glacier National Park. There are large

WTw areas of idle irrigated land in the coimty

.jMn^iMI^^^^HB "" ~ which belong to the Indians but can bo

leased or purcha.sed at low prices. lu this
county, according to the National Park
Service, is found "the noblest mountain
country m America.
Glacier county lies in north central Montana, the Canadian line defining its
northern, and the crest of the main range of the Rocky Moimtains its western
boundary. Precipitous mountains occupy the western end and give way to
plains sloi)ing to the eastward, which are comparatively high in altitude. The
region is well watered and the northern part, which is one of the best grass
regions in the state, is ideally adapted to stock raising. The southern part of
the county contains more level land and some good soil and also has a longer
growing sea.son than the northern part.

This is the only coimty in the United States which has drainage into three

oceans. The waters from Triple Peak, in the Glacier Park, flow into the Arctic,

the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans, but most of the streams

Drainase Into are tributaries of the Milk River which, through the Missouri,

Three Oceans finally empties into the Gulf of Mexico.

While good forage and grain crops have been raised on the
irrigated lands in the southern part of the comity, and there is some non-irrigated
farming in the eastern part, most of the lands are devoted to stock raising. A
considerable area of the Indian tribal lands are set aside for leasing. While they

138 MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

are principally used at present l»y large stock outfits, it is expected that eventually
when the irrigated lands are settled, farmers occupying them will do mixed farm-
ing, raising feed on their own places for the winter months and leasing tribal
lands for sunuucr grazing. Spring wheat is the primary cash crop of the non-
irrigated district, with oats, barley and rye yielding good average retiu'ns. Under
non-irrigated methods, moisture is a controlling factor in crop production and
special tillage methods must be followed. Special methods are also required in
some sections for the prevention of soil blowing.

Coal has been found in the county, but there has been no commercial develop-
ment aside from home use. Magnetite beds which can be traced for many miles
entirely across the reservation, arc found in the western part
Big Iron of the comity. The high titanium content renders the ores unfit

Deposits for use luuler present metallurgical practice, but the U. S.

Geological Survey says such ores may eventually be successfully
smelted. Large areas in certain parts of the county have been leased for oil
drilling purposes. The Lewis and Clark National Forest occupies 25.000 acres
in the southwestern corner of the coiuity.

The main line of the Great Northern runs through the middle of the county
east and west. A new state highway, north and south, connects at Browning
"sith the Roosevelt Memorial highway and with the roads on the eastern side of
the Glacier Park. The highway is being extended through the county from Babb
to the Canadian line, where it connects with a main road to the Canadian
Parks. The federal government is building a trans-mountain highway across the
Rocky Mountains in this and Flathead counties that will be one of the most
scenic roads in the country.

Cut Bank, the county seat, in the east end of the county, and Browning, the
headquarters of the Indian Agency, are the principal towns. Cut Bank is a Great
Northern division point. Both are modern and up to date in all respects.

Hunting and fishing. Indian tribal life, and the superb scenery in the
Glacier Park each attracts and holds visitors.

GLACIER COUNTY — Rank.s forty-fourth in population (4,178); forty-sixth in area
(1,907,840 acres): forty-fourtli in combined 1922 crop and livestock value: fifty-first in
bank deposits. 1922: forty-ninth in assessed valuation, 1922. Acres public land, 2,563;
acres state land. 12,645; acres national forests, 25,239; acres Indian (partially patented)
and other reservations, 1.582.400 acres.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value, $458,000; estimated livestock
value. January. 192.3. .<1. 274. 700: total bank deposits, September 15. 1922, $189,377.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation, $10,317,567; total taxable value,
$3,521,058. Total outstandingr county bond indebtedness, $292,000; total outstanding
county warrant indebtedness, $14,599: total outstanding school bond indebtedness,
$187,485; other school debts. .$43,485. Total general and special county taxes. $96,751;
total general and district school taxes, $92,123; total municipal taxes, $40,425; total
state taxes, $17,136; total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $58.98.

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools, 22; enrollment. 712. Number high schools,
2; enrollment. 91.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads, 1; railway mileage, exclusive spurs
and sidetraiks. 67.69. Niimlier of manufactures. 4: average number wage earners, 2:
value of products, $29,882. Number of banks. 2. Number general stores, 11; confec-
tionery, etc., 2: groceries and meats. 7: lumber yards. 4; total number merchants. 84.
Total assessed valuation 1922 merchandise. $211,953. Number grain elevators. 5: total
capacity. 135.000 bushels. Number of lawyers, 11. Number of physicians, 2. Devel-
oped hydro-electric plant capacity. 60 horse power.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — ^Number farms, 372; farm acreage, 545.256; im-
proved farm acreage. 168,338: irrigated acreage, 9,767; average value all property, per
farm, $22,154. Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 19,062; number sheep, 22,687;
number horses, 5.859; number swine (census). 136.

CLIMATO LOGICAL DATA — At Browning. Elevation. 4.366 feet. Average date last
killing frost in spring. June 16: average date first killing frost in fall, September 2.

An-

Jan. Feb. Mar. April ^ray June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. nual

Ave. Free. .75 .60 .61 .85 1.69 2.11 1.11 1.13 1.90 .52 .47 .45 12.19

Ave. Temp. 16.3 18.7 27.6 39.7 46.9 56.2 61.7 60.0 51.4 41.5 29.7 20.9 39.2

County Seat. Cut Bank. Population County Seat, 1,181.

County Agricultural Agent — No.

NORTH WESTERN MONTANA

Produces More Than Half the Lumber Cut of the State — In Undeveloped Horse

Power Ranks First — Region Ideally Adapted to

Dairying and Diversified Farming.

Lying on the Pacific slope side of the Rocky ^Moniitains. and enjoyinir a climate
that is tempered by its location, the North Western district is a region of possibilities
in tourist attractions, diversified farming and electrical energy. In it are included
Flathead. Lincoln. Lake and Sanders counties, and also the western half of the
Glacier National Park. Though moiuitainous. many broad and fertile valleys are
found, and in Lincoln county is found the lowest elevation above sea level in the state.

Lumbering is the principal industry, more than half the anntial cut of the state
being produced here. Consi(U'ral)le fruit is raised. Diversified farming is advancing
with dairying as one of the ma.ior activities. Both non-irrigated and irrigated farm-
ing are followed. The largest body of irrigated land is in Flathead and Lake coun-
ties. In every county, however, irrigated lands are awaiting development. In Flat-
head, Lincoln and Sanders counties there are also large tracts of cut-over lands,
which, when cleared, are adapted to agriculttiral purposes.

Some mining is done in the western part, and large deposits of good coal are
reported in Flathead county, but the principal industrial resottrce is water power.
In developed water power the district ranks second, but in undeveloped, first. This
region is becoming one of siuumer homes.

Elevations range from 1,800 feet above sea level to 3,000 feet in the tillable
areas. The growing season ranges from three months to five months, lacking two
days.

FLATHEAD COUNTY

"'" REGION of fertile valleys, wooded moun-
tains, rapid streams and attractive scen-
ery, Flathead county, in northwestern
INIontana, one of the most important lum-
bering districts in the state, is making
marked progress nhtng the lines of diver-
sified farming and dairying, and each
season is attracting a larger number of
tourists. While most of the tourists come
to see the Glacier National Park, many
permanent summer homes have been built
on Flathead and Swan Lakes by people
from other regions who have been capti-
vated by the scenery and the climate.
The county runs north to the Canadian
boundary and east to the Continental di-
vide. The northern and eastern districts
are mostly mountainous and 577 .square
miles in the northeastern part of the
county are included in (ilacier National Park. More than half the total area
of the cotinty is included within national forests, and 'AO.OOO acres in the south-
western part are in the Flathead Indian reservation.

139

140 MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

The af?ricultural areas are aromul Flathead Lake, north to Whitefish ami
Columbia Falls and in the southwestern portion. The extensive lunil)er industry
has afforded a read.v niarliet for surplus fe(>d crops of hnth ha.v and jirain. In
the earlier da.vs of settlement most farmers raised ha.v exelusivi'l.v to provide feed
for the loirjling camps. Stock raisini; was also prominent. There has been a
gradual change to a more diAcrsified s.vstem that includes fruit growing, small
small grain production and dair.Aing. Dairying is liecoming an important part
of the diversified system and along with it the hog and poultry business is ex-
panding. Interest in dairying is shown by the launching in l!)!'.'} of a cow-testing
association, starting with 2?> herds. It is the second association of the kind in the
state. Tn 1922 Flathead was the big.gest grower of potatoes of any county in the
state. Both winter and spring wheat are grown, the latter predominating. Both
irrigated and non-irrigated types of farming are followed. Man.v of the non-
irrigated lands along rivers and lakes are sub-irrigated. On the higher
non-irrigated areas, alternate cropping is generally practiced. The growing sea-
son is long, making it possible to grow corii, if not for .grain, at least for a good
feed crop, every year.

In fruit raising. Flathead count.v is second in importance. Bordering on
Flathead Lake are many orchards of apples, pears, cherries, plums and berries.
This region is particularly adapted to the sweet cherry, and the production is in-
creasing.

There is considerable stump land in the county, which, when cleared, makes
productive farms. The usual practice is to clear a few acres a year, seeding
it to clover and timothy, for winter forage for dairy cows. Good summer range
is available on the national forests, which heretofore has not been utilized b.v
residents to its capacity. It is estimated there are approximately 1(X),000 acres
of irrigable land in the county besides that now irrigated.

While timber is the count.v's big.gest natural resource, considerable coal is
reported in the valley of the North Forlc River north of Columbia Falls, but the
field has not been developed. Besides l.GOO developed horse
Coal, Water power, it is estimated an additional 12.000 horse power can be
Power and developed on the Flathead River below the South Fork. It is
Wood Pulp asserted that on the National Forests in this region there is a
fine opening for a pulp and paper mill, with 1,750 million
board feet of desirable ^\'ood pulp species available. Other resoui'ces include pot-
tery clay, brick clay, fire clay and building stone. The existence of copper and
other minerals is reported.

Lumberin.g is the most important industry. Before Lake county was created,
there were 27 saw mills and several planing and box mills in the county. Among
other plants are flour mills, creameries, a furniture factory, a foundi'y, and a
harness and saddlery establishment.

The Great Northern main line crosses the county east and west, and a branch
runs southwesterl.v from CoUnnbia Falls through Kalispell to Somers, which is the
head of navigation on Flathead Lake. The Theodore Roosevelt east and west
highway crosses the county and the western route highway between Glacier and
Yellowstone Parks runs north through the count.v. Magnificent drives around
Flathead Lake, to Swan Lake and in the National Forests are afforded. Scen-
ically, this is one of the most attractive I'egions in the country.

Kalispell, the county seat, is the largest city in northwestern Montana, is up to
date, and an important wholesale and distributing center for a large region.

Whitefish. near the geographical center of the county, is a division point on
the (ireat Northern. It is surrounded by a large area of cut-over lands which

XOKTII WKSTKKX INIOXTAXA

141

are jrratlually beinji' di'voloprd. Tlicro is a ,si<'<»(l farming; rosiou adjacent to
Columbia Falls. Bolton is the western lut ranee to Glacier Park.

♦FLATHEAD COUNTY — Ranks seventh in population (17,747); fourth in area
(3,300,122 arifs); i\vent.\-eighth in combined 1922 crop and livestock: value; tenth in
l>ank deposits, 1922; eiglith in assessed valuation, 1922. Acres public land. 22,183; acres
state land, 171,926; acres national forests, 1,877,385; acres Indian (partially allotted)
and other reservations, 651.413.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value. $1,462,800; estimated live-
stock value, January, 1923, $1,649,000; 1921 lumbei- cut, 57,027 M feet; total bank de-
posits, September 15, 1922, $4,268,961.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation, §46,406,543; total taxable value,
.$14,522,255. Total outstanding county bond indebtedness, $826,375; total outstanding
county warrant indebtedness, $139,157; total outstanding school Ixind indebtedness,
.$271,792; other school debts, $600. Total general and special county taxes, $313,202;
total general and district school taxes, $334,523; total municipal taxes, $79,332; total
state taxes, $67,800; total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $36.62.

EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools, 86; enrollment, 4,001. Number high
schools, 6; enrollment, 1,017. Other institutions. State Soldiers' Home at Columbia Falls.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads, 2; railway mileage, exclusive of
spurs and sidetracks. 156.58. Number of manufactures, 64; average number wage
earners, 1.248; value of products, $4,286,317. Number of banks, 11. Number general
stores, 32; confectionery, etc., 13; groceries and meats, 44; lumber yards, 22; total
number merchants. 373. Total assessed valuation, 1922, merchandise, $1,916,145. Num-
ber grain elevators, 8; total capacity. 560,000 bus. Number creameries, 2. Number flour
mills. 4. Number saw mills. 27. Number of lawyers, 32. Number of physicians, 27.
Developed hydro-electric plant capacity, 2,820 horse power.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Number farms, 1,923; farm acreage, 470,283; im-
proved farm acreage, 179,201; irrigated acreage, 11,244; average value all property per
farm, $11,302. Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 14,053; number sheep, 4,651;
number horses. 7,228; number swine (census), 4,386.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At Kalispell. Elevation, 2,965. Average date last
killing frost in spring, May 5; average date first killing frost in fall, October 2.

Jan. Feb. Ha.r. April IMav June
Ave. Prec. 1.34 1.05 1.06 .82 1.71 1.98
Ave. Temp. 22.0 24.2 33.1 43.8 51.3 58.1

County seat, Kalispell. Population county

County Agricultural Agent — Yes.

•All the statistical information on Flathead County, except those for population and
rank, area and rank, and acres of reservations other than national forests, are based on
the boundaries of Flathead County before Lake County was created which took from
Flathead County 1.224 square miles and from Missoula "County 362 square miles.

LAKE COUNTY

An-

July

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

nual

1.15

1.01

1.47

.94

1.54

1.14

15.21

64.5

62.8

53.2

43.6

32.7

24.9

42.8

seat.

5,147.

I

''""' RRIGATED farms, beautiful scenery, consid-
erable timber and not less than 300.000 un-
developed hydroelectric horse power are
the principal as.sets of Lake county, which
came into existence in August. 1923. Most
of the area of the county is included within
the boundaries of the foi'mer Flathead In-
dian reservation. The region was only
opened to settlement in recent years and
grain has been the chief crop, but rapid
progress toward a more diversified system
of farming is being made. X'atural con-
ditions make the region e.specially adapted
to dairying. There is some lumbering but
the chief industry is agriculture.

The comity lies in west central Mon-
tana, on the I'acific slope side of the moun-
tains. The average elevation of the tillable
area is 3.000 feet. The crest of the Mis-
sion range defines the western honndary of the south half of the county. The
northeastern part of the county, west of Flathead Lake, is rugged and moun-
tainous, but most of the land ^^est of Flathead Lake and most of the south

142 MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

half, iu the lower Fhahead valley, is tillable. The soil varies from li,irht sandy
loam to heavy clay. Most of the land is iindnlarinsi and for proper irri.iration
must be leveled. Nnmerons tributaries \vho.se source is in the Mission range,
empty into the Flathead River.

While considerable non-irriijated farming- is bi'ins done, a.iiriculrural expansion

will be most marked on the irrijiable laiuls included within the Flathead govern-

ment reclamation project, which is designed to reclaim 124.500

Diversified acres. Canals and laterals have been built to supply lO.l.OOO
Farm Region acres of land. There are 2.000 farm units on tin- project and
water deliveries ai'e being made to 1,200 farms. The region is
especially adapted to diversified farming and dairying. Alfalfa, clover and tim-
oth.v are the principal forage crops. The acreage devoted to small grains is de-
clining and that in forage, potatoes and other crops adjipted to a diversified sys-
tem is increasing. Bush fruits thrive, ilost farms have home orchards of apples,
pears, pliuns, or cherries. The best commercial orchards outside the Bitter Root are in
Lake county. The interest in dairying is pronounced. The lands bordering on
Flathead Lake are particularly adapted to the sweet cherry and the region is
gaining a wide reputation on this product. Agriculture in Lake county is still in
the first stages of development, the reservation lands not being opened to settle-
ment until 1010.

The biggest industrial resource of the couut.v is undeveloped hydro-electric
power on the Flathead River which is variously estimated at 300.000 to r>(K).(X)0
horse power. The federal power commission has under consideration several re-
quests for permission to develop this power. Considerable timlier is in the
county. The Flathead Indians are the owners of 1..jO0.0im>.0CM) feet of uncut tindter.
A number of saw mills are operating in the county. The annual production of a
creamery at Poison is steadily increasing. There is a floiu* mill at the same place
with a capacity of 200 barrels dail.v.

A branch line of the Northern Pacific, which leaves the main line at Dixon,

on the southern border of the county, runs north through the heart of the south

half of the county to Poison, a distance of ol miles. The

Rail and Flathead Lake regicm is served by boats which connect with

Boats the Great Northern at Somers and with the Northern Pacific

at Poison. A splendid automobile driveway encircles the lake,

which is 35 miles long with a maximum width of about IS miles. The western

Park-to-Park route from "West Yellnlt^stone to Belton traver.ses the county north

and south.

Poison, the county seat, scenically situated at the foot of Flathead Lake.

near the geographical center of the county, is the largest town with <ill modern
municipal improvements. Growing towns in the irrigated district are St. Igna-
tius, Ronan, Charlo and Pablo. Da.vton, Big Arm and Rollins are lake comnutnities.

Some of the most beautiful scenery in the west is found in this county. The
Flathead valley, rimmed on the west liy the staccato skyline of the Mission range,
is strikingly attractive. The lioauty of the Swan Ri\er region in the northwestern
part of the county has lured a considerable number of folk from Montana and
eastern cities to erect beautiful sununer homes there. The shores of Flathead
Lake are dotted with summer homes. Excellent fishing and big game bunting
are to be enjoyed in the county. Eighty per cent of the 2.628 allottees of the
former Flathead Indian reservation reside in Lake county and a total of 284.000
acres of land have been allotted them. Patents in fee simple have lieen issued
to al)out 735 Indians. A consideraI>le acreage of Indian lands can be purchased.

Statistics on taxation, education, business and timber, livestock and agri-
cultural production for this county are not available. The statistics for Flathead

NORTH WESTERN MONTANA

143

and Missoula coniities in tliis inililicat ion ((ncr areas out of which Lake county
was created, except as to liydro-rlcctric ixiwer ( TtX) horse power are developed in
Lake county l, population and ranlc. ai'ea and rank', and acres of reserxation other
than national forests.

LAKE COUNTY — Ranks twenty-first in pcipiilation (9.064): forty-second in area
(1.015.140 acres); aiies Indian reservations (partially allotted), 624,154 acres.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA At Poison. Elevation 2,919 feet. Average date last
killing frost in spring. May 13; average date first killing frost in fall, September 28.

An-

Jan. Feb. Mar. April Mav June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. nual

Ave. Free. 1.14 .89 1.07 1.23 1.49 2.37 1.19 .89 1.52 1.16 1.42 1.29 15.66

Ave. Temp. 24.1 27.9 35.1 43.6 51.6 60.1 67.6 66.1 55.5 46.1 34.6 26.9 44.9

County Seat, Poison. Population County Seat, 1,132.

(bounty Agricultural Agent — No.

LINCOLN COUNTY

'5 INCOLN county presents an anomaly. Not-
withstanding that it is tucked away in the
rugged mountains of far northwestern Mon-
tana, the lowest elevation above sea level
in the state is found within its borders — an
altitude of l.SOO feet along the Kootenai
River, according to Bulletin 689 of the
U. S. Geological Survey. The Canadian
boundary marks its northern, and the
Montana-Idaho line, its western borders.
Lumbering and minin.g are its chief indus-
tii'es. Though its agricultural areas are
limited in extent they are just being de-
veloped. Scenically, it is one of the most
attracti\e counties in Montana and in fish-
in.g and hunting is unsurpassed. It is de-
clared to be the best watered county in the
state, its principal stream, the Kootenai,
being credited with carrying a larger vol-
ume of water than does the Missouri. It has more than 100 mountain lakes and
in nearly every gulch there is a brook fed from mountain springs.

The Tobacco River empties into the Kootenai in the northeastern part of the
county, the Yaak river, flowing southerly tlirough the county, joins the Kootenai
near the western border, and the Fisher river in the southern end of the county
discharges into it near Jennings, in the geographical center of the county.

The only considerable body of open land is the Tobacco Plains valley, near
Eureka, in the northeastern part of the county, and more progress has been made
here in farming than in other districts. The Kootenai valley
is long but narrow. In places a series of benches lie between
the river and the mountains, which, when cleared, will be till-
able. There are also numerous small valleys all of which must
be cleared for farming operations. In the Tobacco I'lains valley
soil types range from sandy loam t() glacial loam and clay, and on the bench
lands are chiefly glacial loam. In other districts a black loam is found in the
valleys, a light red volcanic ash, frequently iniderlain with gravel, on the benches,
while in places a gray loam occurs in both the valleys and on the benches. The
elevation of the agricultural land ranges from 1,800 to 3,000 feet above sea level.
Most of it consists of timbered or cut-over lands. There are 00.000 acres of open
land in the Tobacco Plains valley. Both irrigated and non-irrigated farming is
followed. The average annual precipitation is about 20 inches, which is more than

The

Agricultural

Areas

144 MONTANA: INDTSTRIAL RESOURCES

ill most parts of tlie state. The region naturally adapts itself to diversified
farmiug:. with dairying probably as the major operation. Timothy and clover
thrive, and splendid summer grazing is afforded on the national forests which
embrace more than two-thirds the area of the county. AVhile fruit raising has
not been developed to a commercial magnitude, apples, plums, cherries and bush
fruits do well in all parts of the county. In the western district pears and
peaches are grown. Vegetables and root crops are produced in abundance.

Lumbering is the main industry, and some of the largest saw mills in the
state are located at Libby. Eureka. Warland and Troy. A chemical plant, the
only one of its kind in the world, for the manufacture of mucic and oxalic
acid and a number of by-products, has been built and is in operation at
Eureka. Butts and waste logs furnish the raw material, and the demand for
the product has been so much in excess of the capacity that large additions are
projected.

The mining districts are in the western part of the county, on the Yaak

river, on Callahan Creek, south of Troy, and on Libby Creek, south of Libby.

and on Fisher River in the southern part of the county. Bul-

Promising letin 3S4 of the U. S. Geological Survey, deals with the
Mining District Lincoln county district, among others, and pronounces it "a
promising field for the prospector. In general, the recon-
noissance has left a strong impression that systematic and widely -directed de-
velopment might considerably increase the mineral production of northern Idaho
and adjacent portions of Montana". The county has produced commercially gold,
silver, copper, lead and zinc. The existence of mica is reported.

The undeveloped water power of the county is estimated at 31.000 horse
power, exclusive of many small developments.

The main line of the Great Northern crosses the county east and west and a
l»ranch line runs from Rexford to the Fernie coal fields in British Columbia. The
Theodore Roosevelt highway parallels the railroad and serves the northern part
of the county. The Park-to-I'ark highway enters the county near the southwestern
corner and. swinging northwesterly, meets the Roosevelt highway at Libby. The
last stretch of the Roosevelt highway is now under construction and when com-
pleted late in the summer of 1924 will be one of the most scenic roads in the
country. The Scenic International Parks Highway, from Salt Lake to Banff and
the Canadian National Pf^rks. enters the county from the eastern side and at
Eureka swings north to Gateway into Canada.

Libl>y. in the west central part, and Eureka, in the northeastern corner, are
the largest towns. Both have all modern improvements. Troy is the principal
mining center. At "Warland there is a large saw mill and adjacent to it are a
number of small developed farms. Eureka business men organized the Tobacco
Valley Development Association which in 1023 offered agricultural lands for sale
on the amortization plan, being one of the fir.st private concerns in the state to
adopt this method. Through its efforts a colony of former service men was
established in the valley.

Magnificent .scenery, large forests, excellent fishing and big game hunting
are features of the county's tourist attractions. The Kootenai National Forest
is one of the wildest and least explored regions in the country.

