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1918
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Montana* Depi» of
Agriculture and
Publ icity
The Resources
ana! opportunities
of Montana
RESOURCES and
OPPORTUNITIES
of MONTANA
EDITION OF
1918
MONTANA STATE LIE3ARY
1515 E. 6th AVE.
HELENA, MONTANA 55S20
• •
The Land of Opportunity
53
BY THE
Department of Agriculture
and Publicity
: n
.
'
CHAS. D. GREENFIELD
COMMISSIONER
ALLAN C LEMON,
CHIEF CLERK
This Publication is Issued and Circulated by Authority
of the State of Montana
HELENA, MONTANA
1918
4NOCPCNDENT PUBLISHING CO.
HtLtNA, MONTANA
r
Montana State Library
3 0864 1004 0566 4
L
(]["What has Montana to offer to the homeseeker and in-
vestor?" is an inquiry which comes to bankers, real estate
owners, farmers and men and women in every walk of life
who live in the state or who have interests in it. To answer
this query as comprehensively and as directly as possible
is the reason for the publication of "Montana — 1918". This
is the eighth edition of "Montana", and as in previous issues
the endeavor has been to tell something of the resources and
opportunities and industries' of the state.
(JfThe facts given in this edition are taken in large part
from official reports of the United States government,
from reports of men who have been assigned to learn all pos-
sible about particular sections or resources. It has not been
possible in a publication of this size to go into great detail,
but the endeavor has been to set forth in a general way what
the opportunities are in Montana for those who desire to
engage in agriculture, mining, livestock, dairying, horti-
culture, mercantile or other industries; to tell of the hydro-
electric development, the resources in gas, coal and oil; to
show the investor on what a solid foundation of natural
wealth the credit of the state, the counties, the cities and
the individual rests.
(]f Though in area the third largest state in the union, Mon-
tana has a population of less than one million people. The
story of its contributions in men, money and materials to
the war, as set forth in this edition, is proof not only of the
patriotism of its people, but also a slight indication of its
wealth.
(JJNot only in Montana, but in schools in other states "Mon-
tana" has come to be used as a text book in the study of the
state. Previous editions have proved valuable in many ways
to thousands of people, as well as to the state as a whole.
The hope is that the present edition may be equally so.
CHAS. D. GREENFIELD,
Commissioner.
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Marvelous Montana
With Opportunities on Every Hand and Unrivalled Re-
sources Awaiting Development, Montana, the Treas-
ure State, Calls to the New Settler and Investor
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REAT in area, in amount of tillable land, in mineral wealth, in
crop production, in livestock values, in forest growth and in
power development, Montana is indeed the land where oppor-
tunity calls. Although great progress has been made in its
development, yet it is only in its infancy in this particular.
There remain thousands of acres of tillable land that have
never been turned by the plow; there is untold millions in gold,
silver, copper, lead and zinc to be uncovered by the miner's
pick; there are fortunes to be won from the fertile soil in agricultural products;
from the grazing lands in herds of livestock; from the virgin forests that cover
the mountains, and from the mountain streams that need but to be harnessed to
turn the wheels of giant industries, run the great railroads, operate factories,
light towns and lift the water to the dry lands. In no one of these industries
has development reached its maximum. Montana, third state in size, but greatest
of all in natural resources, invites the world to assist in its development and to
share in the prosperity of its people.
$317,000,000 in 1917.
Montana added a total of $317,000,000 to the wealth of the nation in 1917, with
a population of 762,208 people within its borders. This means a production of $400
for every man, woman and child. Yet this was the production in what was termed
an abnormal year for the state. A drought struck the state during the growing
season, which cut down the crop production to a large extent, in spite of the in-
creased acreage planted, while a serious strike in the mines at Butte, cut down the
mineral output from $145,000,000 to $113,000,000. This caused a decrease in the
total wealth production from $342,000,000 in 1916 to $317,000,000 in 1917.
Even under these conditions the yield of grain would have been larger had other
factors not had their influence. Due to the high price of grain and the increased
need for war purposes, a much larger acreage had been planted, yet much of it was
poorly put in. When an unusually dry season developed, the farms that had been
poorly seeded gave small returns, bringing the yield per acre for wheat, from 19.3
bushels in 1916 down to 10.4 bushels in 1917 and for oats from 38 bushels in 1916
to 20 bushels in 1917.
Property Values Increased.
Yet the property values of the state showed a great increase in 1917 as indicated
by the assessment returns. The total assessed valuation for 1917, including railroad
property, was $582,286,529, an increase over 1916 of $94,388,176. The total valuation
for 1918 was approximately $596,000,000. The railroad valuation is a little more
than $82,000,000 and has shown a slight gain each year. Nothing is more indicative
of the great advancement made by Montana, and of the unbounded confidence of its
citizenship in the future of the state, than this great increase in property value.
A Wheat Crop in Northern Montana.
There are forty-three counties in the state, of which forty-one have a large
amount of agricultural and grazing land. The other two, Silver Bow and Jefferson,
are classed as mineral counties. The state has an average length from east to west
of 535 miles and an average width from north to south of 275 miles, embracing an
area of 147,182 square miles, the third state in size in the Union. Montana embraces
an area greater than all of the New England states, New York, New Jersey, Dela-
ware and Maryland combined. Its population in 1918 was 762,208, an increase over
1917 of nearly 10,000.
People in all walks of life will find a place in Montana. With the marvelous
development of the natural resources of the state, has come the building of towns
and cities. Many have been built in the past five years, but this number will be
surpassed in the next five. In these towns, the merchant, the banker, the pro-
fessional man, the craftsman, can find unrivalled opportunities. Montana is the
fastest growing state in the Union. The opportunities for the homeseeker and
investor to be found here has brought to Montana a great stream of immigration in
the last few years.
Land Still Available.
While many have held the belief that Montana was a mining and grazing state.
with little agricultural land, they have changed their belief in recent years. In the
past ten years 30,000,000 acres of public lands within the state have been filed upon
for homestead. In 1917 the assessed acreage for Montana was 35,936,646, mucn or
which was well improved.
One-third of all the public lands filed upon in the United States during the past
Range Steers That Top the Market.
year was in Montana. At present there remain, open to entry. 11,828,414 acres of
public land, of which it is estimated somewhat less than one-half is suited to
farming.
Free Lund Going Fast.
But the opportunity to get a free homestead in Montana is not going to last
much longer. The land is being taken up so rapidly, that the best lands are nearly
all gone, those remaining being considerable distances from the railroad. The time
will soon be here when the man who wants land in Montana for growing crops will
have to buy it. Even today in some sections of the state this is the condition. But
this does not mean that the opportunity to get good farm land cheap has disappeared.
Taking into account the productivity of the soil, the good markets and other condi-
tions, farm lands in Montana are selling today at much less than in other states.
When one can buy winter wheat lands which will produce from 12 to 35 bushels an
acre at from $20 to $40 an acre, and irrigated lands at from $40 to $75 an acre, it
cannot be said that there is lacking the opportunity for the homemaker to make a
start with a comparatively small outlay.
There are also cheap school lands that can be purchased. Of these lands there
remain 4,305,085 acres. Besides these there is much cheap land that can be obtained
from private owners.
Large Crop Production.
With the settlement of the state has come a great increase in the food produc-
tion, which is shown by the reports of the Department of Agriculture at Washington.
In the past ten years wheat has increased from a yield of 3,000,000 to an average
annual production of over 20,000,000 bushels, oats from 10,000,000 to 22,000,000
bushels, flax from 104,000 to 3,000,000 bushels, barley from 875,000 to over 2,000,000
Haying in the Gallatin Valley.
bushels, corn from 94,000 to 1,500,000 bushels and potatoes from 2,760,000 to 6,415,000
bushels.
The total value of farm products in Montana in 1917, exclusive of livestock but
including dairy products, poultry, bees and fruit, was $109,000,000.
In the report of the United States Department of Agriculture for December 1917,
the average per acre production in bushels for that year in the twelve principal
agricultural states of the Union, the
was as follows:
Wheat
Ohio 22.0
Indiana 18.5
Illinois 19.0
Michigan 18.0
Wisconsin 22.3
Minnesota 17.5
Iowa 19.9
Missouri 15.3
North Dakota 8.0
South Dakota 14.0
Nebraska 13.8
Kansas .'. 12.2
United States 14.2
MONTANA 10.4
,verag(
3 in the 1
Jnited
States and
for Montana
Oats
Barley
Flax
Potatoes
Rye
Com
44.0
33.0
100
18.0
38.0
42.0
30.5
92
15.0
36.0
52.0
37.5
90
17.5
38.0
36.5
26.5
95
15.0
21.5
44.0
32.0
114
18.5
22.0
37.0
27.0
9.0
112
18.5
30.0
47.0
35.0
11.0
95
18.0
37.0
40.0
25.0
8.5
87
14.7
35.0
15.0
12.5
3.9
43
9.5
9.0
34.0
26.0
7.0
90
16.0
29:0
38.0
26.5
5.5
85
15.6
27.0
31.0
10.0
7.0
57
15.0
14.0
36.4
23.7
4.7
100.8
14.7
26.4
20.0
15.0
3.0
95
12.7
12.5
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Small Town Elevators Tell the Story of Montana's Grain.
Acre Value Production
A comparison of the value to the farmer of an acre of hay, wheat, potatoes and
oats in Montana, to an acre in any of the same twelve states is as follows:
Hay Wheat Potatoes Oats
Ohio $26.98 $44.88 $143.00 $28.16
Indiana 26.18 37.56 127.88 26.46
Illinois 25.00 38.19 136.80 33.80
Michigan 25.80 36.72 99.75 23.36
Wisconsin 29.41 45.05 102.60 29.04
Minnesota 18.76 35.35 101.92 23.31
Iowa 20.66 39.60 124.45 29.61
Missouri 20.12 29.84 119.19 24.40
North Dakota 10.12 16.00 55.90 9.30
South Dakota 15.90 27.44 99.90 20.74
Nebraska 24.32 26.91 90.95 23.18
Kansas 24.90 24.16 86.64 19.84
United States 25.40 28.46 123.89 24.36
MONTANA 26.04 19.97 96.90 16.20
It will be seen that while the above table does not show Montana leading the
twelve states, it does show Montana to rank well with the others in spite of the fact
that 1917 was an abnormal year.
W. A. Campbell's Farm Home Near Helena.
Great Showing in Livestock.
The remarkable change in the livestock industry from the open range produc-
tion to the production on the smaller farms has finally resulted in an increased out-
put of beef cattle rather than a decline. In 1917 334,000 cattle were shipped from
the state to eastern markets, the largest number ever sent in the history of the
state. There were 13,000 horses and mules and over 2,000,000 sheep marketed out-
side the state. The total value of all livestock, cattle, horses, mules, sheep and hogs,
in Montana at present is $163,000,000 as given by the United States Department of
Agriculture. There are 179,000 dairy cows, 980,000 other cattle, 506,000 horses,
5,000 mules, 3,045,000 sheep and 215,000 hogs on the farms of the state.
Dairying Shows Increase.
The encouragement that has been given to dairying has led to a marked increase
in the number of dairy cows and in dairy products. In 1917 19,000 more cows were
enumerated than in 1916. There were also sixty-four creameries and eight cheese
factories, which indicates that the industry has reached large proportions, although
ten years ago there was scarcely any dairying done in the state. The butter pro-
duction for 1917 was 2,500,000 pounds, while the city and town milk supply reached
about $7,000,000. There were 179,000 dairy cows, valued at $14,946,000.
Efforts are being made to have each farmer keep from six to eight cows, which
will guarantee him a steady income, no matter what the crop conditions may be.
An educational campaign is being carried on in all parts of the state to show the
benefits of dairying and its possibilities. Alfalfa, sugar beets and cow peas are being
raised extensively for feed and are aiding much to promote the industry.
Combined Consolidated and Village School, Outlook.
Poultry and Bees.
More and more the farmers of the state are coming to realize that the products
of the dairy, poultry yard and apiary are important sources of profit that often make
success on the farm. Accordingly a larger number of farmers are keeping poultry
and a few hives of bees along with the dairy cows. Poultry does well in Montana,
being practically free from disease. There is a good market for dressed fowl and for
fresh eggs. The. income from poultry amounted to about $1,600,000, from nearly
1,000,000 fowls in 1917. There is also a large demand for honey, at a good price.
The income from bees amounted to about $50,000 in 1917.
Orchards Produce Well.
While apples and other fruits are grown in all parts of Montana it is in western
and northwestern Montana where the business is conducted on a commercial scale.
Apples and cherries from Missoula, Ravalli and Flathead counties are shipped each
year to all parts of the United States, certain varieties grown in these sections having
a national reputation and commanding fancy prices. In almost every county in the
state strawberries and other small fruits are grown on a limited scale, but the small
fruit industry has never been actively prosecuted in any section, save in the Bitter
Root country. This is a field which offers great opportunities for the person who
has a liking for the business, as the home demand is supplied almost exclusively
from outside the state.
The total apple crop in 1917 was 911,000 bushels, which had a market value
of one dollar per bushel. The pear crop was 11,000 bushels.
Irrigation Reclaims Land.
At a tremendous expense many reclamation projects have been constructed in
Montana and are supplying water to the farmers. The private companies, the federal
Irrigated Sugar Beets on Huntley Project.
government and the state all have developed projects that are furnishing water for
over 2,000,000 acres and will eventually supply 3,500,000 acres when all projects
are complete. Much of the water is furnished from reservoirs which are constructed
in the mountains, while the irrigation works open from the principal rivers and supply
the nearby valleys. These irrigated lands can be obtained on a long time plan at a
low price per acre. They yield abundantly and assure a good crop each year.
Take Your Choice.
Possibly no state offers a greater diversity of agricultural opportunity than
Montana. The man who believes that winter wheat production offers the greatest
incentive may select a location in the rolling prairie country in northeastern Mon-
tana, in the eastern section of the state or in western Montana. There he will find
farmers growing the best grade of hard wheat and producing from 12 to 35
bushels an acre on virgin soil. He may prefer the table lands nearer the moun-
tains for producing the same crop, and he will find them in central Montana and
in the southern counties of the state, where the production per acre is as great
as it is on the prairie lands.
If the farmer prefers to engage in diversified farming, and under conditions
where he will not have to depend upon the rainfall for water for his crops, he has
the opportunity to purchase in the valleys of the state at from $40 to $100 an
acre, an irrigated and improved farm which will grow any crops produced in the
temperate zone, without the use of commercial fertilizers. Or he may settle under
one of the several government reclamation projects, or purchase land at a reason-
able price under a Carey land act project. If he wants to grow corn commercially
One of the Many Mines in the Mountains.
he may do so in easern Montana. If he desires to engage in producing apples and
other fruits on a commercial scale, western and northwestern Montana have proved
within the past fifteen years that fruit growing, especially the production of apples
and the finest cherries offered on eastern markets, is a profitable business.
Should he desire to engage in the production of beef animals rather than in
growing cereals or fruits, he can secure land producing hay crops adjacent to
lands suitable only for grazing. On these latter he can run his cattle nine months
in the year and in the other three feed them on the alfalfa and other nutritious
hays grown on the home ranch.
Should he have a desire to engage in dairying he can secure a farm within a
reasonable distance of a co-operative creamery in a section where the snowfall is
comparatively light, and where experience has demonstrated that the business can
be carried on successfully.
Mining Is Leading Industry.
While the agricultural development of Montana has been phenomenal, it has
not been at the expense of mining, along which line Montana first attracted the
attention of the world. Mining is still producing more wealth than any other
industry in the state. From its mines the state has added $2,062,833,163 in the past
fifty years to the wealth of the world, and it is still doing so by over a hundred
million annually. No mining district in all the world is richer than that of Butte,
and no city, which has been built upon that industry, is more prosperous.
But Silver Bow county, in which the Butte district is situated, is not the
only one which helps give Montana pre-eminence as a mining state. It is difficult
for those who are unacquainted with the state to realize that within its borders
A Hay Fed Winner in Beaverhead.
there is untold wealth in its hills, and that the same state is rapidly obtaining
similar pre-eminence in an agricultural way. But statistics compiled by depart-
ments of the national government show this is the fact.
Placer mining, which first attracted the fortune seeker to Montana, is not
carried on on a very large scale today. It has given place to quartz mining.
Instead of the gold being taken out of the gravel and sands of the streams it is
now taken out of the mineral bearing rocks which are taken from the hills. Gold,
silver, and copper mining employs in Montana today directly many thousands of
men; many more thousands indirectly, and the industry in a dozen counties
furnishes a splendid market for the products of the farms. There are as attractive
opportunities today for the man who desires to invest in the mining industry as
have been offered at any time in the history of the state.
The total mineral production of the state in 1917 was $113, 00,000, in gold,
silver, copper, zinc and lead. Copper is the principal metal and zinc is very
important. The state ranks second in the production of copper, silver and zinc
and fifth in the production of gold. It leads in manganese.
Forests and Lumber.
An important industry for many years in the state has been that of lumbering.
The great and rapid decrease in timber lands led the national government to set
aside vast areas as national forests, in which every possible effort is being made
to protect and foster the production of timber. There are eighteen national forests
in the state, with a large force of foresters to care for the tracts. Besides this the
state has control of a large area under its foresters.
The lumber mills are large and their output important. The markets in
Montana and nearby states are supplied from Montana mills and much is sent to
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Typical Wheat Field in Sheridan County.
the eastern and middle states. There were cut in the state in 1917, 349,771,000
feet of lumber.
Hydro-Electric Power.
In the development of its water power, Montana is far ahead of any other
state. Many millions of dollars have been expended in the work. There are 15 big
hydro-electric plants, developing 247,660 horse power. This power is used in the
mines at Butte, in the smelters at Great Falls, Anaconda and East Helena, to light
more than 50 towns and cities of the state, to furnish power to many manufacturing
concerns, and to run trains for 440 miles on the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul
railway and for 90 miles on the Butte, Anaconda and Pacific railway. The first
railroad in the United States to be operated by electric power was the Butte.
Anaconda and Pacific, running from Butte to Anaconda. The electrification of that
road, which does a large freight and passenger business, demonstrated its feasi-
bility and economy.
The development of hydro-electric power in Montana is but in its infancy,
and the numerous streams arising in the mountains in all sections of the state
offer opportunities for capital which are peculiarly attractive. The pioneering in
this field has been done, and the market for the power demonstrated.
Manufacturing Has Begun.
The manufacturing in the state is largely in the primitive stage, with wonderful
possibilities for the future, due to the cheap power to be obtained from the great
electric power plants. The manufacturing consists of smelters at Great Falls,
Anaconda and East Helena, sugar beet factories at Billings and Missoula, flax
fibre mills at Conrad and Havre, canning factories for fruit and vegetables at
Bozeman and Stevensville, a cement factory at Trident, a number of large lumber
mills in different parts of the state, seventy-one flour and cereal mills, sixty-four
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Montana Has Many Fine County High Schools.
creameries and eight cheese factories, and a number of meat packing establishments,
several more being now under construction.
Great Increase in Banks.
The financial resources of the state are shown by the increase in the number
of banks from 222 in 1913, to 403 in 1918 and the increase in footings from
$101,645,432 to $200,352,464 in the same five year period. During the fiscal year
ending June 29, 1918 there were thirty-one new national banks and eighteen
new state banks created in Montana, while ten of the state banks became national-
ized, showing an increase of 41 national banks during the year, a record for the
nation.
Many New Towns.
Naturally with the growth of the agricultural industry there have come into
being many new towns, while the older ones have grown fast. Five years ago
there were not to exceed 150 grain elevators in Montana. Today there are 1100 and
almost every one of these later ones is located in a new town. Railroad extensions,
such as the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul, and branches built by the Northern
Pacific and Great Northern, have developed the country adjacent; enterprising
business men have taken advantage of the opportunity to start a general store,
build an elevator or open a bank, and many a town has sprung into being in
twelve months, backed by a producing farming community, and having a solid
foundation. For the next ten years this story of business opportunity in new towns
will be repeated all over the state until Montana has a population of several
millions, instead of a few hundred thousand.
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Hardin, Thriving County Seat of Big Horn County.
People of Montana.
No more progressive, patriotic or cordial people can be found than those of
Montana. In matters pertaining to education, the state is near the front. Fine
church buildings show the interest in the higher things of life. Reform legislation,
including women suffrage and state prohibition, has been passed as well as a
good deal of progressive legislation. Each town and city has a live commercial
club to boost and encourage the business of the community. Good roads and state
highways in excellent condition are a feature of which the people of the state are
proud.
Montana has given 35,000 of her sons to the army and navy, has subscribed
$53,887,400 in the first three Liberty Loans and has given $1,500,000 to different
beneficent organizations to carry on the war.
Montana's Climate.
Climatically Montana compares favorably with any of her sister states. Reports
of the United States weather bureau show that the annual mean temperature for
the past ten years is 42.3 degrees. The mean for January, the coldest month,
is 18.7, and the mean for July, the warmest is 64. In the mountains during the
winter months there are times when the temperature goes to 30 and 35 below
zero, while in the eastern and northern part of the state there are times in
the summer, July and August, when it reaches 105. It is in these latter sections
that the growing of corn is carried on on a commercial scale. The average annual
precipitation in Montana is 15.71 inches, with the average for June, the month when
precipitation is needed by the farmers, 2.81 inches. The elevations above sea level
run from 1,800 in eastern Montana to 10,000 feet in the mountains.
Switzerland of America.
Scenically, Montana may be called the Switzerland of America. One of the
greatest and most wonderful of the national parks, Glacier is situated wholly within
its borders, while Yellowstone extends over the boundary and is entered from
Montana. But the scenic attractions of the state are not confined to the parks.
In many sections there is a diversity of mountains and plain, canyon and plateau,
rushing rivers and broad and placid lakes, with a system of roads the delight of
the traveler by auto or road wagon.
Whether the opportunity is sought to make a home on the land, to engage in
mercantile business, to develop wealth from the hills or one desires to spend a
Fertile Valleys Produce Good Crops.
vacation in the open, with a new picture presented almost every hour, nowhere
can these desires be met more fully than in "Montana, the Treasure State."
There is a wealth of game and fish in Montana found in no other state in
the Union. Montana is the natural home of big game and the two great parks
and the numerous game preserves make it a safe retreat for wild life. Fishing
in the mountain streams and camping in the forests cannot be surpassed in the
country anywhere.
Resume of Montana's Wealth.
In producing the very supplies that the federal government wants to carry
on the war, Montana is serving the nation and the world like few states can.
Her copper, zinc, wheat and livestock, the four principal products, are the things
needed during the war. Montana's total production in 1917, compiled from official
sources show there was produced:
Mineral wealth $113,000,000
Farm products 109,000,000
Livestock 53,000,000
Coal 11,000,000
Wool 11,000,000
Lumber 20,000,000
Total $317,000,000
Land for the Landless
Montana Offers Today the Best Opportunities for Obtain-
ing Good Land from the National Government,
the State, or Private Individuals, at a
Moderate Price, that Can Be Found
Anywhere in the Union
EN YEARS ago the man who came to Montana to make a home on
the land had a much greater opportunity than he has today
to make a choice of location. Where in 1903 +here were many
millions of cultivatable land open for settlement under the
national land laws, that area has been reduced in the interven-
ing time by half. This does not mean that all of the good land
open to homestead in Montana has been taken up but it does
mean that where a few years ago the homesteaders could go
into any section of the state and take up one hundred and sixty acres with little
or no difficulty, today it is a question of hunting out the land. It is not a great
many years since the lands in northern Montana were considered suitable only for
grazing cattle, sheep and horses. Within the past ten years these lands have dem-
onstrated that in the production of cereals there is none richer and none that yield
more bushels per acre in the state than these lands used only a few years ago for
live stock production.
Illustrative of this changed condition it may be said that the number of elevators
in this former range section of Montana is now double the number in other por-
tions of the state. Where in the old days the homesteader could enter only one
hundred and sixty acres of government land, in order to insure him sufficient
land on which to grow independent, certain large areas were set apart for entry
under what is known as the enlarged homestead act, enabling the entryman to
take up three hundred and twenty acres. As a result of this, millions of acres of
the public domain were settled upon, thus reducing to a very great extent the
area of free lands.
A great deal of this range land was held in private ownership by cattlemen
and sheepmen. The original settlers demonstrated that the lands of the same
character were much more valuable for producing cereals than for range purposes.
In consequence these large holdings have been cut up and sold at most moderate
prices to those who desire to farm the land. There still remains a very consider-
able acreage of what have been used for range purposes suitable for farming but
in the next ten years these tremendous ranges in private ownership will be a
thing of the past.
Lands Owned by State.
Another very large body of excellent land located in all these sections of the
state is owned by the State of Montana. These lands were granted the state by
the national government when Montana entered the Union for the support of its
public schools and for the benefit of its higher educational institutions. They have
Richland County Is a Corn Raiser.
been selected by experts with the result that the state land lands are among the
very best in the commonwealth. State lands which sell at public auction can not
be disposed of for a less price than ten dollars an acre and the payments for them
are in installments, if the purchaser so desires, covering a period of twenty years,
at a low rate of interest. The total area of public lands granted Montana under
the different acts was 5,867,618 acres of which in round numbers 5,100,000 acres were
for schools.
The land area of Montana as given in the government report is 93,568,640 acres.
Of this land in round numbers 72,000,000 acres have been surveyed, leaving 20,000,000
yet to be surveyed. Of this unsurveyed area a large amount is in the national forest
reserve, Montana having an acreage of 19,000,000 acres under this head.
According to the report of the commissioner of the general land office in 1917
there were 34,578 applications for the entry of public lands, involving 3,804,106 acres.
There were patented to homesteaders during that year 3,817,933 acres. The home-
stead entries in Montana in 1917 aggregated 15,197, the acreage involved being
3,471,286 acres. The following, covering the years 1912 to 1917 inclusive, shows the
number of homestead entries and the acreage embraced therein, the number of
entries of all kinds, and the acreage embraced in the original entries, the number
of acres upon which final proof was made and the number of acres obtained from
the government by settlers:
Homestead Entries
Entries All Kinds
Final Proof
& Patents
Year
No.
Acres
No. Acr. Orig.
Acr. Proof
Acr. Pat.
1912
12,597
3,234,199
20,626 3,600,260
629,835
742,230
1913
17,844
3,996,358
29,246 4,675,840
1,475,722
2,342,923
1914
20,622
4,429,623
37,699 5,335,393
2,667,632
3,485,067
1915
16,146
3,500,268
30,395 4,065,439
2,358,655
3,994,418
1916
14,486
3,318,450
28,913 3,674,623
2,453,228
2,815,378
1917
15,197
2,471,286
34,578 3,804,106
357,082
3,817,933
Mt&.XM*lti£ik
Wheat Field in Cascade County.
The last available report of the commissioner of the general land office under
date of July 1, 1917, shows that there remains in Montana, unappropriated and
unreserved public lands to the amount of 11,828,414 acres. Of this total about
one half is surveyed. An idea of the rapidity with which public lands of Montana
have been taken up may be had when it is said that the report of the general land
office on July 1, 1913_ showed that there were then in Montana on that date 21,542,853
acres of unappropriated and unsurveyed public lands. This amount bas been
virtually cut in half in four years.
Larger Homesteads.
The homestead laws have recently been greatly liberalized. Formerly in order
to secure a homestead of 160 acres it was necessary for the settler to reside upon
and cultivate his land continuously for a period of five years. Under a recent act
of congress this period of residence and cultivation has been reduced to three years,
while the homesteader is allowed an annual period of absence of not to exceed five
months during each of these years. Recent legislation has also increased the
amount of land which may be taken up. At the present time, homesteads of 320
acres may be secured where the land has been designated as not susceptible of
irrigation. Practically all of the remaining public land in Montana has already been
so designated. January 2, 1917, the so-called 640-acre homestead law became opera-
tive. Under the provisions of this law, settlers are allowed to file upon as much as
640 acres of land, provided the land is designated as being more valuable for stock-
raising and grazing, than farming purposes. The administration of the 320-acre
homestead law has been an unqualified success. Those who file under this act are
1
Breaking Virgin Soil in Wheatland County.
permitted to enter upon their lands at once and begin the building of a home, with
the assurance that if they comply with the requirements of law they will secure
title at the expiration of the three-year period.
Ten Land Districts.
Montana is divided into ten land districts, each containing a United States land
office for the administration of the public land affairs of that particular district.
These land offices are located at Billings, Bozeman, Glasgow, Great Falls, Havre,
Helena, Kalispell, Lewistown, Miles City and Missoula. Persons desiring to make
homestead entry should first fully inform themselves as to the character and
quality of the land they desire to enter and should in no case apply to enter
until they have visited and fully examined each legal subdivision for which they
make application, as satisfactory information as to the character and occupancy of
public land cannot be obtained in any other way.
All proceedings connected with the entering and filing on a homestead are
conducted by the officials of the land office for the land district where the land
is located. No maps are issued showing the location of vacant public land subject
to entry, and this information can be reliably obtained only from the records of
the various land offices. Township plats, showing the vacant public land in any
particular township, may be secured from the land office at the price of one
dollar each.
What May Be Filed On.
All unappropriated surveyed public lands adaptable to any agricultural use are
subjected to homestead entry if they are not mineral or saline in character and are
Ml$^r
An Oat Crop That Yielded Ninety Bushels Per Acre.
not occupied for the purpose of trade or business and have not been embraced within
the limits of any withdrawal, reservation or incorporated town or city, but home-
stead entries on lands within certain areas are made subject to the particular
requirements of the law under which such lands are open to entry.
Homestead entries may be made by any person who does not come within either
of the following classes.
(a) Married women, except as hereinafter stated.
(b) Persons who have already made homestead entry, except in certain cases
where former entry has been cancelled through no fault of the entryman.
(c) Foreign-born persons who have not declared their intention to become
citizens of the United States.
(d) Persons who are the owners of more than 160 acres of land in the United
States.
(e) Persons under the age of 21 years who are not the heads of families except
minors who make entry as heirs, or who have served in the Army or Navy during
the existence of an actual war for at least 14 days.
(f) Persons who have acquired title to or are claiming, under any of the agri-
cultural public land laws, through settlement or entry made since August 30, 1890,
any other lands which, with the lands last applied for, would amount in the aggre-
gate to more than 320 acres.
A married woman who has all of the other qualifications of a homesteader may
make a homestead entry under any one of the following conditions:
(a) Where she has been actually deserted by her husband.
(b) Where her husband is incapacitated by disease or otherwise from earning
a support for his family and the wife is really the head and main support of the
family.
(c) Where the husband is confined in a penitentiary and she is actually the
head of the family.
(d) Where the married woman is the heir of a settler or contestant who dies
before making entry.
(e) Where a married woman made improvements and resided on the land ap-
plied for before her marriage, she may enter them after marriage if her husband is
not holding other lands under an unperfected homestead entry at the time she ap-
plies to make entry.
The marriage of the entrywoman after making entry will not defeat her right
to acquire title if she continues to reside upon the land and otherwise comply with
the law.
A widow, if otherwise qualified, may make a homestead entry notwithstanding
the fact that her husband made an entry and notwithstanding she may be at the
time claiming the unperfected entry of her deceased husband.
Soldiers and Sailors.
A person serving in the Army or Navy of the United States may make a homestead
entry if some member of his family is residing on the lands applied for, and appli-
cation and accompanying affidavits may be executed before the officer commanding
the branch of service in which he is engaged.
The act of July 28, 1917 provides, that any person serving in the army or navy
of the United States, in any war in which the United States may be engaged, shall
in the administration of the homestead laws, have his services therein applied to
purposes of residence and cultivation of the tract entered or settled upon for the
same length of time as he is in the service. If discharged from the service on
account of wounds or disability, his full term of enlistment shall count rather than
the length of time he was in the service. However, no patent shall be issued to
any homesteader who has not resided upon, improved, and cultivated his homestead
for a period of at least one year.
If any person serving in the Army or Navy of the United States, dies while
actually engaged in the service, then his widow, if unmarried, or in case of her
death or marriage, his minor orphan children, or his or their legal representatives,
may proceed to make final proof. The death of such person, while so engaged,
shall be construed to be equivalent to a performance of all requirements as to
residence and cultivation upon such homestead.
How to Proceed.
A homestead entry may be made by the presentation to the land office of the
district in which the desired lands are situated, of an application properly prepared
on blank forms prescribed for that purpose and sworn to before either the register
or receiver, or before a United States commissioner, or a judge, or a clerk of a
court of record, in the county in which the land lies, or before any officer of the
classes named who reside in the land district and nearest or most accessible to
the land, although he may reside outside of the county in which the land is situated.
Each application to enter and the affidavits accompanying it must recite all the
facts necessary to show that the applicant is acquainted with the land; that the
land is not, to the applicant's knowledge, either saline or mineral in character; that
the applicant possesses all the qualifications of a homestead entryman; that the
application is honest and in good faith made for the purpose of actual settlement
and cultivation, and not for the benefit of any person, persons or corporation;
i
that the applicant will faithfully and honestly endeavor to comply with the require-
ments of the law as to settlement, residence and cultivation necessary to acquire
title to the land applied for; that the applicant is not acting as the agent of any
person, persons, corporation or syndicate in making such entry, nor in collusion
with any person, corporation or syndicate to give them the benefit of the land
entered or any part thereof; that the application is not made for the purpose of
speculation, but in good faith to obtain a home for the applicant, and that the ap-
plicant has not directly or indirectly made, and will not make, any agreement or
contract in any way or manner with any person or persons, corporation or syndicate
whatsoever, by which the title he may acquire from the government to the lands
applied for shall inure, in whole or in part, to the benefit of any person except
himself.
Six Months for Settlement.
A homestead entryman is required to establish residence upon the land within
six months after the date of entry unless an extension of time is allowed, and is
required to maintain residence thereon for a period of three years. He may absent
himself, however, for a portion of each year not exceeding five months.
Cultivation of the land for a period of three years is required. During the
second year not less than one-sixteenth of the area entered must be actually
cultivated, and during the third year, and until final proof cultivation of not less
than one-eighth is required. There must be actual breaking of the soil followed
by planting, sowing of seed and tillage of a crop other than native grasses.
The homestead entryman must have a habitable house upon the land entered
at the time of submitting proof. Other improvements should be of such character
and amount as are sufficient to show good faith.
All original, second and additional homestead, and adjoining farm entries may
be commuted, except such entries as are made under particular laws which forbid
their commutation.
The entryman or his statutory successor submitting such commutation proof
must show substantially continuous residence upon the land, and cultivation
thereof, for a period of at least fourteen months immediately preceding submis-
sion or proof of filing a notice of intention to submit same, and the existence of a
habitable house upon the claim. The area actually cultivated must equal at least
one-sixteenth of the entire acreage. A person submitting commutation proof must
in addition to certain fees, pay the price of the land; this is ordinarily $1.25 per
acre, but is $2.50 per acre for lands within the limits of certain railroad grants.
The price of certain ceded Indian lands varies according to their location, and
inquiry should be made regarding each specified tract.
Land Office Fees.
When a homesteader applies to make entry he must pay in cash to the receiver
a fee of $5.00 if his entry is for 80 acres or less, or $10.00 if he enters more than
80 acres. And in addition to this fee he must pay, both at the time he makes
entry and final proof, a commission of $1.00 for each 40-acre tract entered outside
of the limits of a railroad grant and $2.00 for each 40-acre tract entered within
such limits. Fees under the enlarged homestead act are the same as above, but
the commissions are based upon the area of the land embraced in the entry. In all
cases where lands are entered under the homestead laws of Arizona, California,
Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming,
the commission due to the register and receiver on entries and final proofs, and
the testimony fees under final proofs, are 50 per cent more than those above
specified, but the entry fee of $5.00 or *$10.00, as the case may be, is the same in
all the states.
A mortgage by the entryman prior to final proof for the purpose of securing
money for improvements, or for any other purpose not inconsistent with good
faith, is not considered such an alienation of the land as will prevent him from
submitting satisfactory proof. On such a case, however, should the entry be
cancelled for any reason prior to patent, the mortgagee would have no claim on the
land or against the United States for the money loaned.
Land Open to Filing.
The following table shows the amount of
public land, available for homestead entry in each
Surveyed
Beaverhead 561,021
Big Horn 60,012
Blaine 117,756
Broadwater 179,190
Carbon 113,412
Carter 220,925
Cascade : 102,139
Chouteau 139,840
Custer .. 412,172
Dawson 596,049
Deer Lodge 72,106
Fallon 18,641
Fergus 244,915
Flathead 78,500
Gallatin 13,787
Granite 41,373
Hill 82,574
Jefferson 320,855
Lewis and Clark 271,822
Lincoln 4,640
Madison 286,369
Meagher 285,459
Mineral 57,795
Missoula 33,724
Musselshell 17,914
Park 12,866
Phillips 333,078
Powell 147,200
Prairie 29,515
Ravalli 2,049
Richland 47,369
Rosebud _... 168,047
Sanders 43,421
Sheridan 83,780
Silver Bow 116,492
Stillwater 21,127
Sweetgrass 89,412
Teton 144,146
Toole 89,292
Valley 192,055
Wibaux * 9,216
Yellowstone 13,620
nappropriated
and unreserved
aunty of Montana July 1, 1917.
Unsurveyed
Total
564,366
1,125,387
153,600
213,612
307,129
424,885
7,040
186,230
157,046
270,458
628,846
849,771
41,585
143,724
63,153
202,993
380,160
792,332
907,459
1,503,508
72,106
18,641
181,880
426,795
78,500
13,787
93,180
134,553
82,574
21,523
342,378
194,000
465,822
4,640
330,718
617,087
39,760
325,219
57,795
37,636
71,360
19,280
37,194
10,155
23,021
992,893
1,325,971
60,300
207,500
29,515
388
2,437
40,960
88,329
93,600
261,647
34,162
77,583
83,780
15,200
131,692
21,127
89,412
30,080
174,226
4,160
93,452
532,480
724,535
9,216
13,620
l*J~X\ xt^M^ ktinmi Mi) ^riiw%mi rwj«
Threshing Scene In Valley County.
May Buy State Lands.
An unusual opportunity is offered in the state lands of Montana. The lands
granted to the state by the congress of the United States for the benefit of the
public schools and other public purposes remaining unsold at the present time
aggregate 4,438,627 acres, classified as grazing, agricultural, timber and coal lands,
Sections 16 and 36 in each township in the state, outside of Indian reservations
and national forests, are state land unless they have been sold, and in addition to
these two sections in each township, the state has selected land in every part of
the state. These state selections were made before the great rush of homesteaders
absorbed the most available part of the public domain, and it is therefore possible
for those buying state land to secure desirable tracts in the best developed sections
of the state. For those who wish to secure land in the well settled districts of
Montana and who do not desire to reside upon the land while securing title, the
purchase of state lands is strongly recommended.