LINCOLN COUNTY — ^Ranks twenty-sixth in population (7.797): twelfth in area
(2.319.360 acres); fifty-third in combined 1922 crop and livestock value; tenth in 1920
mineral production; thirty-seventh in bank deposits. 1922: twenty-eiErhth in assessed
valuation, 1922. Acres public land, 6.310; acres state land, 57,265; acres national forests,
1,673,983.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value, S208,900: estimated livestock
value. .Tanuarv. 1923. S264.600; metal production, 1920. §429,624; 1921 lumber cut, 45,406
M feet: total bank deposits, September 15, 1922, §858,305.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation, $20,349,082; total taxable value,
$6,735,954. Total outstanding county bond indebtedness, $324,347; total outstanding

NORTH WESTERN MONTANA

145

county warrant indebtedness, $1,817; total outstanding school bond indebtedness,
$239,445; other school debts, $7,331. Total general and special county taxes, $161,265;
total general and district school taxes, $188,447; total municipal taxes, $36,632; total
state taxes, .$31,415; total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $53.58.

EDUCATIONAL — Xumber giaded scliools, 36; enrollment, 1.381. Number high

schddl.';. 3; cm ulhurnl. ]1S".

BUSINESS STATISTICS — ^Number of railroads, 1; railway mileage exclusive spurs
and sidetracks, 128.26. Ximiber of manufactures, 22; average number wage earners,
1,008; value of products, $3,798,067. Number of banks, 4. Xumber general stores, 15;
confectionery, etc., 3; groceries and meats, 12; lumber yards. 7; total number mer-
chants, 124. Total assessed valuation 1922 merchandise, $955,315. Xumber saw mills,
14. Xumber of lawyers, 9. Xumber of physicians, 9. Developed hydro-electric plant
capacity, 1,890 horse power.

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Xumber farms, 341; farm acreage, 65.050; im-
proved farm acreage, 16,894; iirigated acreage, 5,923; average value all property, per
farm, $7,206. Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 2,937; number sheep, 76; number
horses, 1,883; number swine (census), 782.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At Libby. Elevation, 2,075 feet. Average date last
killing frost in spring, June 6; average date first killing frost in fall, September 6.

An
Jan. Feb. INIar. April -May June July Aug.

Ave. Prec. 2.61 1.7 1.68 1.09 1.53 1.64 1.17 .94
Ave. Temp. 23.4 27.9 35.9 46.0 53.1 59.3 64.9 63.4

County Seat, Libby. Population County Seat, 1,522.
County Agricultural Agent — No.

Sept. Oct. Xov. Dec.
1.56 1.61 3.4 2.34
55.0 45.4 33.9 25.8

nual

21.27

44.5

SANDERS COUNTY

N THE past, lumbering has been the leading
indu-stry Ynit the development of Sanders
comity in the future will largely rest upon
diversified farming with (hiirying as one of
the ma.if)r activities, and npon hydro-eleetric
iii.>itallations utilizing the water power now
■ going to waste. In developed horse power,
Sanders county ranks third, and in unde-
veloped power second.

Sanders lies in west central Montana,
with a maximum length of about 110 miles
froiu the .southeast to the northwest. The
(Marie's Fork of the Columbia runs through
the middle of the western two-thirds and
the Flathead river, which empties into the
Clark's Fork, through the eastern one-third
of the county. The crest of the Coeur
d'Alene Moinitains defines the eastern and
alxnU half of the southern boundary and
the crest of the Cabinet range marks the western third of its northern boundary.
Nearly half of the county is included within national forests. The topography is
mountainous, with narrow, fertile, intermountain vtiUeys, of which the largest are
the Clark's Fork, the Little Bitter Root and the Camas Prairie. The prevailing
soil type on the bottom lands of the Clark's Fork is a deep .sandy loam, and on
the bench lands a graAolly loam. A white clay soil is found in the Little Bitter
Root and Camas Prairie valleys, which, although slightly deficient in organic
matter, grows fine alfalfa and other legumes, and is adapted to other crops fol-
lowing legumes. A considerable proportion of the agricidtiu'al hinds is irrigable.
While aroxuul 6,0()0 acres of irrigated land are in use, a total of approximately
33.000 acres will be irrigated by works under construction or completed. Most of
this acreage is included within tliat portion of Ihe Flathead Indian project lying in
the I.,ittle Bitter Root and Camas Prairie valleys. ^Nlaiiy small tracts along the
Clark's Fork can be irri.i:ated by pumping, and projects recently were completed
for the reclamation of 2,0(M) acres near Noxon and of 3,000 acres near Weeksville.

146 MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

"While small .sraiiis. clover, fruit and alfalfa have been the chief crops, diver-
sified farminj? conihined with dair\in.s; has made marked profiress in the last

year or two. Many dairy cows have been shipped in co-
Dairying operatively and the irraius and lejinnies formerly sold are being
Is EYpandiiig utilized on the farms. Corn and sunflowers are grown for

silage. The Little Bitter Root valley is the most important
agricultural district. In addition to dairying, it is specializing on alfalfa and
clover seed production and certified potato seed. In 1923 some acreage was con-
tracted for growing seed peas. Interest is being taken in poultry raising and
agriculture. Farming is well established in Sanders county and a type of agricul-
ture well suited to the region is being evolved. Expansion of the industry involves
some pioneering, in clearing the logged-off lands which can be irrigiited from pri-
vate projects and of leveling and developing units under the Flathead project of
the Indian Service. Under present conditions, dairying would most likely be the
major activity, particularl.v in the Little Bitter Root valley, which lies 30 miles
from the railroad. Considerable grazing is afforded on the nati(»nal forests.

The biggest imdeveloped industrial resource of the count.v is water power, of
which 40.000 horse power has been developed at Thompson Falls, with sites avail-
able that will generate an additional 240.000 hor.se power. In the last few years
there has been little mining activity in the county, but there are promising dis-
tricts and properties in the west end of the county. Gold, silver, copper and lead
have been produced commercially. The existence of antimony, brick clay and
pottery clay is reported. The Thompson River country contains one of the finest
bodies of virgin western yellow pine .saw timber in the state, most of which is
privatel.v owned. The national forest timber in the count.v is estimated at approxi-
mately OOO.tHiK) M feet, chiefly yellow pine, larch, Douglas fir and western white
pine.

The main line of the Northern Pacific and one of the main east and west
highways follow the course of the Clark's Fork through the county. At Dixon, near
the eastern border, a branch of the Northern Pacific runs northward to Poison, on
Flathead Lake. A north and south highway, connecting Noxon. in the west end
of the county, with Troy, on the Great Northern, will l)e open as soon as a six-
mile stretch now under construction by the Forest Service is completetl.

Thompson Falls, about midway east and west, is the county seat and the
largest communit.v. A feature of the school system is a new dormitor.v, costing
$130.W>0. that was erected in 1922 as part of the equipment of the Thompson
Falls High School, to furnish room and Ijoard to out-of-town pupils at $13 to $15
a month. Plains is a trade and shipping point for a large agricultural district.
Perma and Dixon are shipping points in the east end. and Heron. Noxon, Trout
Creek, Whitepine and Alger are trading points in the logged-off districts.

Excellent fishing is found in the niunerous streams, and the Cabinet moun-
tains, in the northwestern part of the county, offer good big game hunting in sea-
son. Hot Springs, 20 miles north of Perma, is a tourist and health resort, open
the year "round.

SANDERS COUNTY — Hanks thirty-eiRhth in population (4.903): nineteenth in
area (1,831.040 acie.s): forty-ninth in combined 1922 crop and live.stock value: thirtieth
in 1920 mineral production; 40th in bank deposits, 1922; twenty-first in assessed valua-
tion, 1922. Acres public land, 37.090; acres state land, 58,310; acres national forests,
822.157; acres Indian reservations (partially allotted), 456,672.

WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value, $446,500; estimated live-
stock value. Januarv, lii23. §598.500; metal production, 1920, $3,479; 1921 lumber cut,
7,388 .M feet; total bank deposits, September 15, 1922, $722,797.

TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation, $22,572,053; total taxable value,
$7,730,595. Total outstanding county bond indebtedness, $350,000; total outstanding
countv warrant indebtedness, $4,161; total outstanding school bond indebtedness,
$255,295; other school debts, $839. Total general and special county taxes, $222,044;
total general and district school taxes, $192,795; total municipal taxes, $5,404; total
State taxes. $35,873: total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $93.02.

NORTH WESTERN :M0XTAXA

147

graded schools, 35; enrollment, 1,049. Number high

1; railway mileage, exclusive spurs
22; average number wage earners,
6. Number general stores, 28; con-
yards, 6: total number merchants,

elevators, 3;

Number saw

EDUCATIONAL — ^Number

schools, 7: cnriillnieiit, 252.

BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of raihoads,
and sidetracks, 150.53. Number of manufaitures,
192: value of products. $894,830. Number of banks,
fectionery, etc., 2; groceries and meats, 2; lumber

109. Total assessed valuati<in i;i22 merchandise, $285,108. Number grain
total capacity, 80,000 busliels. Numbei- creameries, 1. Number flour mills, 1.

Number of physicians.

5. Developed
farm

mills, 12. Number of lawyers. 6.
plant capacity, 40.000 horse power

AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Number farms, 464; farm acreage, 106,522; im-
proved fai-m acreage, 28,696; irrigated acreage, 6,373; average value all property, per
farm. $9,999. Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 9,800; number sheep, 3,424;
number horses. 3.046: number swine (census), 1,385.

CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA — At Plains. Elevation. 2,473 feet. Average date
killing fri'st in spring, ;May 30; average date first killing frost in fall, September 20.
No. Yrs.
Record Jan. Feb.Mar.Apr. May .Tune .Tuly Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.

Normal Prec 1.12 .67 .57 .53 1.7 1.79 1.32 .96 1.42 .92 1.53 .60

]\Iean Temp 23 25.1 28.2 36.8 45.4 52.0 59.0 66.3 64.8 55.5 46.0 35.1 27.0

County Seat, Thompson Falls. Population County Seat, 508.

County Agricultural Agent — -Yes.

hydro-electric

last

An-
nual
13.13
45.1

A Metallurgical Smelter

^ \^ . .^^^-

148

APPENDIX^'

^

Raw, Process, Energy ayul Fuel Materials Found in Montana

FUEL AND ENERGY RESOURCES

COAL

Uses — Indiistriiil niul household fuel, in;iiuifacturing gas, smithing. Distilled
to form coke used iu smelting ores of iron and other minerals. Present coking
practice in United States yields to each short ton of coal — 19 pounds sulphate
ammonia, used in refrigeration, high explosives and nitrogenous fertilizer ; 7-1
gallons tar from which are derived organic compounds used in chemicals and
dyes and coal tar pitch used in surfacing roads, roofing and as binder for fuel
briquets ; 2.4 gallons crude light oil w hose derivatives are the bases of certain high
explosives: 10,500 cubic feet of gas and 1,425 pounds of coke. Bituminous, sub-
bituminous and lignite coals are the principal kinds fomid in Montana.

Occurrence — According to report of U. S. G. S. and of the state coal
mine inspector, has been commercially mined in Blaine. Carbon, . Carter, Cascade,
Choteau, Custer, Dawson, Fallon, Fergus. Hill, Missoida, McCone. MusseLshell. Park,
Pondera, Prairie, Richland, Roosevelt. Sheridan, Stilhvater, Toole and Wibaux.
ALso occurs in Beaverhead, Big Horn, Broadwater, Daniels. Deer Lodge, Flathead,
Gallatin, Garfield, Glacier, Golden Valley, Granite, Judith Ba.sin, Lewis and
Clark, Madison, Meagher, Phillips, Powder River, Powell, Ravalli, Rosebud, Sweet
Grass, Teton, Treasure, Valley, Wheatland and Yellowstone. Coking coal, accord-
ing to Rowe, is found in Broadwater. Cascade. Gallatin, Lewis and Clarlc, Meagher,
Park and Sweet Grass. Steam and domestic coal, according to Rowe, is found
in Carbon, Cascade. Wheatland, Sweet Grass, Gallatin, Rosebud, Yellowstone,
Fergus, Judith Basin, Musselshell, Golden Valley, Lewis and Clark, Meagher and
Park. Gas coal, according to Rowe, is found in Lewis and Clark and Meagher.
Blacksmith coal, according to Rowe, is found in Cascade, Teton and Park. Semi-
anthracite, according to Rowe, has been found in Madison and Park comities.

A plant was recently erected at Minot, North Dakota, for the production of a
commercial weatherjiroof I)ri(iuet from lignite, equal in fuel value to the best
anthracite and at a slightly lower cost. Its operation, if successful, will mean
much to eastern Montana in the commercial exploitation of its vast lignite beds.

Of tremendous economic importance to Montana is the announcement made
by the United States Bureau of Mines, in 1923 of the successful development of
an oven for the conversion of lignite coal into a fuel of practically tlie same
thermal efficiency as the best Pennsylvania anthracite. The apparatus is pro-
nounced "a practical, commercial oven, now past the experimental stage." Of
the 1.051.2<)0,CKX),000 tons of lignite coal in the United States, the United States
Geological Survey r(>ports oSl,000,000,000 tons, or more than a third of the
total, is found in Montana.

*No claim is made for tliis appendix of completeness. New resources are constantly
iieins discovered, and there is every reason to believe that it will be many years before
the resoui'ce.s of the state are fully taliulated. This appendix is based upon reports and
bulletins of the United States Geological Surve.v, upon researches made and published
by J. P. Rowe, professor of geology at tlie State University, and upon information ob-
tained from firms and individuals and from other sources.

149

150 MONTANA: INDFt^TRIAL RESOUKCES

ELECTRICITY

Uses — Source of liiilit. lic.-it ;iii(l jidwcr for iiidust ri;il mid household purposes.
As a therapeutic as'eiit. Jt is iiuinkiud's uiost I'cccutly developed form of
eneri;:.v and its field of usefulness in all the industrial and household arts is
rapidly and constantly JK'infr expanded. It is the most flexible and cleanly form
of enerjry to handle that mankind has found. Its widespread application, according;
to economists, has been the chief factor that has made possilile the develoimient
of the l;irgc cities of this geueraticm. Distances over Avhich it can be transmitted
are steadily beinu h'Uiithened and the eneruy carried is constjintly beiiiir in-
creast>d. Ilapid strides are being made in electro-metallurgy. ^loi-e intense heat
can be generated in the electric furnace than in any other furnace known to
science ;nid it is .gradually supplanting other appliances in miiny fields. Inci-
dentally, the largest electric furnaces in the world have been erected at (Jreat
Falls, in this state. Electrical energy is easily made available from units small
enough to prepai*e the breakfast toast and coffee to units that surpass in effec-
tiveness the world's largest locomotives in hauling long and heavily lojided freight
trains over the mountainous backbone of the continent.

While all forms of energy can be converted into electricity, the current de-
ri\ed from water power, over a period of years, is said to be the most economical
to generate. Montana possesses, according to the United States Geological Survey,
approximately one-tenth of the potential hydro-electric power of the country.
The potential minimum hydro-electric development on Montana streams is
2,749.(XK) horse power, or 9.84 per cent of the total potential minimum of the
United States. The potential maximum hydro-electric development in Montana
is placed by the Geological Survey at 4,331,000 horse power, or 8.03 per cent of
the country's total potential maxinnnn development. The developed cai)acity of Mon-
tana hydro-electric plants is placed at 420,0<X) hor.se power by the United States
Geological Survey. The installed capacity, according to figures obtained from
the Public Service Commis.sioJi and the larger power companies, is 2!M;.430 horse
power. A number of the larger plants in the state have dams and st(U"age ca-
pacity capable of delivering more power when additional turbines are installed.
In 1922 JNIontana produced nearly seven per cent of the nation's electricity from
water power and was the fourth ranking state, according to the Geological Survey.
Of all the power used in Montana, 99.2 per cent is generated by wnter power.
Montana u.ses more electricity per capita than any other state.

More than two-thirds of the present installed hydro-electric capacity of the
state is on the Missouri River and its tributaries, in central Montana, but approxi-
mat(»ly three-fourths of the potential undeveloped capacity is in western Montana
on the Pacific slope, on the Clark's Fork, the Flathead and Kootenai Rivers prin-
cipally. The total potential development in Montana on the Missouri and its
tributaries is estimated by the Geological Survey at 700,000 horse power.

Occiirrenoe — The installed capacity of developed hydro-electric power in
Montana, by counties, is as follows: Beaverhead, 4.777 h. p.: Cascade, 130.815
h. p.: Fergu.s, 1,0."0 h. p.; Flathead, 2,820 h. p.; Glacier. 00 h. p.: Granite, 2,34^
h. p.: Lake, 700 h. p.; Lewis and Clark, 87,335 h. p.; Lincoln, 1,890 h. p.; ^ladison,
1G,700 h. p.; Meagher, 75 h. p.; Mineral, 144 h. p.: INIis.sonla. 3.200 h. p.: Park,
3,100 h, p. ; Sanders, 40,000 h. p. ; Yellow.stone. 1.440 h. p.

The undeveloped water power in ^Montana on four of its principal watersheds,
according to an article I).v E, >\'. Kramer, hydro-electric engineer of the United
States Forest Service, in The Electrical World, .Tuly ](!. 1921. is as follows:

FUEL AND ENERGY RESOT'KCES 151

MISSOLRI AND i^LlDISON
Name Undeveloped H. P.

IMiidison 14,0(M>

Madison 20.(X)0

Madison 12,000

Madison 4.000

Madison 30,000

Cascade 17,000

Missouri 21,000

Sheep Creelv 22,000

Total 140,000

YELLOWSTONE

Yankee Jim Canyon 5,000

Mystic Lalie 8,000

Billinss 1,560

Bis Horn Canyon 100.000

Buffalo Rapids 5.000

Total 124,560

CLARK'S FORK

North Fork Flathead 30.000

Coram 12,000

Swan River , 5,500

Poison 205,000

Lower Flathead 82.000

Thompscm Falls 20,000

Donlan : 48,000

Rock Island 60,000

Cabinet 92.000

Fish Creek 24,000

Total 578,500

KOOTExNAI

Kootenai Falls 20.000

Leonis 11.000

Total 31,000

Grand Total 874,060

NATURAL GAS

LTses — An ideal domestic fuel and used especially as an industrial fuel in
glass works, cement plants. l)rickyards. factories and metalhu-.iiic plants. Also used
in makin.ij carbon black, a constituent of rubber tires, paints and inks. From
some natural .ijas the gas helium, used as a non-inflammable substitute for
hydrogen in balloons, is extracted.

Occurrence — On the Cedar Creek anticline in Fallon, Prairie and Dawson
counties; in Elk Basin, Carbon county: near Havre. Hill county; in the Sweet
Grass hills in northern Liberty county ; near Shelby. Toole comity ; 35 miles
southeast of Big Sandy, Choteau coiiniy: at Antelope I'iont. Stillwater county;
in northern Liberty county. Reported by V. S. G. S. in Cone Butte Dome,
Fergus county. But little attention has thus far been given this resource
Billings, Bridger, Fromberg and Laurel use the gas from Elk Basin for light and

152 MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

fuel; Glondivo and Baker from the Ucdar Creek anticline, and Havre from the
Hill county field. The sas from the Toole county field is being used in Shelby.
An investigation is under way with a view of extending its use, with that of the
northern Liberty county field, to (Jreat Falls. Plans are also being con-
sidered to extend the use of the gas from the Cedar Creek anticline to a number
of other eastern Montana towns besides Glendive and Baker. There is one carbon
black plant near Baker, Fallon county, where 11 to 12 wells have been brought
in. On Cabin Creek, 20 miles north of Baker, there are three gas wells, two of
which are of considerable size. In 11)21 ]Montana produced, according to the
U. S. G. S. 336,000 M cubic feet of gas with a value at point of consumption of
$89,300. In the past few months many new gas wells have been brought in. with
a reported production ranging from one million to thirty-five million feet of
gas per well a da.\. The Cedar Creek anti-cline is said to be one of the
largest gas fields in the United States. The Toole county field is reported to have
available from twenty-five to thirty million feet of gas a day that runs over
90 per cent methane. The estimated flow of one well in the northern Lil)erty
county field, which is the most recent to be discovered, is thirty-five million
cubic feet a day. Natural gas was discovered in Montana as far back as 1892.

PETROLEUM

Uses — Source of power, light and lubricants. Derivatives include local anes-
thetics, constituents of surgical dressings, ink, soap, rubber tires, paints, cos-
metics, emulsions and many other articles. Petroleum coke, an almost pure
carbon, used in metallurgy and in making battery carbons and arc light pencils.
Nearly two hundred products are manufactured from this mineral, adapted to a
wide variet.v of uses.

Occurrence — In Carbon, Musselshell, Fergus, Garfield, Big Horn and Toole
counties. Also has been reported found, onl.v in small quantities, however, up to the
present time in Choteau, Stillwater and Fallon counties. Commercially produced
in Fergus, Toole and Carbon counties. Drilling for oil is being done in about
thirty-five coiuities of Montana at present. There are ten refineries in the
state, two at Lewistown, one at Hedgesville and one at Winnett, all in Fergus
county ; one at Billings, Yellowstone county ; one at Miles City, Custer county ;
one at Roundup, Musselshell county; two at Great Falls, Cascade county; one
at Kevin, Toole count.v. Production of oil began in Montana in lOlG with 44.917
barrels ; in 1922 the state's production was approximately 2,230,000 barrels. In
January, 1923, there were approximatel.v 144 producing wells in the state ; six
months later there were approximately 2(X) producing wells. (See also oil shale.)

PRECIOUS GEMS AND METALS

GEMS AND PRECIOUS STONES

Uses — In jewelry and articles of adornment.

Occurrence — Sapphire deposits on Togo Creek. 25 miles southwest of
Hobson, Judith Basin count.v, claimed to be the most valuable in the world. The
beds occur in a matrix which has been opened for a distance of six miles.
The output is shipped to London; most of the cutting is done in Switzerland.
There are three other extensive sapphire deposits in the state, on Rock Creek,
Granite county ; along Dry Cottonwood Creek. Deer Lodge County ; and along the
Missouri River for 20 miles near Helena, Lewis and Clark county. These three
beds are gravel deposits, but only one — Rock Creek beds — are being worked, and
practically th(> entire output goes for industrial uses. Among other counties
where finds of sapphires have been reported are Mus.selsh(>ll and Powder River.

Other gems and stones : Octahedral diamond, reported foiuid near Blackfoot,

f

PRECIOUS GEMS AND METALS 153

Deer Lodge county. Moss agate and mocha stones of fine (luality found from the
Dakota line west up the Yellowstone valley into the Yellowstone Park, from the
size of a hazelnut to pieces weighing twelve pounds and bringing prices ranging
from .*<1 to .$200. Cut, the stones are used in brooches, stickpins, belt buckles,
watch fobs, etc. Black tourmaline in Jefferson county. Yellow and smoky
topaz in Park and ^ladisnii counties. Khodonite in Silver Bow county. Jasper in
Dawson county. Azurmalachite in Silver Bow and Broadwater counties. Garnets
are found in many districts.

GOLD

Uses — In coins and jewelry, in the form of fine bars as medium of interna-
tional exchange, in dental work, in plated wire.

Occurrence — Has been commercially produced in Beaverhead, Broadwater,
Cascade, Deer Lodge, Fergus, Gallatin, Jefferson, Granite, Lewis and Clark, Lincoln,
Madison. Meagher, Mineral, Missoula. Park, Phillips, Powell, Ravalli, Sanders and
Silver Bow counties.

PLATIMM

Uses — In manufacture of chemical apparatus, in electrical industry, in jewelry
and dental work. Almost indispensable in manufacture of certain acids and chem-
icals and in apparatus for measuring high temperatures. Compounds used in
photography. Two-thirds of the platinum used in this country goes into jewelry.