Sales of state land are made at public auction, a sale being usually held in
each county once a year. The land is sold for not less than the appraised price,
the minimum being $10.00 per acre. Sales are made upon the basis of 15 per cent
cash, the remainder of the purchase price to be paid in twenty equal annual in-
stallments with interest at the rate of five per cent.
How to Obtain State Land.
The State Board of Land Commissioners is custodian of all state lands, and
the fixing of sale dates is discretionary with this board. Those who desire to buy
or lease state land should make formal application to the Register of State Lands,
Helena, Montana, upon the receipt of which, together with a fee of 50 cents, the
land will be offered for sale at public auction at the next sale held in the county
where the land is situated. Advance notice of sale will be mailed to the ap-
plicant. Sales of state land can be only made to citizens of the United States or
to those who have declared their intention to become such or to corporations or-
ganized under the laws of this state.
The amount of state land which may be purchased by any individual or corpora-
tion is strictly limited by law, to the end that the land, when sold by the state,
will pass directly into the possession of actual settlers. Not more than 160 acres
classified as agricultural land and susceptible of irrigation, nor more than 320
acres classified as agricultural land not susceptible of irrigation, nor more than
640 acres classified as grazing land can be sold to one purchaser.
May Lease for Five Years.
State lands not sold may be leased for a period not exceeding five years, and
the purchaser of state land upon which a lessee has improvements must pay the
lessee a reasonable value therefor. If the lessee and the purchaser cannot agree
on the value of the improvements, the State Land Agent fixes the price the
purchaser must pay for the same. Lessees of state land are required to pay a
rental for grazing use of $50.00 to $100.00 per section per annum and for agri-
cultural use from $150.00 to $320 per section per annum.
The following table shows the acreage of state land in each of the several
counties of the State July 1, 1918:
Beaverhead 179,303.53
Big Horn „ 39,818.68
Blaine 170,781.32
Broadwater 21,847.60
Carbon '. 42,091.55
Carter 87,746.99
Cascade 87,416.41
Chouteau 278,591.39
Custer 205,551.72
Dawson 277,322.14
Deer Lodge 9,471.92
Fallon 51,255.55
Fergus 261,522.41
Flathead 113,102.43
Gallatin 52,937.90
Granite :... - — 17,210.11
Hill - 204,183.04
Jefferson , 26,134.38
Lewis and Clark 112,308.74
Lincoln 56,952.64
Madison H5.899.45
Meagher - 91,585.69
Mineral 26,085.78
Missoula 75,065.30
Musselshell 93.388.42
Park 37,487.00
Phillips 143,342.28
Powell 50,831.36
Prairie 59,337.48
Ravalli 26,458.05
Richland 92,481.42
Rosebud 194,956.68
Sanders 58,479.58
Sheridan 178,424.08
Silver Bow - 15,262.94
Stillwater 41,230.74
Sweetgrass - 52,129.03
Teton 154,619.10
Toole 110,622.31
Valley 363,195.97
Wheatland 62,761.54
Wibaux 31,358.21
Yellowstone 68,133.82
Total 4,438,626.68
Well Equipped Farm on Valier Project.
Private Lands Cheap.
Many farmers, who have used their homestead rights or are in a position to buy
farming land outright, are taking advantage of the comparatively low prices at which
Montana lands are held and are purchasing land here which, if history is any
precedent, is certain to double in market value within the next few years. When it
is considered that farming lands in the older states of the Union are selling at
from $100 to $200 per acre, and that land which will actually produce more can
be purchased in Montana at from $10 to $40 per acre the wisdom of such a
course becomes apparent.
Many thousands of acres of fine farming land are now being marketed by
the Northern Pacific Railway company, the Big Blackfoot Lumber company, and
many of the larger old-time ranching companies of the state. The Northern
Pacific lands in eastern Montana and the Big Blackfoot lands in the western part
of the state constitute an empire in themselves and are being sold to actual
settlers at prices which are far below their actual productive value.
Logged-Off Lands.
Much interest has recently been shown in the logged-off lands of western
and northwestern Montana and for the man with a little capital and a determina-
tion to succeed these offer an exceptional opportunity. There are thousands of
acres of bench and valley lands from which timber has been removed, leaving the
stumps and undergrowth upon a soil which when cleared is of uniformly fertile
character, usually perfectly sub-irrigated and suitable for the growing of all kinds
of crops. Much of this land is held by the big lumber companies of the state,
while a considerable portion of it is in private ownership by original home-
steaders and timber entrymen. Lands of this character can be bought on long-
time payments at from $10.00 to $25.00 per acre, which many regard as cheaper
than homesteading. Many of the finest orchards in the state were developed from
cut-over lands, and throughout northwestern Montana are to be found thousands
of sturdy farmers who have secured logged-off land and are building beautiful and
substantial homes in what was until recently a wilderness.
Roughly speaking, the logged-off lands of Montana are in the counties of
Lincoln, which has approximately 20,000 acres of such land; Flathead, with
70,000 acres; Missoula, 40,000 acres; Mineral, 35,000 acres; Sanders, 25,000 acres,
and Ravalli, 30,000 acres.
I I1IIIII1I.III
In the Metropolis of Montana.
( I ni mill I r iHiiiitiii
Fertility of the Farms
Agricultural Development in Montana Has Been Very-
Rapid, with an Annual Increase in Acreage and
Production and a Variety and Quality of
Products That Speak Volumes
for the Future
|N AMOUNT, variety and quality, the agricultural products of
Montana surprise the newcomer to the state, who has heretofore
thought of Montana as a mining, lumbering and ranching coun-
try, with countless miles of mountains and treeless wastes of
valleys and sterile plains. The fact is, that Montana is fast
becoming one of the foremost agricultural states in the Union
Each new year shows a growth in crop production and such a
rapid increase in acreage devoted to agriculture as to be a
source of wonderment to those not thoroughly acquainted with the boundless
resources of the state. The United States Department of Agriculture gives the
total value of farm products for 1917 in the state as $103,845,000 as contrasted
with the average annual production of the previous five years of $62,491,000. Adding
dairy products, fruit and bees, it gives a total of $109,000,000 for the year. This
remarkable growth is due to the much larger number of acres made cultivable by
the influx of new settlers. It is safe to predict that within a few years Montana
will rank near the top among the agricultural states of the Union.
Many Varieties of Grain.
While wheat is the leading crop, other grains thrive in the state. Statistics
show that more acreage is being devoted each year to the raising of flax, oats,
barley, rye and corn. It has been said that an acre of land in Montana is worth
more than an acre elsewhere, and this statement is substantiated by the published
statistics of the United States Department of Agriculture which show the returns
per acre cultivated to be larger than in the other leading agricultural states.
The chief root crops of the state are the potato and sugar beet. Potatoes
furnish one of the chief articles for food and are raised in large quantities. The
raising of sugar beets, while a new industry in many parts of the state, is making
rapid progress. In addition to these products practically every kind of garden vege-
table known is grown in Montana successfully. The hay crop is very important.
Alfalfa, timothy and clover are raised in large quantities and add much to the wealth
and forage supply. Peas are grown extensively for seed and canning.
Grains Take Many Prizes.
The quality of Montana products has always been of a high nature. The state
has been very successful in the production of a high quality of grain. It was only
about eight years ago that her farmers started sending samples of their products to
the great grain and land shows of the country; but since 1910 >t has won the
highest honors in every important American competition in grains. The first of
these notable victories was at the Madison Square Garden Land Show, held in New
Irrigated Alfalfa in Prickly Pear Valley Near Helena.
York City in 1911, when Montana wheat, oats, barley and alfalfa carried off the
sweepstakes prizes for the United States. This was followed a few months later
by the highest wheat and barley awards at the St. Paul Land Products Show, and
the following year Montana won the $5,000 prize for the best five bushels of wheat
exhibited at the St. Paul Land Show. Incidentally, this was the largest single prize
ever offered in a grain contest. The Dry Farming Congresses of both 1913 and 1914
acknowledged Montana's superior wheat, alfalfa and timothy; and at the National
Corn Show in Dallas, Texas, in 1914, this State carried off the world's championship
prizes in wheat, barley, oats, flax and timothy. To these splendid awards were added
new laurels in 1915 when the Panama-Pacific Exhibition at San Francisco honored
Montana with the highest competitive award in the division of agriculture, and by
the San Diego Exposition granting it the grand prize in cereals.
Wheat Is Banner Crop.
Wheat is the leading crop of the state. The acreage devoted to its production
has increased over 1,600,000 acres in eighteen years. In 1917 there were 1,727,000
acres given to wheat production and the crop was valued at $34,489,000. In 1918
there were over 2,000,000 acres. The statistics of the United States department of
agriculture gives the production in 1917 in Montana as 17,963,000 bushels which
shows a decrease from 1916. It is the judgment of a large number of the leading
elevator men and grain dealers throughout the state that the total production in
1917 amounted to 20,000,000 bushels.
The following table shows the acreage, production and value of Montana's
wheat crop over a period of eighteen consecutive years:
1918 Oat Crop on Milk River Project.
Year Acre Bu. Per Acre Production Value
1900 72,555 26.6 1,929,963 $ 1,177,277
1901 88,807 26.5 2,353,386 1,576,769
1902 90,583 26.0 2,355,158 1,460,198
1903 98,735 28.2 2,784,327 1,837,656
1904 108,608 23.9 2,596,731 2,311,091
1905 119,469 23.8 2,843,326 2,018,787
1906 137,389 24.0 3,297,336 2,110,295
1907 139,000 28.8 4,003,000 3,243,000
1908 153,000 24.2 3,703,000 3,185,000
1909 350,000 30.8 10,764,000 9,364,000
1910 480,000 22.0 10,560,000 9,081,000
1911 429,000 28.7 12,299,000 9,470,000
1912 803,000 24.1 19,346,000 12,381,000
1913 870,000 23.8 20,673,000 13,644,000
1914 910,000 20.2 18,356,000 16,704,000
1915 1,590,000 26.5 42,180,000 32,900,000
1916 1,485,000 19.3 28,655,000 46,134,000
1917 1,727,000 10.4 17,963,000 34,489,000
Oat Production Important.
Montana is likewise becoming the greatest oat producing state of the Union, and
the acreage devoted to this crop has increased more than ten fold during the
eighteen year period during which the growth of agricultural Montana has been
so marked. The following table shows the acreage, production and value of the
Montana oat crop for the period mentioned:
m
Wheat Field on Huntley Project.
Year Acre Bu. Per Acre Production Value
1900 65,865 39.0 2,568,735 $ 1,078,869
1901 147,365 42.0 6,189,330 2,228,159
1902 159,154 41.9 6,668,553 2,400,679
1903 162,337 46.4 7,532,437 2,636,353
1904 167,207 37.7 6,303,704 2,899,704
1905 178,911 41.3 7,389,024 3,177,280
1906 196,802 43.2 8,501,846 3,740,812
1907 240,000 49.0 11,760,000 5,410,000
1908 254,000 41.6 10,566,000 5,177,000
1909 300,000 51.3 15,390,000 6,464,000
1910 350,000 38.0 13,000,000 6,118,000
1911 425,000 49.8 21,165,000 8,466,000
1912 476,000 48.0 22,848,000 7,997,000
1913 500,000 43.5 21,750,000 6,960,000
1914 530,000 35.0 18,550,000 7,234,000
1915 600,000 52.0 31,200,000 9,984,000
1916 660,000 38.0 25,080,000 11,788,000
1917 680,000 20.0 13,600,000 11,016,000
Flax Raised on Sod.
Flaxseed is one of the staple money crops for the farmer on new soil in
Montana. Flax is a certain crop on sod and throughout the eastern section of the
state it is regarded as the homesteader's never failing friend. The increased
acreage of this crop is indicative of the amount of new ground put into cultiva-
tion each year, as it is customary to plant flax only on new sod. The following
table shows the acreage, production and value of the flax crop of the state for
the year shown:
Potatoes Grown in Prickly Pear Valley.
Year Acre Bu. Per Acre Production
1901 16 13.7 200 $
1902 12,500 9.0 112,500
1903 12,625 14.0 176,750
1904 9,334 8.0 74,672
1905 16,570 10.0 165,700
1906 24,855 12.0 298,260
1907 34,000 13.0 436,000
1908 9,000 11.5 104,000
1909 10,000 12.0 120,000
1910 60,000 7.0 420,000
1911 425,000 7.7 3,272,000
1912 460,000 12.0 5,520,000
1913 400,000 9.0 3,600,000
1914 300,000 8.0 2,400,000
1915 '. 250,000 10.5 2,625,000
1916 325,000 9.5 3,088,000
1917 422,000 3.0 1,266,000
Barley Does Well.
Although barley is not as extensively grown as are the other
constitutes an important item in the total production of cereals,
table shows the acreage, yield, total production and value of barley
the last eighteen years:
Value
268
76,500
106,050
70,938
135,874
298,260
353,000
3 04,000
192,000
1,008,000
5,890,000
6,182,000
4,140,000
2,880,000
4,462,000
7,658,000
3,735,000
small grains, it
The following
in the state in
Valley County Boasts of Its Corn.
Year Acre Bu. Per Acre Production Value
1900 5,194 38.8 201,527 $ 96,773
1901 16,398 39.0 639,522 364,528
1902 17,874 37.0 661,338 337,282
1903 18,231 40.2 732,886 425,074
1904 17,502 29.9 523,310 324,452
1905 15,227 33.0 512,491 281,395
1906 14,313 33.0 472,329 264,504
1907 17,000 38.0 646,000 400,000
1908 25,000 35.0 875,000 534,000
1909 50,000 38.0 1,900,000 1,197,000
1910 52,000 28.0 1,456,000 903,000
1911 31,000 34.5 1,070,000 728,000
1912 39,000 36.5 1,424,000 755,000
1913 60,000 31.0 1,860,000 893,000
1914 70,000 30.5 2,135,000 1,132,000
1915 80,000 34.0 2,720,000 1,306,000
1916 95,000 28.0 2,660,000 2,022,000
1917 90,000 15.0 1,350,000 1,390,000
Corn Growing Increases.
A few years ago anyone would have been laughed at for intimating that Mon-
tana could possibly be classified as a corn state, and yet what seemed out of the
question then has become an established fact now and Montana is now producing
about 2,000,000 bushels of corn per year, and the acreage devoted to this crop is
being constantly increased. Montana farmers find corn a valuable crop, and with
the increase in the number of livestock upon the farm there is bound to oe an
increase in this important cereal. The following table shows the acreage,' pro-
duction and value of the corn crop for the past eighteen years:
Year Acre Bu. Per Acre Production Value
1900 1,598 15.0 23,970 $ 14,172
1901 3,095 25.0 77,375 69,638
1902 3,714 22.0 81,708 58,830
1903 3,788 24.1 91,291 56,600
1904 3,902 22.2 86,624 58,904
1905 3,941 19.4 76,455 51,989
1906 3,980 23.4 93,132 60,536
1907 4,000 22.5 90,000 61,000
1908 4,000 23.4 94,000 85,000
1909 5,000 35.0 175,000 150,000
1910 8,000 23.0 184,000 175,000
1911 20,000 26.5 530,000 424,000
1912 24,000 25.5 612,000 428,000
1913 28,000 31.5 882,000 679,000
1914 50,000 28.0 1,400,000 1,064,000
1915 70,000 28.0 1,960,000 1,352,000
1916 74,000 25.0 1,850,000 1,720,000
1917 81,000 12.5 1,012,000 1,771,000
Rye Is Hardy Crop.
The rye crop is the hardiest and surest of all grain crops. It is generally grown
in small quantities for purposes of feed on the smaller farms. The production for
the last seventeen years is as follows:
Year Acre Bu. Per Acre Production Value
1901 1,834 26.7 48,968 $ 29,381
1902 1,871 25.0 46,775 29,936
1903 1,890 24.6 46,494 29,291
1904 1,871 19.9 37,233 28,669
1905 1,871 20.0 37,420 24,324
1906 2,021 20.5 41,430 27,344
1907 2,100 22.4 47,000 32,000
1908 2,000 20.0 40,000 27,000
1909 2,000 29.0 58,000 44,000
1910 4,000 20.0 80,000 54,000
1911 8,000 23.0 184,000 132,000
1912 10,000 23.5 235,000 141,000
1913 10,000 21.0 210,000 116,000
1914 10,000 21.0 210,000 147,000
1915 10,000 22.5 225,000 146,000
1916 10,000 20.5 205,000 197,000
1917 9,000 12.7 114,000 188,000
"Great Big Potato."
The chief root crop for table use is potatoes. Montana potatoes have a world-
wide reputation. This state is the home of the "Great Big Potato", which, when
baked, becomes such an important part in the menu of the dining cars of one of the
country's most progressive transcontinental railways. The potato-growing industry
is fostered by the presence within the state of heavy market demands and this
industry has kept step with the development of the state, until at the present time
an average of about 5,000,000 bushels of potatoes is grown in Montana every year.
The following is the eighteen-year potato record:
1
Year Acre Bu. Per Acre Production Value
1900 4,781 134 640,654 $ 339,547
1901
1902 11,521 153 1,762,713 881,356
1903 12,904 176 2,271,104 999,286
1904 13,162 143 1,882,166 1,148,121
1905 13,668 120 1,642,560 969,110
1906 14,099 152 2,143,048 1,307,259
1907 18,000 150 2,700,000 1,350,000
1908 . 20,000 138 2,760,000 1,932,000
1909 25,000 180 4,500,000 2,295,000
1910 25,000 120 3,000,000 2,550,000
1911 27,000 150 4,050,000 2,997,000
1912 37,000 165 6,105,000 2,442,000
1913 36,000 140 5,040,000 3,377,000
1914 37,000 140 5,180,000 3,315,000
1915 39,000 155 6,045,000 3,022,000
1916 39,000 125 4,875,000 5,850,000
1917 57,000 95 5,415,000 5,523,000
Sugar Beet Culture.
While a new industry in the state, sugar beet growing is making rapid progress.
They are grown with profit on the irrigated lands, and as these increase it is safe
to predict that sugar beet raising will become one of the important farming enter-
prises. Large factories are operating at Billings and Missoula and several are
proposed in other places. The past year has seen a large increase in the acreage
devoted to this crop, it being estimated that 6,659 acres were planted in 1918.
Money in Peas.
The raising of peas for seed and canning purposes has come to be an important
industry in several counties of the state. In Gallatin, Lewis and Clark, Missoula,
Ravalli and Park counties there is a large acreage planted each year. Canning
factories are located at Bozeman and Stevensville and each take a large part of
the product of these valleys.
In Park county more than 100,000 bushels of seed peas were raised in 1918.
according to estimates made by the Park County Chamber of Commerce. This was
twice the acreage planted the previous year, yet the entire crop was contracted by
seed companies almost as soon as planted. Peas grown in Montana are considered
by authorities to be the most valuable produced in the United States for both seed
and canning purposes. The yield is from 15 to 28 bushels per acre. It is estimated
that 8,792 acres were planted in 1918.
Hay Crop Valuable.
The hay crop is of much importance in Montana and is one of the most lucrative
sources of income to the farmer. While stock have heretofore grazed out during
much of the winter, from now on the farmer will keep his stock in the feed lot for
the colder months. This makes more demand on the hay crop and to meet this
more land is being given to the production of alfalfa, timothy and clover. Rotation
of crops is also made profitable. The total cut for all hay, wild and tame, in 1917,
was 1,465,000 tons. Of this amount 469,000 tons was alfalfa and 482,000 tons, timothy
and clover. Following is the production of hay as given by the United States
Department of Agriculture:
}im:Ai/—
Alfalfa Field Near Billings.
Year Acre Tons
1900 369,161 590,658
1901
1902 313,606 526,858
1903 335,558 697,961
1904 348,980 670,042
1905 362,939 580,702
1906 373,827 691,580
1907 500,000 850,000
1908 .:.. 525,000 1,050,000
1909 556,000 995,000
1910 600,000 840,000
1911 612,000 1,224,000
1912 640,000 1,216,000
1913 660,000 1,188,000
1914 700,000 1,750,000
1915 775,000 1,550,000
1916 825,000 1,402,000
1917 759,000 1,063,000
Value Per Acre Value
$13,92 $ 5,138,725
7.54
8.81
16.70
7.70
8.90
9.50
8.30
10.00
12.50
10.00
8.30
9.60
8.70
15.00
18.70
26.04
3,972,509
6,149,036
5,829,365
4,471,405
6,155,062
8,075,000
8,768,000
9,950,000
10,500,000
12,240,000
10,093,000
11,405,000
15,225,000
11,625,000
15,422,000
19,772,000
The following diagram shows the number of
agricultural products in Montana in 1917:
acres and the value of the leading
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Water Makes Wealth
The Irrigation Systems of the Federal, State and Private
Enterprises, Will When Completed, Supply Water
For Nearly 3,500,000 Acres of Rich
and Productive Montana Land
IRRIGATED agriculture lies at the foundation of much of the
material prosperity of the west. Through the agency of water,
wisely used, deserts are converted into productive fields and
orchards, and flocks and herds and prosperous communities
come to occupy the places which were formerly the haunts of
wild animals. "While "dry farming" is the principal method
used in farming throughout Montana, yet there are many acres
under the irrigation ditch, which has increased the produc-
tivity of the land and added much to the wealth of the nation.
The United States Census for 1910 placed the total cost of irrigation enter-
prises, of all kinds, in Montana at $22,970,000, which furnished water for 2,205,-
155 acres of land. Since that time the projects under the Federal Reclama-
tion Service and the State Carey Land Act Board have added a large acreage.
When all enterprises that are now planned are completed there will be nearly
3,500,000 acres in Montana under the ditch. This is an area nearly equal to that
of the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined.
Seven Kinds of Enterprises.
There are seven kinds of irrigation enterprises in the state. The latest available
statistics give the number of acres supplied with water under each as follows:
Individual and partnership enterprises 1,495,513
Cooperative enterprises 500,000
United States Reclamation 150,934
United States Indian Service 149,160
Carey Act enterprises 183,800
Commercial enterprises 80,895
Irrigation districts 11,140
2,571,442
In addition to this acreage there are 575,796 acres under the Federal Reclama-
tion Service not yet completed and a large acreage under the other enterprises.
Individual Work Greatest.
The greatest number of acres are watered by the individual and partnership
enterprises. This is where the individual irrigator has built a ditch himself or
called in one or two neighbors to help him. The total acreage watered in this way
is 1,495,513 with 5,534 separate enterprises and a total of 18,934 miles of ditches.
Most of these enterprises are small, in which the farmers in the different valleys
have tapped the mountain streams from the nearby foothills.
A second method widely used and one of increasing popularity is the
cooperative enterprise, in which larger groups of farmers, acting together, have
Potato Field in Prickly Pear Valley.
built the necessary structures. The acreage under this method is about 500,000. In
recent years this plan has been extended widely. The tendency in the state is
to place land, watered by other methods, under this plan and it is expected that
eventually all projects, including the projects of both the state and federal govern-
ment will be under the cooperative system.
Smaller Enterprises.
The commercial enterprises also furnish water for a large acreage. These are
the commercial companies of different kinds that have gone into the business of
furnishing a water supply and selling it to the irrigator. The commercial companies
are watering 80,895 acres. One of these companies is the Montana Reservoir and
Irrigation Company, which furnishes water for 9,500 acres in the Prickly Pear
Valley, near Helena. It uses 3680 horsepower to pump the water into the ditches
from Hauser Lake and has one of the largest high head pumping stations in the
country for purposes of irrigation. Other commercial projects of this kind are,
the Bitter Root Land and Irrigation Company of the Bitter Root valley and the Win-
nett Land and Investment Company of Fergus county.
A smaller enterprise is the irrigation district method, which is a quasi-
municipal corporation. The acreage watered by this method is about 11,140.
Federal Reclamation.
The Federal Reclamation Act of 1902, was next to the Homestead laws, of
most importance to the development of Montana land. During the past sixteen
years this act, and the Carey Land Act instituted programs calling for the
f ff*l»
Irrigation Guarantees Fine Potatoes.
irrigation of a total of 1,059,690 acres in Montana. Much of this work has already
been accomplished and the rest is in different stages of preparation. Under the
two acts thirteen projects have been built or are under construction. The Federal
Government is in charge of seven projects, with a total of 875,890 acres, three
projects of which are being built in cooperation with the United States Indian
Service. The Carey Land Act Board has under its jurisdiction, six projects, with
a total of 183,800 acres of irrigable land. An important area of tillable land will be
added to the state when these projects reach their ultimate development.
Area of Projects.
The irrigable areas of the projects are as follows: Huntley project, 32,979 acres;
Lower Yellowstone, 60,116; Milk River, including St. Mary's storage dams, 200,000;
Sun River, 173,795; Blackfeet Indian project, 122,500; Flathead Indian project, 134,500
and the Fort Peck Indian project, 152,000. These are all under the supervision of
the Federal Government. Those under the Carey Land Act Board are: Valier proj-
ect, 88,000; Teton, 30,000; Billings, 26,000; Little Missouri, 20,000; Big Timber, 12,000;
and the Flatwillow project, 7,800.
Huntley Project.
One of the oldest and at the same time one of the most successful projects in
Montana is the Huntley, located in Yellowstone county. The project includes 32,979
acres of land considered irrigable. Irrigation works have been completed for 31,607
acres. During the season of 1918 about 19,000 acres were irrigated.
The land is intensively cultivated and the character of the soil ranges from
yqr.-r.vj«fc «»?*P'
Sun River Project Near Augusta.
heavy clay to light sandy loam. The rainfall for the past ten years averages 13.68
inches. The range of temperature is from 35° below zero to 105° above.
Two railroads serve the project, the Northern Pacific and the Burlington. There
are eight railway stations on the project, Huntley, Osborn, Worden, Newton, Pompey's
Pillar, Bull Mountain, Ballantine and Anita.
The principal crops in 1917 were sugar beets, alfalfa, wheat and oats in the
ordered named. There are 691 farms on the project with a population of 2,107.
The total population on the project is 2,706. The total bank deposits aggregated
$540,434.
Sun River Project.
Next to the Milk River Project, the Sun River is the largest project in Montana.
It includes an estimated irrigable area of 173,795 acres, of which 16,095 have been
brought under the ditch.
The project is located in Cascade, Chouteau, Lewis and Clark and Teton counties.
The source of water supply is the Sun River and its tributaries, Deep Creek, Bowl
Creek and Basin Creek. Two railroads serve the project, the Chicago, Milwaukee
and St. Paul and the Great Northern. There are thirteen small towns on the project.
The average rainfall for the past thirty years has been 11.09 inches. The range
of temperature is from 40° below zero to 100° above. The soil is sandy loam, clay,
adobe and alluvium. The principal products are hay, grain, vegetables and livestock.
The 1917 crop was good, and hay, grain, bee, dairy and poultry products sold readily
at excellent prices.
The principal crop in 1917 was alfalfa, the total acreage amounting to 4370.5
Headgates on Lower Yellowstone Project.
a gain of more than 250 acres over 1916. The average value per acre of the irrigated
crops was $29.43. Alfalfa sold in the stack from $15 to $24 per ton.
Lower Yellowstone Project.
The Lower Yellowstone Project is located in Richland and Dawson counties,
Montana, and extends into McKenzie county, North Dakota. There are 60,116 acres
of land included in the project, 42,232 acres of which have completed canals and
can be irrigated. The Yellowstone River is the source of water supply. In 1917
12,430 acres were irrigated.
The annual precipitation for a twelve-year average is 15.56 inches the greater
part of which generally falls in May and June. There are 514 farms on the project
and eight towns. The total population is 4,485. Total banks deposits aggregate
$2,000,000. There is a good deal of non-irrigated land tributary to a number of
these towns which accounts for the large population in the towns.
Alfalfa is the principal crop raised on the project and for the past two years
has exceeded the area of any other crop. Wheat, flax, oats and barley are also
raised. The total acreage in alfalfa in 1917 was 8,963, which brought from $15 to
$18 per ton in the stack. The average per acre for irrigated crops was $29.25, the
largest since the opening of the project.
Sugar beets were tried on the project for the first time in 1917, 300 acres being
harvested. The average was eight tons per acre. More have been planted in 1918.
Potatoes and corn also give good returns, and the acreage in these crops is increasing
each year.
Milk River Project.
The project contemplates the reclamation of about 200,000 acres of land in
Milk River Valley located between Chinook and Nashua in Blaine, Phillips and
Valley counties. The lands are to be irrigated by means of a succession of three
dams located near Chinook, Dodson and Vandalia, respectively, diverting water from
Milk River into canals located along the foothills on either side of the valley.
The natural flow of the Milk River is supplemented by water stored on St.
Mary's River in the edge of Glacier Park and diverted from that river into the Milk
River. Storage is also provided at Nelson Reservoir, located in a natural basin
between Malta and Saco. This reservoir is fed through the Dodson South Canal,
44 miles long, heading at Dodson Dam, and serves lands in the vicinity of Saco
and Hinsdale, as well as to augment the natural flow of the river at Vandalia Dam.
The Great Northern Railway traverses the entire irrigable area for a distance
of 160 miles, with stations at intervals of about six miles, the principal towns being
Chinook, Harlem, Dodson, Malta, Saco, Hinsdale and Glasgow.
The average elevation of the irrigable area is 2,200 feet above sea-level, and
the temperature ranges from 50° below to 105° above zero. The average annual
rainfall is 14 inches. The soil is sandy loam, clay loam, and some gumbo. The
principal markets are Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn., Great Falls, Montana, Pacific
Coast points and local.
The principal crops grown are small grains, alfalfa, native blue-joint hay, and
vegetables. At the present time construction has reached the point where 61,000
acres can be supplied from completed canals. In 1918 there were 14,000 acres
actually irrigated. As the project is of large proportions it will be some time before
it is completed. Total expenditures up to June 30, 1918 amounted to $5,625,318. The
estimated total cost is $9,307,948.
In connection with the Milk River Project is the St. Mary's Storage unit, con-
sisting of the St. Mary's Canal and Sherburne Lakes Dam. This reservoir dam is on
the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Glacier National Park, twelve miles south of
the Canadian boundary and forty-five miles northeast of Browning, the nearest station
on the Great Northern railway. This reservoir will store 75,000 acre-feet of water
to be used mainly in the irrigation of lands in Phillips and Valley counties and
will be transported through the St. Mary's canal to the Milk River. The dam will
be 83 feet high and 900 feet long. The dam has reached 90 per cent completion.
The outlet structure has been completed and is in operation. The crest has yet to
be put on the dam.
Blackfeet Project.
The Blackfeet Project, located in the south-eastern part of the Blackfeet Indian
Reservation, is being constructed by the Reclamation Service in cooperation with
the Indian Service, to irrigate about 122,500 acres of land when it is completed.
Four units have now been constructed: the Two Medicine unit, diverting water
from the Two Medicine River to water land adjacent to the G. N. Ry. west of the
town of Cut Bank. A lateral system to cover 24,000 acres of land is now constructed
under the unit. The Piegan system diverting water from Badger Creek to about
3,000 acres of land in the vicinity of Piegan. This system is complete except some
minor structures and extensions. The Badger-Fisher unit diverting water from
Badger Creek through the Four Horns Supply Canal, Four Horns Reservoir and
the Fisher Canal, to land on Fisher flat. A lateral system has been completed,
except for minor structures, to irrigate about 18,000 acres under this system; and the
Birch Creek unit diverting water from Birch Creek to about 2,600 acres on the
southern part of the reservation. This system is complete except for minor structures
and extensions. The lands to which irrigation works are constructed are Indian
allotments and are being irrigated by Indians or white renters.
The climate on the project is such that wheat, flax, hay, alfalfa, oats, potatoes
and small vegetables are successfully raised. In 1918, 2,448 acres were irrigated.
The total expenditures to June 30, 1918, were $1,012,644 and it is estimated that the
project will cost $3,500,000 when completed.
Flathead Project.
The Flathead project is located in the counties of Missoula, Sanders and Flat-
head. It is on the Pacific slope on the drainage areas of the Flathead and Jocko
Rivers, on the Flathead Indian Reservation.
The irrigable area of the project is 152,000 acres. During 1918 the Reclamation
Service was prepared to water 84,300 acres. The area actually irrigated was 21,000
acres. All homestead land has been entered. State land and certain Indian lands
are leased. Ready sale occurs when these lands are offered.
The average rainfall for the past nine years is 17.94 inches. The elevation is
3,000 feet above sea-level. All crops maturing in the northern latitudes can be
raised. The number of farms irrigated in 1918 was 650, three times the amount
irrigated in 1916.
The leading crops have been wheat, oats, hay and potatoes. Fruits and garden
vegetables are raised successfully. A considerable number of new settlers have come
to the project during the past year, being purchasers of Indian allotments and
state lands, which have been sold. The lands bring an average price of $25 per
acre. There are fourteen thriving towns on the project.
Port Peck Project.
The Fort Peck Indian Project is located in the northeastern part of the state
on the reservation of that name. The irrigable area lies in the Missouri Rwer
valley and in the valleys of the Poplar River, Big Porcupine Creek, Little Porcupine
Creek and Big Muddy Creek. The entire project covers 152,000 acres in these
valleys. The Reclamation Service was prepared to supply water for 16,620 acres
in 1918. The amount actually irrigated was 1,800 acres.
The soil is rich and produces excellent crops with irrigation. The average
rainfall has been 13.51 inches for the past 32 years. The temperatures vary from
40° below zero to 105° above.
The rainfall was so light in 1917 that the amount of water available was not
enough to supply the demand in 1918. The principal products raised are hay,
grain and vegetables. The principal markets are Minneapolis and St. Paul as the
project is situated on the main line of the Great Northern railway to these points.
At present, the irrigable land is withdrawn from entry. When the irrigation
works are completed, the total cost per acre will be announced and the land
opened to entry by public notice from the Secretary of the Interior. A consider-
able number of the Indians are receiving patent in fee to their irrigable allotments
and they are being disposed of at prices ranging from $30 to $40 per acre,
the purchaser assuming the payment of the construction of the irrigation works.
By the Act of May 18, 1916, Congress fixed the method of payment on a twenty
year basis with the maximum payment of seven per centum of the total costs
assessed against the land.
The following table gives a summary of the federal irrigation projects in
Montana:
Reclamation Projects in Montana.
Area for
Estimated Which Irriga- Area Total Expenditures Estimate!
Total tion Works Have Irrigated to Total
PROJECT Irrigable Been Com- S?ason June 30 Cost of
Area pleted 1918 1918 Project
Acres Acres Acres
Huntley 32,979 31,607 19,000 $ 1,683,516 $ 1,899,994
Lower Yellowstone .... 60,116 42,232 12,430 3,372,017 4,239,460
•Milk River 200,000 61,000 14,000 5,625,318 9,307,948
Sun River 173,795 16,095 7,200 3,424,313 8,402,350
Totals 466,890 150,934 52,630 $14,105,164 $23,849,752
•Includes St. Mary's Storage Unit.
Indian Service Projects in Montana.
Blackfeet 122,500 48,240 2,488 1,012,644 3,500,000
Flathead 134,500 84,300 20,000 3,055,000 6,623,463
Port Peck 152,000 16,620 1,100 638,209 5,220,000
Totals 409,000 149,160 23,588 $ 4,705,853 $15,343,463
Land Under Carey Act.
In addition to the Federal Government reclamation projects, there are six Carey
Land Act projects in Montana, having an aggregate acreage of 173,257. The lands
are disposed of by the state and the projects are built and land reclaimed under
the supervision of the state Carey Land Act Board.
Immediately upon the approval of the state's application by the Secretary of
the Interior of the segregation, under the Carey Act, the state enters into a con-
tract with the promoting company for the reclamation and settlement of the
lands. Plans and specifications regarding the construction of the irrigation system
must be submitted to the State Engineer and Carey Land Act Board for their
approval. The contractor gives a bond for the faithful performance of the con-
tract, which specifies the price, terms and conditions under which water rights,
and eventually the canal system, will be turned over to settlers.
Every citizen of the United States is entitled to file upon Carey Act land to
the extent of 160 acres, regardless of whether or not he has exhausted his rights
under the general land laws. The settler must enter into a contract with the
contracting company for his water rights at the time he makes his application
for the land, and his application and contract are then submitted to the Carey
Land Act Board for approval. If the application is allowed, the state issues him
a certificate of location which serves him in lieu of title until final proof is made
and patent received from the state. The water rights are paid for in installments
covering a period of 10 to 14 years and the unpaid installments are a lien against
the land. The settlers also has the privilege of making deferred payments before
their due date, with a proper rebate of interest, or of paying the entire purchase
price of shares in cash at the time of purchase.
Valier Fine Project.
The largest of the projects is the Valier and includes about 88,000 acres, of
which about 47,000 have been sold or filed upon. Practically all or this is sus-
ceptible of irrigation. There remain about 36,000 acres of land open to entry.
The project is located in Teton county. The altitude is between 2400 and 3900 feet
above sea-level. The land lies in a gently rolling prairie country, clear of brush
and trees and the soil varies from a deep sandy loam to a light sandy loam,
i^Ayyi ;»»**; IJumjaijVlCJ fcrirjUS/V? dlij jr*,tj
heavy clay, and in the southwest corner, it is gravelly. The source of the water is
Birch Creek, supplemented by the waters of Dupuyer Creek. The Birch Creek
Reservoir has been in use three years and is equipped by a dam which has with-
stood record-breaking floods. The total estimated cost of the project is $4,060,946
and nearly $4,000,000 has been expended. The land yields great crops and the
settlers are among the most prosperous in Montana. The price of water right per
acre is $50.
Teton and Little Missouri.
Next in size is the Teton Project, which is situated between the Valier Project
and the Sun River Project of the U. S. Reclamation Service. It comprises 34,206
acres and the topographical condition and soil are practically the same as those
of the Valier Project. The waters are obtained from the Teton River and the
Blackleaf and Muddy Creeks. It is planned to irrigate about 30,000 acres. Some
$400,000 have been spent on the work to date.
The Little Missouri Project is third in size as to acreage, having about 20,000.
It is located in the southeastern corner of the state in what is now known as
Carter county. The soil is heavy clay and loam. The source of water supply is the
Little Missouri and Cottonwood Creek. The entire 20,000 acres are susceptible of
Irrigation. About 6,000 acres of this amount are privately owned, the balance open
for entry or purchase. The project is estimated to cost $250,000 and between
$75,000 and $85,000 have been expended. The land is fertile and yields heavy crops
of cereals, vegetables and hay.
"Billings Bench."
The Billings Project, known locally as the "Billings Bench" is in Yellowstone
county and lies northeast of the city of Billings. It includes within its boundaries
about 34,000 acres of which 26,000 acres are to be brought under ditch. The
total cost of the project to date is about $500,000. The land under ditch is in a high
state of cultivation and large crops of wheat, oats, sugar beets and potatoes are
raised.
Big Timber and Flatwillow.
The land embraced in the Big Timber Project aggregates nearly 12,000 acres,
most of which is under ditch. The project has been practically completed and
is in a flourishing condition as it has an abundance of good water, a system of
reservoirs and ditches constructed so solidly as to avoid chances of inability to
deliver water when required. The state has 7,356 acres and the settlers about 3,300
acres.
Flatwillow Project lies in Fergus county and includes about 7,800 acres. The
land is level to undulating, the soil a sandy loam mixed with clay. The altitude
is 3,000 feet. The source of water is Flatwillow Creek. About $30,000 has beeD
spent on the project which will soon be completed.
Irrigation Wins.
Contrary to the experience of some of the western states with regard to Carey
Land Act projects, Montana people have been satisfied with their administration
so far and the companies operating them have handled their affairs in such a way
that water is furnished at a reasonable price per acre.
Irrigation is coming into favor as its benefits are coming to be more generally
understood among the farming population.
The dry land system of farming brings adequate returns as a rule and the
expense of irrigation plants has been avoided. But it has been discovered that
on "off years" the farmer who has at his command a sufficient supply of water
to moisten his ground at a critical time, has an advantage. Whether he only has
to use irrigating ditches once in ten years, the availability of water acts as crop
insurance and adds greatly to the value of his property. And in the years that
water is needed he is assured of his customary yield of grain, hay and vegetables.
.
The Future of Irrigation.
With the period of reconstruction following the war, attention has turned to Mon-
tana as a possible source of land supply for homeseekers. Secretary of the
Interior, Franklin K. Lane, has recommended to Congress that $1,000,000 be appro-
priated for a survey of Montana to determine the land and water resources here,
with a view to using this land for returned soldiers, sailors and war workers.
This recommendation has been favorably acted upon by a Senate committee. Mon-
tana has access to more water for irrigation purposes than any other state and
it is safe to predict that the next few years will see a great deal done to reclaim
the fertile acres and to establish happy and prosperous settlers on the irrigated tracts
of the state.
Mountain Streams Are Sources of Water Supply.
Fruit Growing is Favored
Montana Orchards, Under Proper Care, are Furnishing an
Increased Food Supply to Help Win the War. Board
of Horticulture Aids in Fighting Disease
and in Marketing
[ONTANA has made an enviable record for herself in sup-
porting all measures calculated to help win the war. She has
gladly done her share in subscribing to all Liberty Loans, Red
Cross, Y. M. C. A. and Y. W. C. A. funds and is proud of the
record her men has made in this great war against autocracy.
In response to the call for greater food production the farmers
have planted additional thousands of acres to food crops, and
they have been glad to work harder and longer hours than
ever before in order to care for the increased acreage with less than the normal
amount of help.
The fruit growers of Montana have also done their best to increase the production
of the various fruit crops, realizing that an adequate supply of good fruit is very
necessary to the health and well being of our people at home. The more fruit that
is used here the less bread and meat will be needed. Men and women who are
growing fruit are doing their part in this Armageddon as well as those who are
growing wheat, making munitions, driving battle planes or fighting in the trenches.
More Orchards Cared For.
Many orchards have been pruned, cultivated, sprayed and otherwise cared for
this year which have been previously neglected. The Montana State Board of
Horticulture, through its corps of inspectors, has worked very diligently this year
in advising and conferring with the growers regarding the proper care of trees.
Instruction has been given in many instances at special meetings, but most of the
advisory work has been done personally in the orchards of the owners.
The United States Department of Agriculture gives the production of apples in
the state in 1917 as 911,000 bushels, an increase over 1916 of 143,000 bushels. The
pear crop is given as 11,000 bushels in 1917 as compared to 6,000 in 1916.
The consumption of apples in Montana approximates 1000 cars annually. The
normal production of the state is about 500 cars, so the market within the state
is capable of absorbing a much greater tonnage than is produced. The growers
are beginning to learn the value of co-operation in marketing and within the near
future a large amount of the fruit will be packed in community packing houses.
This plan will produce uniformity in the product and will do more than any one
thing to give Montana fruit a reputation for excellence not only on the home
market but elsewhere.
Co-operation in Marketing.
In the Bitter Root valley two marketing organizations have been operating, the
Montana branch of the North Pacific Fruit Distributors, and the Farmers' Co-
operative Equity Association. Last year the growers received a good price for
their fruit and they are more than ever impressed with the idea that the fruit
grower who possesses an orchard of good varieties, in a suitable location, can make
Spray for Fruit Trees is Made in Montana.
just as much profit as men in other lines of farming. The time has come when the
fruit business in the northwest can be considered one that is entirely legitimate.
The day of orchard promotion schemes is past and those men who are continuing
in the work are those who have learned the business and who can see the possi-
bilities it offers.
Diseases Well Under Control.
The orchards of Montana are not seriously troubled with pests and diseases.
Several years ago the "fire blight" of apples and pears became very serious, but with
the elimination of the susceptible varieties, such as the Alexander and Transcendent
crab, the disease seems to have lost headway until now it is practically doing no
damage. Apple scab is prevalent in the orchards of the western part of the state,
but it is readily controlled by thorough spraying with lime-sulphur solution. The
pear leaf blister-mite is prevalent in uncared for orchards, as is also the oyster shell
scale. However, in regularly sprayed orchards the damage done by these insects
is negligible. At Missoula is located the Missoula Lime & Sulphur Company, where
most of the spray material used in western Montana is made. The codling moth
has appeared in a few places, but has not yet reached the large acreage of orchards
in the Bitter Root valley. Clean fruit can be grown in Montana, but only by follow-
ing a definite and thorough spraying program.
State Board of Horticulture.
The Montana State Board of Horticulture under the laws of the state maintains
an inspection organization throughout the state, and inspects not only the fruit and
A Portion of the Fruit Exhibit at the State Fair.
nursery stock which is grown here, but also that which comes in from outside.
Fruit or nursery stock found infested with dangerous insects or diseases is either
destroyed or returned to the shipper. A quarantine has been established forbidding
the shipment in the state of all five-leaved pines, currants and gooseberries from
states infected with the white pine blister rust, thus affording protection to the
great white pine forests within our boundaries. Other quarantines established forbid
the introduction of barberry plants on account of their connection with the spread
and dissemination of wheat rust, and the shipment of products from the alfalfa
weevil infested section to the south of us in the states of Utah, Idaho, Wyoming
and Colorado. The inspection service force is charged with the enforcement of all
quarantine regulations.
The fruit grower of Montana is adequately protected by the laws of the state.
Personal love of the work coupled with good business judgment and a will to work
hard will make for success in the orchard sections of Montana.
Living from Livestock
The Natural Conditions of Montana Make It a Great Pro-
ducer of Livestock, the Present Industry Tending to
Foster the Raising of High Grade Animals
on Smaller Farms
I HERE has been witnessed no more remarkable change in any
industry in Montana than that in livestock, which has changed
from that of the bonanza stockman, on the large ranch, to a
profitable enterprise of the small stockman-farmer with well
kept herds of high grade stock. And yet this change has brought
with it an increased profit to the farmer and an increased pro-
duction of beef cattle to supply the needs of the eastern markets.
Montana has natural conditions that foster the industry.
It has always been and always will be a great producer of livestock. The great herds
that roamed the plains in the past and were shipped in the fall to the eastern markets,
to compete there with the corn fed animals of the central states, brought untold for-
tunes to the great cattle kings of the west. The climatic conditions that made it
possible for the animals in Montana to range out most of the winter months, made
the cost of production small and losses from severe weather few. Even the activities
of "rustlers" and the losses from lack of care failed to cut down the margin of
profit to any appreciable extent.
Free Kange About Gone.
All this has changed with the coming of the homesteader and farmer. The free
public range has gone never to return and with it the cowboy, the large ranch and
the vast herds of range stock. The cowboy tales of picturesque scenes of a few years
ago find no application today to the small herds of well bred stock of the numerous
stockmen-farmers in all parts of the state.
Yet a Great Producer.
And yet Montana has not lost its place as a producer of livestock. So well ' is
the smaller stockman succeeding his predecessor that annually the great quota
of Montana beef cattle is supplied to the eastern markets. The number of animals
on the open range is being surpassed annually. The production of the open range
reached its maximum in 1894, when more than 300,000 head of beef cattle were
shipped to market from this state. This, however, was an abnomal year, and the
average for a period of twenty years ran from 200,000 to 225,000 head. While
1914 was the lowest mark reached in cattle shipments, there has been a rapid
increase since then with a total of 264,382 cattle in 1916, and in 1917, the largest
number ever marketed, 334,000, with a valuation of nearly $30,000,000, while the
local consumption has been constantly on the increase.
Pure Bred Stock Numerous.
The passing of the public range and the necessity for better care of livestock
naturally resulted in more attention being paid to the class of animals being raised,
so that splendid herds of pure bred stock are now scattered all over the state, while
the general grade of all animals has been improved. This is strikingly shown by a
M^fof yi-MjLy til"^h
iC^li^kiwyj
*«©
Prize Winning Shorthorns in Gallatin County.
comparison of the value of the beef cattle in the state at the present time and at the
time when the range cattle predominated. For instance, in 1904 there were 1,048,455
head of beef cattle in Montana, of a total value of $19,314,000, while in 1918 there
were 980,000 head of beef cattle in Montana, but their total value was $54,978,000.
Nothing is better indicative of the permanency of the farming industry in Mon-
tana and its increasing prosperity than the number of farmers who are going into
stockraising on a small scale. While there is yet some open range, it is much
restricted and rapidly growing smaller. The national forests, however, of which
there are almost 20,000 acres, offer much grazing ground, and on these lands
the small farmer is given preference. Winter feeding is now the invariable rule.
It has been demonstrated that it is highly profitable for the farmer to feed as
many head of livestock upon his farm as practicable, and into every section of the
state fine breeding stock has been imported for the betterment of farm herds.
Industry in Healthy Condition.
The following table, showing the number and value of beef cattle in Montana
by years, aptly illustrates the change which has come over the livestock industry
of the state and its present healthy condition :
Year No. of Head Value
1902 1,048,559 $28,560,233
1903 1,059,045 20,563,797
1904 1,048,455 19,314,006
1905 964,579 17,352,775
1906 916,350 18,134,570
1907 879,000 17,580,000
1908 905,000 19,910,000
1909 842,000 23,071,000
1910 865,620 24,067,032
1911 813,000 22,439,000
1912 732,000 21,814,000
1913 717,000 27,533,000
1914 753,000 34,939,000
1915 791,000 38,759,000
1916 894,000 45,058,000
1917 1,000,000 53,100,000
1918 980,000 54,978,000
Percherons on Harry Smith Farm, Gallatin County.
Beef Cattle Shipments.
The following table, showing the number of head of Montana beef cattle
to markets out of the state during the years noted, will give some idea
extent of Montana's contributions to the world's meat supply:
Year No. of Head
1885 70,089
1886 119,620
1887 82,134
1888 167,602
1889 123,880
1890 174,035
1S91 250,000
1892 203,000
1893 279,158
1894 302,655
1895 206,460
1898 254,864
1897 252,162
1S98 232,225
1899 203,499
1900 160,055
1917
Year
1901
1902
1903
1904
1905
1906
1907
1908
1909
1910
1911
1912
1913
1914
1915
1916
No.
shipped
of the
of Head
151.986
230,000
210,573
288.775
267,966
276,722
214,642
241.320
255,178
243,662
205.873
188,675
180,000
158,623
173,936
264,382
334,000
Big Horse Markets.
Horse-raising is a very important industry in Montana. The old time range
horse — the "cayuse" of the former days — has given way to a large extent to full
blooded stock, with a preponderance of heavy draft animals. A few years ago the
United States war department established at Miles City the largest remount sta-
nmAv^ifh&g} ftom&iL-uia ^lyir^iiLiry.r,
■A;':
Steers in Feed Lot in Beaverhead.
tion in the United States and coincident with this, Miles City has developed into
rhe largest primary horse market in the world. Here very successful auction sales
are held every month, and every kind of horse-flesh, from full blooded running
and driving animals to the heaviest of draft horses, are bought for shipment to
every section of the country and abroad.
Another market of importance has been established at Dillon where auction
sales are held at regular intervals. This is fast developing into the chief market for
the western part of the state. At other places in northern and eastern Montana
important markets are being developed which will encourage breeding in those
sections.
Despite the thousands of head of Montana horses which have been exported in
recent years, the breeding industry has been able to keep pace with the demand,
both of the outside and the rapidly increasing local market. The following table
shows by years the number and value of horses upon the farms and ranges of
Montana:
Number of Head
Year On Farm and Range Value
1902 246,570 $ 7,251,264
1903 244,104 8,9S8,890
1904 236,781 9,083,698
1905 239,149 10,352,765
1906 291,970 18,379,534
1907 292,000 21,316,000
1908 304,000 19,760,000
1909 319,000 25,520,000
1910 315,956 27,115,764
1911 344,000 29,928,000
1912 347,000 30,189.000
1913 354,000 32,922,000
1914 372,000 37,944,000
1915 391,000 33,626,000
1916 430,000 36,980,000
1917 460,000 42,320,000
1918 506,000 49,588,000
Angora Goats on Farm Near Marysville.
Mules Are in Demand.
Due to the demand for mules to be used in the war, there has been a good market
the past few years. The following table shows the number and value of the mules
upon the farms of Montana:
Number of Head
Year On Farm and Range Value
1902 3,424 $131,784
1903 3,390 161,552
1904 3,424 195,754
1905 : 3,561 237,526
1906 3,917 314,939
1907 4,000 328,000
1908 5,000 415,000
1909 5,000 510,000
1910 4,174 445,278
1911 4,000 428,000
1912 4,000 364,000
1913 4,000 436,000
1914 4,000 424,000
1915 4,000 392,000
1916 4,000 392,000
1917 5,000 535,000
1918 5,000 525,000
Wool Brings High Price.
For many years Montana was the leading wool producing state of the Union,
and at the present time, despite the rapid reduction of the public range, due to
Sheep on Harmon Ranch, Gallatin County.
the influx of farmers, this state ranks second among the states of the Union in
the number of pounds of wool produced. The wool clip for 1917 in Montana
amounted to 25,000,000 pounds, a slight increase over that of the two previous
years. This is the amount given by the war industries board, which now has
entire jurisdiction over the wool market. The total income to Montana farmers
from this source was approximately $14,000,000 an average of 56 cents per pound.
No. of Sheep Average Wool
Shearing Weight Shrinkage Washed and Wool
Year Age of Fleece Per Cent Unwashed Scoured
1900 3,717,160 7.00 63 26,020,120 9,627,444
1901 4,526,517 6.75 63 30,553,990 11,304,976
1902 5,081,000 7.00 63 35,567,000 13,159,790
1903 5,100,000 6.00 63 30,600,000 11,322,000
1904 5,576,000 6.75 64 37,773,000 13,598,280
1905 - 5,200,000 7.25 66 37,700,000 12,818,000
1906 4,940,000 7.25 65 35,815,000 12,535,000
1907 4,600,000 6.70 63 30,820,000 11,403,400
1908 4,600,000 7.00 64 32,200,000 11,592,000
1909 5,000,000 7.00 63 35,000,000 13,300,000
1910 4,800,000 7.00 64 33,600,000 12,096,000
1911 4,650,000 7.50 64 34,875,000 12,903,750
1912 4,300,000 7.25 62 31,175,000 11,846,500
1913 - - 4,200,000 7.50 63 31,500,000 11,655,000
1914 3,869,000 7.80 63 31,177,000 11,165,490
1915 3,725,000 7.7 62 28,682,000 10,899,160
1916 3,150,000 7.8 62 24,570,000 9,346.600
1917 3,071,000 7.6 62 23,342,000 8,869,000
1918 3,164,556 7.9 63 25,000,000 9,250,000
f 60 t-.
— Copyright by Elma B. Arnette.
Swimming Horses Across the Missouri at Culbertson.
Montana wools have always commanded a higher price than those of any other
state because of their quality. The highest price ever paid for wool in the entire
northwest was in 1918 to a Montana rancher on the Chicago market, when coarse
wool brought 71 cents a pound. This is practically double that of any other time
on record. The present price of ewes is a record also. As much as $20 has been
paid for two and three-year-old ewes this year.
The wool industry is undergoing the same change as the cattle industry.
Farmers have taken much of the range over which at one time almost 6,000,000
sheep grazed, and the larger flocks are now restricted to private land holdings
and to the sheep grazing areas of the national forests.
The raising of Angora goats is a profitable industry, though it is conducted on
a small scale in the state. There are several goat farms near Marysville, which
yields a goodly profit to their owners each year. The goats thrive in the wooded
tracts, in the high altitude. The hair is exceedingly valuable and is in great demand.
Swine Raising Profitable.
Montana farmers supply both eastern and western markets with many train-
loads of swine each year despite the fact that it is a new industry in the state.
Swine are fattened on alfalfa and barley very profitably where there is not enough
corn to supply the feed. Only a short time ago all pork products were imported.
Now, however, there are a number of meat packing concerns in the state which
are using Montana hogs and supplying local markets.
In normal times many farmers find it more profitable to feed their grain on the
farm and market it in the form of pork than to sell it direct, and this has resulted
¥■■
M*
■-
Good Supply of Hay for Winter Feeding.
In the rapid development of the industry. The recent extraordinarily high prices
of grain, however, has served to temporarily discourage the growing of this class
of stock, this accounting for the falling off in the number of hogs in the state
in the present year. "With the readjustment of prices, which is certain to come
with the return of normal conditions, there is little doubt that swine will continue
to contribute an increasingly large proportion to the farmer's liberal income.
The following table shows the number and value of swine in Montana during
the years noted:
Number of Head
Year On Farms Value !
1902 51,745 $ 560,916
1903 54,850 496,941
1904 57,592 467,071
1905 59,896 512,111
1906 62,891 578,597
1907 66,000 660,000
1908 68,000 680,000
1909 75,000 758,000
1910 99,261 858,000
1911 124,000 1,290,000
1912 143,000 1,416,000
1913 153,000 1,821,000
1914 184,000 2,1 90,000
1915 276,000 2,981,000
1916 298,000 2,682,000
1917 269,000 3,228,000
1918 215,000 4,408,000
Livestock Inspection.
Each year the new settlers bring many animals into the state, principally
horses and dairy cattle. Under the Montana state regulations, livestock must be
inspected before entering the state. Horses must have the mallein test and cattle
the tuberculin test; the inspection to be made by an authorized state or federal
veterinarian. Livestock shipped into the state is generally inspected before loading,
so as not to cause delay on the railroad.
The following diagram shows the number and valuation of the livestock of
Montana on January 1, 1918.
XBm
Hogs
Sheep
Mules
Ho
Dairy Cows
Beef Cattle
Shipped
Beef Cattle
«o to to o
O I-* h-* M
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CO CO
O (-«.
co CO
H* H*
Cn 00
to O to CD
o
en
o en oo
CO CO to co
O M H* H4
en o en oo
CO CO CO CO
0 M H* H1
01 O C71 OO
CO CO CO CO
O H* H* I— l
en o en oo
CO CO CO
H4 H ' t-i
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H
X
g o
in
>
z
o in
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o I
o IS
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o
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o
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I
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°>
50
Dairying Pays Dividends
With Favorable Climate, Plenty of Feed, High Grade Herds
of Cows, and Good Markets for All Kinds of Products,
The Conditions for Profitable Dairying in
Montana Are Almost Ideal
I HE RAPID growth and development of the dairy industry In
Montana is shown by the large number of creameries and cheese
factories that have been built in the past four years and the
great increase in the number of dairy cows in that time. In
1914 there were twenty-five creameries and no cheese factories
in Montana. In 1918 there are sixty-four creameries and eight
cheese factories, all doing a good business. The growth in the
number of dairy cows in the same length of time has been from
104,000 to 179,000, an increase of 75,000. This shows the demand that is being
made for dairy products and the possibilities of the market for the produce.
Besides the creameries and cheese factories there are many dairies near the
cities, with large herds of high grade cows, to supply the demand for milk and
cream. Dairies are started as soon as the development of the community makes
their support possible.
Growth of the Industry.
The older, settled portions of the state, naturally, first built up the industry.
These portions were favorably situated in the fertile, irrigated valleys, and so the
conditions for dairying were particularly favorable. It is in these valleys, the
Bitter Root, Gallatin, Flathead and in Cascade county, where the greatest number
of creameries and cheese factories are located. In recent years, however, the
eastern and northern parts of the state have been building creameries very rapidly
and the industry is meeting with success in the newer places. In many of the
districts the returns from the dairy herd and the flock of poultry furnishes the
main source of income to the farmer, for a large part of the year. There is plenty
of grazing in these districts so the feed for the dairy herd costs very little. Most
of the creameries in these sections are owned on the cooperative basis, which
leaves control in the hands of the farmers themselves.
Winter Dairying Proposed.
The market for dairy products is good at all times of the year, but especially
in the winter months. For this reason the state dairy commission is carrying on
a campaign of education among the farmers for winter dairying, having the cows
freshen in the fall, so that high prices may be obtained and the market supplied
during the winter season. Heretofore dairy products have been shipped into the
state during the winter, but the commission hopes from now on to have the summer
supply conserved to meet the winter demand, with the additional high prices paid
at that time. Aid in planning shelter and instruction on the feeding of sugar
beets, mangles and silage in the winter is also being given by the commission.
Shipments of cream are often made now on the railroads from all distances
up to 300 miles from the creameries. The creameries are strongly competitive
which assures wholesome market conditions. The rapidly increasing population of
Silos and Dairy Barn on a Modern Dairy Farm.
Montana and the possibility of supplying markets in Oregon, Idaho and Wyoming
should make a good market for Montana dairy products for years to come. Mon-
tana products are of good quality, which is shown by the fact that in butter scoring
contests, Montana butter has been marked as high as two points above eastern scores.
Nature Aids in Dairying.
The climate of the state is favorable to the industry. The summers are ideal
for dairying with long days for grazing. The cool nights make the keeping and
handling of dairy products possible and affords fine conditions for the pasturage for
the cows. The winter months, while rather severe in parts of the state do not
prevent the industry from being a paying one in the northern and eastern counties
if adequate shelter is provided and winter feeding is properly carried on. The
winter weather does not affect the dairymen in the southern and western districts
to any great extent. The higher price of the products in the winter months com-
pensates for the increased cost of production, due to the winter weather.
Montana has long been noted as a hay producing state. Vast quantities of
clover, alfalfa and other grasses are grown. The state dairy commission is encour-
aging the growing of the legumes, including cow peas, soy beans and vetches in
increased amount. With water for irrigation, pastures — one of the most essential
items for the successful dairyman — are kept in good condition through the summer
months and late in the fall. Alfalfa is now being raised in practically all sections
of the state and dairymen have found, considering its small cost, that this is a
most valuable roughage feed. The number of flour and grist mills is rapidly increas-
ing and the by-product of these, together with the by-products of the sugar factories,
such as are used for the dairy cow, are much easier to obtain than formerly.
FA«- yfhmgj tikii^l LUi) \iri\iSJM iu.
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A Steady Income is Assured from Dairy Cows.
To Build Up Herds.
The need for more and better dairy cows in Montana has been recognized dur-
ing the past few years and several thousands of good cows, purchased in the east
have been shipped into the state. These cows either come from tested herds or
are tested here and placed on the accredited lists. Banks and business men are
aiding the farmers to obtain the larger and better herds, with the result that there
are now in Montana many herds of dairy cattle which will compare favorably with
the best dairying centers of the country.
Efforts are now being made to establish more herds of pedigreed, registered
cattle in the state. The war has destroyed the fine herds in the old country from
which the sires and foundation cows were obtained in the past and these cattle
should now be raised in Montana.
State Dairy Commission.
Legislation in Montana is favorable to the industry. A State Dairy Commission
has charge of the work in the state and keeps close supervision over all engaged in
the industry. By the law, the farmer is protected in marketing his products and
the consumer is assured of getting a clean supply of milk, cream, butter and cheese.
The small creamery is protected under the law, which prohibits unfair competition
and discrimination in buying and selling, by which the larger concerns are pro-
hibited from putting the smaller houses out of business.
The commission is also carrying on an instructive educational campaign. It
is pointed out to each farmer that he should keep at least six or eight cows, on
which to depend for a steady income. This would practically guarantee him a
living at times of crop failure or misfortune, and a source of wealth at other
times.
Encouragement is given to the younger members of the families and an effort
made to arouse their interest by the establishment of boys' and girls' calf clubs in
A Dairy Herd in the Deer Lodge Valley.
each community. The idea is for the parent to give each child a calf to own and
care for.
Sunflowers for Silage.
A good deal of encouragement is given to the use of silos, which are advocated
for each farm if possible to build. These are the best means of preserving winter
feed. Experiments performed at the State College of Agriculture, have shown that
sunflowers can be used for silage to good advantage. Twenty-four tons of sun-
flowers have been produced to the acre, and it is found that three tons of these
have a food value of one ton of alfalfa. The Russian Giant is the variety of sun-
flower grown. The silage compares very favorably with corn silage, which is re-
garded as the best.
Number and Value of Cows.
This table showing the number and value of milch cows in Montana during
the years 1902-1918 inclusive, is an indication of the rapid growth of the dairy
industry in the state:
Year No. of Head Value
1902 .._ 52,380 $ 2,101,486
1903 53,951 1,953,026
1904 55,030 1,809,455
1905 61,634 2,098,638
1906 65,948 2,308,180
1907 69,000 2,484,000
1908 75,000 3,300,000
1909 80,000 3,720,000
1910 77,527 3,407,090
1911 85,000 4,122,000
1912 91,000 4,495,000
1913 95,000 5,795,000
1914 104,000 7,332,000
1915 114,000 8,550,000
1916 129,000 9,998,000
1917 160,000 12,640,000
1918 179,000 14,946,000
Poultry is Profitable
Favorable Climate, Intelligent Care and Standard Bred
Fowls Yield Large Returns to the Poultry Raiser
Through the High Prices of Both Eggs and
Dressed Fowl in Montana Markets.
NE OF the chief by-products of the Montana farms is the poultry
and egg production which has never failed to be a good source
of income to the farmer. In every part of the state, on the
ranches and farms, can be found a large flock of poultry, adding
to the family income. Many of the newer settlers depend upon
their poultry to furnish the family with supplies until the first
crop of grain can be marketed. The opportunity for the poultry
raiser is great, for the market in Montana is always good, both
for fresh eggs and for dressed fowl. The commercial centers and mining districts
take all of the poultry products that can be furnished, so these products always
command a good price the year around. The average price during the spring and
summer months is fifty cents a dozen for fresh eggs in these markets.
State Poultry Association.
The industry may be said to be in its infancy, for the State Poultry Association was
formed about a dozen years ago and until that time very little had been done to foster
and encourage the raising of poultry. There had been little attention paid to the
care of poultry and less to the placing of the products on the markets. Through the
encouragement of the county and state fairs, and the interest that has been aroused;
and through education by the poultry associations, much better care is given poultry,
better fowls are raised and a greatly increased production has resulted.
Dry Climate Favorable.
The mild, dry climate of Montana, a wealth of sunshine, pure water and air,
particularly favor the industry by being conducive to activity and health. The dis-
eases and losses of other states, with less favorable climatic conditions are scarcely
known here. Hence, the increased production and profits that come from contented
and healthy poultry. The balance of credit is always on the side of poultry, even
if every particle of food is bought. With intelligent care, which prevents disease,
the "little red hen" can always be relied upon to be on the job at all times.
Standard Breeds Best.
While it is not necessary to have any particular kind of breed to get results,
yet it is recognized that pure bred fowls are better layers and have a greater market
value. The American breeds do best in the state. The Plymouth Rocks, Rhode
Island Reds, Wyandottes and Leghorns as the standard breeds, give the best satis-
faction although there are many other kinds raised. These fowls have been found
to be reliable from every standpoint, being good table fowls and averaging well as
egg producers. The Leghorns still lead as egg producers, when properly cared for,
and for that reason are favored by many poultry farms which cater to the egg trade.
Big Display at Fair.
One only needs to visit the State Fair to realize that Montana is not lacking in
variety or quality of birds. More than 1500 standard bred fowls are entered in com-
Christmas Dinners from Hill County.
petition annually for the large cash premiums, thus stimulating the poultry business
of the state. There is a constantly increasing demand for the standard bred fowls
and some of the best birds at the Fair bring fancy prices.
The Montana legislature, at its last regular session, appropriated $1,000 a year
to be used by the State Board of Poultry Husbandry for the advancement of the
industry. The county fairs are doing a great deal to foster and stimulate the indus-
try, through the education of the people who attend and witness the exhibits. The
Montana State college at Bozeman has a poultry department where the students are
given practical instruction in the breeding and care of poultry.
Good Turkey State.
The dry climate of Montana is especially favorable to the raising of turkeys
in the growing stage and the grain stubble and grass range furnish them an abundance
of food for fattening in the fall. There is a good market for turkeys and a number
are shipped out of the state annually. The market price in Montana is from twenty-
five to thirty-five cents a pound at Thanksgiving time and during the holidays. The
number of turkeys raised annually shows a rapid increase.
Ducks and geese are raised in large numbers in the state each year and bring
good prices on the holiday market. Many of the better breeds are now quite univers-
ally raised and each year the State Fair has an attractive exhibit of these fowl.
Large Annual Income.
That the income from poultry is large each year is shown by the report of
the census of 1910, the latest available statistics on poultry in Montana. The total
number of fowls in the state was given as 966,690 with a valuation of $628,436. The
eggs produced that year numbered 6,004,051 with a market value of $1,610,766. The
fowls raised for market amounted to 1,432,741 at a total value of $797 450. With the
much larger population on the farms today and the greatly increased price of both
eggs and dressed poultry it is estimated that the annual income from this source in
1918 is practically double that of 1910.
Bees Do Their Bit
Favorable Conditions for Beekeeping, With an Abundance
of Wild Flowers, Alfalfa and Clover Fields, are
Arousing Interest in the Industry.
[NE INDUSTRY which so far has seen little development in the
state and yet offers big opportunities, is that of beekeeping. With
the settlement of the newer places little attention has been
given to the care of the apiary. So far there is no law protect-
ing, stimulating or promoting the industry. And yet with the
success of those who have secured bee colonies, has come an
aroused interest which is sure to bring about effort to favor the
work in the future.
Montana is rich in wild flowers and in fields of alfalfa and clover. These
would be accessible on most of the farms of the state, so that each farmer
could keep at least two or three colonies and find their product a clear gain.
More and more the farmers are coming to realize that the products of the
apiary, dairy and poultry yard yield a steady income and often mark the dif-
ference between success and failure on the farm. Conditions appear to be favor-
able to the production of a high grade of honey and plenty of it.
The colonies of bees in the state are multiplying rapidly. Statistics for 1917
show that there are a total of 10,561 colonies of bees valued at $52,812. These pro-
duced a total of 285,147 pounds of honey and 710 pounds of wax in 1917, with a
total value of $40,935.
Beekeepers' Association.
There is a small beekeepers' association in the state, which is doing a good deal
to promote the industry. It is meeting with favor and much success. Some extension
work has been done by the association and the state college, in the different counties
in holding beekeepers' meetings with demonstrations on the care of bees. This is
tending to arouse interest and to educate the people as to what the results really
are. It is hoped this will result in legislation to promote the industry and in an
appropriation for the teaching of a course in beekeeping at the state college, which
heretofore has offered no work in such a course.
Should the plans of the State Beekeepers' Association succeed in this particular
some action will be taken toward receiving legislative appropriation for encourag-
ing the industry in the near future. It is believed that if the facts are presented
as they exist the legislators will not hesitate to give their encouragement to this
important but undeveloped industry in the state.
Before the industry can be promoted scientifically in the state so that it may
succeed, there will need to be experimental work done in order to give definite
Information on the wintering of bees and their care. This can best be done in con-
nection with the State Agricultural college.
There is a big sale for bee products in the markets. Up to this time a large part
of the supply has been shipped in, but from now on it is hoped that the Montana
market can be supplied locally. The class of bee products now produced is of a
high grade, which shows that the industry has a bright future.
Field of Red Clover in Gallatin Valley.
Experience Required.
As in any other industry success means a close study of conditions as they
exist and experience in carrying on the work. For those who have made a study of
beekeeping in Montana for a number of years the returns are large. A number of
beekeepers have from fifty to one hundred hives and are making a neat income and
meeting with much success. A number of these keepers believe it is a paying
proposition to plant fields of clover and alfalfa so as to furnish the bees a source
of supply for the honey.
A good deal of care is taken to adequately meet winter conditions. A plentiful
supply of honey must be furnished to meet the demands in case the winter is long.
Most successful keepers endeavor to furnish the bees as warm a place as possible
during the winter months with the result that there has been but little loss by these
experienced keepers.
Seek to Encourage Displays.
While there has been but little interest created by displays of Montana grown
honey, it is hoped by the officials of the beekeepers' association to have a number
of people keeping bees in each county of the state so that exhibits at the county
fairs will be possible and a large exhibit at the state fair assured. During the
past two winters there has been a scarcity of honey in the markets. Montana
beekeepers report the sale of their goods far in advance of production.
Mines and Mining
Montana Has Done Her Share in the Promotion of the
Great War by Furnishing a Steady Stream of Basic
Metals for the Country to Use in Its Production
of Munitions
ANKING second among all the states of the Union in the produc-
tion of silver, copper and zinc, fifth in production of gold, and
furnishing large quantities of lead, manganese, coal and other
minerals, Montana is indeed a state of mines. From the earliest
days, when gold was first discovered, Montana has been one of
the leading states in the production of minerals. In 1917 it
passed the two billion dollar mark in its total production of
metals, having added to the wealth of the nation a total of
$2,062,833,163. Yet the mining experts say that there are still untold quantities of
minerals to be mined in the state.
Mining was the greatest wealth producing industry in the state again in 1917,
as it has been from the first. It produced a total of $113,000,000 in mineral wealth
as against $109,000,000 as the value of farm products. This is the nearest that farm
products have ever come to equalling the mineral wealth. Both industries showed
a decrease from 1916, however, due to an abnormal year in agriculture and to
serious labor troubles in the Butte mines, which curtailed the production of the
plants in July, August and a part of September of 1917. The output all over the
United States in minerals showed a decrease in 1917.
Metals for War Uses.
Montana has made her contribution to the country and the world by its great
output of metals for war purposes. Attention has been directed to the production of
these rather than to the precious metals and every effort made to supply the needs
of the country. Although hindered by strikes, the mines while running, exceeded
their output at any previous time. Because of the war the production of zinc, man-
ganese, lead and copper have been emphasized. Lead and manganese have shown a
decided increase in production, while copper and zinc have shown a decrease from
1916. Chromite and molybdenite have been discovered and are very important war
minerals.
Great improvements in the methods of treating the ores of these metals have
resulted from the increased demand made by the war. This makes it possible to
recover the low grade ores, heretofore considered of little value. The improvements
devised, such as the leaching process for copper ores and the oil flotation process
for zinc ores, has virtually revolutionized the mining of low grade ores containing
these metals.
Five Metals Prevalent.
In the mining industry five metals are closely related in both the genesis and
the geologic occurance of their ores. They also hold together in mining. They are
gold, silver, copper, zinc and lead. Of their ores some contain all five metals, many
contain three or four, and few contain only one. The ores of gold and silver or
lead and zinc are usually mined together. Copper ores almost invariably produce
A Big Producer of War Metals.
some silver and gold as well as copper. Both lead and zinc ores in Montana pro-
duce notable supplies of silver. These metals have all been mined in Montana in
large quantities. The history of mining includes four great epochs in which each
of the four metals, gold, silver, copper and zinc has received most attention.
Gold Was First Mined.
Gold was first discovered in paying quantities in Montana in the summer of
1862. The find was made in Grasshopper Creek, where later on, the town of Bannack
was established and where the first seat of government was maintained for the terri-
tory in 18G4. The news of the discovery spread and a party of men came to Bannack
from Idaho. While making a detour, to avoid the Indians, the party camped in what
was later called Alder gulch. Two men of the party, William Fairweather and
Henry Edgar, dug into the rimrock and the first pan of gravel yielded $2.40 in
gold dust.
This proved to be the rich gulch long sought. Here Virginia City was founded.
The diggings proved to be the richest and most extensive ever found in the Rocky
Mountains or perhaps in the world. The exact amount of gold taken from these
famous diggings will never be known but it reached millions of dollars.
Soon Last Chance Gulch was discovered and its tributaries, Ora Fino and
Grizzly, where Helena now stands. From that time paying gulches were found
on both sides of the main range of the Rockies.
An estimate has been made of the product of the placer mines for the first
20 years they were operated and it is given at $2,000,000,000, which is probably low.
Montana in those days was an isolated and remote region in which wild game and
nm^OiitJM^ iAl>iJi=git; am Sen lew . ilii in
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Phillips County has Mines as Well as Farms.
wilder Indians predominated. Gold hunters coming here were intent on making a
"stake" and returning to what was then called "God's Country" from which they
came westward. As fast as the miners acquired the gold they went east and the
amount they carried can only be estimated.
Some Yields Large.
No accurate system of determining the yield of the placers was attempted, but
it is known that from Montana Bar in Confederate Gulch, Broadwater county,
$1,600,000 was taken out. The owners packed it in kegs and hauled it in freight
wagons to Fort Benton, headwaters of navigation, thence floated down to Sioux
City, where the railroad was reached.
Montana bar was only an insignificant part of the rich diggings. Confederate
Gulch and Montana Gulch each yielded millions . in gold dust and nuggets.
Two hundred feet of ground about where the Great Northern depot stands in
Helena, in Last Chance Gulch, yielded $285,000 in gold. In Nelson Gulch, five
miles southwest of Helena, one of the biggest nuggets ever found in Montana was
sluiced from the gravel. It weighed out over $2,000.
Quartz mining soon followed the placer mining, many reefs and outcrops prov-
ing to be rich. This was looked upon as preferable to any other. Free milling ore
was the kind then sought.
One of the most important gold mining camp for quartz at present is at
Marysville. One mine in that camp has paid in dividends $15,000,000 and others
paid goodly amounts.
A New Mine in the Forest.
Gold Still Important.
While gold placer mining has passed away almost entirely, gold is still an
important mineral in the mining of the state. The record of the last few years
shows a slight decrease, the amount declining from $4,635,000 in 1916 to $3,371,000
in 1917. The decrease in the output of copper ore reduced the output of both gold
and silver as these are taken from the mine together.