Occurrence — Reported assay from mine in Frog Pond district, Granite county,
showed $.34 in platinum among other values, and assay from another mine in
same district showed .$42 in platinum, among other values ; also found, among
other values, in ores from the Fleming mine, near Alhambra, Jefferson county ;
also reported to occur in the sands of Upper Boulder Creek, near Contact, Park
county ; also reported to occur in the sands of Harris Gulch, near Alder, in
Madison count.v.

SILVT^R

Uses — In coins and jewelry, in the form of fine bars as medium of interna-
tional exchange, in plated ware and chemicals, and in form of silver nitrate for
photographic films.

Occurrence — Has been commercially produced in Beaverhead, Broadwater,
Cascade, Deer Lodge, Fergus, Gallatin, Jefferson. Granite, Lewis and Clark, Lin-
coln, Madison, Meagher, Mineral. Missoula, Park, Phillips, Powell, Ravalli,
Sanders and Silver Bow counties. It is largely due to the big production of
silver in Silver Bow county that I^Iontana in recent years has ranked first among
the states as a silver producer.

MINERALS—METALLIC

ALUMINUM

LIses — In household utensils, instruments, parts of internal combustion en-
gines and many other articles in which lightness or resistance to oxidation, or
both, are essential. Bauxite, the most important ore of aluminum also used
for makin.g artificial abrasives by fusin.g it in the electric furnace, for producing
aluminum salts, and for making refractory brick for furnace lining.

Occurrence — Reported on Sweeney Creek, west of Florence, Ravalli county.

ANTIMONY

Uses — Principally for making alloys with other metals, oxides in enamels
and pigments, sulphides in pigments, vulcanizing rubber and .safety matches. In
war u.sed for hardening bullets, in shell primers and in powder designed to produce
dense smoke or explosion.

154 MONTANA : INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

Ot'CurreiU'e — Reported in Sanders county, on Prospect Creek, in l)lanket
lu'ds. some of which are three feet thick. Also contained in the grey copper ores
of the Butte ditsrict which run about 25 per cent antimony. This is not I)elng
recovered as a by-product. U. S. G. S. says antimony deposits in this state
have been worked only during high prices.

BISMUTH

Uses — In metallic form I'or making low-fusing alloys or cliche metals which
are used in automatic fire sprinklers, fuses for electric wiring, and solders. Some
of the salts have a smooth luictuous feel, and are used in face and toilet powders
and in medicinal preparations. Also employed to a small extent in making optical
glasses.

Occurrence — "With the copper ores of the Butte district which tests made in
1911 showed carried 20 pounds bismuth to the ton. Investigator reported not
worth saving at $:>j a ton. but U. S. G. S. ctmfident process will be evolved for
isolating bismuth from flue dust as rich as that derived from Butte ores.

C.\DMIUM

Uses — Chiefly used as an alloy in materials requiring low melting points, such
as sprinkler system heads, automatic releases on fire doors, also as alloy in cliche
metal for stereotype plates, in silver plating and dental amalgam. In recent ex-
periments used to replace tin in sohhn's and in bronzes, which would open a wide
field to it. Reported to be a better rust preventive than nickel.

Occurrence — Reco\-ered as a by-product of the zinc ores from Butte district in
a ratio of one part to 5()0 parts of zinc at the electrolytic zinc plant of the
A. C. M. Co. in Great Falls. Precipitated electrolytically on aluminum plates, the
product being 99.97 per cent pure.

CHKOMTTE

Uses — It is the chief ore of the metal chromium which is smelted in the
electric furnace to produce the alloy of iron and chromium called ferrochrome,
used in making chrome steel, another alloy. r<Mniirkable for its hardness. Fuses
or melts only at a ver.y high temperature and used as refractor.v material for lin-
ing furnaces. Chemical compounds of chromium are used in making pigments,
dyes and mordants in oxidizing, bleaching and tanning.

Occurrence — Two deposits of chromite are reported in Montana by the
U. S. G. S., one. 10 miles southwest of Red Lodge, between Rock Creek and
West Fork of Rock Creek (Carbon county), and the other in Stillwater and
Sweet Grass counties. This l;itter deposit starts on Boulder River in Sweet
Grass county, 10 miles south of ^IcLeod, and extends in a general direction south
of east for 27 miles, to Fishtail Creek, in Stillwater coiuity. It is not only one
of the largest deposits in the I'nited States, but the T'. S. G. S. says, "the
form of occiu'rence of the chromite in this belt is radically different from
that of deposits farther west, in California and Oregon, and that there is much
stronger reason for counting on continuity in depth here than there".

Estimates of the available tonnage have been made for onl.v 19.000 feet in a
total length of 27 miles. This estimate is ;j.")O.0eH> tons to a depth of 100 feet, but
the U. S. G. S. says without doubt the ore goes beyond that depth to a con-
siderable distance, possibly 1.000 feet. Seven samples returned assays averaging
36.5 per cent of chromic oxide with an iron content of 1(5 to 19 per cent. The
assays were taken in the main, or high grade ore body which averages 12 inches
to two feet thick. The mixed ore. which averages four feet in width, assays 5
to 25 per cent chromic oxide. Concentrating tests, it is reported, show the
mixed ore will concentrate to a 39.S per cent chromic oxide ore with a 53 per
cent saving of the chromite. The assays made of this chromite ore indicate it

MIXEHALS— METALLIC 155

will suit tlu' it"iuiri'iiu>nts of stt-cl uianufjieturers. In luiikiiii;' ;i fcrrochrdiiu' t-im-
raiuing six per rent of carbon it is necessary to nse a chrome ore coiitainin.u at
least twice as iniu-h chrominni as iron in order to iiroiliue a ferrodironie con-
tainini;' 00 l»i'r cent of chi-oniiuni.

Kobert M. Keeney of the r.ure;in of Mines is (jnoled tn the effect that "ferro-
chrome can be easily manufactured directly from chroniite in the electric furnace".
The L'. S. G. S. says : '"The metallurijry of cbromite has apparently been so de-
veloped in the hydro-electric process as to utilize to advantage relatively low grade
ores such as are most abundant in the United States, and the further development
of that process on the I'acific coast, where water power abounds, would greatly
diminish the handicap of long transportation".

In 1011), G1.4()4 long tons of chromite were imported into the L'nited States.

COPPER

Uses — The first metal itsed by man and is today second only to ii-on in its
industrial value. Has become indispensable only since the electrical industry
was established. Most of the cojiper produced is now used in that industry and a
large part of the remainder in the manufacture of brass, bronze and other alloys.
Xo satisfactory substitute has been found for bronze as a bearing metal.

Occurrence — Has been commercially produced in Beaverhead, Broadwater, Cas-
cade. Deer Lodge, Fergus. Gallatin. Jefferson. Granite. Lewis and Clark. Lincoln,
Madi.son. Meagher, Mineral. Missoula. Park. Powell. Ravalli. Sanders, and Silver
Bow counties. It is the Silver Bow production that gives Montana third rank
among the states on this metal.

IKON

Uses — Modern civilization is based upon the fabrication of this metal. This
is the age of the machine, mostly made from steel, a product of iron.

Occurence — Three deposits of iron ore in Montana have been reported by
the U. S. G. S.. but there are reports of man.v other deposits, upon one of
which — in Meagher county — consideral)le exploration work has been done. This
deposit and the one in Cascade and Judith Basin counties which has been
examined by the U. S. G. S. are the only ores in the state at present of known
commercial importance.

In central Montiina. on liunning Wolf and Dry Wolf Creeks. 12 miles south-
west of Stanford, on the Great Xorthern Railway, and about 54 miles southeast
of Great Falls (Cascade and Judith Basin counties), is found iron ore known
as the Running Wolf hematite deposits. The ore bodies range in width from
five to 60 feet and average al>out 20 feet. On two claims at the east end of the
property, the V. S. G. S. estimates there are one million gross tons of ore. The
V. S. G. S. says: "The ore in places contains enough magnetite to make it react to
the magnet. It is not to an.v large degree limonitic at the surface. At one point
where a considerable depth has been reached, the ore contains a little pyrite and
chalcopyrite. Mineralogicall.v. the ores are entirely satisfactory for .steel manu-
facture. Ore is expo.sed at points along the middle of the belt, but no estimate of
tonnage can be attempted here. At the west end showings are better. Ore appears
at intervals throtigh a distance of nearly a mile, and the average of the thickness
of the ore bod.v in the different openings is 20 feet. The present availability
of this ore depends on several factors which cannot be considered in this paper,
such as the cost of transportation to central and eastern manufacturing points
and the possibility of economic production of iron in the nearby Rocky Mountain
region".

Extensive deposits of high grade iron are reported on Sheep Creek in the
northern part of Meagher count.v. It is said the mineralized area extends through
the Belt Mountains 50 miles, but the workalile deposits are found in a circular

156 MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

area of 2,500 acres. The iron couteut i.s said to ran^e from o.j per cent in soft
earth to 65 per cent in two main ontcroppings of iron cliffs. Private geologists
have reported from 80,000.000 to 140,000.000 tons of workable ore in sight,
of which lOO.OOO.OOO tons could he recovered by means of the steam i^hovel. The
ore bodj- has l)ccn prospected to a depth of 40 feet without going out of ore. and
geologists report the contour is such as to indicate the ore goes to" a depth of
200 feet.

The U. S. G. S. reports the existence of magnetite beds over the west half
of the Blackfeet Indian reservation, Glacier county, which can be traced for
many miles entirely across the reservation. The principal beds are found on the
South Fork of the Milk River. The beds are a number of small, widely scattered
areas which contain rich magnetite sandstones reaching a thickness of nine
feet, with an average thickness of four to five feet. The U. S. G. S. says a
considerable tonnage of ore which would average about 50 per cent of iron could
be hand sorted from the deposits. It concludes : "The proportion of titanium
oxide in the ores is considerable, averaging over 12 per cent in one sample. This
high titanium content renders these ores unfit for use, according to present metal-
lurgical practice, although it must be recognized that ores of this type may eventu-
ally be successfully smelted."

On the south side of Birch Creek, about half a mile .south of the Indian
Queen mine, six miles west of Apex station, Beaverhead county, the U. S. G. S.
reports deposits of magnetite iron ore. They occur as irregular pockets and have
been opened by shallow pits and shafts to obtain fluxing material for copper
or lead smelters.

Reported that Smoky Butte, 10 miles west of Joi'dan, Garfield county, is a
mountain of high grade iron ore. Much meteoric iron found in that region and
particularly near Smoky Butte. So far as known, no examination by geologists
has ever been made.

In 1919, 476,461 long tons of iron ore were imported into the United States.

LEAD

Uses — As metal it is made into sheets, pipes and cable coverings and is used
as constituent of industrial alloys — babbit, type metal, battery plates and bullets.
In the form of carbonates and oxides great qiiantities used in paints, in manufac-
ture of storage batteries, enamel, glass, pottery, rubber and varnish.

Occurrence — Has been commercially produced in Beaverhead. Broadwater.
Cascade, Deer Lodge, Fergus, Jefferson, Granite. Lewis and Clark. Lincoln. Madi-
son. Meagher, Mineral, Missoula, Park. Powell, Ravalli, Sanders and Silver Bow
counties.

MANG.VNESE

Uses — In making steel by the open-hearth and Bessemer processes. Two
alloys in common use — ferromanganese which contains 70 to SO per cent of
manganese and made from ore that carries more than 40 per cent manganese,
used largely in open-hearth steel from which structural shapes, sheets, bars and
wire are made ; and spiegeleisen. which contains 10 to .30 per cent of manganese,
used largely in making Bessemer steel, from which rails, forgings, etc.. are made.
In steels made for most uses none are so cheap or so effective as manganese.
In glass making as a decolorizer.

Ocourrenoe — Reported by the U. S. G. S. in eleven different places in Mon-
tana. U. S. G. S. says : "The greatest, best developed and most available do-
mestic reserves of high-grade manganese ore are in the Philipsburg district of
Montana''. Of the deposits at Butte says : "The bodies of rhodochrosite at Butte

are among the largest and mo.st valuable sources of manganese in the

country". Adds Philipsburg and Butte possess several advantages that partly over-

MINERALS— METALLIC 157

come handicap of great distance from the principal consuming centers. The chief
advantage at Philipsburg is the fact the ores are suitable, or may be readily made
suitable for the manufacture of dry-cell batteries in the manufacture of which
25,000 to 50.000 tons of ore are consumed annually at a price two or three times
as large as the price paid for ore of ordinary grades. The advantages at Butte
are that the deposits can be developed and the ore removed without additions
to the workings needed to exploit the ores of other metals, the abundant facilities
available for concentrating the ore and making ferroalloys.