A marked decrease was also recorded in the gold won by dredges at Alder
Gulch. There was an increase in gold bullion from the Barnes-King properties,
especially the Shannon mine at Marysville.
State Second in Silyer.
Silver mining produced the second mining epoch. Years before a railroad
reached the state successful attempts to mine and smelt silver-lead ores were made.
The first smelter was built at Argenta, Beaverhead county. Later two smelters were
built and operated at Wickes and Gregory in Jefferson county.
Lead-silver bullion was turned out in quantities and shipped to the Union
Pacific railroad at Corinne, Utah, in freight wagons. The product of the Alta
mines, which furnished the bulk of the ores to the smelters, is estimated to be
$32,000,000.
The smelting works at East Helena, which succeeded the Wickes plant, came
under the control of the American Smelting and Refining Company and is the only
plant in Montana which reduces silver-lead ores.
Montana is next to Utah in the production of silver, with an amount of
$10,358,060 in 1917. The output decreased from 16,404,366 ounces in 1916 to about
13,128,142 ounces in 1917. Nearly all the silver is derived from copper ore, the
production of which decreased last year. For every pound of copper produced
there is $.0375 in silver, which makes the Butte mines the important silver producer
of the state.
The rise in the price of silver within the past few years has led to an intensive
search for it. Several of the old mines that formerly produced heavily in Butte,
but were closed when the price of silver fell, have again been opened and worked.
Copper Is Chief Metal.
The third and greatest era of mining in the state began in Butte in 1893 with
the production of copper. It had been discovered in the Anaconda silver mine and so
valuable was it that the plans of the owners were changed and instead of a silver
mill they decided to build a smelter. Ore was found in seemingly inexhaustible
quantities. Marcus Daly built a big smelter at Anaconda. Its payroll soon reached
a million dollars a month and the copper produced ran up to millions of pounds.
Copper is the state's chief metal, the output in 1917 being valued at $81,143,377.
The output was 274,462,574 pounds, a decrease from 1916 of nearly 75,000,000
pounds, due to labor troubles in the Butte mines. Only Arizona leads Montana
in copper production.
The Butte mines have grown more extensive as time passed until hundreds of
millions of dollars worth of copper have been and are being taken from the mines
of that camp. Electric power is used almost exclusively in operating the plants.
The ores are nearly all treated at Anaconda, Butte and Great Falls.
Zinc an Important Product.
In 1906, with the development of the Butte and Superior properties, began the
fourth epoch in mining history, the zinc epoch. In a short space of time Montana
has risen to the rank of second among the states of the Union in the production of
this metal, being exceeded only by Missouri. The operation of the Butte and
Superior and the Elm Orlu mines, the two greatest producers, was due to the per-
fection of the oil flotation process for concentrating the ores. The process has
proven to be almost indispensible in the recovery of the zinc from the gangue.
The output of recoverable zinc from Montana amounted to about 186,000,000
pounds in 1917, against 229,259,075 pounds in 1916. Prices were lower in 1917, but
the decrease was also due to labor troubles and to a law suit between the two main
zinc producers of the Butte district.
During the first quarter of 1917 the Butte and Superior Mining Co. produced
over 40,000,000 pounds of gross zinc, but it did not maintain this rate of production
throughout the year. Elm Orlu produced some ore but considerably less than in
1916. The rest of the output of the state came from the mines of the Anaconda
company, the product of which is leached at Great Falls after being concentrated.
Other shipments of zinc were made from the Snowstorm mine, at Troy, and the
North Butte, at Butte.
An electrolytic plant has been installed at Great Falls that reduces the zinc to
metallic spelter of commerce. This is the only zinc reducing plant in Montana. The
sheets are labled "Anaconda Zinc."
Lead Production Jumps.
The rise in the price of lead has led to a more extended search for that metal
and an increased production. It has been found profitable to work many of the
mines of low grade ore.
The mine output of the metal increased from 13,595,136 pounds in 1916 to
21,951,220 pounds in 1917. The lead concentrate from the lead-zinc mines was
less, however, on account of the decrease at the large zinc mines. At Troy, in
Lincoln county, the new mill of the Snowstorm Mines Co. was producing both lead
and zinc concentrate in 1917 and marketed considerable quantities of both products.
The Valley Forge mine, in Lewis and Clark county, shipped much lead ore to East
Helena for concentration.
Manganese a New Product.
One of the most important metals to be contributed by Montana for war work,
and a new product here, is manganese. This metal, of so much importance to the
country, could not be obtained in sufficient quantities to meet the needs. A large
part of the supply of the country had formerly been imported but these imports had
been cut off by the war. An intensive search of this country followed, and the
discovery made that manganese in large and paying quantities existed at both
Butte and Philipsburg, in this state. Production immediately began and has proven
to be very important. There were 57,178 tons of manganese ore containing 40 per
cent or more manganese, produced in Montana in 1917 and G.174 tons of ore con-
taining from 15 to 40 per cent manganese. This constituted a very large percentage
of the total production in the United States.
Montana will ship as much high grade manganese in 1918 as all of the other
states put together. The estimate of the United States Geological Survey for 1918
is 118,800 tons of manganese ore containing 40 per cent or more manganese and
99,000 tons of ore containing from 15 to 40 per cent manganese. Most of the high
grade ore comes from the Philipsburg district and the other ore from Butte.
Chromite and Molybdenite.
During the winter of 1917, through the work in war minerals there was dis-
covered in Montana, one of the largest chromite desposits in the United States.
The chromite deposit is in the shape of a vein whose depth is almost vertical.
It is about four feet wide, with two feet of solid chromite, which runs almost 50
per cent in chromic oxide. It was traced across the country for three-fourths of a
mile. At present chromite is being sought after by the steel manufacturers and
it is hard to get. In 1914 chromite sold for $9.75 per ton. It is now selling for
about $75 per ton, if the chromium oxide is as high as 50 per cent. Most of the
chromite of the United States comes from California, but before the war it came
principally from foreign countries.
There are many localities in Montana where molybdenite is found. Most of
these deposits will probably be commercial products in the near future.
Coal Mined Extensively.
Coal mining in the state is important, there being twelve or fifteen large mines
and about forty smaller ones. Some of these mines have been used on a commercial
scale for many years, while from others only enough is taken to supply the needs
of nearby farmers.
In Carbon, Musselshell and Cascade counties, coal mining has developed into
an important industry and not only supplies employment for a large number of
men but also provides a market for farm products. There are many other coal
deposits throughout the state which will undoubtedly be operated as soon as suitable
transportation facilities are available.
A good deal of coal is being mined on state land, which is leased from the
state, the funds going into the school fund. This is rapidly increasing and will in
the future, furnish an important item for this purpose.
Mines of lignite underlie the eastern part of the state. These are easily reached
and furnish fuel to the farmers there at a cheap rate.
Sapphires Are Found Here.
The mining of precious stones is quite important in Montana. Sapphires are
found in a number of places in the state. Near Yogo, Montana, sapphires and
other stones are mined extensively and in both Granite and Madison counties there
are also mines of this nature.
There are phosphate beds in the state that have not had much development
as yet, but promise to be important in the future. The state has a number of
important quarries of granite and sandstone which have become popular for
building purposes.
Monster Smelters Here.
Smelting was comparatively unknown in the early days. It has now become
a fixed part of the mining business. The largest smelters are the Washoe smelter
in Anaconda and the Great Falls smelter. The smelters handle copper, with gold
and silver as by-products. The Washoe smelter is the greatest in the world. It
was built at a cost of many millions. The two big smelters consume on an average
of 1,400 tons of coal and coke each day.
The smelter at East Helena is the only place in Montana where silver-lead ores
are reduced. It handles ore from all parts of the state and some from Canada.
Its product is refined at Omaha. Other smelters at Butte are smaller and handle
some of the products of the mines there. In all of these smelters electricity is used
as power, supplied from the system of the Montana Power company.
There is also an electrolytic plant at Great Falls for the reduction of zinc.
This is the only one of its kind in Montana.
New processes have been worked out for the recovery of practically all the
metals. The leaching process is recovering great quantities of surface copper ore
which was formerly of low grade and not considered worth mining. The oil flota-
tion process has made the mining of zinc profitable. Other processes are being
worked out for the treatment of complex ores which will make their mining
profitable.
Important Mining Centers.
Butte, as the "richest hill on earth", is the great mining camp of the state,
producing about 95% in 1917. Butte has produced about 300,000,000 ounces of
silver in its history, 2,400,000 ounces of gold and between seven and eight billion
pounds of copper.
Madison county is still a rich mining region. The placers are generally worked
out, except where dredges are used, but the mining of copper, gold, silver and lead
is carried on successfully. Pony is also a good gold camp. Sheridan camp contains
many mines, some producing and others under development. At the old Bannack
camp, mining is not only remunerative, but is being carried on extensively. The
mines carry gold, silver and lead.
At Jardine, Park county, there has been a revival of mining. Gold, silver,
selenite and tungsten are produced. Selenite is associated with gold and is very
rich. Emigrant gulch is a producer of placer gold as in the past.
Winston, in Broadwater county is a shipping point for ores from the surround-
ing mines. Hell Gate produces rich copper ore. Radersburg has been a shipper
for many years and is one of the many ore producers of the county.
At the headwaters of the Big Blackfoot is located Silver Camp, in the Heddle-
stone mining district. The ores carry values in gold, silver, copper and zinc.
In Beaverhead county a new railroad has been projected from Divide to Elk-
horn camp where development of the mineral wealth is being prosecuted. Neihart
camp in Cascade county, is shipping silver-lead ore. At Castle in Meagher county,
a revival of lead mining is noted.
One of Montana's Coal Mines.
In the mining camps surrounding Helena, development is under way. Much
of the gold increase shown by the state the past year or two has come from the
mines in that district. Grizzly, Park and Unionville are also noted for their gold
mines.
Magnitude of Botte Mines.
The mines in Butte are proving richer with depth, thus assuring permanency.
It is said that the underground workings of the Butte mines aggregate 2,000 miles.
The total depth of all the shafts of the district combined is twelve miles. Nearly
all the mines are connected with underground workings and one might travel for a
week going through new tunnels and drifts and stopes. Through the shafts of the
Butte district are daily hoisted about 18,000 tons of ore.
In the course of a year the Butte mines used about 100,000,000 feet of lumber
and more than 300,000 round timbers for mine props. More than 5,000,000 pounds
of dynamite are used each year to break the rock in the mines.
The mining industry of the state covers a wide area. There are more than
30,000 miners at work and the smelters employ more than 6,000 men.
Production by Counties in 1917.
According to the report of the United States Geological Survey for 1917, Silver
Bow, Jefferson and Lewis and Clark counties are the leaders in the order named,
of the mineral producing counties of the state. The table herewith submitted, in-
cludes 617 producing mines as contrasted with 513 for 1916. It shows the amount of
gold and silver in fine ounces and copper, zinc and lead in pounds. Madison county
leads in the number of producing mines, with 103; Lewis and Clark second with 94;
Jefferson third with 84; and Silver Bow fourth with 56.
Smelter for Silver-Lead Ores, East Helena.
tGold tSilver
County Fine Oz. Fine Oz.
Beaverhead 1,761.91 139,303
Broadwater 2,872.94 17,352
Cascade 220.35 204,178
Deer Lodge 22,087.44 20,817
Fergus 13,004.89 2,979
Gallatin 3
Granite 6,232.88 445,806
Jefferson 5,292.52 324,686
Lewis & Clark .... 42,208.59 156,107
Lincoln 1,008.28 90,137
Madison 24,221.51 37,967
Meagher 30.33 638
Mineral 449.74 7,125
Missoula „.. 369.29 643
Park 124.37 1,004
Phillips 15,703.88 131,341
Powell 989.56 8,719
Ravalli 136.47 16,159
Sanders 14.66 11,578
Silver Bow 33,417.50 11,511,600
Copper
Pounds
266,634
931,359
1,023
186,680
245
3,627
419,983
1,215,385
28,805
77,012
80,871
518,375
35,286
1,154
18,859
4,260
80,115
270,592,901
Recoverable
Lead Zinc Total
Pounds Pounds Value
1,515,521 15,918 $355,958
328,200 15,363 357,740
1,295,063 284,452
524,705
4,595 271,752
992
57,087 615,753
2,455,350 3,63S,085 1,290,992
1,199,868 31,145 1,115,391
3,927,559 1,552,867 591,278
428,999 589,906
26,994 25,553
60,028 197,595 182,001
41,394 21,357
38,229 7,001
432,853
53,379 37,381
32,618 491,943 70,282
133,883 43,229
10,352,453 180,316,415 103,330,806
Total, 1917 ....170,147.11 13,128,142 274,462,574 21,951,220 186,259,331 $$110,149,382
Total, 1916 ....220,130.15 16,494,366 352,928,373 13,595,136 229,259,075 $133,882,947
■(•Includes placer production.
JAverage value of metals: Gold, $20,6718 per ounce; silver, $0,824 per ounce;
copper, $0,273 per pound; lead, $0,086 per pound; zinc, $0,102 per pound.
The
Year
1802 to
1881
18S2
1883
1884
1885
18S6
1887
1888
1S89
1890
1891
1892
1893
1894
1895
1896
1897
1898
1899
1900
1901
1902
1903
1904
1905
1906
1907
1908
1909
1910
1911
1912
1913
1914
1915
1916
1917
Totals
The
Production by Years.
following table shows the mineral production of Montana by years:
Gold
$200,000,000
2,550,000
1,800,000
2,170.000
3,400,000
4,402,000
5,978.536
4,200,253
3.500.000
3,300.000
2.890,000
2.891,386
3.576,000
3,651,410
4,327,040
4,380,671
4,496,431
5,247,913
4,819.157
4,736,225
4.802,717
4,400.095
4,590,516
5,097,786
4,889.234
4,469.014
3,286.212
3.057,640
3,791,510
3,730,486
3,710.571
3,625,235
3,493.432
4,117,911
4,978,30
4,635,00
3,370,912
Silver
11,000,000
4,370,000
6,000,000
7.000,000
11.500.000
13,849,000
17,817.548
15.790.736
19,393,939
20,363,636
20.139,394
22,432,323
21,858,780
16,575,458
22,886,992
20,324,877
21,730,710
19,159.482
21,786.835
18,482,211
18,334,443
17,662,285
17,097,702
18.SS7.227
17,359,912
8.027.072
6,149,619
5.488,785
6,436.931
6,567,942
6,351,794
7.S29.597
8.346,797
6,645,102
7,195,600
10,9i9,000
10,358,060
Copper
""l,539, 860
3,452,960
5,386,500
6,779,800
5,761,200
8,853,750
15,103.946
13,334,970
16,630,958
14,377,336
19,105,464
16,630,958
17,233,718
21,114,869
25,356.541
26,798,915
26,102,616
40,941,906
39,827,135
36,751,837
24,606,038
28,200,695
36,410,310
48,165,277
56,105,288
44,021,758
33,220,149
40,567,541
36,170.686
34,105,963
51,106,914
44,613,448
31,019,542
60,000,000
97,461,000
81,142,377
Lead Zinc Totals
$ $ 211,000,000
8,459.860
226,424 11,479.384
246,326 14,802,826
274,350 21,954.150
491,132 24,526.332
607,662 33,257,496
569,160 35,664,095
456,975 36,685,884
964,089 43,029,827
1,229,027 38,635,757
990,035 45,419,208
946,089 43.029.S27
730,551 38,191,137
754,360 49,083,261
670,010 50,732,099
928,619 53,954,675
809,056 51,319,067
909,410 68,457,308
701.156 63,746,727
498,622 60,387,619
332,749 46,961,167
387,445 50,276.355
195,525 60,590,848
227,160 70,677,583
254,390 68,855,764
198.660 53,656,249
193.056 77.0S0 42,036.710
128.2S7 505,425 51,429,694
180,677 1,708,462 48,358,253
289,421 2,497,178 46.955,287
335,104 1,857,403 64,754.613
481,176 4,965,693 61,900,546
376,584 5,690.608 47,849.747
550,000 14,500,000 87,000,000
1,151,000 31,099,000 145,325.000
1,545,568 16,506,000 112,922,917
$342,265,782 $512,730,6S7 $1,168,308,159 $19,835,126 $79,916,241 $2,062,833,163
Tons of Coal Mined.
following shows the number of tons of coal produced in Montana by years:
Production
Years (Tons)
1901 1,442,569
1902 1,502,115
1903 1,514,538
1904 1,471.504
1905 - 1,743.771
1906 1,502.200
1907 2,030,564
1908 „. 1.97S.347
1909 2,541,679
1910 2,970,246
1911 2,913,406
1912 3,143,799
1913 3,365,712
1914 2,938,671
1915 2.7S9.755
1916 3.68S.307
1917 4,400,000
Petroleum Products
Discovery of Oil and Gas Has Added Other Important Re-
sources to Those Already in Montana — Gas Wells
Are Producing Well, and Many More Are
Now Being Drilled.
(DDED to the many other resources of Montana in the last few
years, have been natural gas and oil, which has attracted atten-
tion throughout the country. The fact that paying wells had
been sunk in different sections of the state seemed to show that
a large oil and gas field underlaid most of the state east of
the continental divide.
It is well known that Wyoming is one of the best oil and
gas states in the Union. It is also well known that Alberta and
other parts of Canada, east of the Rocky Mountains, are quite well supplied with
natural gas. The geology of Montana is the same as that of Wyoming and Alberta
Its emergence from ocean depth occurred at about the same time, the fossilization of
the exposed rocks is similar and the oil sands which underlie Wyoming have been
encountered in Montana. Montana being between the two well-known oil and gas
fields and having this same geology, bids fair to become a good producer. This,
together with the fact that there are several wells of both oil and gas east of the
divide, is responsible for the vast amount of oil development work now in progress
in the state.
Production in 1917.
The paying oil wells in Montana are located only in Elk Basin at the present
time. Elk Basin is in the southern part of Carbon county, near the Wyoming line.
In fact Elk Basin is partly in both Wyoming and Montana.
The first time that Montana appeared among the oil producing states was in
1916, when the United States Geological Survey stated that Montana wells produced
44,917 barrels in that year. The figures for 1917 show a production of 99,399 barrels,
or more than double that of 1916. This shows that Montana has indeed entered the
ranks of the producing states and that the industry has become permanently
established.
Exploration is now going on in many parts of the state, of which the follow-
ing are some of the best known localities: several places on the Cedar Creek anti-
cline, in Dawson and Fallon counties; south of Bridger in Carbon county; several
places near Laurel in Yellowstone county; in the Sweet Grass hills region; near
Twodot, in Wheatland county; in Toole and Hill counties; at Conrad, in Teton
county; and north and east of Malta, near Lake Bowdoin.
There is a test well going down on the Cedar Creek anticline, near Glendive,
that will prove that field with regard to oil. This well is planning on drilling at
least 4200 feet. The drillers are using a rotary rig and expect to know within a
short time whether the Cedar Creek anticline contains oil, or gas only.
Montana's First Oil Well.
The first discovery of oil was made in Montana in the Elk Basin district of
Carbon county, November 11, 1915. This district is supposed to be a continuation
of the oil district from Wyoming, which extends over the boundary line into Montana.
Seven wells are now producing in this district, with a good flow of oil.
From the log of the company which drilled this first oil well in Montana it
is learned that the oil was encountered at a depth of 1245 feet. Prior to that there
had been a showing at 1205 feet. The drill had gone through black shale for 900
feet and then in red rock and sandy shale for 200 feet when the showing was first
encountered in lime shell. The company proceeded to 1245 feet where there was
oil sand — announcement of the discovery of petroleum then being made. At a
depth of 1280 feet there was a showing of gas. Neither the oil nor gas were of
sufficient flow to be of commercial value and the drilling continued to 1490 feet
where oil sand was struck. The drill was sent down four feet more and then with-
drawn.
The first 24 hours the production was 150 barrels of petroleum. During the
second 24 hours it increased to 200 barrels and has continued to maintain that
average since.
Natural Gas Development.
The natural gas area is of wider extent than the oil field. Wells have been
discovered in the northern, central and southern portions of the state. Their wide
distribution would seem to indicate that a large field underlies Montana. The
paying gas wells in Montana at present are located at Havre, near Glendive, at
Baker and at the Sweet Grass hills. These are all considered commercial wells.
Gas is extensively used in Havre, Baker and Glendive. The first gas wells
were brought into use near Havre, in Hill county, nearly three years ago. Gas is
now being used to heat and light the city.
A fine deposit of gas is being developed around Baker, several wells having
been drilled close to that town. The gas has been piped to Baker and is used for
heating purposes. A heavy flow of gas, 18 miles from the town was encountered
at a depth of 650 feet. This is 250 feet more shallow than the wells which have been
supplying Baker.
Big Supply at Glendive.
A third section to discover gas and use it in commercial quantities is at
Glendive, in Dawson county. This is considered a portion of the field that supplies
Baker. Six hundred homes are connected with the natural gas main here. It is a
splendid burning gas, containing about 96Vc methane. The well is about eleven miles
from the city. Apparently the ilow of the wells here is about one million cubic feet
per day. The pressure is claimed to be about 265 pounds to the square inch. The
wells are shallow, being about 780 feet in depth. Many plans are on foot to use
these deposits for industries. It is possible that industries will be established
in these sections to make use of the cheap fuel.
Indications point to a considerable number of locations in Montana where
commercial natural gas can be found. The geological horizons east of the divide
are right for oil or gas, and all that is necessary, apparently is to find the proper
sort of anticlines or domes where the gas or oil sands may be struck at a reasonable
depth. The future gives good promise for many gas wells in Montana, even though
oil is not found.
Oil and Gas Lands Withdrawn.
That many other districts in Montana have possibilities of development is shown
by the fact that nineteen districts in the state have been withdrawn by the federal
government, through the recommendation of the State Geologist, as being possible
oil and gas districts.
One section, covering twenty-eight townships, in Phillips county, north and
east of Malta, extending into Valley county to near Vandalia, is the largest district
withdrawn. Another district covering fourteen townships, extends from Glendive,
Dawson county, southeast through Wibaux, into Fallon county to Baker.
Other districts to be withdrawn are as follows: In Lewis and Clark county,
near Willow Creek; in Teton county, near Dupuyer and three small districts in
the Pishkun country; in Park county near Livinston and in the Shields River valley;
in Meagher county in five different districts in the Shields River valley near
Bruno, south of Selkirk, south of Twodot and west of Shawmut; in Sweet grass
county, near McLeod; in Musselshell county, near Tuffley; in Stillwater county in the
Hailstone Basin and on Stillwater Creek; and in Carbon county, in Dry Creek Basin
and in Silver Tip Creek Basin.
While there have been many false reports regarding oil and gas in some
sections and fake companies floated, yet there are good gas prospects in Montana.
With care and thorough investigation of the different propositions, there is a chance
for paying investments in this line of development.
Forests and Forestry
Lumbering is an Important Industry of the State With
Millions of Feet of Forest Products Turned Out of the
Sawmills Annually and a Tremendous Wealth
in Standing Timber*
HE LUMBER industry has long been one of the most important
enterprises of the state. For many years the great forests,
fifS:)/ HP Vioqiil covering the mountains, have contributed millions of feet of
Iljf3fll A !||jll lumber to the supply of the nation. In view of the need of
the government for forest products in aircraft production and
in different cantonments, the products of the Montana forests
it
c2Ei£v!Il2x3$ are doubly important for they are helping to meet one of the
greatest war needs of the nation.
The importance of the industry is shown by the fact that the total money invest-
ment in mills, logging equipment, yards and transportation amounts to $78,000,000;
between 10,000 and 15,000 men are employed; over 122 large sawmills are in opera-
tion and 595,000,000 feet of forest products, 349,771,000 feet of which is commercial
lumber, is produced, while 58,000,000,000 feet of timber is standing on the perma-
nent productive timber land of the state.
How Forests Are Owned.
The merchantable timber of the state is divided by ownership into five classes
as follows:
National Forest Service 58 per cent
National Parks 1 per cent
Indian Reservations 5 per cent
State Forest Service 6 per cent
Private Ownership 30 per cent
There are eighteen national forests in the state under the supervision of the
United States Forest Service with its great corps of foresters and supervisors.
Most of these are located in the western part of the state, in Lincoln, Flathead,
Missoula, Sanders, Mineral, Ravalli, Granite and Beaverhead counties.
The state maintains a forestry service for the care of the state timbered lands.
The national government set aside certain grants for the benefit of the public institu-
tions of the state and state officials have selected about 252,205 acres of timbered
land, containing about 1,256,000,000 board feet worth upwards of $4,000,000.
The timber stand of the state is composed of the following commercial species:
Lodgepole pine, 24 per cent; Douglas fir, 21 per cent; larch, 20 per cent; yellow
pine 19 per cent; Englemann spruce, 8 per cent; white pine, 2 per cent; cedar,
1 per cent; miscellaneous, 5 per cent. Other species found in smaller quantities are,
western hemlock, white fir, Alpine fir, limber pine, white bark pine and white
spruce.
Western pine is the chief lumber producing tree of the state and western
larch not far behind. The latter is in much demand for interior finishing, because
of its susceptibility to stain and because it takes a high polish. It resembles in
appearance Circassian walnut. It is semi-hardwood and is not as susceptible to
atmospheric influences as are many other woods.
Unloading Logs in Mill Pond at Big Lumber Mill.
Practically all of the lodgepole pine is in Federal ownership and 74 per cent of
the spruce and 66 per cent of the Douglas fir. One-half of the larch and yellow pine
is in private hands.
Large Area in Forests.
The total productive commercial timbered area is 13,374,000 acres, half of which
is covered with mature timber and half with young growth. In addition to the
productive commercial timber land there are 3,577,000 acres of protection forest,
important for preventing erosion and in furnishing water supply. Practically all
of this protection forest is owned by the federal government.
The current annual growth for all species on the productive timber land for
the whole state is estimated at 790,000,000 feet. It is expected that as soon as the
cut-over areas can be put in better growing condition and the losses in the forests
minimized by improved service, a possible annual cut could be maintained at
900,000,000 feet permanently. It is probable that this amount can be increased to
1,250,000,000 feet when the present over-mature stands have been logged. As the
forest products consumed for all purposes in the state amounts to about 800,000,000
feet, it would indicate that the state will have sufficient timber to supply the
present annual consumption indefinitely and a considerable surplus to dispose of
elsewhere.
The total lumber production from June 30, 1917 to June 30, 1918 was as follows:
United States Forest Service 82,771,000 feet
Indian Reservations 17,000,000 feet
State and Private 250,000,000 feet
Total 349.771,000 feet
-ft
-,^r*'&*£'iut6m*i*c.!m l mi
The Clark Lumber Mills at Bonner.
In addition to the lumber there were laths, shingles, stulls, lagging, poles,
cordwood, ties, posts and piling produced to bring the total forest products to
595,000,000 feet. The total value of these products at their destination, as given by
the United States Forestry Service, was $20,800,000. This does not include any of the
by-products of the forest that could be utilized such as, fuel, saw dust, pulp for
paper, creosote, wood alcohol, turpentine, paving blocks and tanbark. The
by-products at present are wasted, but the day is not far distant when all will
be saved.
Many Mills in the State.
Taking into account only the active mills producing an annual cut of 50,000
board feet or more there were 122 mills in 1917. The following table shows the
different mills grouped according to output:
Annual Cut No. of Mills
10,000 M or more 7
5,000 M to 9,999 M 5
1,000 M to 4,999 M 17
500 M to 999 M 14
50 M to 499 M 79
122
In addition to these mills there were from 30 to 40 smaller mills cutting less
than 50,000 feet per year. Their total production was from 500,000 feet to 3,000,000
feet.
About 80 per cent of the lumber cut in Montana was sold in the state. The
rest was sold in the eastern states, some going to the Atlantic seaboard and to
Canada. Most of the outside market was in the middle states.
Montana mills supply only about 52 per cent of the lumber consumed within
the state. It is estimated that S0,000,000 feet came from Idaho mills, 213,000,000
feet from the Pacific Coast mills and approximately 1,000,000 feet of hardwoods from
various eastern states. Theoretically, the Montana lumber market should be supplied
by Montana mills, but there is a certain amount of white pine, cedar and some
Douglas fir clears and large timbers which could not be furnished by Montana mills.
Pulp Mills Needed Here.
It is believed that several more small mills and a number of medium sized band
mills could be profitably operated in the state. The open field appears to be in the
pulp industry. It is believed that the state can supply at least one and possibly
two good sized pulp mills for at least fifty years, if not indefinitely.
There are 456 retail lumber yards in the state and 143 other concerns which
handle more or less lumber. From 12 to 15 per cent of the railroad tonnage of the
state is lumber and forest products.
An estimate of the number of people employed in the industry is as follows:
Men emplojred in woods 7,000
Men employed in mills 2,000
Men employed in retail yards 1,200
Miscellaneous 1,800
Total 12,000
The men employed in the woods include loggers, pole and stull makers, and
tie cutters. Other laborers include cruisers, wood cutters, post makers and foresters.
Only a small percentage of the woods workers are married but a large percentage
of mill workers have families. It is therefore estimated that between 25,000 and
30,000 people in the state are supported directly by the lumber industry.
Protection From Fire.
The value of the lumber industry and the forests has become more generally
appreciated in the state the past ten years. Accordingly there has grown up a
system of fire patrol during the dry seasons, in which the federal foresters,
owners of timber and the state forestry department and the state game wardens
co-operate. The regulations as to prevention and control of fires are strictly en-
forced. So well have these organizations worked that the losses have grown appre-
ciably less year by year.
Power Brings Progress
Great Hydro-Electrical Plants, Harnessing The Cataracts
and Swiftly Flowing Rivers, and Furnishing Power
to Supply an Empire, Have Placed Montana
First in Electrical Development
TRUE account of the great development of hydro-electric power
in Montana, is surprising to one who is not familiar with the
actual facts. By electricity, generated from flowing water,
monster freight and passenger trains are driven over 530 miles
of track, across three mountain ranges; the great mines and
smelters of the state, with their tremendous output, are oper-
ated exclusively; over fifty towns and cities of the state are
supplied with light, heat and power; water is raised into irri-
gation ditches that supply thousands of acres of land and dozens of mills, streets
and interurban railways, cement factories and dredges are supplied with power.
The Montana Power company has at the present time, twelve hydro-electric
plants, scattered over the st^te, generating 171,530 kilowatts; 1864 miles of high
tension transmission lines, connecting 75 sub-stations and over 1000 men employed
in running the plants. It has one site nearly completed that will supply 40,000
kilowatts more and undeveloped sites that will supply 121,500 kilowatts. By great
dams it has controlled the flow of rivers and so harnessed them as to bring
electrical power within the reach of thousands, for economic and convenient use.
Nature Favored Montana.
Montana easily leads all states in hydro-electrical development. Nor does any
other state have so much power capable of development. Nature was indeed lavish
to the state in this regard. Two of the greatest rivers of the continent, the Missouri
and the Columbia, have their source in the high mountains of Montana, and travers-
ing the state for great distances leave its borders at comparatively small elevations.
While these mighty rivers are considerable streams at elevations from 5,000 to
7,000 feet above sea level, both of them leave Montana at about 2,000 feet elevation,
having a fall within the state of from 3,000 to 5,000 feet, which can be utilized for
power development. These great rivers are fed by innumerable mountain streams,
which with their cascades and cataracts offer an almost illimitable opportunity for
the cheap development of power. Conservative electrical experts have estimated
that by the mere harnessing of the larger streams of the state more than 1,000,000
horsepower can be quickly made available for the use of the growing industries.
The main range of the Rocky Mountains divide Montana into two parts, the
eastern section of which is drained by the Missouri river and its tributaries, the
Madison, Jefferson, Gallatin and Yellowstone rivers. The western part is drained
by the tributaries of the Columbia, the Clark's Fork and the Kootenai rivers.
An important tributary of the Clark's Fork river is the Flathead river, which drains
the Flathead lake. Upon all of these streams there are either large power plants or
power sites waiting development.
Great Electric Eailroads.
Montana was the pioneer in electrical development. Here was built the first
high-tension, long distance transmission line in the world, and here likewise was
Electric Train on the C. M. & St. P.
electrical energy first utilized for the handling of heavily loaded trans-continental
freight trains.
The Butte, Anaconda & Pacific railway, running from Butte to Anaconda, with
90 miles of track electrified, and carrying in addition to heavy passenger business,
Immense ore trains between the Butte mines and the Anaconda smelter, was the
first successful attempt to utilize electric power to replace steam locomotives for
heavy railway traffic. The work of the Butte, Anaconda & Pacific was watched
with interest by railway experts all over the world, and as soon as its success was
demonstrated the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railway let contracts for the
electrification of its lines across the main ranges of the Rocky and Bitter Root
mountains, a distance, from Harlowton, Montana, to Avery, Idaho, of 440 miles.
This work has been completed and the success of the undertaking has exceeded the
expectations of its fondest promoters.
Cheap Power Over Mountains.
It is apparent that it is a matter of but a very short time until all the trans-
continental railways, especially in their mountain divisions, will turn to electrical
operation. In fact it is a matter of common knowledge that other transcontinental
systems are even now making provision for this inevitable change. The electrical
method of operation not only has the advantage of making large savings in the
expenses of operation by the elimination of coal and the greatly reduced main-
tenance expense of electric locomotives as compared with steam locomotives, but
also on account of the fact that with the increase in traffic, due to the rapid
development of western and oriental business, the capacity of the whole line is
Electric Power Dam on Missouri at Great Falls.
limited by the tonnage which can be hauled over the steep mountain grades. Inas-
much as electric locomotives have a much greater continuous power capacity than
any steam locomotives yet built, it follows that heavier trains can be handled over
the steep grades at considerably increased speed and the tonnage hauled over the
division, increased accordingly, wbile to get a corresponding increase with steam
operation would require double-tracking the road.
In addition to this, the electric road will do away with the possibility of forest
fires from locomotives in these mountain forest reserves through which the trains
pass.
Used in Mines and Smelters.
The great copper and zinc mines of the Butte district and other metalliferous
mines throughout the state, are using electric power almost exclusively. A lessened
cost of production has resulted, enabling many mines to now be operated at a profit
which could not be worked with more expensive power.
In the application of electricity to extensive mining operations Montana has
easily assumed first place, and the energy obtained from distant water powers is
being conducted to remote places, difficult of access, where it performs an infinite
variety of work in a most economical and efficient manner. So satisfactory have
been the results obtained that it has practically superseded steam power, and is
now driving the enormous hoists, compressors, pumps, mills and other mechanical
appliances used in the gigantic mining operations carried on at Butte and in the
great smelters of the Anaconda Copper Mining company at Anaconda and Great
Falls, and that of the American Smelting and Refining company at East Helena.
The saving by the use of electrical power can be better comprehended when
it is understood that the development of one-horse power by coal costs an average of
about $125, while electrical power is furnished the small mines at $50 per horse
power per year and the large mines at $35.
Power for Irrigation.
Lifting waters by their own power is practically what is being done in the
use of electricity for irrigation purposes. There is throughout the state much
valuable land, the productive power of which can be greatly increased by irriga-
tion. With the use of cheap electrical power for pumping, it is possible to put
much of this land under water during the growing season, and the electrically
operated reclamation projects throughout the state are an unqualified success. The
largest of the reclamation plants of this character is in the Prickly Pear Valley,
a few miles from Helena. Two large pumping plants for irrigation have been
installed in this valley by the Montana Reservoir & Irrigation company, which
secures its power from the Montana Power Company's Hauser lake plant on the
Missouri river. The Hauser Lake Dam forms a large artificial lake, from which the
water is pumped to thousands of acres of adjacent farm lands. In this project,
water for irrigation purposes is furnished at an exceptionally low rate, the contract
price paid by the farmers being $1.75 per acre-foot. The unqualified success of this
plant insures the rapid extension of the use of electricity for irrigation purposes.
Cities Are Supplied.
Approximately one-third of the earnings of the Montana Power company are
derived from lighting, heating and small power in fifty cities and towns in Montana.
In addition to this, flour mills, electric street and interurban railways, cement
plants, dredges, coal mines and numerous other industries consume a large amount
of electrical energy.
The domestic water supply of almost all of the larger cities is pumped by
electric power. Thousands of electric flatirons are in constant use in the homes
of the people. Cooking by electricity is becoming very popular. Electrically driven
sewing and washing machines are in every day use, and many other devices which
tend to lighten the duties of the housewife are operated by electric power.
Companies in Operation.
So far most of the development in Montana has been carried on by the Montana
Power company. There are a few other companies operating in the state. Their
present capacity is as follows:
Generating Capacity
(Kilowatts) (H. P.)
Montana Power Company 177,450 236,600
Missoula Light & Power Company 4,000 5,330
Northern Idaho & Montana Power Company.... 2,500 3,330
Western Smelting & Refining Company 1,500 2,000
Jardine Gold Mining & Milling Company 750 1,000
186,200 248,260
Company Is Large.
The Montana Power company is the largest in the state. It developed from a
consolidation of the Butte Electric and Power company, the Missouri River Electric
and Power company, the Great Falls Power company and the Thompson Falls Power
company, although the two latter companies are separate corporate entities. The
complete summary of the plants under this company is as follows:
Completed Hydro-Electric Tlants. Installed
capacity
(Kw.)
Rainbow Falls, on Missouri River, completed 1910, enlarged 1916 35,000
Black Eagle Falls, on Missouri River, reconstructed, 1913 3,000
Hauser Lake, on Missouri River, completed 1911, enlarged 1914 18,000
Canyon Ferry, on Missouri River, completed 1898, enlarged 1901 7,500
Madison No. 1, on Madison River, completed 1901, remodeled 1907 2.000
Madison No. 2, on Madison River, completed 1906 10,000
Big Hole, on Big Hole River, completed 1898 3,000
Livingston, on Yellowstone River, completed 1906, enlarged 190S 1,500
Billings No. 1, on Yellowstone River, completed 1907 1,0S0
Lewistown, on Spring Creek, completed 1906, remodeled 1913 450
Great Falls, on Missouri River, at the Great Falls, completed 1916 60,000
Thompson Falls, on Clark's Fork of Columbia River, completed 1916 30.000
Total (Kw.) 171,530
Under Construction.
(Kw.)
Holter Hydro-Electric Plant, on Missouri River 40,000
Undeveloped Sites.
(Kw.)
Madison No. 3, on Madison River 20.000
Great Falls "C", on Missouri River, above Great Falls 28.500
Sheep Creek, on Missouri River, below Great Falls 28,500
Fish Creek, on Missoula River 13,500
Black Eagle, on Missouri River, reconstruction . 10,000
Snake River, on Snake River, Idaho 22,500
Total (Kw.) 123,000
Steam Plants
(Kw.)
Butte, completed 1907 (reserve) 5,000
Billings, completed 1906 (reserve) 560
Conrad, completed 1910 (electric soon to be extended) 110
Phoenix (Butte), completed 1S95 250
Total (Kw.) 5,920
To give an idea of the value of the power which is being generated by these
plants, it may be stated that to produce 171,530 kilowatts from coal would require
2,676,000 tons, which at the average price of $4.00, which would apply at the points
where the power is used, would amount to $10,704,000.
When it is considered that the value of this coal is, by means of water power,
being saved each year from future generations, and that during the next ten years
this saving will, in all probability, be increased seven or eight times, it is not
difficult to understand that true conservation consists in encouraging the rapid
development of water power, which unless developed and utilized becomes lost
for all time.
Transmission Lines.
The transmission system of the company inter-connects all of its power develop-
ments, with the exception of the Thompson Falls, and covers an area extending 260
miles from east to west and 300 miles from north to south. The various lines are
tied together through transformers and operated as one large distributing net- work,
into which power is fed through each of the plants, and from which power is taken
by numerous sub-stations, varying in size from the Great Falls Power Company's
sub-station at Butte, having a capacity of 21,000 kilowatts, down to the lowest
standard high-voltage sub-station of 250 kilowatts. Almost 2,000 miles of trans-
mission line are in operation, a considerable portion of which is steel tower line.
Miles
Steel tower lines, 110,000 volts 282
Steel tower lines, 50,000 volts 60
Pole lines, suspension insulator type, 110,000 volts : 375
Pole lines, suspension insulator type, 50,000 to 100,000 volts 576
Pole lines, pin type, 11,000 to 60,000 volts 571
Total 1,864
Storage Reservoirs.
The ideal generating system must have an even flow of water to its turbines,
but this cannot be obtained if the natural flow of the river is depended upon. The
low water stage of the river limits the output that can be marketed continuously.
For this reason reservoirs are provided at each of the plants and in addition the
great Hebgen reservoir has been built on the Madison River, to control the supply
on both the Madison and Missouri Rivers. A summary of the reservoirs follows:
Area,
acres
Hebgen reservoir, on Madison river ! 13,400
Madison reservoir, on Madison river 4,030
Canyon Ferry reservoir, on Missouri river 4,570
Hauser Lake reservoir, on Missouri river 5,470
Big Hole reservoir, on Big Hole river .
Rainbow reservoir, on Missouri river ..
Great Falls, on Missouri river
Thompson Falls, on Clark's Fork river
210
120
450
500
Holter reservoir, on Missouri river 5,005
Total
Acre
feet
322,000
21,000
36,000
54,000
1,650
1,000
5,500
5,500
89,000
Cubic feet
14,000,000,000
915,000,000
1,570,000,000
2,350,000,000
70,000,000
40,000,000
240,000,000
240,000,000
3,850,000,000
23,275,000,000
Many Sites Undeveloped.
Only a small portion of the available water power in Montana has been de-
veloped. In addition to the plants already built and in operation, there are a large
number of large power sites and numberless smaller ones ready for development
as soon as the demands for power increase and there is available capital for their
construction. Although these possible developments are located in all parts of the
state, the larger possibilities exist in the northwestern section of Montana, where
the waters of the Flathead, the Kootenai river and other large streams will, when
harnessed, furnish more than 500,000 horsepower. The power site at the mouth
of the Flathead lake, which is one of the most feasible in the state, has been
reserved by the government in connection with the reclamation system covering a
portion of what was formerly the Flathead Indian reservation. A number of
smaller power sites have also been reserved, while many others are under private
ownership.
Making of j f Merchandise
Manufacturing is Receiving an Impetus With Many New
Industries Starting, Due to the Raw Materials at Hand,
Cheap Electric Power and Good Markets
'HILE Montana has not been a manufacturing state to any extent
in the past, Hie last few years has seen a number of enterprises
started and well on their way to become permanently established.
Lumber mills and smelters have been operating for a number of
years, but with the development of water power and more di-
versified products, many other industries are beginning in the
state. "With the growth in population and the natural conditions
favorable, it seems only a short time until Montana shall take
its place among the manufacturing states.
Besides the lumber mills and smelters, the manufacturing industries now
in Montana include, the flour and cereal mills, the meat packing establish-
ments, flax, fibre mills, a cement factory, canning factories for fruits and
vegetables, sugar beet factories, creameries and cheese factories. Many of these
have been in operation for several years, others are of more recent establishments,
while several others are now under construction. The fact that Montana is rich in
the raw materials for all of these plants, has cheap power from the great hydro-
electric plants already established, and a good market close at hand, the condi-
tions for success are certainly assured.
Meat Packing Important.
The meat packing industry has made rapid progress since its establishment
a short time ago. Today most of the larger cities have meat packing plants to
take care of the products of their territories and to supply the local market with
the finished products.
The largest packing plant in the state is at Great Falls. This company has
recently been reorganized with the expectation of enlarging the plant to take care
of the increased business. It plans to buy the cattle, sheep and hogs from Montana
farmers and to sell the products in Montana markets, thereby saving much trans-
portation charge. Besides the livestock, the company expects to handle dairy and
poultry products.
Another large concern, the Northwestern Packing company, is building a pack-
ing plant at East Helena. It is planned to make this one of the largest in the
state with a capitalization of $500,000. Power will be supplied by electricity from
the Montana Power company.
Other plants in the state now operating are the Hansen Packing company, of
Butte; Yellowstone Packing company, of Billings; Merrill Packing company, of
Anaconda; J. R. Daly, of Missoula, and numerous smaller establishments. Swift &
Co. have established a large distributing house at Billings at a cost of $50,000, from
which products will be sold to Montana concerns.
The growth of the industry in the state will depend largely upon the produc-
tion of hogs by the farmers and the consumption of the products by the local
people. Hogs are fed and fattened on barley and alfalfa and should continue to be
raised profitably in the state. There is no reason why a good many cattle and
One of the Many Flour Mills in Montana.
sheep now sold outside of the state, should not be used by the packing companies
in Montana and the products sold here to the available markets. This would save
transportation costs both ways and would encourage the industry within the state.
Many Flour Mills.
The grain and milling industry is an important one in Montana. There are eleven
hundred elevators and seventy-one flour and cereal mills in operation. The output
of the mills varies from twelve barrels to eleven hundred barrels of flour daily.
With some of the choicest wheat in the country close at hand, the flour pro-
duced is of an excellent grade. While many of the towns have their own mill to
supply the people of the community, there are a number of large mills that ship
their products out of the state.
Among the large mills may be mentioned the Bozeman Milling company of Boze-
man, Royal Milling company, of Great Falls, Montana Flour Mills company at Harlow-
ton and Lewistown, the Russel-Miller Milling company, at Billings and Sidney and the
C. W. Jennison company, at Bainville. These mills all have a capacity of over 400
barrels per day, some turning out as much as eleven hundred barrels.
Flax Fibre Mills.
A new industry in Montana and in the United States is the flax fibre industry
developed in the state. Two mills have been built at Conrad and Havre by the
Northern Flax Fibre company. The factories do not aim to make linen, but only
twines and threads of a coarser nature.
After prolonged investigation and experimentation, it was found in competitive
tests that the Montana flax contains the best flax fibre in the United States. The
Sugar Beet Factory at Billings.
threads are said to have a strength of 150 pounds, while the thread made in England
always breaks at more than 125 pounds.
The crop has proven to he a profitable one on the Valier project, near Conrad.
Fibre flax will make from one to two and a half tons per acre. In the fall of 1917
the price of the fibre was $25 a ton at Conrad. The Havre mill has just been com-
pleted and the owners hope to operate it for the first time in 1918.
Sngar Beet Factories.
Sugar beet raising has been profitable in Montana for some time. A large
factory costing $1,250,000 has been in operation at Billings for a number of years.
Beet raising there has proven so profitable that it has been tried at other places in
the state with success. Another factory, rivalling the Billings plant in size has been
built at Missoula, to take care of the product of the Bitter Root valley. These two
factories handle all of the products in Montana at present, but more are planned
in other parts of the state with the extension of the industry.
The beets grow luxuriantly on the irrigated lands of the state and are high in
percentage of sugar. The by-products of the factories are used in the dairies of the
localities and form an important and cheap food for the dairy cows.
Canning a New Industry.
The newest industry to be fostered in the state is that of canning of fruits and
vegetables. While this industry has seen little development so far, there seems
to be a possibility for much development in the future.
Two factories have been established up to the present time. One is at Stevens-
ville, in the Bitter Root valley, the other at Bozeman, in the Gallatin valley. Because
of their locations they have access to the peas raised and to the fruit crop in these
valleys. The plant at Stevensville has produced both peas and cherries, while the
Bozeman concern aims to handle peas exclusively. The output of the latter plant
is valued at $120,000 in 1918.
A large corporation has been formed at Great Falls, called the United Farmers'
company, for the purpose of engaging in the canning industry on a large scale. The
company plans to build factories at Great Falls and Billings, and if the industry
proves profitable, to build later at several other cities in the state. The commercial
clubs in a number of the towns, have agreed to co-operate in aiding the industry
by looking after the production of fruit and vegetables in their localities. This com-
pany plans to market its entire product in the state.
The venture should prove a success, as Montana has a good fruit crop each
year and is prolific in the production of vegetables of all kinds. It also has a good
market for all kinds of canned goods.
Creameries Thrive Here.
To handle the dairy products from the 179,000 dairy cows, there are sixty-four
creameries and eight cheese factories, located throughout the state. They use
the surplus dairy products of the different communities assuring the farmers a
good price at all times in the year. The finished product is retailed almost entirely
in the state, although some butter is shipped to other states near by.
The smelters at Great Falls, Anaconda and East Helena are the principal ore
reducing plants in the state, although a few small concerns at Butte reclaim copper
by the leaching process and zinc by the oil flotation process. The smelter at Ana-
conda is the largest in the world.
There is a cement factory at Trident, which manufactures Portland cement. It
is supplied with power by the Montana Power company, and turns out a large output
each year. Its product finds an easy market in the nearby cities.
Large Output of Lumber.
The lumber mills are all in the western part of the state on the rivers, near
the timbered tracts. Lincoln, Flathead, Missoula, Sanders, Mineral, Ravalli, Granite
and Beaverhead counties are the principal timbered counties.
There are about 157 saw mills in Montana and all but comparatively few are
small. There are twelve mills in the state that have a capacity of 5,000,000 to
60,000,000 feet annually, about sixteen of a capacity from 1,000,000 to 5,000,000 feet
and the rest cut only a few thousand feet per year.
On account of the small amount of privately owned timber, the number of big
mills is limited. Many small portable mills are owned by ranchers who have
tracts of timber on their land and also purchase small tracts from the government
on occasion. There are about ten planing mills and factories not connected with
saw mills and there are many contractors and builders who have small wood
working machines.
The past year the large and small mills cut about 349,771,000 feet. Montana lum-
ber is in demand for out of state markets. It is estimated that about 300,000,000 feet
are consumed annually within the state.
Besides the numerous industries mentioned here there are other smaller
enterprises such as pickle factories and foundries in a number of the larger places.
Banks and Banking
The Financial Resources of Montana Are Shown by the
Statements of the 403 National, State and Private
Banks, Whose Footings Totaled $20(V
352,464 On June 29, 1918
gafflf^g
TiPfc
Ml
O OTHER business enterprise so well illustrates the remarkable
growth of Montana and the development of its natural resources
as does that of banking. The increase in the number of banks
during the past fiscal year and the increase in deposits and
capital stock of the institutions, show clearly the great wealth
of the state. From June 20, 1917 to June 29, 1918 there were
forty-nine new banks established in Montana. Of this number
thirty-one were national banks and eighteen were state banks
Ten of the former state banks became nationalized and four of the private banks-
became state banks during the year. This made an increase in the number of
national banks of forty-one, and an increase of twelve in the number of state banks
while the number of private banks decreased from thirteen to nine.
The different sections of the state are all served by these banks, in fact man)
towns of small size have a bank or two, which are often patronized and maintained
largely by the farming community. Nothing so well illustrates the prosperity of the
state and its agricultural resources as the fact that the farmers have large deposit?
in the banks and in many cases the stock holders are well-to-do farmers of the
community. The state banks alone are located in 221 different towns in the state
According to the report of the Comptroller of the Currency for May, 1918 and
to the report of the Superintendent of Banks of Montana for June 29, 1918, there are
within the state a total of 403 banks. Of these, 126 are national banks, 268 are state
banks, trust companies and investment companies and 9 are private banks.
National Banks.
The 126 national banks are well distributed in the towns throughout the state
The increase of forty-one national banks during the year is a remarkable record.
Montana led the nation in the number of new national banks chartered in the
past year.
These banks are under the supervision of the national government and come
under the national bank inspectors. Under thorough and efficient inspection a bank
failure is practically impossible. The national banks are all under the federal reserve
system. The total footings of the national banks in Montana in May were $92,067,000
State Banks and Trust Companies.
More than two-thirds of all the banks of the state are under state supervision
Of these there are state banks, trust companies, investment companies and private
banks. The report of June 29, 1918 shows that there are 268 state banks, trust
companies and investment companies and 9 private banks in the state, as compared
with 256 state banks, trust companies and investment companies and 13 private
banks in 1917.
These banks come under the supervision of the Superintendent of Banks and his
assistants. One assistant superintendent and four deputy bank examiners keep a
close supervision on all of these state institutions, making a bank failure almost
impossible. The state inspectors visit the banks for inspection twice each year.
They verify the books and records of the business transactions of the bank and
otherwise see that the bank is living up to the letter of the law. They have per-
formed their duties so well that there has not been a single bank failure in the last
four years.
The state banks are required to take out state charters before engaging in
business. The law requires that they keep on hand as a reserve fund, 15 per cent
of their liabilities, which is made up of the demand deposits, time deposits, the
amount due to other banks and cashier's checks. The amount of reserve on hand
in the state banks June 29, 1918 averaged 24.21 per cent or $8,386,130 surplus over
the required amount.
A feature of the state banking laws, which protects the depositors is the
prohibition against the buying of the stocks of other corporations by the banks of
the state. The banks can purchase United States bonds, state bonds, county bonds,
city bonds and school bonds.
An amendment to the national banking law in June, 1917 made it possible for
the state banks to enter the federal reserve system. Fifteen of the Montana state
banks have entered this system during the year and are now federal reserve banks
under state supervision.
The footing of the state and private banks on June 29, 1918 were $108,285,464,
the total deposits were $85,367,9S5.67, the capital stock, $11,400,000, the loans and
bonds aggregated $81,260,540, and the cash on hand totaled $17,72S,6S8.
Private Banks.
There are nine private banks in the state as compared with thirteen last year,
the other four having become state banks. It is expected that the rest will enter the
list of state banks in the near future.
The private banks are also under the supervision of the State Superintendent
of Banks. These banks do not operate under state charters but under permits.
They are required to keep the same reserve on hand as the state banks.
An idea of the enormous growth of the banking business of Montana in the
last few years may be had from the increase shown on the books or the banks of
Helena, the capital city. In 1913 the clearings of the Helena banks were $51,821,056.
In 1917 the amount was $102,713,491, showing that the clearings had doubled in the
four year period.
Growth in Five Tears.
The following table gives the increase in the number of banks of all kinds in
Montana in the last five years:
National State Private Total
1913 (April 4) 55 144 23 222
1918 (June 29) 126 268 9 403
The following comparison shows the growth in the state banks,
total resources, in individual deposits and in savings deposits in the
from April 4, 1913 to May 10, 1918:
Total Individual Savings
Resources Deposits Deposits
$ 56,088,371 $30,321,818 $11,845,650
106,959,566 52,470,147 30,609,596
This table shows the total resources and total deposits to have
during the five years, the individual deposits to have increased by
the savings deposits to have increased nearly three times.
State
Private
Year
Banks
Banks
1913
144
23
1918
265
9
the increase in
five year period
Total Deposits
All Kinds
$45,202,508
86,437,455
nearly doubled
two-thirds and
Rural Roads
Montana State Highway Commission, Through the Use
of Federal, State and County Funds, is Gradually
Building Permanent Agricultural Thoroughfares
to Serve All Parts of the State
RGANIZED in May, 1917, and empowered to secure for the state
the benefits of the Federal Aid Road Act, the Montana State
Highway Commission has already received applications from
thirty-one counties for the improvement of fifty-two federal aid
road projects involving an estimated total expenditure of
$1,400,000.00. Final plans and specilications for many of these
projects have already been prepared by the commission and
transmitted to the Secretary of Agriculture for approval. The
projects that have reached this state of completion in every instance provide
for the improvement of agricultural haulage roads. And while the elimination
of tourist roads is primarily a war policy, the commission will continue to
approve from counties that suggest the improvement of post roads that are used
also for the transportation of agricultural produce. To assist the counties to
derive the full benefit of federal aid the commission makes surveys, plans and
specifications and furnishes supervision without expense to the counties. This
will enable the several counties to secure a dollar's worth of road work for every
half dollar expended by them.
The federal government has appropriated a total of $1,470,000 to be expended
over a period of five years for the improvement of post roads in Montana, subject
to certain conditions. To meet these conditions and pass the benefits directly to
the counties the State Highway Commission requested the boards of county com-
missioners to suggest designations for state highways in their respective counties
(federal aid being restricted to such highways) and these suggestions were recon-
ciled and adopted as a tentative system of state highways.
As was to be expected, in nearly every instance the county commissioners
suggested important local agricultural roads; and since these designated highways
are those leading to and connecting market centers the federal authorities have
approved the system of roads suggested and the program of improvement submitted
by the State Highway Commission has been approved as a war program for Montana.
State Furnishes Aid.
But federal aid is only one feature of the program of the State Highway Com-
mission for the improvement of highway conditions in the state. At the annual
meeting of the commission held in May, 1918, there was created an improvement
fund of approximately $120,000 for distribution throughout the state in the form of
state aid. Under the prevailing regulations this money is allotted to certain county
projects on the following basis: the county pays 60% of the construction cost while
the State Highway Commission pays the remaining 40% and all of the cost of
engineering and supervision.
As in the case of federal aid, state aid has been given primarily in connection
with the improvement of main agricultural roads; and an especial effort has been
made to secure the improvement of important local roads, which, not being post
1
--T-«v.
%j
A Bit of the Park to Park Highway.
roads, are not eligible for federal aid. This year the commission has endeavored
to distribute state aid so as to benefit those counties in which the 1918 crop was
considerably below normal, thus offering immediate employment for available local
labor.
The total of 1919 state aid projects approximates $300,000.00 and the probable cost
of all engineering surveys, supervision and incidental expenses of a like nature will
approximate $30,000.00. Applications for aid greatly exceed the fund available.
Indicating that county officials appreciate this manner of participation by the state
In the improvement of local roads.
Automobile Tax Used.
Provision has also been made for state aid maintenance of main county roads,
and approximately 500 miles will receive maintenance work this year. The auto-
mobile registration law provides that one-fourth of the automobile license fund must
be expended in the county of origin under the direction of the Highway Commission;
and in order to secure the most important and permanent good to the locality
the commission has directed that this money be expended for maintenance work on
main local highways, the only requirement of the commission being that the road
shall actually be of considerable local importance.
Aside from the work done exclusively under the direction of the boards of
county commissioners the commission has sought to obtain the improvement of
purely secondary roads through co-operation with the various counties. Under this
plan the commission furnishes free to the counties, surveys, plans and specifications,
and supervision of such road improvement as the county commissioners request.
In all projects of this nature particular attention is given by the commission to
proper drainage and the economical use of local materials. The commission renders
the same kind of service in connection with bridge improvements.
On request of the counties the commission also offers advice with respect to the
disposition of any special road problem that confronts the local officials, the organi-
zation of the commission being developed with an idea of placing at the disposal of
the county officials men of such judgment and experience that their advice may be
relied upon.
While it may appear that the local road feature has been given more con-
sideration than that of state highway improvement, the commission has taken the
position that the system of state highways is composed of units which in themselves
are important local roads, all connecting towns and local trade centers. Therefore
the policy of improving a system of main local roads provides for the betterment
of the system as a whole; and tourists, at least lor the period of the war, can
conveniently make use of those highways that are of primary local importance.
One of the Excellent Mountain Roads.
Glacier Park, an Alpine Wonderland.
Playgrounds for Pleasure
The Vacationist Can Find in the Beautiful Mountains and
Streams or in the Primeval Forests of Montana, All
That Nature Can Supply for Scenic Beauty
or Restful Retreat
lACATIONISTS who are looking for an ideal spot in which to
spend their holidays need try no further than Montana. For
scenic beauty the state is not to be surpassed. Mountains,
forests, lakes and streams in endless variety afford the tourist,
camper, hunter or fisherman, all that his heart can desire.
Good roads for the automobilist, traversing the mountains at
various places, treat the traveler to a constant change of diversi-
fied and delightful scenery. Other states may afford a limited
amount of scenery to compare with any section in Montana, but no state contains
so much of scenic beauty of a diversified character.
The tourists of the eastern states are beginning to realize the wonderful attrac-
tions that Montana possesses for the traveler and vacationist. Increased numbers of
these tourists are coming to the state each year to enjoy its scenic wonders or to
spend a vacation camping and fishing in the mountains. More and more these
tourists are coming by automobile so as to enjoy the scenic wonders along the
highways, or to enjoy camping for a few days in some secluded spot, thus making
the trip at their own pleasure and convenience.
Vacations to Order.
A vacation may be arranged in this state to suit any taste, ranging from the
affluent citizen who desires to remain at a mountain hotel while enjoying tramps
through the forests and along the trout streams or hunting of big game, to the
person who favors wandering through the country, carrying by pack horse his
blankets, frying pan, gun, fishing rod, bacon and flour and depending upon his
prowess with rifle, shotgun and fishing tackle to keep him and his fellow vacationists
in fresh meat.
While the lakes and mountains and forests would of themselves, put Montana
at the head of the list of recreation places, it is to the two greatest and largest
national parks that Montana owes its best known summer attractions. These two
great national playgrounds— the Yellowstone and Glacier national parks — are
primarily Montana institutions. Even before the nation was awakened to the
importance of reserving these great national wonders for the benefit and enjoyment
of all the people, these parks were vacation and sight-seeing places for the people
of Montana.
Glacier Park is wholly in Montana, while the Yellowstone National Park, the
oldest and best known of all the national reservations, is reached through this state.
The official entrance to this park, an imposing rock arch, dedicated by President
Roosevelt in 1903, is at Gardiner, Montana, five miles from Mammoth Hot Springs,
the administrative headquarters of the great reserve. The western entrance to
the park is at Yellowstone, Montana.
Petrified Logs, Eastern Montana Scenery.
The pride that Montana takes in these two great national playgrounds is
illustrated by the fact that a magniTicient automobile highway, called the Park-to-
Park highway, connecting the Yellowstone and Glacier national parks, has been
constructed for the use of tourists. This famous road traverses the most beautiful
part of the mountains and treats the travelers to a constant change of scenery, such
as can be witnessed from no other such highway in the United States.
Yellowstone Is Wonderland.
The Yellowstone National Park is the largest and most widely celebrated of
our national parks. It is a wooded wilderness of 3,348 square miles. It contains
more geysers than are found in the rest of the world together. It has innumerable
boiling springs whose steam mingles with the clouds.
It has many rushing rivers and large lakes. It has waterfalls of great height
and large volume. It has fishing waters unexcelled.
It has canyons of sublimity, one of which presents a spectacle of broken color
unequaled. It has areas of petrified forests with trunks standing. It has innumer-
able wild animals which have ceased unduly to fear man; in fact, it is unique as
a bird and animal sanctuary.
It has great hotels and many public camps. It has two hundred m'lea of
excellent roads.
In short, it is not only the wonderland that common report describes; it is also
the ideal summer school of nature study and the fitting playground and pleasure
resort of a great people.
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Scenic Effects on Lake Helena.
Its Early History.
Yellowstone Park was discovered and explored to some extent by John Colter,
a member of the Lewis and Clark expedition, who came back to Montana to trap
in 1808. The Indians called it the "place of evil spirits" because of the strange
noises there and were much afraid of it. Colter told other traders and trappers
about the place and the queer rumbling noises under ground; and for many years
one section of it was called Colter's Hell.
Jim Bridger, famous scout and trapper was next to visit the place. His stories
of the geysers and other queer things would not be believed. It is said that early
explorers and trappers, when returning to the east and relating their queer tales
of the region, were hooted and laughed at. Some of these early explorers imagined
they smelled brimstone. Early lecturers were hissed and sometimes even stoned in
the streets as impostors.
Finally in 1842 the attention of the public was called to the region by an
explorer who published an article describing the geysers. Probably the real dis-
covery of the park came in 1870 when Montanans lead by General Washburn toured
the region and made public their findings. Because of this trip, a movement began
which resulted, in 1872, in the establishment of the region as a national park, with
an area of 2,142,720 acres, taken from Wyoming, Montana and Idaho.
Many Colored Canyon.
The personality of the park is threefold. The glowing canyon, the hot-water
manifestations, and the scenic wilderness and its wealth of wild-animal life are worth,
not only a visit and examination, but the whole summer.
— Copyright by W. S. Berry.
Yellowstone Park Is a Paradise for Wild Life.
From Inspiration Point, looking a thousand feet almost vertically down upon the
foaming Yellowstone River and southward three miles to the Great Falls, the
observer sees before him the most glorious kaleidoscope of color he will ever see
in nature. The whole is streaked and spotted and stratified in every shade from
the deepest orange to the faintest lemon, from the deepest crimson through all the
brick shades to the softest pink, from black through all the grays and pearls to
glistening white. The greens are furnished by the dark pines above and the foam-
ing green of the plunging river below. The blues, ever changing, are found in the
dome of the sky overhead. This is the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.
The first view of the geyser basin affords a sensation never to be forgotten.
There are more than forty geysers accessible in the three large basins on the west
side. Some spout every few seconds, some every few minutes, others at intervals
of hours or days, a few at irregular intervals of weeks. The eruptions vary from
several feet to two hundred and fifty feet. But the whole region bubbles and hisses
and steams.
Greatest Animal Refuge.
Yellowstone Park is by far the largest and most successful wild-animal preserve
in the world. Since it was established in 1872, hunting has been strictly prohibited,
and elk, deer of several kinds, bear, antelope, bison, moose, and bighorn mountain
sheep roam the plains and mountains in large numbers. Thirty thousand elk, for
instance, live in the park. These animals have long ceased to fear man and with
the exception of the grizzly and the mountain sheep, make little effort to get out
of vision of the passer-by.
Road Along Shore of Flathead Lake.
Fishing is permitted in the park. The Yellowstone is a land of splendid rivers
and all are trout waters of a high degree. The native trout of this region is the
famous cut-throat. The grayling is also a native of certain streams while others
have been planted.
Ways of "Doing" Park.
The route of tourist travel through the park is ideally arranged to produce a
constantly changing view of world wonders, with each new scene lifting the emo-
tions to a higher point and giving a more glorious conception of nature's marvelous
work.
There are numerous ways by which the vacationist may see Yellowstone Park.
It is ideal for camping out, and many "lazy" it through, camping when night over-
takes them and by day delving into hidden wonders off the main trails and roads;
others secure accommodations with a camping outfit which furnishes all the camp
equipment and transportation by horse or wagon and feeds its company. The gov-
ernment has commissioned one camping company and awarded the hotel rights and
transportation by automobile to another. Automobiles were admitted to the park
within the past few years and the old stage coach, except with the camping outfit,
is a thing of the past. The tourist may drive his own car subject only to the regu-
lations made by the government. By following the hotel route the tourist is enabled
by car to visit all the principal points of interest, and at the same time enjoy the
conveniences of modern hostelries. The cost of a trip through the park is between
$35 to $100, depending upon the character of the accommodations. The season is
from June 15th to September 15th each year.
An Alpine Paradise.
Notwithstanding the sixty glaciers from which it derives its name, the Glacier
National Park is chiefly remarkable for its picturesquely modeled peaks, the unique
quality of its mountain masses, its gigantic precipices, and the romantic loveliness
of its two hundred and fifty lakes.
It possesses an individuality of its own, having rugged mountain tops bounded
by vertical walls sometimes four thousand feet high, glaciers perched upon lofty
rocky shelves, unexpected waterfalls of peculiar charm, rivers of milky glacier
water, lakes unexcelled for sheer beauty by the most celebrated of Sunny Italy and
snow-topped Switzerland.
Glacier National Park is the newest of the national playgrounds, having been
created by act of Congress in February, 1910. It lies in northwestern Montana,
abutting the Canadian boundary. It comprises an area of 1,534 square miles, cover-
ing 915,000 acres, the second national park in size. It incloses the continental divide
of the Rocky Mountains; in fact, from one spot known as the Triple Divide, waters
flow into the Pacific Ocean, Hudson Bay and Gulf of Mexico.
Where Nature Reigns.
The supreme glory of the park is its lakes. The world has none to surpass,
perhaps few to equal them. Some are valley gems grown to the water's edge with
forests. Some are cradled among precipices and some float ice-fields in midsummer.
To many the park is the most alluring of all the national parks because it is, for
the most part, as nature has created it. Wild animals, fish, birds and plants abound
within the park. The game may not be shot, for no firearms are allowed in the
park. Fishing, however, is permitted as it is in the Yellowstone.
Until a few years ago it was difiicult to reach glacier-land over the mountain
trails. Secretary Lane directed the construction of an automobile road to Lake
McDermott, where there is a large, modern hotel, erected by the Great Northern
Railroad company which had much to do in opening the park to travel. At Glacier
Park Station, the eastern entrance, a magniiicent hotel has been built, costing a
quarter of a million dollars. Many Glacier hotel at Lake McDermott cost nearly
an equal amount. The hotel at Glacier Park station is a huge structure, unique
among the inns of the world. Its great fire place, its roomy lobby, the walls of
which are hung with trophies of the hunt, early day relics and Indian handiwork,
make it one of the show places of the continent.
Park Becomes Popular.
Since these hotels have been built and a number of Swiss chalets constructed
and connection made by automobile, thousands of tourists have visited the park.
Some have braved the rigors of pack horse travel through the passes and over
the continental divide and have lished in the streams and lakes of the upper
mountain heights. The opportunity to explore spots where the foot of man never
has trodden is not to be overlooked by the adventurous and the trip over the glaciers
and the mountain climbing are the delight of those who rough it. For those whose
inclinations are not for tests of physical endurance, the roads which are traveled by
automobiles, and coaches are open, giving access to the wonders of the lakes and
mountains and the scenic beauty of the place. Lake McDonald is fast becoming
one of the summer resorts of the United States. Many people have erected summer
homes there.
Glacier Park is reached only by the main line of the Great Northern railroad.
Trips are obtained from $1 to $10 a day, depending upon the accommodations
desired. As stated, there are hotels and permanent camps ample to accommodate
the tourists and guides and pack trains are available for those who desire to explore
the park, glaciers and the mountain fastnesses. The season is from June 1st to
October 15th each year.
Other Tacation Haunts.
While the two great national parks are more generally known to the outside
public, there are many other places of equal attraction. Flathead Lake, the
largest fresh water lake in the country, aside from the Great Lakes, is rapidly
becoming a resort for summer colonies. The numerous islands are the locations ot
summer homes and there is soon to be constructed a half million dollar hotel near
Wild Horse Island. The lake is easily reached from Kalispell. The Kootenai River
country through Lincoln county attracts many summer visitors and vacationists who
*mjoy the great forests and the fishing.
The Blackfoot country in Eastern Missoula and Northern Powell counties
affords wonderful scenery and almost ideal camping and fishing retreats. The
glaciers and mountains of Carbon county, the famous scenery of the Gallatin and
Bitter Root valleys and numerous other places in "Western Montana afford delight
to the vacationist.
Beautiful Lake St. Mary, Glacier Park.
-1
The Lewis and Clark cavern in Jefferson county, although but recently brought
to the attention of the public, is a point of much interest. It is said to eclipse the
famous Mammoth Cave of Kentucky. The various chambers in the cavern as far
as explored extend for a distance of 700 feet horizontally and 350 feet vertically,
but there are many openings and passages that have never been explored. It has now
been placed under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior and will become
more widely known in the future.
These are but a few of the better known places which appeal to those on
vacation bent. There is scarcely a section of the western part of the state in which
mountain streams and wooded places are not found. Those who want to get away
from the beaten path of summer tourists can easily do so by dropping off a train
at almost any station in the mountains and beating back a few miles, where they
can become immersed in solitude.
Montana does afford the ideal vacation spot. For the seeker after pleasure,
health, recreation or rest, Montana holds open doors, and will satisfy with a never
to be forgotten vacation.
A Vacation Spot Among Forest Solitudes.
Sports For The Sportsman
Prairies, Mountains, Woodlands, Lakes and Streams Fur-
nish a Natural Habitat and Retreat in Montana for
All Kinds of Wild Life, Which is Found in No
Other Place in the Union
lONTANA stands at the head of all the states of the Union as the
habitat of big and small game. With 150,000 square miles of
prairies, mountain and wooded areas, watered by thousands of
lakes and streams, with the two great national parks, Yellow-
stone and Glacier, and ten large game preserves in the state,
with an efficient game and fish commission to protect wild
life, it is evident that as a resort for sportsmen, Montana can-
not he rivaled.
Its great mountain ranges are the habitat of elk, deer, mountain sheep, bear,
mountain lion, bob-cat and numerous fur-bearing animals, including the beaver;
its lakes and sloughs are the abode of all varieties of waterfowl and its grain fields
and foothills the home of prairie chicken, pin-tail and blue grouse, pheasants and
sage hen. It is not surprising, therefore, that sportsmen from all parts of the
United States and in peace time, from Europe, come to Montana during the open
season to enjoy the sport.
Buffalo Coming Back.
Despite years of relentless hunting by Indians and white men the game held its
own with the exception of buffalo. In the early 80's the bison were almost extermi-
nated and the pitiful remnants were taken over by the government and private in-
dividuals and have been slowly but steadily coming back. They are kept in Yellow-
stone National park, in the National Bison reserve on Flathead reservation and in
a number of private parks. They have increased rapidly in the last few years,
owing to the closed season maintained by the government and the state. Animals
have been transferred from Yellowstone Park to other places in the United States,
so that the "monarch of the plains" may again come into his own. It is hoped
that the closed season will be maintained for a sufficient number of years to
accomplish this and that eventually the buffalo will have increased to such an
extent that a limited number may be taken for food, during a brief open season.
.Retreat for Big Game.
During the summer months the ten game preserves and the national parks
are the retreat for the big game. They feed on the high altitudes during the
summer months, returning to the lower altitude for the winter feeding when the
snow gets too deep on the mountains.
The elk have increased rapidly the past few years, the three principal herds —
the Gallatin, the Gardiner and the Madison — have an aggregate of more than
20,000 animals. Elk have also been "planted" in six or eight counties where they
are protected under the law for an indefinite period. The larger herds in the
vicinity of Yellowstone National Park were counted by the federal and state
authorities following the extreme hard winter of 1916-1917. The deep snows
and the lack of winter feed caused a loss of about 14 per cent. The percentage
Casting for Trout in a Mountain Stream.
of loss was higher than usual because the winter feeding grounds to which the
animals have resorted for years, had been leased for pasturage during the summer
months, when the elk make their home in the national park. Upon their return to
the lower altitudes in the fall, they found their feeding ground denuded and
descending into the valleys in search of food, the herd became scattered and
many of the elk, weakened by hunger, perished in the deep drifts. The govern-
ment and the ranchmen co-operated in furnishing feed so that an even greater
loss was averted during the latter part of the winter.
The winter of 1917-1918 was very mild, so there was little loss of life among
these animals. Both years the deer and antelope wintered well, so there has been
no change regarding the taking of big game during the open season.
Sport "With Danger.
There is no closed season on bear, wolves, coyotes and cougars, which are
listed as predatory animals. Bears are much sought during the months of April.
May and June when their fur is prime. The animals are plentiful in the mountains
of the northwestern part of the state, in the Rockies and in the counties adjacent
to the national parks. They furnish great sport for the hunter and trapper, and
in addition to the valuable pelt, there is the added spice of danger in hunting them
during the early spring when they emerge from winter quarters, they are ravenously
hungry and inclined to give battle when opposed in their search for food. The
grizzly and "silver tip" are especially belligerent.
Mountain lion, the natural destructive enemy of deer and young stock, are
much sought by professional hunters employed by the government. These hunters
Nature Reigns Supreme In Lincoln County Forests.
also roam the forests during the winter, trapping and killing wolves and coyotes
which prey upon stock. Bounties are paid for the destruction of these predatory
animals. Coyotes .coyote pups and wolf pups, each carry a bounty of $2.50, moun-
tain lions, $10 and full grown wolves, $15.
Waterfowl and Fish.
No better opportunity for the shooting of waterfowl exists in the United States
than in Montana. The numerous lakes and sloughs teem with the birds. Some of
the northern lakes are nesting places for the geese and ducks and as the state
Is on the route of the flight of the birds from the north to their southern feeding
grounds, large numbers of the Canadian geese stop here to feed in the grain and
corn fields. They usually remain for about three weeks in the fall.
The angler finds opportunity for the display of his skill among the gamey
trout of the streams and lakes. There are several varieties of trout, Montana
whitefish, and in a few localities, bass and Lake Superior whitefish.
The trout include the native black spotted or cut-throat, the steelhead, the
eastern brook trout, the grayling and the Dolly Varden. Originally the grayling
was found only in the streams east of the continental divide, but the state fish
commission of late years has successfully propagated the grayling so that it is now
a habitant of the streams of the western slope. The Dolly Varden is a native of
the Pacific slope and attains great size. The Mackinac trout and the Lake Superior
whitefish are found in two lakes, St. Mary's in Teton county and Elk lake in Madison
county. The brook trout, much in demand, grows to a goodly size, some specimens
at the state fish hatcheries having attained a length of eight inches in one year,
grown from fry.
Posing In Yellowstone Park.
Work of State Commission.
Montana has a game law which conserves the game. It is strictly enforced
under a state game and fish commission. The commission, the warden and his
deputies as well as the fish hatcheries are sustained solely from the receipts of
sales of game licenses and from fines and confiscated game anil weapons. It is
empowered to add to the game by propagation and has done much "planting" in
counties which afforded good feeding grounds, but from which the big game had
been thinned by too persistent hunting. Its fish hatcheries produce millions of
fry, distributed by the commissioners' fish car which is sent to all quarters of
the state during the year.
There are two state hatcheries, one at Anaconda, on Georgetown lake, and
the other at Somers, on Flathead lake. A hatchery will shortly be opened in Park
county. The government maintains a hatchery at Bozeman in Gallatin county.