Deposits ranging from high to low grade are reported by U. S. G. S. in Castle
district, Meagher comity ; Xeihart, Cascade county ; "Wiclces and Renova, Jefferson
county : three miles northwest of Anceney, Gallatin county ; on Trapper Creek,
nine miles west of Melrose, Beaverhead county ; in Dry Georgia Gulch, east of
Twin Bridges, and seven miles southwest of Xorris. Madison county.

Montana has ores suitable for the two alloys in common use, ferromanganese
and spiegeleisen. The L'nited States imported .33.022 long tons of ferromanganese
in 1919; 27 long tons of spiegeleisen; o33.341 long tons (total imports) of man-
ganese ore in 1919.

M0LYBDENU3I

Uses — A metal of potential rather than actual use. Encoiu-aging results
reported from experiments made with a view of using small quantities molyb-
denum to make steels of high tensile and torsional strength and great elasticity.
Also used in incandescent lamps and in X-ray tubes.

Occurrence — The U. S. G. S. says, "among the principal deposits of molyb-
denum ores known are near Emigrant (Park county), and at other

places in Montana" Also reported by U. S. G. S. in Potosi mining district, 14
miles southwest of Pony, Madison county. Reported tv;o miles east of Ophir,
Powell county, and also .30 miles northwest of Dillon, Beaverhead county, 10 miles
west of Oregon Short Line.

In 1919, 106,743 pounds of molybdenum ore were imported.

TUNGSTEN

Uses — Constituent of steels for making high-speed tools, also as a filament
for incandescent lamps. A tungsten-iron alloy used for making valves and valve
stems for airplane and high-power automobile engines. Pure tungsten used in
Roentgen ray tubes.

Occxirrence — In the Potosi mining district. 14 miles southwest of Pony,
Madison county. L'. S. G. S. says, "although originally mined for silver, these ores
are of interest now chiefly because they contain tungsten". X'o extensive develop-
ment. Vein in general persistent in strike and dip. one to six feet in thickness.
Tungsten occurs as hubernite in streaks one to twenty inches thick. One sample
assayed 4.5 per cent tiuigstic acid. Reported by "\Mnchell in form of hubernite in
the Birdie and Scottish Chief mines at Butte. In form of scheelite has been
mined and shipments made from Jardine district. Park coimty.

In 1919, 9,408 short tons of tungsten-bearing ores were imported into the
United States.

URANIUiVI

Uses — As an alloy for making high speed tools, in gas mantles and electric
lamp filaments ; in salts and other forms used for iridescent glass and pottery
glazes, in porcelain-painting and calico-printing, in medicine" and in chemical de-
determinations. Most widely known as the chief soiu-ee of radiiun which is ex-
tracted chiefly from the carnotite and pitchblende ores of the uranium group.

Occurrence — State School of Mines tested sample of uranium ore from Carbon
comity that ran about 25 per cent in radioactivity.

In 1919, 6,020,005 pounds of steel hardening ore were imported.

158 MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL KESOURCES

ZINC

Uses — More tliiiii half the (loincsiic ((Utiml wsvtl in .unlvaiiiziiiy ii-oii aud
making brass. AIioul one-Fourth used as zinc oxide in paints.

Occiirrciice — Has In-eu euumiereially produced in Cascade, Deer Lodge, Jeffer-
son, Granite, Lewis and Clark, Lincoln, JIadison. ^Mineral, Ravalli, and Silver
Bow comities. One-fifth of the nation's sui)i)ly of zinc conies from Silver Bow,
accordint;' to the U. S. (J. S. and tlie iiroduction in Hint count.v has ,niven ^Montana
third ranic in zinc.

MINERALS NON-METALLIC

ALABASTER

Uses — A fine-srained variet.v <if .uypsuni occurrint;- in the massive form. For
small statues and other ornamental designs.

Ofcurroiice — L:irue deposits reported li.v Roue in tiie Little Snowy mountains
in Fergus and Golden Valley counties.

ARSKNIC

Uses — ]N[etallic arsenic constituent of hard lead, used in shot and liearing
metals. In oxide form called white arsenic in making glass, which consumes half
the d(miestic output, and in insecticides. In other forms, constituents of sheep
and cattle dips, and also used in dyeing textiles, in tanning, in medicine, and
during World War in prei)aring poison gas.

Ocourrenoe — R(>covered as a by-product of the Rutt(> ores in the reduction works
at Anaconda. Also recovered as a by-product of gold ores in the Jardlne mining
district of Park count.v. Nearly all the world's supply is recovered as a by-prod-
uct of smelting. The claim is made that Montana is (192;j) producing 4.") per
cent of the arsenic output in the United States.

ASBESTOS

Uses — P'ireproof cloth for firemen's suits, tlu'ater curtains, steam packing
and other forms of heat insulation and non-conducting coverings ; low-grade ma-
terial constituent of various building products; in electrical industry where l>oth
insulation and resistance to high temperatures are required.

Occurrence — Reported in Gallatin count.v, 16 miles northwest of West Yel-
lowstone, and also in Madison county, in Madison range east of Ennis.

BARITE

Uses — In pigments, as sizing for papers and textile fabrics, in manufacture of
rubber, asbestos, cement and in tanning. Compounded with zinc sulphide used as
pigment in white enamel paints, and in manufacture of linoleum and oilcloth.

Occurrence — Reported by Rowe on Paltee Creek, two miles southwest of
Missoula, Missoula county; in Ruby Mountains. Madison county; on Cabin Creek.
25 miles southeast of Ekalaka, Carter county ; on Cedar Creek. 2o miles from its
mouth, in Wibaux county. Missoula deposit described as one of the best and
purest in northwest and of commercial importance. ALso reported near Stanford,
.Tuditli Basin county.

BENTOMTE

Uses — Sizing for paper, absorbent in dynamite manufacture, retarder for
gypsum plasters, constituent of a remedial dressing (antiphlogistine), adulterant
in candies and drugs, de-inking of wood-pulp papers.

Occurrence — Reported six miles northwest of Hysham. Treasure comity, in
deposit five miles hmg and up to a mile wide, 10 to .'>() feet in thickness.

BUILDING STONES

Uses — With a growing population and a rapidly decreasing timber supply,
there must come an increasing use of stone and artificial building materials for

MINERALS— NON-METALLIC 159

buildiuu' and pulilir works. 'I'ho essential (lualitics of huikliug stoues are strength,
durability, wdrkabilil.v. cdlor and bcani.v.

Ot'ourrent'e — Atcordin.ii' to Rowe. who has made the ouly survey of this re-
source, Montana is well supplied with many varieties of good building stones.
East of the Rocky Mountains the stone is mostly sandstone; in the western part
of the state, granite, quartzite, limestone and phyllite are the principal kinds of
rock. In a few places, especially in the western third of the state, volcanic
ash is used as a building stone. Rowe states a sandstone quarry is found at
almost every town from AVibaux. in eastern Montana, to Livingston. M."0 miles
west, while from Helena west to the Bitter Root mountains, both north and south.
are found granite, phyllite, and quartzite in large quantities and at many localities.

Sandstone quarries are mentioned liy Rowe in Beaverhead, Carbon, Cascade,
Hill. Custer. Fergus. Sweet Grass. Stillwater. Yellowstone and Park comities.
The Beaverhead. Stillwater and Yellowstone sandstones pronounced among the
best in the state. Some of the best buildings in Salt Lake were constructed of
Beaverhead county stone, and the softer, purer white variety has been used as a
flux at Anaconda. Rowe says this softer kind is without doubt the purest
quartz sandstone in the state, and when crushed resembles glass sand, for which
purpose it would undoubtedly be good. The original state capital at Helena was
built of Stillwater county sandstone.

Granite quarries are mentioned by Rowe in Lewis and Clark. Jefferson,
Silver Bow and Ravalli counties The wings of the state capital at Helena were
constructed of Jefferson count.v granite.

The finest colored quartzite in the state is probably found in Beaverhead
coimty. according to Rowe, and the largest quantity in Missoula county. In
Beaverhead count.v. he says, is found the best volcanic ash building stone in the
state. Other counties named as being among the chief producers of this stone are
Gallatin. Ro.sebud, Missoula and Ravalli. The best quarry of phyllite or silicious
slate is in Flathead county. This stone is also found in Missoula county.

CLAYS

Uses — For pottery ware including porcelain, china, granite and earthenware,
various kinds of brick, floorin.g. terra cotta in moldings and decorations, for irri-
gating and drain tile, water conduits, sewer pipes, ventilating flues. In the indus-
trial arts for crucibles, retorts, furnace and stove linings, puddling hearths, smelt-
ing furnaces, glass pots, insulating materials in electrical engineering, filling for
walls, sizing and filling for paper, cement manufacture, mineral paint and paint
adulterants and experimentally in manuf.icture of aluminum. Among the most
important kinds of clay are china clay, kaolin and indianaite. usually mixed with
feldspar and u.sed in whiteware. porcelain, tiles, insulators and for sizing and
weighting paper. Ball clay and ware clay, a white burning plastic clay used in
pottery industry to give strength and plasticity to the non-plastic clays. Fire
clay, chiefly residual or sedimentary clay possessing high refractoriness, used
in fire liricks, furnace linings, retorts, crucibles, tiles, terra-cotta, pressed brick, etc.
Much of the fire clay produced comes fi-om beneath coal seams. Brick clays,
impure plastic clays usually with a high percentage of fluxing impurities which
cause them to burn to a hard product at a low temperature. Stoneware clay, a
refractory or semi-refractcn'y vitrifying clay of sufficient tensile strength and
plasticity to l>e workable on a poiti-r's wheel. Fire proofing and hollow brick
clay should have rather high plasticity, fair tensile strength and should burn to a
good hard but not vitrified body at a comparatively low temperature. "Washed
kaolin and certain fine-textured, fairly pla.stic sedimentary clays free from sand
are iised to give l)ody, weight and firmness to various kinds of paper. Cement clay

160 MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

should contain 60 to 70 por cent of silica and the iron oxide and alumina together
.slidiild not exceed one-half the pex'centage of silica.

Occurrence — The only general survey of Montana's clay resources was made
liy Rowe. He reports deposits of brick clay at several places in Missoula, Sanders,
Flathead and Ravalli counties, in Lewis and Clark. Silver Bow. Powell, Cascade,
Rosebud, Yellowstone, Gallatin. Phillips, Valley, Park. Blaine. Hill, Beaverhead.
Carbon, Granite and Fergus. The U. S. G. S. reports l>rick clay in Sheridan
county.

Rowe reports deposits of fire clay in Powell and Jefferson and at two places
each in Lewis and Clark. Cascade and Flathead counties.

Potterj' clay is reported in Powell. Missoula and Gallatin comities, at several
places in Sanders. Flathead and Ravalli counties, beneath coal veins in Fergus
county, and possibly exists In Sheridan and Carbon counties- The clay in Carbon
county may contain too much pyrites for pottery purposes, and the color of the
Sheridan county clay may be objectionable.

The T'. S. G. S. reports bed of clay between Plentywood and Redstone. Sheri-
dan county, known extent of which is 18 miles east and west and eight miles north
and south. Bed from three to eight feet thick. U. S. Bureau of Standards tested
representative samples and reports the "clay appears to be a promising
one for the manufacture of common and face brick and possibly drain tile and
fireproofing. The buff color developed by burning would not permit its use
in the manufacture of whiteware pottery. However, the clay has properties
similar to those used in the manufacture of stoneware". The U. S. G. S. points
out that the presence in the area of lignite will aid greatly in the exploitation
of the bed and the manufacture of clay products and the report concludes:
'"Though the local demand for the clay products may not be great, the association
of lignite and clay, together with the advantages of location and transportation,
may make the deposit valuable to the prospective manufacturer".