Twenty millions of fry of eastern brook, spotted and rainbow trout and grayling
are annually sent out to re-stock the streams and lakes. The supply is con-
siderably augumented by private hatcheries. Accordingly, practically every stream
in the state affords good sport.
Salmon Being Tried.
The game and fish districts of Montana are not subject to private leasing by
native or loreign residents as is the case in some of the eastern and Pacific coast
states. All the vast territory is open to the public, subject only to the provisions
of an exceedingly liberal game law.
Through exchanges with Washington hatcheries, a considerable number of
sock-eye salmon have been obtained and planted in land-locked lakes of Montana.
>#
i*,-.
Where the Sportsman Finds Real Sport.
An experiment with sock-eye a few years ago resulted successfully and the com-
mission is encouraged to believe that the supply of good fish of the state will be
added to by the salmon.
A recent law of Montana legislature has taken Montana whitefish from the
list of game fish, making it legal to make a larger catch. This was done because
of the increased number of these fish in the streams of the state.
Present Game Laws.
The following laws affect the killing of big game, hunting of waterfowl and
land birds and the catching of fish in Montana:
Only one elk and one deer may be killed by any one person during the open
season, except by special license in two counties where two may be taken annually.
The season for shooting elk in certain counties is from October 1st to December 15th;
in others from October 1st to December 1st, the latter dates being the open season
for deer. There is no open season for antelope, buffalo, moose, caribou, mountain
sheep and goats.
The open season for waterfowl is from September 15th to December 1st. Not
to exceed twenty ducks may be taken by any one person in a day. The same
law applies to geese.
Five prairie chickens, grouse or pheasants, patridges or sage hens may be
taken in one day by one person, but not to exceed five of all species may be in
possession of the hunter. The open season is short — from September 15th to
October 1st. There is a closed season on quail, which by propagation are rapidly
increasing, especially in the northwestern part of the state.
The limit of game fish for any one person in a day is 25 pounds. Fish may
not be shipped outside the state, either by residents or non-residents.
"Game fish" as contemplated by the Montana game law, includes mountain,
rainbow, eastern brook, grayling, and steelhead trout, quinant salmon, black bass
and Dolly Varden trout.
Climatic Conditions
The Heathful and Invigorating Climate of Montana, With
Mild Winters, Cool Summers, Plenty of Sunshine,
and Enough Heat Units for Plant
Growth, is Almost Ideal
[N CONSIDERING the climatic conditions of Montana, it is necessary
to remember that it is a state of enormous proportions; that
there is a great diversity of topography, varying from very
high altitudes to low valleys, from high mountain ranges and
table lands, to the lower prairies and plains of both the eastern
and western slopes of the mountains. There are high mountain
peaks which reach above the level of perpetual snow; there
are sheltered valleys in which the wind scarcely stirs a leaf;
there are great stretches of plains, level as the floor; and there are many foothills
and great areas of rolling land. All of these have their effect upon the climate of
the state, making for different temperatures and different weather conditions iD
different sections. In fact, climatic conditions vary to such a large extent, that
almost any kind of climate desired can be found at some place in Montana.
Many people who bear in mind only the northern location of Montana, or who
hear only the reports of the extremely low temperature at some one point in the
winter, have a very erroneous idea of Montana's climate. They believe it to be a
land of cold winters, long drawn out, and short summers. They believe it to be a
land where only the brave of spirit and the hardy of constitution dare venture to
go. Nothing could be further from the truth. Montana has almost an ideal climate,
healthful, invigorating, mild and comfortable. The winters are not severe, while the
summers are long and cool, with plenty of sunshine and frost-free growing days
"Cliinooks" Come Often.
The winter climate of Montana, as shown by the United States weather bureau
statistics, is milder than that of other states of the same latitude; in fact, a line
of equal temperature, drawn through Montana points, extends southward from
this state and swings eastward through Southern Minnesota, thus indicating that
the January climate of Montana is similar to that of the middle western states
It is true that the thermometer goes low at times in Montana. It is likewise true
that Montana has a dry, rarefied atmosphere, which makes the cold less penetrating
and therefore less severe than in the damper climates of the middle and eastern
states. Thirty degrees below zero will not affect a person as much in Montana as.
fifteen degrees below zero will in the Mississippi valley.
Furthermore the winter season is not one of continued cold. Plenty of sun-
shine, even in December and January, is the rule rather than the exception. Ex-
treme cold spells are of short duration and are rapidly modified by the "chinook"
winds, a western breeze, warmed by the Japanese current, which stretches its
modifying influence as far east as the Dakotas. In most parts of the state the
snow stays but a few days, due to these "chinooks". Very often cattle graze out on
the range most of the winter, even in the northern part of the state.
A State of Good Health.
Montana boasts good fellowship, and good fellowship generally goes hand in
hand with good health. Malarial conditions are entirely absent; fogs are unknown
The clear, dry atmosphere and the absence of sultry days during the summer make
the state one of the most healthful. When the troop trains carrying the Montana
boys traveled across the continent, all the newspapers of the cities along the line of
travel commented on the vigorous and healthy appearance of the lads from the "Land
of the Shining Mountains." When anyone enjoys Montana health, Montana's climate
will seem mild when compared with that of other northern states.
Randal J. Condon, superintendent of the public schools of Cincinnati, Ohio, who
for some years resided in Helena, wrote for a geography used in the public schools
a brief description of Montana. Of the climate of the state he said:
"It is doubtful if there is another state in the Union where the climate,
taken the year round, is so delightful as that of Montana. Its northern
latitude is more than offset by the mild westerly winds, which temper the
climate of the mountains and plains and yet do not bring excessive moisture.
"Fogs are almost unknown, and on the days when the temperature is
low there is not that penetrating chill which is felt in the more humid
states.
"As in any extreme northern state, the thermometer occasionally
records a low midwinter temperature, but the cold spells are short. While
they remain there is practically no wind; the air is dry and the sunshine
clear. The ordinary outdoor occupations may be carried on in winter with
little inconvenience. On the other hand, the summer temperatures are
never oppressive, and heat prostrations are unknown. The temperature in
the middle of the long summer days may rise higher than in the states
farther south, but with the coming of night the cold mountain breeze brings
a delightlul change."
Rainfall in Growing Season.
The rainfall in Montana is not as great as it is in the eastern states. It is
classed as a semi-arid state. This makes dry farming or irrigation necessary to
raise a satisfactory crop. The rainfall generally comes during the growing season,
when it is most needed. The precipitation maps and table accompany this article
and will inform anyone on the rainfall of the state.
Heat Units.
While moisture is conceded to be the most important factor in crop production
in Montana, temperature is also one of the most important elements. Botanists
inform us that different crops take varying amounts of heat, which we know to be
true in natural form practically. Montana farmers, however, have learned that its
seasons are better adapted for certain grain production than for other crops that
are now raised successfully in more southern states. Due, however, to a study of
heat units in the different localities, we are learning that corn can be profitably
raised over a wider area than was formerly supposed.
Scientists have adopted this term, "heat units", as a unit measure in respect to
crop growth. It is commonly found in weather reports and records issued in the
last few months. Its application to Montana temperatures is one of the most
practical and beneficial things that can be done to aid the newcomer to the state-
How to Compute Them.
To arrive at the number of heat units for any locality, one must first know
the mean temperature for each day. This is the average of the highest and lowest
points in the twenty-four hour period. Relatively little crop growth takes place
when the temperature is below 40° F, so that point is taken as the starting place.
Each degree of mean temperature above 40° F per day is called one heat unit. For
example, if the mean temperature of a certain day is 50° F, the difference between
40° and 50° would be 10°, or ten heat units. If the heat units for each day is multi-
plied by the number of days in the growing season, the result will be the total
number of heat units for the season in that locality.
Below is given a table of towns in various agricultural sections of Montana
with their heat units computed for the average of ten years.
No. of heat units for
Town frost-free period.
Miles City 3,971
Forsyth 3,496
Crow Agency ,, 3,336
Glendive 3,319
Great Falls 3,163
Ekalaka 3,156
Fort Benton 3.030
Billings 2.979
Missoula 2,878
Helena 2.872
Havre 2.S63
Chinook 2.851
Hamilton 2.844
Kalispell 2.634
Plains 2.496
Lewistown 2,152
Dillon 2,092
Virginia City 2,053
Bozeman 1,961
Anaconda 1,788
*Cit. Montana Experiment Bulletin. No. 107.
Miles City Is Highest.
It is evident from the above table that certain portions of the state have
more than twice the amount of heat than other sections. Miles City has the highest
number of heat units being 3,9*1, which ranks about the same as Minneapolis,
Minnesota which has 4,000.
Following is the number of heat units required for the growing of the different
crops :
Barley 1,700 to 2,200
Corn (Maize) 2,370 to 3.000
Oats 1,940 to 2.310
Winter Rye 1,700 to 2,125
Summer Rye 1,750 to 2.190
Winter Wheat 1,960 to 2.250
Summer Wheat 1,875 to 2,275
The above tables show our limits in growing different crops. In the heart of
the corn belt, in Iowa, the records show about 5,000 heat units and a large variety
of corn can be grown. Possibly corn will be limited in Montana to regions having
3,000 heat units or more, although this may be somewhat modified by other factors.
No attempts should be made to grow sorghums or sudan grass where less than 3.500
heat units are to be had. There is practically no relationship between total number
of heat units and the length of frost free period.
Favorable to Wheat.
While Montana is limited to certain classes of grains, which more southern
states may produce abundantly, we have a decided advantage in the production of
small grains, due to the lower number of heat units during period of blooming and
filling. The manner in which grain ripens in conjunction with the proper soil
moisture content and temperature, vitally affects the quality of the grain. Dry
warm weather in the later stages of ripening gives quality to wheat. It is for this
reason that Montana is near the top in respect to the quality of small grain as well
as yield.
Precipitation and Temperatures.
A United States weather bureau has long been maintained in Helena and the
climatic conditions of the state have been well charted by the weather officials, who
have kindly furnished the tables and maps shown in this chapter. A prospective
settler may study these maps with interest. They show, for instance, that in the
section of the state where there is the least average annual precipitation, the
greater percentage of this precipitation falls in the crop-growing season, and that in
this section there is also the longest crop-growing period, as measured by days.
AVERAGE ANNUAL PRECIPITATION.
The above shows that in the mountainous sections in western and central
.Montana the average annual precipitation is greater than in the eastern, northern
and other plains sections of the state.
PERCENTAGE OF ANNUAL PRECIPITATION BETWEEN APRIL 1ST AND
SEPTEMBER 30TH.
K_, --/
1
This map shows that in the plains section of the state the precipication is
greater during the growing season than it is in the mountainous section.
MEAN ANNUAL TEMPERATURE
This
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map illustrates that except in the mountains and along the Canadian
there is little difference in mean annual temperatures in Montana.
AVERAGE LENGTH OK CROP-G ROWING SEASON IN OAYS.
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the highest mountain regions adjacent to the Canadian border.
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People Are Progressive
Living Up to the Heritage of the Pastt the People of Mon-
tana Are Building Strong and Stable for the Future,
With Energy, Virility, Patriotism and Intelligence
(NTE OF the most important questions asked by the newcomer to
the state is that regarding the kind of people living in Montana.
What of the character, nature and general qualities of his neigh-
bors, friends and associates?
On this point he need have no fears, for Montana counts as
one of her greatest assets, the splendid character and the ener-
getic and patriotic spirit of her people. Montana is living up to
the traditions of the past. It was founded by the most hardy,
virile blood that the nation has produced and the enterprising and progressive spirit
of the pioneers has continued down to the present time to guide the destines of the
state. Of those who crossed the plains to lay the foundations of this commonwealth
it has been well said that none tut the brave started and none but the strong
survived. While there are now but few of these hardy pioneers remaining, there is
nevertheless, their courageous example and indomitable spirit as an inheritance for
the present and future generations.
Nor have the later arrivals been of inferior quality. The more recent immigrants
have not been people who came to the state to seek easy fortunes or not inured to
hardship. They came to the state to establish happy homes for themselves and their
children, expecting to work hard and do their full share in making Montana a place
to live the life worth while. They came into the state at the time when farming
as an occupation was coming into its own; when it was recognized that brains were
required in farming as in anything else. As a result many educated and cultured
people are found today on Montana farms. "Out where the handclasp is a little
stronger", they have adjusted themselves to the spirit they found here and today
truly represent the cordial, sincere, energetic and courageous spirit of the pioneer.
With the present test of a great national crisis, the patriotism, loyalty, sympathy
and generosity of the Montanans has been surpassed by none. Those directing
affairs in this nation need but say the word and Montana goes "over the top" in
men, money and materials of war.
Farmers Are Benefited.
Much of the energy of the state has been and is being devoted to the develop-
ment of its agricultural resources and every effort is being made to give to the
Montana farmer in a practical and intelligent way, the benefit of the great advances
which have been made in the farming industry and to assist him to make the
greatest possible success of his calling.
Much recent legislation has been enacted for the benefit of the farmer. This
legislation has taken the form of providing cheap, long time loans on farm lands,
providing hail insurance at actual cost, providing for the proper grading of grain
and the strict supervision of elevators, furnishing trained county agents to person-
ally assist the farmer in solving his individual problems and providing for farmer's
institutes and bureaus.
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Entrance to City of Great Falls.
State Farm Loans.
Farm loans are made from the permanent trust funds of the state. These loans
are made upon improved farm lands in sums of not less than $500.00 nor more than
two-fifths of the appraised value of the lands offered as security. The loans are made
for not less than three nor more than ten years, with interest at the rate of six
per cent, with the provision that ten per cent of the principal or any multiple
thereof, may be paid in three years from the date of the loan or at any interest
paying period thereafter.
The law did not take effect until March 1917, and it was several months later
before farmers awakened to the opportunity that was given them of borrowing money
on farm loans at long time, at a lower rate of interest than could be secured any
place else except from a federal land bank.
In spite of the late start in 1917, there were 305 applications passed upon by the
state land agent for an aggregate of $716,700, covering a total of 98,780 acres dis-
tributed among 39 counties of the state. Only four counties in the state made no
application for loans in 1917.
Loans are made on a conservative basis, because of the desire to help as many
farmers as possible at the low rate of interest. An average amount of $2,350 was
loaned to each farmer in 1917, in amount varying from $5 an acre to $25 an acre,
depending upon the character of the soil, its state of cultivation and other factors.
Cheap Hail Insurance.
Although hail losses in Montana are not numerous, provision has been made
for the insurance of crops against these losses. This insurance is provided, under
Pumping Station That Supplies Butte With Pure Water.
Tecent legislation, by the state board of hail insurance, composed of the commis-
sioner of agriculture and publicity, the state auditor and three representative
farmers appointed by the governor upon the recommendation of the farmers' or-
ganizations of the state. Under the provisions of the hail insurance act any farmer
may insure his growing crop against hail losses in sums not exceeding $12.00 per
acre for grain crops. Losses are adjusted and paid subject to this maximum from
funds derived from a pro rata assessment of the lands insured. Although this
state insurance plan is in its infancy in Montana, the act has been taken advantage
of by many farmers at a material saving over the hail insurance rates charged
by the companies handling this" class of business.
Farmers of Montana are insured honest grading of their grain through the
medium of the state grain inspection department which is operated in connection
with the state college of agriculture and mechanic arts. The supervision of elevators
is under the direction of the state department of agriculture and publicity, which
requires the bonding of all public warehouses receiving grain for storage and has
general control over the marketing of grain in the state.
Farmers' Assistants.
There are twenty-three county agricultural agents in the state, in most of the
agricultural counties. These agents are trained agriculturists, maintained by the
state, county and federal government under the provisions of the Smith-Lever act.
They are men who are not only well trained in the science of agriculture, but are
also well acquainted with Montana conditions. They are therefore able to extend
valuable service to the thousands of farmers who have come into the state and
City High School and Grade Schools, Billings
are farming under conditions which in many cases differ from those they experienced
in their former homes. Here the effort centers around production not only of farm
crops but livestock. A systematic study of agricultural problems is carried on and
the agent going from one farm to another serves as an efficient medium of exchange
for practical ideas.
Farmers' bureaus, institutes and demonstrations are conducted in all parts
of the state under the administration of the State Agricultural college at Bozeman.
Extension work for the farmers and short courses along agricultural lines are also
conducted by the State college, together with an experiment station maintained by
the federal government. Boys' and girls' agricultural clubs have been organized
throughout the state and are under a club leader, stationed at the State college.
All of these organizations are for the farmers to improve their methods and the
literature and advice sent out have resulted in a noticeable improvement along agri-
cultural lines iu all parts of the state.
The state maintains a laboratory on the State Capitol grounds for chemical
analysis of all kinds. A state veterinary laboratory is now under construction at
Helena, for scientific service to the livestock interests of the state. This gives an
idea of the service the state of Montana endeavors to give its citizens.
Farmers' Organizations.
Another agency of progress in agricultural development along the lines of
production, scientific and economic distribution and community social uplift, are
the farm organizations of Montana.
Farm bureaus have been organized in most of the counties under the direction
of the extension department of the United States Department of Agriculture. They
have been a most potent influence for public good during the short time they
have been in operation in the state and have a large and enthusiastic membership.
More progress has been made in the organization of these bureaus in Montana than
in any other state.
The American Society of Equity has a large membership in Montana and in
consequence a large number of cooperative farmers' elevators are in operation.
With fewer members, perhaps, but with the same sincerity and zeal, the
Farmers' Union, a branch of the big national organization is beginning work along
lines which will result in great public good. Likewise the Grange, the old stand-by
of farm organizations, has been in the field for some time working as conscientiously
for the uplift and betterment of rural life as it did fifty years ago. The Union and
the Grange are doing much to develop to the fullest extent, the social side of
farm life.
Even where there are no recognized farm organizations at work, there are
many community efforts in the way of progressive farm clubs, boys' and girls' clubs,
women's clubs, civic leagues and Chautauquas in the towns to promote community
life and agricultural awakening. Livestock shows and farmers' picnics help to
make country life attractive. All of these institutions are doing a good deal to
promote road improvement and Montana boasts some of the best rural highways in
the country.
State and County Fairs.
Another stimulus to better farming is given through the many fairs held in
the state each year, from the great state fair to the smallest community or Indian
fair. At the local fairs there are good premiums given for all kinds of farm products,
livestocks and other exhibits.
The Montana State Fair, held each year at Helena, is a great state-wide
agricultural exposition, which attracts visitors, not only from every section of
Montana, but also from many of the other states of the Union, and it is generally
recognized as one of the leading agricultural shows in the west. Practically every
county in the state contributes generously to the exhibits at this annual event,
which arouses intense interest and the keenest competition between the farmers
of the various sections of the state.
The state fair is regarded as an educational institution of incalculable value.
It is broad in its scope and wide in its appeals. The farmer gathers inspiration and
ideals at the fair, which sends him home with a firm resolution to produce better
livestock and better yields of grain. Encouragement and instruction is given the
boys and girls. The winners in each county in the potato, corn, calf, canning
and bread baking contests are given a free trip to the fair each year.
Laws for the People.
The people of Montana accord a generous welcome to outside capital and treat
it with entire fairness, while at the same time they insist that capital be also fair
with the state and bear its just share of the burdens of taxation. Every branch
of legitimate industry is encouraged, while the people amply safeguard themselves
with every necessary protection.
A railroad and public service commission, elected by the people, regulates the
rates of all public utilities and of common carriers; a "blue sky" law has been
enacted to protect investors from fraudulent promoters; farmers are protecting their
seed purchases by a system of free seed inspection; weights and measures and pure
food laws are rigidly enforced; child labor is prohibited and truancy laws are
enforced; the eight-hour day is general in the mines, about the smelters, on all public
and practically all private work. Practically all women employes are given an eight-
hour day by state law; an efficient administered workmen's compensation law is
in successful operation at a lower administrative cost than that attained in any
other state in the Union. In short, the state has endeavored to make the square
deal a part of the every day life of every citizen and to make impossible the
exploitation of this generation at the expense of the next.
Education Is Encouraged.
For the uplift and education of the people there are many institutions which
show the progressive spirit and intelligence of those in authority. Excellent schools
in every community in the state, churches, Y. M. C. A. and Y. W. C. A. organizations
in the larger cities, colleges and academies, live newspapers that are equal to those
of any city in the country, all these speak well for the development of the mind.
Chautauquas are held in most of the towns each summer which bring prominent
men of the nation into the communities. Many places have civic leagues, women's
clubs and parent-teacher associations to look after the welfare of the communities.
A good deal lias been done toward supplying the people of the state with good
literature in its libraries. Under the state department of education, each school
district is required to spend a certain sum for library books each year. Because of
this, good libraries are being built up in each school and these books are generally
accessible to the people of the community. The larger cities have their city libraries.
The state historical library in the State Capitol at Helena, is one of the most com-
plete in its line in the country.
Montana boasts also of the fact that Great Falls is the home of the famous
painter, Charles M. Russel, the foremost painter of western life today. He has made
Montana famous in his productions.
Interest in Reform Legislation.
The people of Montana exhibit a deep interest in public affairs and in the
more recent reform movements. The women of Montana enjoy equal suffrage,
and the state has, and uses, both the direct primary and the initiative and referendum.
Everywhere may be seen evidence of the effort that has been made toward making
a cleaner, better state. Coupled with better wages and living conditions, may be
cited the fact that gambling of all kinds has been suppressed and that the state has
voted, by an overwhelming majority, to abolish the saloon on December 31, 1918.
In a special legislative session, the state has endorsed the amendment to the
federal constitution for national prohibition. It also passed sedition and sabotage
laws for the protection of its citizens during the war. The state is efficiently
organized under a State Council of Defense and County Councils of Defense, which
is turn work through Community Councils for the welfare of the people. Red Cross
organizations are active and enthusiastically supported in all of the different com-
munities of the state. Thus Montana, while offering to the honest and energetic
of all classes opportunity to better their condition in life, also strives valiantly and
successfully toward that wholesome enviroment which makes life more worth living
and without which success in a material way becomes scarcely worth while.
Political Conditions Wholesome.
The people of Montana have a fine public spirit and pride in the affairs of
state. No state government has been more free from administrative scandals.
The magnificient State Capitol at Helena, built out of Montana sandstone and granite
at a cost of $1,100,000 is universally regarded as a splendid monument to honest and
efficient public service.
Politically, Montana is always "doubtful" at election times, the balance of
power being held by those who are not bound by party ties. The state is thus not
only well protected from the abuses of unbridled political power, but it is also
assured a strong sense of responsibility on the part of those entrusted to public
office. In the first national election following statehood, Montana's electoral vote
was cast for Benjamin Harrison, in 1896 and 1900 for W. J. Bryan, in 1904 for
Theodore Roosevelt, in 1908 for W. H. Taft and in 1912 and 1916 for Woodrow
Wilson. The present state administration is bipartisan, the elective officials being
about equally divided between the democratic and republican parties.
Men, Money, Materials of War
Montana Has Given 35,000 of Her Sons, $78,227,026
for Liberty Bonds and Thrift Stamps, $1,500,000 to
the Red Cross, Y. M. C A., K. of C, etc and
Vast Supplies of Wheat, Meat, and
Minerals to the Nation.
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ESPONDING to the call of the nation in the crisis of war, Montana
has arisen with a patriotic ardor and a spirited enthusiasm that
is not to be surpassed. The National Government or one of the
beneficent organizations need but make the request and Mon-
tana goes "over the top" in its response. Quickly and liberally,
yet determinedly and seriously, the people of the state have
answered their country's call, in each case, with a large over-
subscription. The patriotism, liberality and sympathy of Mon-
tanans are unquestioned.
The men of the state have marched forth to offer themselves to their country
until statistics show that 35,000 of these stalwart youths and men had entered the
army or navy up to August 1, 1918, in the cause of humanity and world freedom.
This is one of the astounding facts of the war, when it is considered that Montana
has a population of less than 800,000. These men have entered every branch of
the service on the land and sea and in the air.
Liberty Loans Go 75 Per Cent Over.
In the first four Liberty Loans Montana made an enviable record. The state
led the nation in the first loan in the percentage of over-subscription, much more
than doubling its allotment. In the second, third and fourth loans the over-sub-
scription was large, with a large number of individual subscribers. In the cam-
paign for the second loan 627 "blue" cards were returned and from the third loan
only 147 "blue" cards. This is the record for all the states in the Ninth Federal
Reserve district. The total subscriptions for the state in the four loans was
$74,887,400. The total over-subscription was $23,119,400. The four subscriptions
were as follows:
Alloted
First .'.... $ 6.7GS.000
Second 15,000,000
Third 9,000,000
Fourth 16,000,000
Total
$46,768,000
Subscribed
$1G.500,000
19,751,900
17,635,500
21,000,000
$74,887,400
Other Campaigns.
In the thrift stamp campaign Montana was alloted $9,459,740 for 1918. By
August 1 the state had purchased $3,339,626 and it is expected that the full allot-
ment will be reached by the end of the year.
In the different drives for the Red Cross, Y. M. C. A., K. of C, Salvation Army,
Y. W. C. A., and the Comfort Kit Fund, the total subscriptions for these different
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organizations of mercy and helpfulness have amounted to $1,500,000. In each case
the state went over the top, nearly doubling its quota. Some districts subscribed
three or four times the amount apportioned to the district.
Following is the amount given to the different organizations:
Salvation
Other
Red Cross
Y.M.C.A.
K. of C.
Army
Organizations
Total
$1,076,000
$179,000
$100,000
$45,000
$100,000
$1,500,000
Great Supplies of War Materials.
Montana is a state whose products are the materials most needed for the prose-
cution of war. Wheat, meat, copper, manganese, zinc, chromite and spruce are
the materials most sought after today to supply our own army and those of our
allies. In these products Montana specializes. The chief industries of the state
are the raising of wheat and livestock and the mining of copper and zinc. Man-
ganese, chromite and molybdenite are important war minerals, now produced in
large quantities in the state, and spruce is needed in aeroplane production and
other lumber in the different cantonments. Montana's greatest products supply the
nations' greatest needs. The amount of the production of these different materials
in 1917 was as follows:
Wheat 20,000,000 bushels
Beef-cattle 334,000 head
Sheep 3,000.000 head
Hogs 200,000 head
Lumber
Copper 274,462,574 pounds
Zinc 186,259,331 pounds
Manganese 65,000 t'ns ore
Wool 25,000,000 pourds
349,771,000 feet
Efficient War Workers.
Montana has likewise contributed a number of big men to aid the administration
In carrying on the war program. Among others, the following may be mentioned
John D. Ryan, head of the Aircraft Production Board and Assistant Secretary of War;
John B. Densmore, Director General of the United States Employment Service;
Lewis Penwell, head of the Wool Division of the War Industries Board; W. B.
Thompson, member of the Commission to Russia, a native son of Montana, but now
of New York City, and Kenneth Ross, of the Spruce Division of the Aircraft
Production Board.
Councils of Defense.
To cooperate with the national government in its many departments and to
look after the needs of the state in war time, Montana is efficiently organized under
the Montana Council of Defense. This body helps to solve the great number of
problems arising from war conditions. Under the State Council are County Coun-
cils of Defense in each county and under these, to look after local problems, are
the Community Councils of Defense. These organizations are efficient and thorough
and are rendering the state and nation a groat service.
Churches and Charitable Societies
Religious, Corrective and Fraternal Organizations Have
Been Active in Montana Since the Early Days, and
Now Fill a Large Place in the Life of the
People in All Parts of the State.
HE PERSON having church and fraternal affiliations; or an interest
in charitable and reform societies, need have no hesitation about
coming to Montana for he will find here practically every
church, charitable and fraternal organization known. He will
find plenty of opportunity to affiliate with these organizations
and to engage in the task of carrying on needed work in these
lines. Bright, capable and energetic men and women will find
an opportunity to do much good to their fellowmen.
Early Church History.
Before the gold seeker came to the state, the Jesuit missionary had preceded him
and was doing work among the Indians. Shortly after, the early Methodist mission-
aries came into the state, and they were soon followed by missionaries from the
Baptist, Episcopalian, Presbyterian and Congregational denominations. At first there
were few workers in the field and most of the missionaries had a large circuit
over which to travel. These circuit riders traveled by team, on horseback, or on
foot over all the state, holding services at ranches, in the camps or wherever a few
people could be gathered together. They traveled hundreds of miles over trackless
prairies and across mountain ranges, carrying the word of God to the miners and
the settler, performing the marriage ceremony, christening the babies and holding
final services over the dead.
These pioneer clergymen were real men, and they had to deal with their like.
In the larger towns the largest room for assemblage was often the gambling hall.
It was freely given them, and many a sermon has been preached in the early days
in those places, while the proprietors were among those who helped give the
"sky pilot" as the preacher was called, the wherewithal to continue his work and
build churches.
Churches of Today.
Today the churches in the state are well organized, with efficient leadership in
the larger centers, with branches extending into practically every community and
village in the country. The churches have kept pace with the growth of the terri-
tory and the state. In all of the larger cities there are fine church edifices and in
the villages and many country communities there are church buildings. In some
places community churches have been established where the people may all get
together to make a stronger organization with better leadership. The churches
have also fostered education, and have established schools and colleges for the edu-
cation of their young people in a Christian atmosphere.
Different Denominations.
The Catholics are strongly organized in all parts of the state and have a large
membership. They have two resident bishops in the state, one at Helena and one at
'^iMi.iiUi'L
Great Falls. They have a number of orphanages, parochial schools and high schools,
academies for girls at Helena, Missoula and Great Falls, and a college for boys at
Helena.
The Methodists have a strong and active membership. They have a resident
bishop at Helena, with four district superintendents in charge of the work under the
bishop, in the two conferences, in the state. Their congregations are found in prac-
tically every community. They maintain a college and academy at Helena, a
Deaconess school at Helena, orphanages and several Deaconess hospitals through-
out the state.
The Episcopal church has a resident bishop in Helena, who supervises the work
throughout the state. All of the larger cities have churches with well trained rectors,
while the smaller villages are visited for services by rectors on circuits.
All Doing Good Work.
The Presbyterian, Baptist, Congregational, Christian and Lutheran churches,
while not having as large a membership as the Catholics or Methodists, have effi-
cient organizations and strong leadership. They all maintain strong churches in
the larger cities, with branches in all parts of the state. Some of the smaller
places are visited by pastors on circuit at regular intervals. The many smaller
denominations have various organizations in the different communities.
The Young Men's Christian Association maintains large and modern buildings
in the larger cities. A state Y. M. C. A. secretary has headquarters at Billings,
from which place he directs the affairs of the Association in the cities and in the
colleges of the state. The Y. W. C. A. is also organized and maintains buildings in
some of the larger cities.
Charitable Institutions.
Hospitals are located all over Montana under the direction of the different
churches. These have commodious buildings and excellent equipment, with efficient
directors in charge. Institutions for the training and care of defectives and
delinquents, such as the State Industrial School, State School for Deaf and Dumb,
Florence Crittenden Homes and Homes of the Good Shepherd, are located in the
state. There are also a number of orphanages, a state Bureau of Child and Animal
Protection and a State Board of Charities and Reform. The church has since its
beginning in Montana, been a chief factor in the development of beneficent institu-
tions and reform movements.
There is not a fraternal organization of any prominence which is not repre-
sented by local organizations. The Masons were probably the first to organize
in Montana and today that order has a magnificent temple in the capital city
and others in different cities. It has a home for aged member's* and an exceed-
ingly large membership. The Odd Fellows organized early in Montlijna, the order has
grown with the state, and it has also a home for its aged members. The same
story of growth may be told of all the other leading fraternal and beneficial organi-
zations.
While there are many more things in the nature of religious and beneficent
reform work that could be done in Montana, yet the state is not behind other states
in this work and has factors at work which give a bright outlook for the future.
The state needs strong, industrious, efficient and religious citizens.
Educational Environments
Montana is Proud of Its Educational Facilities; the Ele-
mentary, Secondary and Higher Institutions All Pn>
viding Excellent Training for the Youth.
S A TEST of the stage of progress reached by any people, one need
but study the provisions made for the education of the youth in
the educational system. The degree of advancement, attainment
and interest in things worth while, can be quickly ascertained by
a study of the school buildings, equipment and teachers pro-
vided for educational work. The state, desiring to attract the
better class of people among its citizenship, must be prepared
to provide the best in the educational field.
The family, looking for a new location and wishing to give
the children the opportunity of an education, need have no hesitation about choosing
Montana. From the elementary schools to the highest institutions, the state has
excellent educational facilities, strong supervision and thorough administration.
Those who laid the foundation of the state had in mind, not the few thousand
people then within its borders, but the thousands that were to come after them.
They realized that to make Montana a state of good citizenship, which would be an
asset to the state and nation, great care must be taken in providing the right kind
of education for the younger generation. Accordingly they adopted the policy of
paying good salaries to the teachers, making good school laws and instituting pro-
gressive features in the school system, so as to attract to the state the best and
most progressive educators.
Large Sum for Schools.
When Montana was admitted to the Union, the common schools received as an
endowment from the national government, one-eighteenth of all the public land in
the state, a total grant, when fully completed by survey and selection of lieu lands,
of approximately 5,233,920 acres. This endowment is administered for the schools of
the state by the state board of land commissioners and under the law none of the
land can be sold for less than ten dollars an acre. Up to the present time 794,914.59
acres have been sold, yielding the large sum of $14,539,887.90 to the permanent
school fund. Of this amount, $5,388,805.82 is invested in bonds, warrants and
farm loans, all bearing interest; $7,903,505.65 is represented by deferred payments
on land contracts, bearing 5% interest; and $1,247,576.42 is cash in the hands of the
state treasurer, awaiting investment.
These millions in the common school fund have been so wisely invested that
the income is sufficient to give each school district, for every child of school age.
an annual apportionment, of a considerable amount to help pay the expenses of con-
ducting the schools. The apportionment has grown annually, being $3 per capita
in 1911, while in 1917, despite the large increase in the number of children, it was
$5.50. The total income for distribution from the permanent common school fund
in 1917 was $877,536.
In addition to the money received by each district from the permanent school
fund, school districts levy a tax for the support of the common schools, the minimum
being four mills and the maximum ten mills, unless by special vote the freeholders
.ligf^^fllljl^ y$\W&lii$) \r.lXWL*MV&im MM iLA3^
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State University, Missoula.
of the district decide to raise the assessment. In case a special election is called,
the voters may assess themselves any amount desired for school purpoes.
For support of the secondary schools there is a tax levied over the whole
county, which is apportioned among the accredited high schools of the county by
the county superintendent according to the total daily attendance in the schools.
A pupil, resident in the county, may attend any of the high schools without tuition
charge.
Supervision by the State.
The schools and the state institutions of higher learning are efficiently looked
after by the State Department of Public Instruction and the State Board of Education.
All of the public schools, elementary and secondary, come under the supervision of
the State Department of Public Instruction. Under the State Superintendent there
is a deputy, having charge principally of the high school work and two rural school
inspectors, supervising the rural schools of the state, one in the eastern, and the
other in the western half.
The State Board of Education, composed of prominent men and leading educa-
tors, has charge of the higher state institutions. The University of Montana, composed
of its four schools, as well as the State School for Deaf, Dumb and Feeble-Minded,
at Boulder; the State Industrial School, at Miles City and the State Orphans' Home,
at Twin Bridges, all come under the jurisdiction of the State Board. Each of these
institutions has a local administrative board to carry on its work, and the four
schools composing the University of Montana has, in addition to the local board, a
Chancellor of the University, located at Helena, whose duty it is to correlate and
unify the work.
Montana State Normal School at Dillon.
Elementary and Rural Schools.
The rural and elementary schools are receiving much attention from the State
Department. Every possible effort is made to better the conditions in the schools.
A state course of study for rural schools has been written and is now in operation,
to aid the teachers to better perform their work. The two rural school inspectors
are constantly in the field advising and aiding in the betterment of conditions.
Boys' and girls' clubs have been organized in nearly every school in the state for
the purpose of interesting the pupils in growing potatoes and corn, raising pigs and
calves, or canning vegetables and baking bread. There are many parent-teacher
associations in the different towns to interest the parents in the welfare of the
children.
In the rural districts and larger villages the schools are being made community
centers for the betterment of the community and to arouse interest in educational
endeavor along all lines. Playground apparatus is being provided in many places,
and playgrounds set aside and made into parks. Libraries are being built up under
a state law which requires each school district to spend a certain sum for books
each year. To most of these school libraries the people of the community have
access. In many places school nurses and specially trained teachers for backward
children are employed.
Consolidation of rural schools is meeting with a great deal of favor in many
places. Where it is at all possible consolidation is the rule. Wagons and autos are
provided for hauling the children to school from the more remote districts. Most of
the consolidated buildings are fine modern structures, with equipment for industrial
training, agricultural work, gymnasiums and playgrounds. The consolidated school
furnishes an excellent opportunity for enthusiastic community centers, with large
memberships.
Agricultural Hall, Montana State College.
Accredited High Schools.
Secondary education in the state is making rapid headway. There are 140
accredited high schools and nine academies in the state. The State Department
has worked out a plan that benefits the smaller community, by accrediting the high
school work for from one to four years. Many of the smaller towns can thus furnish
from one to four years of fully accepted high school work and the parent will not
need to send the child away from home. Of the 140 high schools, 18 are four-year
accredited county high schools, 55 are four-year accredited city or town schools, 10
are three-year high schools, 38 are two-year high schools and 19 are one-year high
schools. The county high schools are maintained by a county high school tax over
all the county, while the other high schools are maintained by the districts with a
special county tax for accredited high schools over the county.
Many of the Montana high schools are equal to any in the country, with
beautiful grounds, fine modern buildings, gymnasiums, equipment for industrial arts
and science work, libraries and thoroughly trained teachers.
Universities and Colleges.
Montana is also well supplied with institutions for higher education. Almost
any line of work desired may be taken in the state at some of the schools. The
state institutions and the denominational colleges are doing standard college work,
equal to that of any of the schools in the country.
The University of Montana, at its four schools offers courses to suit almost any
young person preparing for life. The State University at Missoula offers work in
the following schools: liberal arts, forestry, journalism, law, music, education,
pharmacy, business administration, and in different war activities. Its enrollment is
increasing each year and its student body is enthusiastic.
The State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, at Bozeman, offers work
in agriculture, engineering, domestic arts, animal husbandry, dairying, etc., which
Losekamp Hall, Billings Polytechnic Institute.
aims to fit the students for the more practical work of life. The school is well
organized and is doing excellent work in fitting young men and women to fill places
in Montana that can only be filled by those acquainted with the conditions of the
state.
The State School of Mines, at Butte, covers the work in mining and metallurgy
entirely. It is situated where access may be had to the great mines of the Butte
district. The State Normal school at Dillon, prepares teachers for work in the
elementary grades and rural schools. It is well organized with a large enrollment.
The University of Montana aims to fit Montana young people for life in Mon-
tana. The unrivaled fields for experimentation, examination and study at first hand
of the marvelous things that Montana has to offer make it an attractive place to
attend college. The University offers scholarships to all accredited high schools
in the state, to the graduate ranking highest in scholarship. To give an equal
opportunity to the people in all parts of the state the University equalizes geographical
differences by refunding railroad fare over the sum of five dollars, to all who attend
any of the four state institutions.
Like the common schools, the institutions of higher learning are richly en-
dowed. On the admission of Montana into the Union much of the public domain in
the state was allotted to them the aggregate being now about 700 square miles.
The revenues from this endowment, while large, are constantly growing. In
addition, large appropriations are made by the legislature at each session for their
maintenance.
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A New Type of Rural School In Montana.
Denominational Schools.
The educational institutions of the state are not confined to those supported by
the state. There are as well several strong institutions connected with the church
organizations which are well supported; well equipped, and are making rapid advance-
ment in higher educational work.
Montana Wesleyan College, located at Helena, is under the auspices of the
Methodist Episcopal church. It is a standard college, granting degrees in the
liberaL arts course, with other schools of music, commerce and education affiliated.
Its work is very thorough under a capable corps of instructors. The school is adding
new buildings, the construction of a girls' dormitory an*d home for the president,
taking place this year.
Mount St. Charles College, located at Helena, is under the jurisdiction of the
Catholic church. It is exclusively for boys and has a large attendance. It is fast
coming to the front as a strong institution, offering work in academy subjects and in
the liberal arts department. It has just erected a big new gymnasium on the campus.
Billings Polytechnic Institute, located at Billings, in southern Montana, does
work in the practical courses, aiming to fit students for engineering work. Emphasis
is also placed on musical instruction, a new conservatory being built this year. Other
buildings are also being constructed and the school is growing rapidly.
There is a Deaconess school located at Helena under the direction of the
Methodist church, where younger children are given a home and an elementary
education. There are academies at Helena, Missoula and Great Falls for girls and a
boy's high school at Butte, all under the direction of the Catholic church. There
are also parochial and boarding schools in different parts of the state. Business
colleges and private schools are located in most of the larger cities to fit individuals
for immediate work in some particular line.
Consolidated School In Country Near Florence.
Montana Is Progressive.
That Montana is progressive along educational lines is attested by the fact that
many progressive features and progressive laws have been instituted. In all of the
elementary and high schools of the state free text-books are furnished to the pupils.
This makes the books all uniform and assures the child, at little expense to the
district, a good book containing the full subject matter. Domestic science, indus-
trial training and work in agriculture are subjects in the school curriculum. A
good deal of attention is being given to supplying equipment for this work. The
federal government has extended aid, through the Smith-Hughes Act, which was
taken advantage of by a few of the high schools in 1917 and will be extended more
widely in 1918.
A new feature of the high school work is the normal training courses that have
been instituted for the training of the high school graduate to teach in rural schools.
Many of the schools now provide medical inspection for the children, including optical
and dental examination and treatment.
An added feature which gives much aid to the schools is the extension service,
located at the State College. The headquarters of the experiment station is also
located at the college and works in conjunction with the extension service. These
institutions render a service to the schools through the information distributed. In
connection with this work, there are short courses given at the college for farmers
and farmer boys and other courses in domestic science work for the farmers' wives
and daughters. The short courses are becoming popular and beneficial, especially
to the farmer boy who cannot attend the high schools.
Special Training for Teachers.
To supply the schools with good teachers, the state has provided a number of
ways. The State Normal school at Dillon provides thorough training in the elementary
work and the teachers trained here are much in demand in all parts of the state.
In addition to this work the different state institutions hold summer sessions for the
benefit of the teachers of the state, which is aimed to fit them for more efficient
work in their profession. A number of the counties are now holding special summer
schools for their teachers, which are in session for a period of about six weeks,
sometime during the summer months.
In many of the larger high schools provision has been made for training the
graduates to teach in rural schools, by installing the normal course. This will
Helena Hall, Montana Wesleyan College.
supply a large number of trained teachers for the rural districts, which have
heretofore been supplied by teachers without special normal training. This work is
under the supervision of the state department, and the schools must be able to
furnish a certain amount of equipment and the salary for a teacher in order to
secure this right to teach normal training.
Laws regarding the certitication of teachers are strict, and so make it possible
to secure efficient and qualified people for the positions. There is a state teachers'
association which holds an annual meeting to discuss the affairs of the schools of
the state and their needs. This seeks to benefit the work by cooperation and an
exchange of ideas.
There is a state pension law for teachers, which aims to take care of those in the
service when they reach an age when they should retire. All of the teachers who
are members of this must pay one dollar per montJ- into th? state peccion fund.
This fund now amounts to $72,846.98.
Mount St. Charles College, Helena.
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County Characteristics
Description of the Wonderful Resources and Unrivalled Op-
portunities of the Forty -three Divisions of the State
of Montana, Covering the Land, Industries,
Towns, and People.
Area Square Assessed Estimated
County Miles Valuation Population County Seat
1918 1918
Beaverhead 5,632 $ 12.3S9.945 8,448 Dillon
Big Horn 5,111 7,818,817 4,564 Hardin
Blaine 4,219 10,091.351 10,792 Chinook
Broadwater 1.248 5,222.962 4,496 Townsend
Carbon 2,108 10.121.091 21.696 Red Lodge
Carter 3.318 4.099.990 5.438 Ekalaka
Cascade 3,411 42.001.076 50.908 Great Falls
Chouteau 4.594 17.318.282 17,596 Fort Benton
Custer 7.111 20,703.257 18.184 Miles City
Dawson 9,280 1S.469.652 22.036 Glendive
Deer Lodge 746 12.S66.450 18.468 Anaconda
Fallon 1,685 7.016,729 C.508 Baker
Fergus 7.178 28.424,013 40.236 Lewistown
Flathead C.380 15.53S.217 23.228 Kalispell
Gallatin 2,529 19.903.1S4 19.044 Bozeman
Granite 1,728 4.962,993 4.200 Phillipsburg
Hill 4.180 17.084,718 23,520 Havre
Jefferson 1.642 6,863.679 5.784 Boulder
Lewis and Clark .... 3.476 25,328,691 20,148 Helena
Lincoln 3.660 6.951.277 7,672 Libby
Madison 3.58S 9,566.552 8.680 Virginia City
Meagher 2.369 7.609,693 2.S60 White Sulphur Springs
Mineral 1.224 4.560.236 2.244 Superior
Missoula 3,022 20.451.022 26.616 Missoula
Musselshell 2.944 15.119,187 13.924 Roundup
Park 2.67D 12.304.760 12,340 Livingston
Phillips 5.266 7.0S3.5S5 11,404 Malta
Powell 2.549 8.5SS.181 6.996 Deer Lodge
Prairie „ 1.6S5 6.951,126 5.060 Terry
Ravalli 2.391 7.9S1.531 13.344 Hamilton
Richland 2.703 10.5S5.671 14.228 Sidney
Rosebud 6,067 16,556,S18 13,328 Forsyth
♦Sanders 2,837 7,227,783 6,460 Thompson Falls
Sheridan 5,103 17.417.623 25,392 Plentywood
Silver Bow 698 53,435,005 75,732 Butte
Stillwater 1,684 7.5S9.560 9,612 Columbus
Sweetgrass 2,058 7,408,691 5.2S8 Big Timber
Teton 6,546 20,032,280 15.740 Choteau
Toole 1,949 7,8 74,348 6,388 Shelby
Valley 5,496 10,716.192 13,000 Glasgow
Wheatland 1,436 10,194,511 5,500 Harlowton
Wibaux 944 3,797,530 4,628 Wibaux
Yellowstone 2,708 25,33S,553 30,392 Billings
147,182 $591,616,812 762,208
•Assessed valuation in 1917.
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BEAVERHEAD COUNTY.
Beaverhead county is situated in the extreme southern portion of Montana.
It is one of the largest counties in the state containing 5.G32 square miles and a
total of 3.G04.4S0 acres much of which is open for entry to the homesteader. Par-
ticularly in the uplands are dry farm areas. The county is 50 miles wide and 75
miles long making the total area greater than the combined areas of Massachusetts
and Connecticut.
Beaverhead is chiefly a livestock county. The annual assessments for 1918
revealed the fact that livestock, both in sheep and cattle, had increased during the
year and that the raising of horses was above the average. That the cattle king
and the sheep baron need have no fear of losing their ranges, reposes in the fact
that the county contains a vast area of land that is good only for grazing and that
it is almost entirely surrounded by national forest reserves which insure an
abundance of feed for the great herds of cattle and flocks of sheep in the summer
and fall months.
In 1918 the wool clip from Beaverhead county netted the growers more than
two million dollars. Almost four million pounds of wool passed through the
Dillon wool warehouses in the months of June and July. The mutton crop netted
the Beaverhead flockmasters almost as much.
The number and quality of cattle to be found in Beaverhead county cannot be
duplicated in the state and over a million dollars' worth of beef steers were sold
in the spring of 1918 being fattened on native wild hay in the Big Hole basin, Grass-
hopper, Redrock and Centennial valleys. The immense herds of cattle are being
replenished and better bred each year by the shipping in of high grade stock from
famous eastern herds.
The Beaverhead horse industry is a good one and six times a year big auction
sales are held at Dillon this market being second to Miles City in the United States
for handling of native horses.
The agricultural industry is making rapid strides in this county. During the
past ten years hundreds of families have located on the benchlands where grain,
particularly Turkey red winter wheat is being raised in great quantities. Some
of the wheat harvested on the benchlands have tested as high as 60 per cent gluten.
There is land in this county that raised 100 bushels of oats to the acre but this is
irrigated land. More wild hay is cultivated in this section than any other place in
the United States. At the Panama-Pacific exposition Beaverhead county won first
prizes for hay and forage crops, oats and potatoes.
The mineral wealth of Beaverhead county is just beginning to be exploited.
The high price of silver has resulted in the opening of many silver claims and at
the present time more mining is being done than in years although the development
is not a starter to what it will be some day. Gold mining is the particular industry
although it is claimed the Elkhorn section contains much copper. Several com-
panies are drilling for oil and one corporation is at present installing a plant for
the retorting of oil shale of which there is a great quantity in almost every part of
the county. Manganese mining is one of the new industries.
Dillon is the county seat of Beaverhead. It is a bustling little city of five
thousand people and there is an automobile for every fourth family which best shows
the prosperity of the community. There are four banks in Dillon with deposits of
more than seven million dollars. The State Normal college with an attendance of
350 is located in Dillon and the Normal training school with more than a thousand
children is conducted in connection with that institution. The county high school
is also located here. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been expended in the
residence sections of the city the past few years and Dillon has some of the most
pretentious of homes.
The assessed valuation of the county in 1918 including railroad valuation is
I $12,389,945.
BIG JIOKN COUNTY.
Big Horn county came into existence January 13, 1913, by a vote of the people,
out of a territory embraced in Yellowstone and Rosebud counties.
The county is watered by the Big Horn, Little Big Horn, Rosebud and Tongue
rivers and their numerous tributaries, affording a well watered range for stock and
an abundance of water for the 120,000 acres now under irrigation. Its streams
are rapid running and most beautiful and where the waters of the Big Horn
break from a snake-like canyon into the broad valley, is located a proposed dam.
At the head of the Big Horn valley, stands on the eve of construction the greatest
single hydro-electric power development in the world. The minimum development
of this dam is 210.000 horse power with a maximum of 800,000 horse power. It
will also furnish water for the irrigation of 100,000 acres of land and when com-
pleted an electric railway will traverse the Big Horn valley its entire length, con-
necting the C. B. & Q. with the N. P. railroad. The Big Horn Canyon Irrigation
& Power Co., incorporated by local people, have expended $105,000 in making sur-
veys and diamond drill tests. The bedrock tests show splendid formation and this
$16,000,000 enterprise is now assured.
Farming and stock raising are the leading industries. Farming began in Big
Horn county with the opening of the ceded strip of the Crow Indian reservation
In 1916, and the excellent quality of soil and favorable climate is being annually
demonstrated by the first prizes captured at the state fair. All grains, grasses and
vegetables that grow anywhere in the state make excellent yields here. In the
valleys alfalfa and sugar beets are the leading crops, the yield of the former being
from 3 to 6 tons an acre and the later from 10 to 18 tons. Wheat is the great
crop on the non-irrigated land, yielding from 25 to 55 bushels per acre. Oats, flax,
barley and corn are very generally grown and all register good yields.
A large syndicate of eastern capitalists has been formed to farm land in the
county. They have leased 200,000 acres south of Hardin and will farm on an exten-
sive scale. Fifteen tractors arc already on the ground and twenty more are on the
way. The Great Western Sugar company of Billings, has purchased the C. M. Bair
ranch of 1200 acres which they will use for raising sugar beet seed. The Holly Sugar
Beet company, of Sheridan, has leased several thousand acres south of Hardin and
is engaged in the raising of sugar beets. Cattle, sheep and hogs are raised
profitably. For the past three years cattle from the white faced herd of F. M. Hein-
rich has topped the range cattle market, giving this county first place in range cattle
production. There has been an increase of about forty per cent in the number of
livestock in the county. The Sorrel Horse ranch, consisting of 6,100 acres, is located
In the county.
Vast deposits of coal are to be found in nearly all sections, and when proper
railroad facilities are developed, Big Horn county will be widely known for its annual
coal output.
Hardin, the county seat, is the most important town, having a population of
1,500. It is situated 56 miles east of Billings on the Big Horn river. It has
three banks, twenty-seven retail stores, lumber yards, grain elevators, flour mill,
garages, telephone system, water, lights, sewer, and paved streets. It also has a
city park, well laid out with shrubbery. The high school is fully accredited, giving
I a four year course. It has two fine churches, Congregational and Methodist, with
others planned alter the war. It has a modern hospital with a staff of four nurses
; and a modern theater, with a seating capacity of 800 people. The combined bank
I deposits of the three banks total $1,250,000.
Big Horn county has a population of about 5,000 according to estimates, and
property of an assessed valuation of $7,818,817 including railroad valuation.
Land area: Big Horn county, which is in the Billings land district, embraces
an area of 5,111 square miles, including 39.S18 acres of state land. The remainder
of the county is included in the Crow Indian reservation.
The estimated crop production for 1918 is far ahead of any crop the county
has had, due to plenty of rainfall and a greatly increased acreage planted.
For further information write to the Secretary of the Hardin Chamber of
Commerce.
DOMINION OF CANADA
* CA7Sor> Afao Co. £>arjv^n Co/o.
KLAIXE COUNTY.
Blaine county is another of the newer counties of Montana, having been created
along with Hill county, by a vote of the people, in February, 1912, out of territory
embraced in Chouteau county.
The Milk river, which is the source of the water supply for the county crosses
the county near the center from west to east. North from the river to the Canadian
line extends a region of rolling hills, intersected by numerous streams and coulees,
land that is still used chiefly for grazing purposes but which contains much good
farming land. South of the river the country rises to the Bear Paw mountains in
the western, and the little Rocky mountains in the eastern part. Flowing north from
these elevations are many creeks that empty into Milk River. The southern slope of
these hills drains into the Missouri river.
It is in this county that a good deal of the Milk river reclamation project is
under way. When this project is completed, Blaine county will prove to be one
of the greatest grain raising and dairying counties in Montana. The irrigated lands
in the valley are considered to be among the most productive in the United States.
The development of the agricultural resources of the Milk river valley has been
hindered by the delay in completing the Milk river reclamation project; but diffi-
culties having been overcome, there is the prospect that this great enterprise will
henceforth be carried on with commendable energy. Upon the completion of this
project it is expected that, as in the case of the Huntley project in Yellowstone
county, sugar beets will prove to be a most profitable crop and that a sufficient
acreage will be planted to cause the erection of a beet sugar factory at some con-
venient place.
Besides the big Milk river project, there are numerous smaller streams that
supply water for irrigating limited areas, mostly under private or commercial
operation. Farming without irrigation is successfully conducted on the bench lands,
mainly by the dry farming method. Thousands of acres of this land has been put
into cultivation and the yield of grains, grasses and vegetables has been good.
The products of the county are, wheat, flax, oats, barley and rye. Potatoes and
other vegetables grow both on the irrigated and non-irrigated lands and sugar beets
thrive on the irrigated districts. Alfalfa is the chief tame hay crop on the irri-
gated lands.
The only mineral to be found in Blaine county is coal. A good mine has been
developed at Chinook, the county seat, and there are mines in other parts of the
county that supply local needs. The coal is near the surface and can be obtained
very cheaply.
Chinook, the county seat, had a population in 1910 of 780, which has since
increased to 1,800. It is a rich and busy little city and is one of the most attrac-
tive places of residence in the state. It is surrounded by a rich farming country,
has a coal mine at its door, modern water works, business houses whose trade
extends over a large territory, banks, newspapers, good hotels, a creamery, elevators,
many churches and good schools. Newer industries that have recently been started
at Chinook are a flax fibre mill and a flour mill. The erection of a sugar beet factory
is expected when the reclamation project is completed. Chinook is the largest town
in the county.
Dodson and Harlem are two other towns of worth in the county. The former
has thousands of acres of land tributary to it and when the irrigation project is
in working order, the business of the place will be vastly greater. Harlem owns
its own water system, fine homes and business houses, a newspaper and is a ship-
ping point for a large territory. Both of these towns have good schools with high
schools doing accredited work.
Blaine county is in the Havre land district. It embraces an area of 4,219 square
miles. There are 424,885 acres of unreserved and unappropriated public land avail-
able for entry under the homestead law. There are 307,129 acres of this unsurveyed.
There are also 170,781 acres of state land. The Fort Belknap Indian reservation is
almost wholly within this county but there is no prospect that it will soon be
opened to settlement. The population of the county in 1918 is estimated at about
11,000.
The assessed valuation of the county in 1918 is $10,091,351 including railroad
valuation.
LEWIS
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SCALE IN MILES
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BROADWATER COUNTY.
Broadwater county lying north of Gallatin, south of Lewis and Clark, west of
Jefferson and east of Meagher counties, embraces the upper Missouri river valley and
is within close shipping distance of the cities of Butte and Helena. It was created from
portions of Jefferson and Meagher counties in 1897.
The Big Belt range forms the eastern, and lower mountains the western boundary.
In both ranges rise streams that flow into the Missouri river. The principal agri-
cultural districts are in the Missouri river valley and in the valley of Crow creek.
When resources include farming, mining, stock raising, dairying and fruit
raising, a county is fortunate. Broadwater county includes all these and accord-
ingly is one of the sections where people are proud of tlieir post office address.
The mineral area is extensive ami rich and the placer and quartz mines have
yielded great sums. The principal mines are at Radcrsburg and Winston, from which
places many tons of ore are annually shipped to smelters.
The range sheep industry has been the source of many fortunes for men who
owned from 2,000 to 20,000 sheep. Mountains or foothills still afford good range
for many horr.es, cattle and sheep. Much attention has been paid to the breeding of
high grade stock, and the claim is made that Broadwater county has the best horses
in Montana.
Fine herds of beef and dairy cattle are numerous. In 1904 fifty farmers and
business men organized and started the Townsend creamery, which is the pride of
the county. From a small beginning the output has steadily increased and about
200.000 pounds of butter of a superior quality is produced annually. The butter
finds a ready sale at Helena and other neighboring cities. More recently a flour
mill was erected at Townsend and the product readily found profitable market.
The principal farming districts are in the Missouri and Crow Creek valleys, where
many thousand acres are irrigated. The chief crops are oats, wheat and alfalfa,
timothy and bluejoint hay. Oats make large yields, are of a superior quality, and
have been sold to cereal mills and for seed. Wheat is in demand from millers and
many cars of a! alia and timothy hay are shipped annually. Potatoes yield from 300
to 400 bushels to the acre and other vegetables do equally well.
During the last few years many thousand acres on the foothills and benches
that extend from Three Forks to the northern end of the county have been settled
upon and farmed without irrigation. A large part of the uplands is adapted to
dry land farming and good crops have been raised at many places, the rainfall in
the spring and early summer being sufficient to produce large yields of crops that
are properly planted and cultivated. The soil, a warm and very productive loam,
is easy to work. Winter wheat, rye, bald barley and alfalfa are the chief crops on
non-irrigated farms. Raw lands may be bought at low prices and turned into pro-
ductive farms. Large ranches have been subdivided and are offered for sale in farm
lots. The raising of apples and other fruits on a commercial scale is a new and
promising industry. Apples of many varieties have been grown. At the Stafford ranch
near Avalanche creek is an excellent orchard that has been in bearing for twenty
years; and it is said that four thousand dollars were received from the sale of
fruit gathered one year from fifteen acres.
The main line of the Northern Pacific follows the Missouri valley from Lombard
to Townsend, and the Butte branch is separated by the Jefferson river from the
southern boundary. The Milwaukee enters the county near Lombard and passes
through the southern end.
The principal town is Townsend, which is also the county seat: It is located
where the Northern Pacific crosses the Missouri river. It has excellent schools,
churches, electric light plant, waterworks, and a sewerage system, volunteer fire
department, two newspapers, elevators, flour mill, creamery, cigar factory, many
retail stores, handsome residences and in fact is a modern little city of perhaps
1500 people. Opportunities are offered for an alfalfa mill and a pottery and cement
factory.
Toston is a shipping point for the mining camp of Radersburg, 11 miles away,
and also for the grain growers and stockmen in that section. Winston, 21 miles from
Helena, is a supply point for the mining district and stock growers.
The area of the county is 1,248 square miles and the county is within the
Helena land district, with 1SG.230 acres of unreserved and unappropriated public
land available for homestead entry. There is also 21,847 acres of state land. The
population of the county is about 4,500.
The assessed valuation of the county in 1918 is $5,222,962 including the
railroads.
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CAltBOX COUNTY.
Carbon county is one of the most diversified in topography and consequently in
its climate. These range widely from the fertile river bottoms where corn and
canteloupes are success. ully matured to the glaciers of the Bcartooth and Granite
mountains. The lowest altitude of the county is about 3,000 feet, at the confluence
of the Clarks Fork with the main stream of the Yellowstone; and the highest
is the summit of Granite Peak, 12,950 feet— the highest point in Montana. From
the Yellowstone and Clarks Fork valleys, the terrain slopes gradually upward in
level and rolling prairies, until it breaks abruptly against the wall of the Bear-
tooth mountains that traverse the southwestern quarter of the county from north-
west to southwest. Carbon is the central county of Montana's southernmost tier.
Resources, developed and undeveloped, are mineral, agricultural and industrial.
Of the minerals, coal is first, the supply being practically inexhaustible and of a
high grade, semi-bituminous quality. The county's production for the year ending
October 31, 1917, was 1,G1S,5,9 tons, of which the mines at Red Lodge produced
1,042,005 tons. An annual payroll of aoout two million dollars is supplied by
the coal industry. Precious and semi-precious minerals are present in the moun-
tains, deposits of copper ores being heavy but in a backward stage of development
owing to inadequacy of transportation facilities.
The Beartcoth National Forest contains, within Carbon county, largo stands of
soft timber, undeveloped commercially except for the business of supplying the
coal mines with prop timber.
Oil development in the southern part of the county is passing the experimental
stage. Several wells are drilled and capped, and considerable capital, local and
eastern, is at work in the expectation of an important production of wealth from
this source. The best oil wells in the state are located here.
Agriculturally, Carbon county is a rich district, mainly characterized by hay,
grain and stock. Natural range lands are still grazed, and cultivation of the soil
has been rapidly increasing of late years, the growth of the county, estimated
at twenty-five per cent in five years, being for the most part agricultural in
population and development. Farming is equally successful with and without irri-
gation. With a precipitation of eighteen to twenty-two inches, "dry" farming is
not really dry.
Livestock standards are high, notable herds being the Herefords of Mrs. C. W.
Wright at Luther; the sheep of F. L. Clark and of John Tolman in the Clarks
Fork valley, where also Arthur Hunter specializes in fine Poland China hogs; the
Percherons of A. J. Kerber and the Percherons and mules of C. A. Whitlock, at
Joliet.
Sugar beets are an important crop in the lower or northeastern section of
the county. The market is at Billings, where a sugar factory is located. This
furnished one of the most important sources for income of Carbon county farmers.
The beets are of good quality and good yield per acre.
Prices of land are low in Carbon county, productiveness and markets con-
sidered. Relinquishments may te had for from three to ten dollars per acre;
deeded land, dry, fifteen to twenty-five dollars and deeded land, irrigated, twenty-
five to one hundred and twenty-five dollars.
The assessed valuation of the county in 1918 is $10,121,091. This shows the
prosperity of the county and the thriving condition of its people.
Red Lodge, the county seat, has a population of about 5,500. It is the seat
of a coal mine that gives steady employment to over 1,000 men, and is one of the
busiest and most prosperous cities in the state. It has a high school, graded
schools, two hospitals, two newspapers, three banks, hotels, two wholesale and
thirty-five retail stores. Many new business houses have been recently erected and
much money has been spent in city improvements. Many miles of cement walks have
been laid and a sewer system costing $50,000 was installed a few years ago. The
city is lighted by electricity, has an elevator, a creamery and does a large trade with
the country tributary to it.
The population of Carbon county is estimated at 22,000.
Land Area — Carbon county, which is in the Billings land district, embraces an
area of 2,10S square miles, including 270, 45S acres of unreserved and unappropriated
land available for entry under the homestead law, 42,091 acres of state land, and
359,159 acres of national forests.
For further information regarding Carbon county, address secretary of commer-
cial club, Red Lodge, Montana.
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CAllTEIt COUNTY.
Carter county is next to the youngest county in the state, both Carter and
Wheatland having been created by the 1917 session of the state legislature. The
bill providing for Carter county was a special act, dividing Fallon county, making
Carter the county in the extreme southeastern corner of the state, with the town of
Ekalaka as the temporary county seat. The bill was introduced by State Senator
Oliver, to designate its boundaries, provide for its organization and government and
to change the boundaries of Fallon county to conform thereto. The bill became
a law and the county came into existence, February 22, 1917.
The creation of Carter county cut off 3,318 square miles from Fallon leaving the
latter 1,685 square miles in area. Carter is therefore about twice the size of Fallon.
The principal industries of the county are farming and stock raising. At the
present time there is less than one-tenth of the tillable land now under cultivation.
The biggest part of the territory being recently settled up. The development, on
account of the distance from railroads, has been slow, and only the past three years
has shown a period of marked development. Crops of all kinds do well and Carter
county will be one of the leading agricultural counties in the state. Cattle and sheep
raising is carried on extensively aad at a big profit to the producers.
Although the mineral resources of Carter county are practically unexplored,
there are large deposits of lignite coal. Numerous coal mines are in operation.
The farmer or homesteader can go out a short distance and get any amount of
wood and coal. There is also a large amount of fine building stone and no doubt
many other mineral deposits as yet undisturbed.
The Sioux National Forest Reserve in the northern part, includes about 40,000
acres of pine timber. Numerous saw-mills are in operation, furnishing nearly all
of the building material with the exception of finishing lumber, that is used in the
county. This forest is rich in scenic beauty and good roads have been cleared
through it.
There are great possibilities for the homeseeker in Carter county. There is
still considerable land open to homestead entry. Improved and unimproved land
can be bought at low prices, building lumber and winter's fuel supply are easily
obtainable, water of the linest kind is not hard to get and numerous streams and
springs abound. Combined with all this, the climate is good and the growing
season long.
The county seat has been temporarily located at Ekalaka, in the extreme north
end of the county, and 45 miles south of the Milwaukee railroad. It is the largest
town in the county with an estimated population of 500. It has two general stores,
two hotels, one bank, a garage, and two newspapers, and is a trading center for
the country many miles around. Just north lies the Beaver Flats, a large level
tract of fertile land which the Beaver Creek and its branches makes particularly
desirable. The surrounding country has many points of interest to the visitor or
tourist. The famous Medicine Rocks with their queer legends are to the north,
the pine forests to the east and the Chalk buttes to the south. No other country
furnishes a larger field of opportunities for the man with little capital or large
capital.
The next principal town in Carter county is Piniele, located in the west central
part of the county, with a population of about 200, and an assessed valuation of
over $75,000.00. It has two general stores, a flour mill, drug store, bank, g;irage,
hotel, meat market, restaurant, one newspaper, and electric lights.
Carter county has many wealthy residents and has the distinction of having
over-subscribed its allotment of the Third Liberty Loan more than six times, which
is a record for any county in the northwest.
The estimated population of the county for 1918 is 5,440.
Land Area — Carter county has an area of 3.318 square miles. There are S49.771
acres of unreserved and unappropriated public land, available for entry under
the homestead law. There are also 87,740 acres of state land that can be purchased
for a low price. Of the homestead lands, G2S.846 acres are as yet unsurveyed.
The assessed valuation of the county in 191S is $4,099,990. Further information
in reference to the resources and possibilities of Carter county will be furnished
by the secretary of the Commercial Club of either Ekalaka or Piniele.
9 n
CASCADE COUNTY.
Cascade county is the second in population in the state having the city of Great
Falls as its metropolis. Within the last few years it has forged ahead until it is
now one of the principal counties within the boundaries of the Treasure State.
Rapid settlement of the rural districts is noted, resulting in a stimulation ana
general improvement of farming methods. Dairying, too, has been found profitable
is Cascade county as conditions for this vocation are almost ideal. Crop production
throughout the county for the most part exceed the expectations of the casual
inquirer, as on non-irrigated lands there is an average yield of from 20 to 60
bushels of wheat, 40 to 100 bushels of oats, 20 to 60 bushels of barley per acre and
other crops in proportion. In the irrigated districts crop production has been
stabilized to a larger extent and the yield is far greater. Some of the largest
irrigation projects in the country are within the county and they have proven
eminently satisfactory.
The raising of livestock, wool-growing, mining and smelting are among the
important industries of Cascade county. As an indication of the diversity of
mineral wealth alone, cne has but to refer to the fact that coal, lead, silver,
copper, zinc, gold and gypsum are mined in large quantities within the county.
Practically all of the industries mentioned are practiced on a large scale and all
contribute toward making the county one of the most prosperous in the northwest.
The principal cities of the county are Great Falls, Cascade, Belt and Stockett.
Belt, with a population of 1,000 and Cascade, with 700 people, are located in
the heart of a prosperous agricultural community. Some of the largest coal
mines in the state are located at Belt and both cities boast of modern municipal
improvements with good schools, elevators, churches, banks, opera houses, large
mercantile establishments and weekly newspapers. Large coal mines and a rich
agricultural community make Stockett a prosperous place that is enjoying a
steady, healthy growth.
Great Falls, the county seat, is the largest city in northern Montana and the
clearing house for the majority of business transacted in the northwest. One of
the largest copper and zinc plants in the world is located in the outskirts of the
city and it boasts of having the only copper-wire plant west of the Mississippi. Civic
beauty is enhanced through the establishment of a system of natural parks of
which there are eighteen, embracing 640 acres of land. Great Falls owes its growth
largely to the development of the available water-power. Situated on the Missouri
river at a point where in a distance of seven and one-half miles, with a mean low
water flow of 3,500 feet, a second drop of 535 feet occurs over a series of falls
and rapids, it has presented an ideal location for great manufacturing plants
because of the available power.
Already 165,000 horsepower of electrical energy has been developed and there
is yet 200,000 horsepower in reserve. This current not only supplies local plants and
concerns throughout the state with power, but also is utilized in moving trains
over the electrified portion of the Milwaukee road.
Great Falls has a population of 40.000 and this is steadily increasing. The
marvelous growth of the city is well illustrated in the bank deposits which have
grown from $3,649,503 in 1910 to $12,427,761, the latter figures representing de-
posits on March 4, 1918, and a gain of 23S per cent. There are eight banks in
Great Falls and on the above date these institutions showed a combined capital, sur-
plus and profit of $1,S36,950, and total resources of $14,864,930.
In addition to the industries already named, Great Falls boasts of the largest
packing plant between St. Paul and the coast and two large flouring mills with a
daily capacity of 5,100 barrels, all these serving to furnish employment to a great
many men. With street cars, electric lights, sewers, paved streets, parked avenues
and two daily newspapers the city is a pleasant place of residence.
Cascade county has an area of 3,411 square miles and an assessed valuation of
$42,051,076. There are 513,136 acres of grain land, 837,991 acres of other land.
A total of 1,380,046 acres were assessed. There are 87,416 acres of state land and
424,208 acres of National forests in the county. The estimated population of the
county is 50,000.
For further information regarding Cascade county write R. S. Skinner, Secretary
of the Commercial Club, Great Falls, Montana.
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CHOUTEAU COUNTY.
One of the nine original counties of the state, and of large area, Chouteau has
been reduced in size several times by the formation of new counties. In 1912 Blaine
and Hill counties were formed from the eastern and northern parts respectively and
Choteau county was reduced from an area of 15,539 to one of 4,594 square miles,
besides losing the greater part of its population. The county, though so greatly
reduced in size, is still very extensive and the development of its resources is
indicated by the fact that its population and wealth are now greater than before
the division.
Tbe Missouri river enters Chouteau county from the south, flows northeast about
sixty miles and makes its great turn to the southeast. The Teton river, coming from
the west, and the Marias river from the north, join the Missouri near the center of
the county. Arrow river forms a part of the southeastern boundary. In the south-
west corner are the Highwood mountains in which rise Highwood and Shonkin creeks
and tributaries of Belt river, lu the northeastern corner is a part of the Bear
Paw mountains.
The industries are stock growing and farming. This part of Montana has long
been noted as a stock region and the county contains many cattle and great numbers
of sheep. The native grasses are luxuriant and nutritious and the permanence of the
industry is assured by the extent of good grazing lands near the mountains and
along the rivers that are too rough for farming.
Farming, which until recently was relatively unimportant, has made great
advances in the last few years. A limited area of land adjacent to streams is
irrigated, but the chief advance in the development of agriculture has taken place
on bench lands which arc farmed without irrigation. Homesteaders have come into
all parts of the county but there is some vacant land still subject to entry.
There is much of historical interest in connection with Fort Benton, the county
sent. It is situated at the head of navigation on the Missouri river and had a
population of 1,004 in 1910, and now has an estimated population of 1,600. Before
Montana was organized as a territory Fort Benton was an important fur trading
post and for years following the gold discoveries in the early sixties was a very
busy place. Steamers, starting from points on the Missouri river near where
Kanr.as City now is, brought numbers of passengers bound lor the gold fields and
great quantities of freight to Fort Benton. Stage lines carried the passengers to
Virginia City and other points and numerous freighting teams hauled needed sup-
plies over long and dangerous trails to the mining centers. Fort Benton main-
tained its commercial importance until the ccming of railroads into the state. The
steamboat service on the Missouri river was abandoned when the trunk lines were
completed.
Some of the present great fortunes of Montana were founded at Fort Benton
in the days when it was the trading center for a great territory and the seat of
large business establishments whose activities extended for hundreds of miles in
all directions. The stock industry later became the dominant one. Old Fort Benton
has been preserved; and many of the most interesting incidents of Montana history
are associated with the town of Fort Benton.
Fort Benton is the largest town in the county. It is a place of much business
importance and is surrounded by a good agricultural district. It has three churches,
a hospital, two banks, with deposits of $1,500,000, hotels, general stores, a daily and
two weekly newspapers, a court house and good public schools. There are many
handsome private residences. The city is amply supplied with water and has a
complete sewerage system.
Gcraldine, a town on the Milwaukee between Great Falls and Lewistown, and
hardly five years old, has grown rapidly and is a thriving place. It is in the center
of a productive wheat region.
Chouteau county has 202,993 acres of unreserved and unappropriated public land,
available for homestead entry. Besides this there are 278,591 acres of state land and
some national forest area.
The products of the county are wheat, flax, oats, barley, potatoes, hay vegetables,
beef, mutton and wool.
The population of Chouteau county is estimated at 17,600. Its assessed valuation
in 1918 is $17,318,282.
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CUSTER COUNTY.
Custer county is no longer one of the great "cow counties" of the state. It has
rapidly changed in the last few years to a county of diversified farming and as an
agricultural county ranks among the best in the state. No longer do vast herds
roam at will over the range. Their course of travel is blocked by miles of three and
four strand barbed-wire fences. Farm houses dot the great areas which were once
used by the long-horn and the white-face.
The county, like many others in the state, has been cut down by organization
of new counties, notwithstanding which fact, the present area contains the popula-
tion that the county had in its original form and vastly more wealth. It is one of
the fastest growing counties of Montana.
The county is well watered by the Yellowstone river which flows through the
northwestern part and by the Tongue and Powder rivers which rise in Wyoming and
drain the southern part. Mizpah river is a tributary of Powder river and Pumpkin
creek of Tongue river. All these streams have valleys of varying width, back
from which extend bench lands.
Hundreds of acres of wheat, oats, flax, rye, barley and corn have been planted
and are being planted where in former years, cattle reigned supreme. Silos are being
built, dairy herds are being installed. It has been said that "corn fills the silos,
silos the cows, cows the separators and separators the creameries" and butter fat
brings a big price. The separated milk is left on the farm to feed the pigs and
chickens. This branch of farming is one of the most profitable in the county.
Nearly every grain, vegetable and fruit known in the northwest part of the
country is grown in Custer county. Oats, wheat, barley, rye, corn, cabbage, ruta-
bagas, pumpkins, squash, peppers, egg-plant, tomatoes, cucumbers, peas, beans, celery,
are a partial list. Its exhibit at the State Fair annually is one of the big attractions
from an agricultural standpoint. Watermelons and canteloupes grow to perfection
and strawberries of fine flavor find a ready market. Peaches, pears, apples, crab-
apples, currants and raspberries do well.
Alfalfa is a leading crop and horses and cattle thrive on it. Two cuts a year
are harvested. Oats yield from 50 to 100 bushels and wheat has yielded as high as
50 bushels an acre.
The county offers exceptional opportunities for the tiller of the soil who has
enough money to buy land at a reasonable price, put up his home and start farm-
ing. Eastern markets are easily reached and the best prices are paid for produce.
The chief town is Miles City, which is also the county seat, it is located at
the junction of the Tongue and Yellowstone rivers and is an up-to-date city of more
than 8,000 people. It has two daily and three weekly newspapers, a number of
manufacturing plants, retail and wholesale stores. It is the distributing point for
a large territory, ships more horses, cattle, sheep and wool than any other town
of its size in the country and is a division point for the Chicago, Milwaukee & Puget
Sound railroad with a big payroll. Miles City is the greatest primary horse market
in the world. The stockyards embrace 50 acres and auctions are held every month.