CORUNDUM (Indushial)

Uses — As an abrasive. Molded into wheels, whetstones, slips, hones and
oil stones. Also used in powder of various degrees of fineness and made into
abrading papers for polishing, stone and gem cutting and polishing, dental work,
glass frosting and etching, and wood-working. In the gem form as a sapphire
used for bearings in many delicate precision instruments, such as watches and
various meters.

Occurrence — Reported by U. S. G. S. on headwaters of Elk CreeK, '23 miles
south of Belgrade. Gallatin coiinty. Corundinn-bearing rock eight to ten feet
in width. Corundum crystals vary from fraction of an inch up to eight inches
and have been found up to two pounds in weight. Concentrated in seams, some of
the smaller ones consisting of pure corundum and the larger ones carrying 10
to 70 per cent corundum. U. S. G. S. says it is reported this deposit is a
good abrasive, and a fire test proves it can be used in the manufacture of a
vitrified wheel. Another deposit reported five miles west of this one, and a third
deposit 14 miles southwest of Bozeman.

As a sapphire is found in gravel deposits on Rock Creek. Granite comity.
This deposit is being worked and practically the entire output goes into indus-
trial u.ses.

CRYSTALLINE LIMESTONES AND MARBLES

High grade deposits of marble are reported from a number of places in
Montana. There has been practically no commercial production, however. Near
Manhattan. Gallatin county, is a deposit of travertine onyx. Rowe reports the
stone is of good grade and the product similar to the Mexican variety and
that it takes a splendid polish. In Nelson Gulch, southwest of Helena, Lewis

MINERALS— NON-METALLIC 161

aud Clark couuty, is roportt'd a deposit c-oiitaining seveu distinct varieties of
marble, Creoles, Sinias and Eijyptian blacks and creams, white statuary marble,
corrara marble, blue marble, and Georgia white marble. It is reported a good
quality of marble is found on Dempsey Creek, Powell county. Marble deposits are
reported north of Lothair. Hill comity : also near Town.send, Broadwater county,
near Dewey, Beaverhead county, and near Garnet, Granite county.

FLLOKITE

Uses — Chiefly as a flux in manufacture of basic open hearth steel. Also
as a flux in blast furnaces. Considerable quantity used in manufacture of glass
and enameled ware ; in electrolytic refining of antimony and lead ; production of
aluminum, and in manufacture of hydrofluoric acid.

Occurrence — Reported by V. S. G. S. in the Potosi miniug district, 14 miles
southwest of Pony, Madison comity. Varies in color remarkably in this district,
being purple, green, blue, white or black. Also reported near Mullan Pass, west of
Skyline. Lewis and Clark county.

In 1919, Q.Oio short tons of fluorite were imported into the United States.

FLLLER'S EARTH.

Uses — Used for scoiu-ing and cleaning cloth and more extensively for clarifying
fats, oils and greases. ?;]xtensively used in refining petroleum. Coarser grades for
coar.se pottery, brick, tile and pipe.

Oct'urrenoe — Reported south of Baker, Fallon county, also in Silver Bow
county.

GRAPHITE

Uses — Manufacture of crucibles and other refractory products, lubricants, lead
pencils, paint, foundry facings, preparation to loosen boiler scale, polish for gun
powder, and in electrical work. Largest quantity used in making crucibles, which
for this purpose must be of the crystalline variety, with a content of graphitic
carbon exceeding So per cent, and free from mica, pyrite and iron oxide. Amor-
phous graphite, which can be made in the electric furnace, is suitable for most
other uses.

Occurrence — On ridge between Van Camp Creek and Timber Gulch, near south-
west end of the Ruby range, 15 miles southeast of Dillon, Beaverhead county.
The U. S. G. S. says development has not proceeded far enough to prove the exist-
ence of large deposits, but the prospecting done proves that considerable graphite,
all of very high grade, occurs there. In another report says this deposit of the
same type as the famous crystalline deposits of Ceylon. One mine producing. Also
reported by Rowe three miles from Toston. Broadwater county.

GYPSUM

Uses — Wall plaster, gypsum plaster board, tile and bricks, insulating medium,
retarder in Portland cement, fertilizer, blackboard crayon, base for paints, filler
for cotton and most of the finer grades of paper, as a base for mixing with
Paris green and other insecticides.

Occurrence — Cascade county near Millegan, Riceville, Goodman and Kibbey, in
beds 3 to 6 feet thick. Fergus county, along north side of Little Belt moun-
tains, around the Big Snowy mountains, encircling small dome near Hanover and
probably encircling other structural domes, in beds S to 30 feet thick. In
Jefferson county near Lime Spur. Carbon county, field extending from Bridger
canyon southeasterly into Wyoming. Little explored. Beds 15 to 20 feet thick.
Big Horn county in the Red Valley, west of Lodge Grass Creek, three beds,
6, 60 and ,50 feet thick. Madison cf)unty. two beds near Lyon, 10 to 20 feet
thick. Park county, near Hunter's Hot Springs, occurs in veins 1 to 5 feet wide.

1()2 MONTANA: INDISTKIAL KKSOURCES

ICELAND SFAK

Uses — For (iptical purposes, especially in insirunu'iits fur polariziu.n li,t;lit.
Occurreiu-e — In Sweet Grass County.

KAOLIN

Uses — Extensively used in niauufacture of porci'lain.
Ooeiirrenoe — Reported found in Fallon county.

LIMESTONE

Uses — The most generally useful sedimentary rock. As Imildinsj; stones. As
practically the only source of lime and indispensable in cement manufacture. As
fluxing material in smelting industry. A pure limestone is extensively used in
sugar-refining. A fine, compact, homogeneous limestone, which may be either
a pure carbonate of lime or dolomitic. is used as lithographic stone. It is found,
of a quality suitable for lithographic work, at only a few localities. Two
classes are known to the trade, the "blue"' or hard stone, adapted to engraving and
the better grade of fine-line printing: and the "yellow" or soft stone, which is
rated as somewhat inferior.

There are many different kinds of limestone. The kind most suitable for one
industry may be the least adapted to another industry. For Portland cement an
argillaceous (clay) limestone which contains lime, silica, and alumina, in such
proportions that in the finished cement the ratio of lime to the silica, alumina
and iron oxide taken together shall be not less than l.G to 1. or more than 2.3 to 1,
is most desired. For every ton of limestone u.sed in manufacturing in<liistries,
three tons are used as furnace flux.

Ot't'urrence — This rock is abundant in the mountainous parts of the state.
Its principal use up to the present has been as a furnace flux in the smelters
and in the manufacture of lime. The increased use of stucco for plaster has re-
duced the market for lime and kilns in a number of districts are idle. Accord-
ing to Rowe there are many deposits of good limestone in the state. l>ut most
of them are too remote from the railro.-ids to permit profitabh' operation.

Rowi> reports limestone in Lewis and ("lark. P(nvell. Cascade. Fergus. Cjwbon.
Beaverhead. Silver Bow. .Tefferson, Sweet Crass. Gallatin. I*:irk and Deer Lodge
counties.

ivncA

Uses — Indispensable in electrical industry as insulating material, in wireless
apparatus, in magnetos. Also used in stove fronts, chimneys and lamp shades and
sounding lioxes of phonographs. Asserted the enormous expansion of the electrical
industry due in l;irge part to the iuii(iue properties of mica. To be of \ahie as
sheet deposits must yield a rectangle at least IV. by 2 inches, which nuist
split readily, be free from cracks, corrugations, etc. Tlie only connnercially valu-
able varieties in the United States are ma.scovite (common) and biotite (black
mica ) .

Orcurrence — U. S. G. S. quotes report of prospect eight miles southeast of
Dillon. Beaverhead county, that is said to have yielded plates S14 l\v 18% inches.
Another prospect was n^ported near Barker. Cascade county, in a bed four feet
thick. Also reported on Granite Creek, between Virginia City and Sheridan,
Madison county. Mica said to be of good quality, clear and well grained. Also
reported on proju-rty of Zonolite Alining Company, near Libby. Lincoln lount.v.

NITRATE

I'ses — Chiefly as fertilizer and in manufacture of explosives.

Oc'curreni'C' — V. S. G. S. rei>orts (Uposit of niter along face of cliffs of black
limestone, on Camp Creek, three and one-half miles northeast of ^Melrose. ^ladison
county. No explorations to determine if potash .and scnla nitrates are included in

MIXKHALS— XnX-MKTALLIC 163

till' liiiH'sIoiH' liack fi'niii ilif outcrop. Estiniatt'd woiilil require 35 tons of rock to
he treated to obtain one ton of criuU' salts.

OIL SHALE

Uses — Source of power, liiiht and lubricants, and, when it is a phopphatic oil-
slial(\ as in southern Montana, is a source of fertilizer.

Ot'curreiice — I)illon-I)ell area. Beaverhead county, richest beds of phosphatic
shale. 3 feet or more in thickness, yielded 20 to 30 gallons of oil to the ton. The
T'nited States Geolosiical Survi-y, in its report on this field, says scant encourage-
ment can be given the hope that the shale of this area can be successfully ex-
ploited for its oil yield It adds, however, that if on further Investigation

the merits of "Tetraphosphate," a fertilizer manufactured in Italy, are estab-
lished, "the process could readily Ik carried on in conjunction with the distilla-
tion of the oil shali's in the Dillon-Dell area.

Oil shale is also found near Adel. ^Meagher county, yielding 12 gallons to the
ton, in Jefferson comity, between Jefferson station and Logan, yieldin.g 10 gallons
to the ton, in (iallatin comity, near Chestnut, yielding 12 gallons to the ton. Re-
ported by Rowe beneath gypsum bed eight miles south and east of Bridger, Carbon
county.

PHOSPHATE

Uses — In largest (piantity as ingredient of artificial fertilizers, finely
ground, directly as a fertilizer, also used for making pho.sphoric acid and phos-
phorus. Phosphorous used in phosphor bronze, phosphor copper and phosphor tin,
in incendiary bullets, smoke screens, matches, and striking surface on boxes of
safety matches.

Occurrence — Reported by the T". S G. S. in (iranite, Powell. Lewis and Clark,
Beaverhead and Jefferson cimnties. Detailed reports have been made on all of
these deposits except the one near Cardwell. in Jefferson county. They show the
deposits examined are workable and high grade, containing GO per cent or more
tricalcium pho.sphate. The deposits are easil.v accessilile from INIaxviHe. Garrison,
Elliston and Melrose, at a distance of one to six miles from the railway. The
Montana deposits, with those found in Idaho, I'tah and Wyoming, constitute the
largest phosphate beds in the world, so far as known. They are of a higher
grade than those found in Florida and South Carolina which have been the
principal scuirce of phosphate in this country up to the present time. The U. S.
G. S. estimates there are nearly six billion tons of high grade phosphate available
in the T'nited States of which five and a half billion tons are found in Montana,
Idaho, rtali and AVyoming.

Some development wurk has lieen done on the Granite county deposits but
they have not reached the ct>mniercial stage. The Anaconda Copper Mining Com-
pany has lieen using phosphate rock from Conda, Idaho, in a superphosphate plant
at Anaconda, the capacity of which is being enlarged (1923) from lO.(MK) tons to
30.000 tons of superphosphates per year. The enlarged plant will use 70.000
tons of suliihuric acid which is the capacity production of the acid plant at the
Anaconda Reduction Works.

SLiVTE

Uses — AlKnit three- fourths of the slate produced in this country is for
roofing purposes. :\[iU stock Includes blackltoards. flooring, wainscoting, mantels,
hearths, switchboards, vats, sinks, laundry tubs, sanitary ware, grave vault.s. tops
for laboratory, liilliard and kitchen tables. Waste is used for road material and
flagging. Slate vcikhm-. a luiill-up niatcrial. recommended for roofing.

Occurrence — Four miles east of Mitchell. Lewis and Clark county. Some
development has been done on this doi»osit and machinery installed for making
shingles, blackboards, switchboards, table tops and other flat work. The black-

1G4 MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

boards at the Montana Wosleyan College, Helena, were made here. It is said
electrical appliance companies and liilliard top concerns that have tested this
slate report it is very high grade and particularly suitable for switchboards and
billiard tops.

SO.VPSTONE

Uses — The mctst generally known u.se is in hot-cake griddles. An ingredient
of some lubricants, and utilized in a variety of other ways.

Occurrence — iCciioiicd liy Rowe in a coal mine four miles southeast of Gilt
Edge, Fergus coiuity. and in a coal mine seven miles from Forsyth, on Smith
Creek, Rosebud county. Bod four feet in thickness reported by U. S. G. S. in
coal mine at Aldridge, Park county.

SULPHUR

Uses — In making sulphuric acid and paper pulp, as a fungicide or insecticide
in agriculture, and in certain explosive powders. More than half the total pro-
duction converted into sulphuric acid which is used in fertilizers in refining
petroleum, in pickling and galvanizing steel, and in making chemicals and drugs.

Occurrence — As a by-product from the smelters in Deer Lodge and Lewis and
Clark counties.

FORESTRY RESOURCES

LUMBER AXD TIMBER

Uses — The first material used by primitive man for shelter, fuel and utensils.
While in many lines other materials have been substituted, it is still indi.-^pen.sable
to man.v industries. The li.st of by-products .steadil.v grows and their uses mul-
tiply. Used in the building, transportation and extractive industries, and in a
wide variet.v of manufactured articles, from furnitiu-e to farm machiner.v. In
form of wood pulp is the chief source of most of the paper used, and in form of
pressed fiber has found many uses as sulisiitute for metal. Experimentally,
animal food products have been manufactured from it.

Occurrence — The estimated timber stand of ^Montana is 50.509 million feet,
of which 39.70S million feet are under federal control. 17.501 million feet under
private control, and 2,.300 million feet iinder state control. The estimated stand
by species is as follows : Lodgepole pine. 14.599 million feet : Douglas fir. 7.366
million feet ; "Western larch. 4.364 million feet ; Western .vellow pine, 3.427 million
feet ; Engelmann spruce, 2.749 million feet ; miscellaneous, 1,1SS million feet ;
Western white pine, 630 million feet; White bark pine, 416 million feet; Alpine
and white fir. 396 million feet; Cedar, 115 niilliou feet; making a total of
35,250 million feet.

In production of lumber the leading counties in 1921 raid<ed in the following order :
Missoula. Flathead, Lincoln, Ravalli, Sanders, Granite, Powell, and Gallatin.
Other counties producing lumber are : Beaverhead. Big Horn. Blaine. Broadwater,
Carbon. Carter, Cascade, Deer Lodge. Fergus. Golden Valle.v. Granite. .Teffer.son,
Judith Basin. Lewis and Clark. Madison. Meagher, Mineral. Mussel.shell. Pa ric. Phil-
lips, Powder River, Ro.sebud, Stillwater. Silver Bow, Sweet Grass, Teton. Treasure,
Wheatland and Yellowstone.

WEALTH PRODUCTION OF STATE

165

FARM, RANGE AND FOREST PRODUCTION IN MONTANA*

Year

Total Crop
Acreage

Total Crop
Farm Value

Wool

Production

(Lbs.)

Cattle
Shipments
No. of Head

Lumber Cut
(Feet)

1909

1.828.000°

$ 25,616,000°°

35,000,000

255,178

308,582,000

1910

2,379.000°

33,357.000°°

33,600,000

243,662

319,089,000

1911

2.803,000°

43.415.000°°

34.875,000

205,873

228,416,000

1912

3.482.000°

42,361,000°°

31,175,000

188,675

272,174,000

1913

3,726.000°

46,407.000°°

31,500,000

172,299

357,974,000

1914

4,055,000°

63,101,000

30,177,000

158,623

317.842,000

1915

5,012,000°

74,116,000

26.950,000

173,936

328,000,000

1916

5,287,000°

115,097,000

24,570,000

227,828

383,900,000

1917

5,972,000°

98,293,000

23,342,000

333,056

350,000.000

1918

6,592,000°

137,369,000

18,685,000

406,415

340.000,000

1919

7,472,400

69,975,000

18,267,000

641,337

287,378,000

1920

6,702,000

96,674,000

16,000,000

211,242

410,000,000

1921

6,400,000

75,010.000

16,400,000

147,413

213.857,000

1922

6,872,000

92,932,090

16,700,000

246,378

304.377,000

♦Detailed Information is available in The Montana Farm Review, which will be sent
upon application to the Department of Ag-riculture, Helena, Mont.

°The figures from 1909 to 1918 inclusive only include the principal crops.
°°Figures for 1909 to 1913 inclusive include the acreage but not the farm value of
wild hay.

MINERAL PRODUCTION IN MONTANA IN 1919 AND 1920

(U. S. Geological Survey)

PRODUCT

1919

1920

Quantity

Value

Quantity Value

Cement, barrels

Clay products

Clay, raw, short tons

Coal, short tons

Copper, pounds

Ferroalloys, long- tons

Gems and precious stones

Gold, troy ounces

Graphite, crystalline, pounds

Gypsum, short tons

Iron ore. long- tons

Lead, short tons

Lime, short tons

Manganese ore. long tons

Mineral waters, gallons sold

Natural gas. ^l cubic feet

Petroleum, barrels

Sand and gravel, short tons

Silica (quartz), short tons

Silver, troy nonces

Stone, short tons

Sulphuric acid (c), short tons

Zinc, short tons

Miscellaneous

Total value, eliminating duplications

(a)

5,077
3,236,369
169,981,288
(a-b)

107,856

(a)

3,438

17,219

3,340

24,993

499,225

857,958

90,000

159,564

(a)

12,541,181

209,140

84,382

(a)

> 394,899

b 30,551

8,644,344

31.616,520

(a-b)

I 48,391

I 2,229,588

I (a)
I (a)
I 1,825,201
1 35,834
993,633
I 6.811
1 85,800
1 171,000
! 71,736
I (n)
I 14,046.123
I 183,703

I 12,319,759

1.030,066

l.$73. 630.824

(a)

2.582
4,413.866
177.059,260
(a-b)

89,550
(a)
(a)

10,803

15,627
2,638

76,441
(a)

817,730
340,000
248,260

12,579,178
275,150
(a)
92,169

(a)

$ 407,984
b 15,614
13,923,000
32,578,904
(a-b)
223,196
1,851,165
(a)
ra)
73.889
2,500,313
30,020
1,966,881
(a)
88,100
1,045,000
73,986

13,711,304

296,019

(a)

14,931,361

3,435,685

$85,885,503

a — Value included under "Miscellaneous."

b — Value not included in total value for state.

c — From copper smelting.

166

MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

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INDEX

I'ages
ALTITUDE (See also Districts and Comities)

Of State 24

BEAVERHEAD 72-74

BIG HORN 52-53

BLAINE 125-126

BROADWATER : 97-98

CARBON 55-5G

CARTER 41-42

CASCADE 95-96

CENTRAL MONTANA 85-103

Broadwater 97-98

Cascade 95-96

Fergus - 87-88

Golden Valley - 89-90

Jefferson , 102-103

Judith Basin 92-93

Lewis and Clark 99-101

Meagher 93-94

Musselshell : 85-86

Wheatland 90-91

CHOUTEAU 129-130

CLIMATE 35-38

Climate of Counties (See Districts)

Climatological Averages for State 38

Growing Season 38

Rainfall 37

Temperature in Winter 35-36

COUNTIES (See Districts) 39-147

Outline Map of 40

CUSTER 46-47

DANIELS 120-121

DAWSON 78-79

DEER LODGE 107-108

EAST CENTRAL MONTANA 75-8i

Dawson 78-79

Garfield 82-84

McCone - 81-82

Prairie '. 79-80

Richland 76-77

Wibaux 75-70

ELECTRICITY

Consumption of 7

Development of , 150

Undeveloped Power 151

Uses of - 12-150

167

168 MONTANA : iNDt'STRlAL nESOI'RCES

Pages
FALLON 4a-44

FARMING AND STOCKRAISING 19-34

Crop Production 21-22-165

Dairying 33

ExixM-it'iico and Capitiil KcMiuircd 19

Farm < Myanization.s 20

Irrigated 30-31

(Statistics of) 34

Land Values 23

Land Value Guides 23-24

Livestock Grazing 31-33

Marketing 20

Non-Irrigated 29-30

Types of Farming _ 28-31

Yields Per Acre 22

FERGUS 87-88

FLATHEAD 139-141

FORESTS AND TIMBER

Occurrence of 164

Production of 165

Stand of 10

FOREWORD 5-8

GALLATIN 65-66

GARFIELD 82-84

GLACIER 137-138

GOLDEN VALLEY 89-90

GRANITE 109-110

HILL 127-128

INDUSTRIAL POSSIBILITIES 9-18

Available Markets *. 13

Census of Industries 18

Factors of Location 10-12

Some Possible Industries 14-18

JEFFERSON : 102-103

JUDITH BASIN 92-93

LAKE 141-143

LEWIS AND CLARK 99-101

LIBERTY 134-135

LINCOLN 143-144

LIVESTOCK (See Farming and Stockraisiug)

MADISON 70-71

MANUFACTURING (See Industrial Possibilities)

MAPS

Outline, of Counties 40

Relief, of Montana 4

McCONE 81-82

JNDEX 169

Pages

MEAGHER 93-94

MINERAL 115-116

MINERALS

Fuel nnd Eiiorcy Resources 149-152

Metallic 153-158

Non-Metallic 158-164

Occurrence of 149-164

Pcrcious Gems and Metals 152-153

I'rodmtion of 165-166

Raw and Process Materials for Manufacturing 16-17

Statistics of Production by Years 165-166

MISSOULA 110-112

MUSSELSHELL 85-86

NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA 125-138

Blaine - 125-126

Chouteau 129-130

Glacier 137-138

Hill 127-128

Liberty 134-135

Pondera 132-133

Teton 131-132

Toole - 135-136

NORTH EASTERN MONTANA 117-124

Daniels 120-121

Phillips 123-124

Roosevelt 117-118

Sheridan 119-120

Valley - 122-123

NORTH WESTERN MONTANA 139-147

Flathead 139-141

Lake 141-143

Lincoln 143-144

Sanders 145-147

PARK 62-64

PETROLEUM (See Minerals)

PHILLIPS 123-124

PONDERA _...132-133

POWDER RIVER 45-40

POWELL 105-106

PRAIRIE 79-80

PRODUCTION

Crops 21-22-165

Geography of 25-34

In Eastern Slope Region 26-27

In Plains Region 27-28

In Western Slope Region 25-26

Of Manufacturing ]8

Of Minerals 149-166

Statistics of 166

170 MONTANA : INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES

Pages

RAVALLI 113-114

RICHLAND 7e-77

ROOSEVELT 117-118

ROSEBUD 48-49

SANDERS 145-147

SAPPHIRES (See Minerals)

SHEEP RAISING (See also Farming)

Wool I'roduction 165

SHERIDAN 119-120

SILVER BOW 67-69

SOUTH CENTRAL MOIS'TANA 55-66

Carbon 55-56

Gallatin 65-66

Park 62-64

Stillwater 59-60

Sweetgrass 61-62

Yellowstone 57-58

SOUTH EASTERN MONTANA 41-53

Big Horn ^ 52-53

Carter 41-42

Custer , 46-47

Fallon 43-44

Powder River 45-46

Rosebud 48-49

Treasure 50-51

SOUTH WESTERN MONTANA 67-74

Beaverhead 72-74

Madison 70-71

Silver Bow 67-69

STATISTICS

Of Crop Acreage 165

Of Crop Farm Value 165

Of Livestock Shipments 165

Of Lumber Cut 165

Of Manufacturing 7 and 18

Of Mineral Production 165-166

Of Montana 7-8

Of Wool Production 165

STILLWATER 59-60

STOCKRAISING (See Farming)

SWEET GRASS 61-62

TETON 131-132

TOOLE 135-136

TREASURE 50-51

VALLEY 122-123

WEATHER (See Climate)

INDEX 171

WEST CENTRAL MONTANA 105-116

Deer Lodge -- 107-108

Granite 100 110

Mineral , 115-116

Missoula 110-112

Powell 105-106

Ravalli 113-114

WHEATLAND 90-91

WIBAUX 75-76

YELLOWSTONE 57-58

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