Near the city is Fort Keough, an army remount station, where many horses are
purchased yearly and trained for cavalry service. With the beginning of war, Miles
City has been a favorite purchasing point for horses for foreign armies.
The climate is similar to that of Wisconsin, with a mean temperature of 44
degrees. The altitude is about 2,300 feet, severe storms are rare. In an average year,
175 days are clear, 125 are partly cloudy and from 65 to 80 days are rainy. The
normal raiUall, about 15 inches, falls largely during the growing season. Cottonwood
and ash trees grow near streams and pine and cedar in the hills. The county is
underlaid with lignite coal which provides cheap fuel.
There are about 792,000 acres of unappropriated land in the county subject to
homestead entry, with probably 30,000 to 40,000 of this tillable. Most of the homestead
land close to railroads has been taken up. A man who has $2,500 or $3,000 can buy a
piece of land close to market which will bring him excellent returns. There are more
than 205,000 acres of state land, which has been selected with an eye to its availability
as farming land. This may be bought at auction for a reasonable amount. Probably
340,000 acres are in the forest reserves. Custor county desires to go into sugar beet
raising and a canning factory is also needed to take care of the large amount of
vegetables raised there.
The assessed valuation of the county in 1918 is $20,703,257 including railroad
property.
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DAWSOX COUXTY.
Dawson county is one of the largest counties in Montana, and leads all other
counties in the amount of land available for homestead entry, having a total of
1,503.508 acres unreserved and unappropriated. Of this amount 907.450 acres is still
unr.urveyed. The total acreage in the county is 2,0S5,459. Dawson is also one
amount of state land available, having 277,322 acres of this land,
much interest to the prospective settler, for it contains some of
cheap land in the state. Most of this land id at present a con-
front the railroad. However prospective railroad lines will tap
this territory when finally built. The lines have been surveyed and con-
started. They will be completed as soon as normal conditions make the
of the first in the
It is therefore of
the best free and
siderable distance
much of
struction
It is located in the extreme east and
Dawson county was one of the leading
construction possible.
Dawson is one of the prairie counties,
semi-plain region of the state. Formerly
localities in the west for the production of stock and most particularly prominent
for its large production of wool. Of recent years stock raising and wool growing
have steadily given way to diversified farming. As the old range is rapidly fenced
up, the large live stock companies and ranches have been replaced by smaller
farmers, who are importing a better grade of live stock and are producing crops of
corn, flax, wheat and oats which were hitherto considered impossible.
The climate and soil conditions of this district have proven astonishingly
adapted to the raising of all kinds of small grains. The soil is a dark sandy loam
witli a heavy clay subsoil, producing an abundant and nutritious covering of grass,
which gave to eastern Montana the fame it enjoyed for many years of being the
greatest "long grass" country in the Union. It is proverbial that where you find
good grass there you will also find good soil, and it is a theory that has never
yet been disproved. The altitude — a trifle over 2,000 feet — is also an advantage from
the standpoint of the scientific agriculturists.
In recent years as high as 900,000 bushels of flax, wheat, oats and barley have
been shipped from Glendive, the county seat, in a single season. Other towns have
large shipments. The average yield of wheat per acre is varied, of course, with
the seasons, but yields from 25 to 40 bushels per acre arc common, oats run from
50 to 85 bushels per acre and flax will average S to 15. There have been 75 car-
loads of potatoes shipped to eastern markets from Glendive. As high as 400
bushels of potatoes have been raised on one acre of unirrigatcd land and this product
is becoming one of the prominent money makers of I lie county. The potato grown
In this district is a large mealy variety and has brought the highest price on the
Twin City and Chicago markets. While a few years ago it was not believed possible
to grow mature corn in this territory, the average farmer is pro-rating his crops
of corn in proportion to that of small grains. In 1915 Dawson county won the first
and second prizes on Northwestern Dent corn at the St. Paul Corn Show. In Decem-
ber, 1916, at the First National Corn Show, held in St. Paul, Minnesota, Dawson
county took two first and two second and three third prizes.
Glendive is the largest town in the county and is the county seat. It has a
population of more than 5,500. From formerly a straggling frontier town of log
cabins it has evolved in a few years to a modern city with substantial business
blocks and beautiful homes, paved and graveled streets and lighted by electricity
and natural gas. It owns its water plant. Gas is piped from a well 12 miles
away in the Cedar Creek country.
The city of Glendive is the operating center of 500 miles of railway and the
headquarters of the Yellowstone division of the Northern Pacific. Five hundred
men are employed in the various departments of the company and the annual
payroll is about $800,000. A new depot to cost $S5,000 was constructed last year
The N. P. hospital costing $125,000 is here. Three grain elevators and a flour mill
of 200 barrels capacity are among the local enterprises which help handle the wheat
and grain. It has excellent schools and several private hospitals and five churches.
Among the other towns in the county is Circle of S00 inhabitants on the new
line now under construction by the Great Northern. It has two banks and a
number of prosperous business houses and is located in the famous Red Water
Valley, having some of the finest agricultural lands in the state. Among the other
towns are Fallon, Red Water, Richey, Jordan, Intake, Bloomfield and Linsay.
The assessed valuation of the county in 1918 is $1S,4G9,652 including railroad
property.
PEER LODGE COUNTY.
Deer Lodge county is another of the original nine counties of the state. The
■county has been whittled down to such an extent by the formation of new counties
that it is of small area at present, ranking next to Silver Bow as the smallest
county in the state.
Like Silver Bow it is small but rich. Likewise it is noted chiefly for its mineral
wealth. It is a mountain county, but contains as well, a part of the famous Deer
Lodge valley, where truck gardening, farming and fruit raising are conducted suc-
cessfully, although on a rather limited area, due to the small amount of agricultural
land available. There are also ranches of note in this valley of the Deer Lodge river,
which extends over from Powell county into the county of Deer Lodge.
The chief industry is copper smelting. At Anaconda is located the Washoe
Smelter, of the Anaconda Copper Company, which employs many thousand men and
has a monthly pay-roll of hundreds of thousands of dollars. This great smelter is
the largest and most modern ore reducing plant in the world and smelts about one-
fourth of the copper produced in the United States. The ores are brought from the
mines at Butte, 28 miles distant, directly to the smelter by the Butte, Anaconda &
Pacific Railroad, which was built for this traffic, and which is operated exclusively
by electrical power. Even alter an inspection of the smelter one can scarcely
comprehen , the immensity of its operations. In connection with the smelter is an
•extensive sulphuric plant.
Constant progress is made in reducing the cost of production of copper by
lessening the cost of getting out ore at the mines and in treating it at the smelters.
Large savings have recently been affected by the increased use of electrical power;
and the mines of Butte and the smelters of Anaconda and Great Falls are models of
efficient operation, while the wage scale is the highest in America.
Anaconda, the county seat, owes its existence to Marcus Daly, founder of the
copper industry in Montana, who was attracted to it by the presence, so near Butte,
of an abundant supply of water. It has grown into a city of about 17,000 inhabitants,
is an attractive place of residence, has one of the most costly hotel edifices in the
state, many large business blocks, handsome dwellings, a daily newspaper, and manu-
factures lire and building brick. The county court house, the Hearst library, and
the Margaret Theatre would be notable buildings in a much larger city.
The Montana State Fish Hatchery is located at Anaconda in the beautiful
Washoe Park. From here each year are sent thousands of fry to repopulate the
streams and lakes of the state, to supply sport for the nimrods.
The population and business interests of Deer Lodge county are chiefly centered
in Anaconda at the base of the mountains. In the mountain section are placer and
quartz gold mines, extensive forests and scenic beauty spots which attract the eye
not only of tourists from outside the state, but also from the people of Montana who
take advantage of the good roads and beautiful scenery in that section. The Butte,
Anaconda and Pacific railroad recently has extended its lines to the mineral region
near Georgetown, where the mineral discoveries indicate that it will become an
important mining district.
At Warm Springs is located the state asylum for the insane, costing $500,000
•or more. On the farm attached to the institution, is maintained the finest herd of
pure bred Holstein dairy cattle in the state.
The head of Deer Lodge valley, located in this county is noted as one of the
best developed and richest agricultural sections in the state. The markets of Butte
and Anaconda absorb all the farmers and gardeners can produce. Live stock raising
is carried on, too, to a considerable extent. While wheat, oats, barley, potatoes, hay
and all manner of vegetables thrive, there is also a considerable amount of fruit
grown and the dairy and poultry industry is very profitable because of the near-
ness to good markets.
The climate of the county is good. Being on the west slope of the Rockies, it
is within range of the warm chinook winds in winter, which come from the Pacific
Ocean. The mercury rarely falls below zero, and when it does, it is seldom for more
than one day at a time.
The area of the county is 746 square miles. It has 72,106 acres of land that
have not yet been homesteaded and 9,471 acres of state land. More than 300,000
acres are in the national forests, affording pasturage for livestock during the
summer season.
The assessed valuation of the county in 1918 is $12,866,450 including railroad
property.
I i
I W I B A U X rJ — I
FALLON COUNTY.
With the creation of Carter county by the state legislature at its 1917 session,
Fallon county lost 3.318 square miles of: its former territory. There remained
within the county 1,685 square miles, or about one-third of the original size of the
county. However, over half of the population was left within Fallon, and with this
number added to by the development of gas during the past two years, Fallon is
considered one of the best developed of the newer counties. The population of the
county is now estimated at close to 7,000 people, or about 1.500 more than Carter
county. The possibility of oil discovery is bringing in new immigrants continually,
and this has increased the population to quite an extent.
Fallon county, though somewhat cut down in territory, is still one of the best
in the state. It is one of the extreme eastern counties. Wibaux county bounds it
on the north, North Dakota en the east, Carter on the south and Prairie county on
the west.
For many years, Fallon, which was then a part of Custer county, was merely
a great stock range; today it is largely a grain field, and every year thousands of
new acres are brought under the plow.
There are no rivers of importance watering the county, but Fallon creek and
Pennel creek, together with a number of small streams How through it. Extensive
valleys follow the courses of these streams and back of these valleys are great
stretches of bench lands, which are being farmed by the non-irrigated method.
The county is largely agricultural at the present time, with a considerable
amount of stock raising as a side industry. The chief crops are wheat, oats, flax and
corn, while all kinds of garden products do very well. The yields in the county have
been large, due to the lavorabfe climatic conditions and the excellent character of
the soil.
The county has retained its reputation as a livestock county, and all kinds of
animals are rapidly increasing. Today, however, they are all kept on the smaller
farms and are in the nature of a higher grade of well bred stock. Dairying is also
rapidly increasing, with a number of excellent and well kept dairy herds. Cream-
eries are being built and more high grade cows imported from eastern states.
Alfalfa is being raised more extensively for winter feed, and silos are built, on a
number of farms.
In addition to the farming and stockraising industries of the county, natural
gas has been developed on a large scale. It is because of this that Fallon has
attracted so much attention from the other parts of the state and from places outside
the state in the last few years. Several wells have been drilled close to the town
of Baker, in which a fine deposit of gas has been found. The gas has been piped to
Baker and is used for heating purposes. A heavy flow of gas, 18 miles from Baker,
was recently encountered at a depth of 650 feet. This is 250 feet more shallow than
the wells which have been supplying Baker. Eventually, it is hoped, these fine
supplies of cheap fuel will be used for industrial development, that will locate at
these places. It is said that this same gas lield underlies most of the county.
In addition to the gas development there is extensive prospecting now in
progress for oil in commercial quantities. A test well for this field is being drilled
in Dawson county, near Glendive, a short distance from Baker, which should prove
this field as far as oil is concerned.
Baker, the county seat and principal town, is growing rapidly. It is one of the
newer towns of the state, but claims a population of about 2,000. It is located on
the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railway and has access to a large territory. The
discovery of gas wells has greatly added to the population of the town. A flax-tow
mill was established a couple of years ago in Baker and is pronounced a success.
Baker has a progressive population in every respect. A fine school system,
including a four year accredited high school, is the pride of the town. Up-to-date
business houses, elevators, churches, hotels and banks are found here.
Kingmont, Westmore and Plevna are other towns on the railroad which are
thriving and promise to be rivals of the county seat. Plevna is the location of the
United States weather bureau for the county.
There are 18,641 acres of public land in the county subject to homestead entry
and 51,255 acres of state land.
The assessed valuation of the county in 1918 is $7,016,729 including railroad
property.
FERGUS COUNTY.
Fergus county is located in the very center of the state. Practically every agri-
cultural growth favored in a temperate zone finds hearty encouragement in its soils.
Stock raising has always been carried on extensively in the county. No other county
in Montana offers a more profitable field for agriculture and stock raising.
In the past ten years agriculture has supplanted every other industry in im-
portance. The famous Judith Basin, which comprises the western half of the
county, is now known as one of the important wheat producing sections of the
world. Its 2,000,000 acres will all be yielding grain or hay crops within the next
five or six years. Recent settlement of the eastern sections of the country has
demonstrated its worth for grain crops of all kinds, and in the country tributary
to the Musselshell and Missouri rivers exceedingly fine crops of corn are grown.
Until a few years ago the fact that corn could be grown within the confines of
Fergus county was not even considered.
No country on earth produces a greater yield of wheat per acre than the
Judith Basin. Reliable statistics have shown the average yield per acre in
some years to exceed 35 bushels. In the eastern sections around Grass Range and
Winnett, which lie outside the Judith Basin, unusually large crops of wheat have
resulted during the few years such crops have been grown there. In addition to
the wheat crop, which is the most important, large crops of oats, rye, barley, and
all the hay crops, are grown in all parts of the country.
Fergus county is a wealthy community. The entire state does not offer in
any of its divisions a people who are in general more happily situated.
The waterway?, draining the county are Judith River, which conveys the
waters of the Judith Basin to the Missouri River and the Musselshell and Flat-
willow, which traverse the eastern sections.
There are numerous thriving towns in Fergus county, places of less than a
thousand people, which supply big prosperous tributary regions. Among these
might be mentioned Hobscn, Moore, Denton, Windham and Stanford, all in the
Judith Basin, and Grass Range, Roy, Winnett and Winifred, in the eastern and
northern sections.
Lewistown, the county seat, has claimed for many years with considerable
foundation for the assertion, that it does more business in dollars and cents than
any city of its size in the world. With an estimated population of 7,500, Lewistown
is recognized as one of the leading business points of the entire state. Recent
activities in railroad building by the Great Northern and Milwaukee systems are
bringing every part of the county into close touch with the county seat. When
ther.e lines shall have been completed, Lewistown will be the most important rail-
way center in the state. During the past two years several large wholesale and
jobbing houses have opened branches in Lewistown, and two cement and stucco
plants, employing several hundred workmen, have been built, one of them being an
extensive producer at this time. The four banks of Lewistown show resources
approximating $6,500,000.00.
Two very important features in the affairs of Fergus county are its efficient
school system and its good roads. Practically every school district has its com-
fortable, well located school house. The fact that Fergus county roads are the best
in Montana is admitted by every one who knows.
The mining district has been and is now an important factor of the county's
wealth. Kendall and Maiden have been steady producers of gold ore, with some
silver-lead production in the latter camp, while recent discoveries in the Cone
Butte district of the Judith Mountains have disclosed extensive ledges of high
grade copper ore. Gild Edge, at one time the country's greatest gold producer, is
showing much activity this year. In the western part of the county, at the
foothills of the Belt Range, an English syndicate is mining sapphires from a
great ledge which has been exposed for a length of fully four miles. These gems
equal the famed sapphires of Ceylon and Burmah, both in brillance and value
as gems. The ledge is located in the Yogo district.
There are not any large areas of desirable lands left for the homesteader in
Fergus county, but the price of deeded lands is reasonable. Many of the big early-
day holdings are being segregated into tracts to suit the purchaser, while other
lands may be acquired at prices that are attractive when their producing qualities
are known.
The assessed valuation of the county in 1918 is $28,424,013 including railroad
property.
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FLATHEAD COUNTY.
Flathead county is located in the northwestern part of Montana. Its eastern
boundary is the main range of the Rocky Mountains; its northern boundary tho
international boundary line. The northern part of the county is mountainous and
distinctly scenic. Glacier National Park is proving a big asset to Flathead county,
as Kalispell is the gateway city to the western entrance at Belton. A line auto-
mobile boulevard out of Kalispell runs to Belton over the National Park Highway,
traveled annually by thousands of tourists, whose demand stimulate the production
of the farms and market gardens.
The timber resources of Flathead county adds greatly to its natural wealth.
More than 20,000,000,000 feet of standing timber is in the Flathead district. Lumber-
ing is one of Flathead county's biggest industries, affording labor to more than
2,000 men annually. The Soniers Lumber Company at the head of Flathead Lake is
one of the largest manufacturing plants of lumber in the northwest. A large
per cent of its product is made into railroad ties which are processed in an
immense pickling plant at Scmers, Montana.
The annual output of lumber in Flathead county approximates $2,500,000.
Horticulture is one of the leading industries in the county, especially in the
Flathead Lake region, where some large and fine orchards are producing premium
fruit. It was fruit from Flathead orchards, largely, that carried off the big prizes
at the San Francisco Exposition. The big sweet cherries. Bing and Lambert do
exceedingly well in Flathead valley and ripen ater the Washington and Oregon
cherry is off the market, leaving the Flathead product in the market to itself.
Small grain yields are very heavy, wheat running from 35 to 50 bushels per acre;
oats G5 to S5 bushels per acre; potatoes 150 to 500 bushels per acre; barley, rye,
timothy and clover heavy yields, also alfalfa is a most profitable crop, doing well
in the low sub-irrigated river and creek bottoms and on all soils and in nearly
all locations. Its great r.uccess has increased the dairy output greatly and has
been a strong feature behind the swine industry.
The elevation of Flathead county is z,i)65 feet and its climatic conditions are
ideal. It has never known hot winds nor blizzards, and its wind velocity is the
lowest in the United States. The annual precipitation is 15 to 18 inches. In 1910,
when the northwest was burned up by a severe drouth Flathead county had a
fair crop.
Some of the largest water powers in the United States are in Flathead county.
The Pend d'Orielle Falls at the foot of Flathead Lake near Poison has been reserved
by the Government for a nitrate manu acturing plant. The Northern Idaho and
Montana Power Company has ceveloped a power plant at Big Fork, using the Big
Fork river. This company is furnishing power to Kalispell manufacturing firms
and light to Kalispell. Its rates lor power are very low and it offers splendid
inducements to manufacturing firms that want power. Kalispell, Poison. Whitefish,
Columbia Falls, Somers, and Big Fork are the principal towns in the county. All
these towns are well located and prosperous with rich agricultural districts sur-
rounding them.
The cut over or stump lands of Flathead county offer to settlers of moderate
means the best inducements in the state. There are many thousand acres of these
lands in Flathead valley, not far from Kalispell, Big Fork, Whitefish, Columbia
Falls and Poison that can be bought at the low figure of $5 to $25 per acre.
Some of these tracts are river bottom land, sub-irrigated and where a crop can
be raised every year. This land grows clover and alfalfa in abundance, making
the best dairy ranches. Many of these cut over claims are near the forest reserves
and offer locations for stock ranches as the stock in summer can be grazed on the
forest reserves. Every acre of this $10 land, when cleared is worth $100 for
growing alfalfa and clover.
High grade farm seeds are being grown in the county for big eastern whole-
sale seed houses, under contract. Montana alfalfa, clover and timothy seed brings
the highest price of any seed offered for sale. Flathead county oifers inducements
to settlers in its fine climate, good water, scenic conditions, rich soil, fruit growing,
good roads, splendid schools, cheap lands, cheap and abundant fuel, water power,
dairy locations, in fact a new country yet developed with every district school in
the county graded, high schools, the Kalispell school having almost 600 students.
Some of the best farm lands sell for $100 to $125 per acre. Some of the farm
land is as well improved as any of the eastern farms.
The assessed valuation of the county in 1918 is $15,538,217 including railroad
property.
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GALLATIN COUNTY.
Gallatin county was named after the Gallatin river, discovered by Lewis and
Clark in 1S05. Early in its history it became famous for its agricultural products,
which today make it one of the finest counties in the entire state.
The county is well watered. Its southern boundary extends to Yellowstone
National Park and is a mountainous region through which the West Gallatin river
and its numerous tributaries flow. The mountains are heavily timbered and there
are numerous parks or meadow lands which afford excellent feeding grounds for
stock. Good coal has been found in this region and there are deposits of asbestos
and copper. This part of the country is much frequented by hunters and fishermen
and is regarded as a veritable paradise for the sportsman. A good road emerges
from Yellowstone park and winds through picturesque canyons, along which are
mountains and gorges and streams of surpassing scenic beauty.
Farming and ranching are conducted largely in the foothills descending from
the mountains and in the wonder; ul fertile Gallatin valley, which is known all
through the northwest as one of the greatest larming sections in the state. The
valley lands are irrigated from the waters of the West Gallatin and tributaries,
while farming is prolitably engaged in on the bench lands, without irrigation.
The irrigated and unirrigated lands are about of equal extent but every year
there is an increase in the number of acres farmed, these being non-irrigated
tracts in the foothills which have heretofore been used to an almost exclusive extent
for grazing purposes.
The Gallatin valley, as has been stated, was one of the first of the pioneer
counties to make farming the main industry of its people. The annual production
of its farms is greater, perhaps, than those of any other county in Montana.
Scldcm, if ever, has there been a crop failure in the section, indeed there, has
never been a total failure from any cause. The average production of grain per
acre is probably unequalled in any section of the United States. Reports of
nearly 200 irrigated grain tiehls embracing more than 14,000 acres show that the
wheat yielded better than 52 bushels an acre, oats 7G, barley 5S and potatoes
291.5. Reports from about 7,000 acres of unirrigated lands show the average
yield per acre was 42 bushels. The money returns and the fertility of the soil,
give the valley the title of "the Egypt of America."
Much of the grain is taken for seed and in the past there have been exporta-
tions to the Orient and Australia.
All hardy varieties of fruit, large and small, yield abundantly. Vegetables
show large yields, celery being especially fine. Strawberries and raspberries yield
remarkably.
Dairying is on the increase and poultry raising proves to be exceedingly
profitable.
Gallatin county is well supplied by railroads, the Northern Tacific, Chicago,
Milwaukee & Puget Sound and the Gallatin Valley, the latter a subsidary of the
C. M. & P. S. A road comes in from the Trail Creek coal fields.
Principal towns arc Bozeman, Three Forks, Belgrade and Manhattan. Three
Forks with two railroads, has a population of more than 3,000 and is a modern
little city with its own waterplant and lighted by electricity. Manhattan is a mill-
ing and shipping point, Salesville in the southern part and Maudlow in the northern
part are also shipping points of importance. Belgrade has large flouring mills
and elevators and is a grain buying and shipping point. At Trident is a large
cement factory employing a large number of men. Logan is a junction point on
the Northern Pacific railroad and a trading place for the lower Madison valley.
Bozeman, the seat of the county government and also the location of the State
Agricultural College, is well entitled to its claim of being the "Beautiful." The
city is modern in every respect, has beautiiul homes, wide, well paved streets bril-
liantly lighted, pretty lawns and parks, big shade trees, owns its waterworks,
paid fire department, street car lines, U. S. Land Office, Montana Experiment
Station, U. S. Fish Hatchery, flouring mills, cereal food factory, elevators and
numerous small factories.
Little desirable homestead land is left, but the state owns more than 50,000
acres of farming and forest lands. The forests embrace 840,418 acres. About 790,000
acres are privately owned.
The assessed valuation in 1918 is $19,903,184 including railroad valuation.
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GRANITE COUNTY
Granite county was created from the western part of Deer Lodge county in
1893. It lies east of the Bitter Root valley and much of its territory is mountainous.
It has a number of fertile valleys where ranching and grain raising is carried on to
a large extent. The slope of the land is from the high mountains in the south to
Hellgate river in the north. In the mountain area is much beautiful scenery,
excellent hunting and streams in which trout are abundant. There is also a large
supply of timber.
The county, however, is chiefly noted for its mineral wealth. Since some years ago
it has achieved a world wide reputation in this respect, the Granite Bi-Metalic mine
at Philipsburg having produced to date between $50,000,000 and $70,000,000. The
reduction works are being remodeled and the oil flotation system of treating ores
has been installed. It seems certain therefore that this famous mining property Avill
soon take its old place as a heavy producer. The mining of manganese ore
within the last year has been taken up vigorously and more than 200 tons are
being shipped daily from the immense deposits east of Philipsburg to the eastern
markets. Experiments are being conducted to reduce the manganese ores by
electricity, working toward a new industry the manul'acture of lerro-manganese.
A $350,000 plant is planned.
In the West Fork district of Granite county great quantities of sapphires have
been mined. The stones, which are found in gravel deposits, from which they are
taken by hydraulic mining, are of value as gems when of the first quality and as
abrasives when of inferior grades.
Much attention has been paid to the breeding of improved strains of horses and
cattle. Belgian, Percheron, Shire and standard bred stallions have sired young
horses that have sold for high figures. At least half of the range cattle is Hereford
stock.
The valleys of Flint and Rock creeks and Hellgate river contain many acres of
irrigated lands that yield pro use crops of grain and grasses. Flint creek valley,
extending from Drummond to Philipsburg, embraces the most productive agricultural
section. The soil is alluvial, rich and deep, and convenient railroads transport grain,
grasses and vegetables to the market close at hand. Oats make large yields and
crops of 75 to 100 bushels per acre are not uncommon. In Rock Creek valley are
many fine ranches. The average production of grain is high, but hay is the chief
crop. Hellgate valley has an easterly and westerly trend and a width, in places,
of more than a mile of rich alluvial soil. The Northern Pacific and the Chicago,
Milwaukee and Puget Sound railways run through it; and its productive lands offer
advantages that are equalled at few places.
The advantages of the county for fruit growing are attracting attention. The
suitability of the soil and climate for the successful production of fruits on a com-
mercial scale is shown by several orchards.
Improved irrigated land ranges in price from $50 to $100, unimproved irrigated
land, $20 to $40 and unimproved dry land $10 to $20 an acre.
Philipsburg, the county seat and principal town is a terminus of a branch line
of the Northern Pacific and has an estimated population of 1,550. It is located on
a commanding position on a terrace of Flint Creek valley, has good drainage,
water system, electric light plant, court house, fine homes, business houses, two
bunks, two big garages and a fine theater. Not a vacant house is to be found in
the town and rooms are high.
The public schools of Philipsburg and the Granite county high school afford
excellent opportunities for obtaining a good education. Hall, in the Flint Creek
valley, is in the center of a proliiic farming section, has an up-to-date creamery, and
has a number of business establishments, is within easy reach of lignite coal mines,
and controls the trade of a populous farming district. Drummond, on the main line
of the Northern Pacific railroad where the Philipsburg branch starts, is the trading
place for the northern end of the county, has mercantile houses, a newspaper, and
men who will be glad to tell of the advantages the neighboring country has to offer
to the homeseeker.
The estimated population of the county is 4,500. Practically all land suitable
for homesteading has been taken. The unappropriated land lies in the forest re-
serve and is too mountainous, for the most part, for homesteading.
The area of the county is 1,728 square miles.
The assessed valuation of the county in 1918 is $4,962,993 including the
railroad valuation.
HILL COUNTY.
Hill county is another of the northern tier of counties, touching the Canadian
line. It was created by a vote of the people March G, 1911, being carved out of a
portion of old Chouteau county. It is bounded on the north by Canada, on the east
by Blaine county, on the south by Chouteau and on the west by Toole. It is just
at the center of the state, east and west, being practically the same distance from
North Dakota and from Idaho.
This county is strikingly typical of eastern Montana in its rapid development,
of its agricultural resources and the things that make for advancement in other
ways. Formerly regarded as lit only for grazing, it has furnished homes for
thousands of new settlers who have filed upon the public land and have made good
as settlers and farmers. Many in the early days took up one hundred sixty acres,
when they had the pick of the land while the later comers have been able to get
three hundred twenty. From these homesteads they have acquired enough of the
world's goods to now be regarded in most cases as independent for the rest of their
lives. An exceptionally large percentage of the land of the county is tillable and
the county is rapidly taking its place as one of the most productive counties of
the state, with sufficient rainfall.
Most of the tillable land is farmed by the dry farming method and the crops
produced have been satis'. actory and in some cases large. Although grain raising
is considered the principal occupation, the raising of livestock lias by no means
been neglected. Formerly a ranching country, it has continued to be a natural home
for livestock, although the animals are taken care of now by the small farmer in
small herds. Many of these are now well graded stock, which is typical of the
change in Montana stockraising. Dairying is gaining favor in the county and cream-
cries are beginning to be quite common. Hog raising has received much encourage-
ment in this county and is rapidly becoming a source of the farmer's prosperity.
The chief crops grown are, wheat, oats, flax and barley. Some corn is raised
and on this the hogs are fed, principally. The numerous elevators which are to be
seen at every small town bear testimony to the fertility of the soil and the amount
of grain raised in the county.
The Milk river enters Hill county and flows on east into Blaine and Phillips.
It is along here that the principal part of the Milk River Reclamation Project is
located. The project has only been completed enough in Hill county so far to supply
limited areas. Besides Milk river there are numerous small creeks which water all
parts of the county.
Discovery of natural gas within two miles of Havre — gas in such quantities
that it heats the city, adds much to the attraction which the county holds out to
settlers. There is much prospecting for oil, and geologists are authority for the
statement that both gas and oil underlie a portion of the county. The utilization
of the large deposits of natural gas in the vicinity of Havre make it probable that
that city will shortly become a manufacturing center of considerable importance.
Havre, the principal city and county seat, has undergone great development
and growth within the past few years. It has an estimated population of more
: than 5,000 and an assessed valuation of more than $2,000,000. It has three banks,
j three wholesale houses, two daily and three weekly newspapers and many fine
business blocks and hands.ome residences. Its schools are considered among the
> best in the state. It has city water and an electric lighting system and is thoroughly
modern in every respect. The Great Northern transcontinental line passes through
it and here is located a division point. The payroll from the railroad shops is a
■ goodly sum and adds to the prosperity of the community.
Hingham, Kremlin, Iverness and Gildford are other growing towns along the
Great Northern railway.
While the influx of homesteaders has been large, there is still some good land
to be had by filing. There are more than 82,000 acres of unreserved and unappro-
priated public land available for entry under the homestead laws. There are also
204,183 acres of state land that can be purchased at a low price.
The population of the county is estimated at about 25,000 people. The assessed
valuation in 1918 is $17,084,718 including the railroad property.
JEFFERSON COUNTY.
Jefferson county is located in the west central portion of the state. It is
approximately sixty miles long by forty-five miles wide, and embraces 1,650 square
miles. The elevation runs from 4,100 feet in the Jefferson valley at the south end,
to 4,900 feet at Boulder, the county scat, with several mountain ranges reaching an
elevation of 7,000 feet. The population is approximately G.500, and assessed valua-
tion $6,S63,679. The principal industries consist of farming, stock raising and
mining. The central and northern portions are given largely to stock growing and
mining, while the southern portion is engaged principally in the agricultural
industry.
The Northern Pacific, Great Northern and Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul rail-
ways, three transcontinental lines, pass through this county. The Alder branch of
the Northern Pacific, also runs south from Whitehall.
The old stage road from Fort Bonton to Salt Lake City passed through this
county; and the present Yellowstone Trail or highway traverses the southern por-
tion thereof. The famous Morrison Cave or the Lewis and Clark National Monument
is located in the extreme southeastern portion of the county; and, though not yet
open to the general puhlic, is pronounced by many to be one of the most beautiful
caves in existence.
Oats, winter wheat, rye, potatoes and hay are the chief crops. Irrigated oats
yield from 25 to 50 bushels per acre and a bushel often weighs 44 pounds. Winter
wheat and rye yield from 30 to 50 bushels on irrigated and lroni 15 to 40 on non-
irrigated land.
Native grasses make excellent hay, and alfalfa yields from 3 to 6 tons to the
acre. For butter, eggs, vegetables and fruits the many mining camps supply a
market. Diversified larming is pursued by many and dairying is profitable. Hardy
apples produce abundantly. Excellent opportunities are present for the farmer,
fruit grower, dairyman and gardener as well as for the capitalist, who will help
to develop mines, and the stock grower. In addition to precious metals are deposits
of limestone and cement rocks. The excellent granite that was used to construct
the wings of the State Capitol was quarried in Jefferson county, only ten miles
from Helena.
Boulder, the county seat, has a population of about 1,000 inhabitants. It is the
home of the State School for the Deaf, Blind and Feeble-Minded, one of the lead-
ing institutions of its kind in the northwest.
Three health and pleasure resorts are located in the county; the Boulder Hot
Springs, Pipestone Hot Springs, near Whitehall, and Alhambra Hot Springs at
Alhambra. Other towns of the county are Clancy, Basin and Corbin where mining
activities predominate.
Jefferson county is favored by its close proximity to the markets of Butte and
Helena, the latter being the state capital. At East Helena a large smelter handles the
ores from the mines of Jefferson county.
Whitehall is the center of the agricultural community, and because of the
agricultural development, and the sugar beet industry, is having a rapid growth.
School facilities are unusually good in Jefferson county. There is a county high
school at Boulder.
Jefferson county is engaged extensively in dairying. The southern portion of
Jefferson county is the home of the president of the State Dairymen's association;
and the home of one of the leading Holstein Dairy associations of the state. The
Pipestone Irrigation Project, recently completed, has brought 8,000 acres of rich land
under irrigation. And the Whitehall Deer Creek Project just north of Whitehall,
now being constructed, will add approximately 5,000 acres more to the irrigated
territory.
A large sugar beet factory is now being constructed at Whitehall.
Land Area — Jefferson county, which is in the Helena land district, embraces an
area of 1,642 square miles, including 342,3^8 acres of public land available for entry
and 26,134 acres of state land.
For further information regarding the county, address the secretary of the
Commercial club at either Boulder or Whitehall.
LEWIS AX!) CLARK COUISTY.
Originally named Edgerton county, Lewis and Clark is one of the oldest counties
of the state. Its resources comprise agriculture, stock raising, dairying, in all their
various branches and while it cannot be said to be a fruit center, all of the different
fruits do exceedingly well where they have been planted and cultivated.
It is one of the earlier mining centers of the state, the mines of Marysville,
Rimini, Unionville, Scratch Gravel, Grass Valley and other quartz mining dis-
tricts have produced many millions of dollars. The earlier mining consisted of
placer gold mining, through which many millions were taken from the ground in
and adjacent to Helena, the county seat. For many years after 1893 mining was at
nearly a standstill owing to the closing of the silver mines due to the demonetiza-
tion of silver and serious mining litigation. It is again coming to the front owing
greatly to the efforts of the Helena Mining Bureau organized by the citizens
•of Helena four years ago. During the period of its existence many of the old
mines of the county have been reopened and are today producing gold, silver and
lead in paying quantities.
The main agricultural sections of the county are the Prickly Pear valley con-
taining ahout 100,000 acres, lying north of Helena, the Missouri valley adjacent to
it and the Sun and Dearborn valleys in the upper northern half of the county.
In these sections there are many large and beautiful ranches given to the pro-
duction of the various grasses and grains, or high bred cattle, hogs and sheep.
All of the small grains and root crops produced are of the highest grade anJ some
•of them have achieved fame en account of their excellent quality. This is especially
true of the potatoes of the Pricldy Pear valley. From this section comes a large
proportion of the "Great Big Baked Potatoes" served lor many years on the dining
cars of the Northern Pacific railway. These potatoes competing against the
world were given the gold medal at the Panama-Pacific Exposition.
The climate of the county is cne of the best, pleasant summers and mild
winters predominating. The Prickly Pear valley at Helena has, according to the
U. S. Weather Service records, the longest growing season in the state.
The principal irrigaticn projects are those in tne Sun River country and that of
the Montana Reservoir & Irrigaticn company in the Prickly Pear valley near Helena.
The latter is a pumping project covering approximately 9,500 acres. The water is
pumped lrom the Missouri river by electric power furnished by the three large
power dams of the Montana Power Company at Canyon Ferry, Hauser Lake and
Holter. These dams produce an aggregate of 100,000 horse power which is trans-
mitted to various parts of the state. The river runs through one of the most
scenic parts of the mountains. The dams make 55 miles of quiet water on which
small motor craft ply, taking the tourist to places of natural grandeur, which can
be reached in no other way and which amply repay the visitors for the time neces-
sary to cover them.
Helena, the capital of the state, has a population of 18,000. It is said to be
one of the most beautiful towns in the west with fine public school system. Catholic
parochial schools and college, a Methodist college, churches of all denominations,
public libraries and societies for the promotion of liberal and scientific education,
theatres and other good amusement facilities. Its manufacturing interests comprise,
crackers, candy, dairy products, rugs and carpets, architectural granite and slate,
brick and tile, wood working, galvanized iron cornices, soap, candles, architectural
iron, mining machinery, soft drinks, lime, book binding and printing, seeds and
flowers, ore concentration and others. Several large oil, automobile and mercantile
companies make the city their district distributing point. The wholesale trade of
the city consists of groceries, coffee roasting, hardware, dry goods, drugs and
chemicals, mining supplies, wines and liquors.
Helena is also the location of the Montana State Fair.
Its bank deposits total $19,000,000 and monthly clearings average $9,000,000.
East Helena, population 1,500, four miles east of Helena, is the location of
the large smelter of the American Smelting and Refining Company employing an
average of 500 men and smelting the ores of Montana and surrounding states.
There is also a meat packing plant under construction, bank, mercantile institutions,
good schools and churches.
Augusta, Gilman, Marysville, Wolf Creek, Craig, and other smaller places are
active growing towns in good mining and agricultural sections. The county is noted
for its excellent system of roads leading from Helena to all parts of it and passing
through unrivalled scenery.
For further information address the Helena Commercial Club.
DOMINION
OF
CANADA
The C/&son Map Co., Denver; Co/o
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LINCOLN COUNTY.
Lincoln county is considered one of the garden spots of the state, being rich
in scenery, in fertility of the soil, in forests and in water power. It boasts of the
heaviest rainfall of any county of the state, which makes it a very desirable
locality for dairying and farming.
The county occupies the northwest corner of the state and comprises a large
area. It was created frcm Flathead county in 19C9. The greater part of the
county is mountainous and heavily timbered. Streams and lakes are numerous.
The great river of this part of Montana is the Kootenai, which is said to have a
larger flow of water than either the Missouri or the Yellowstone. Tobacco, Fisher
and Yakt rivers are important tributaries draining large regions. These rivers are
capable of power development because of the swift flowing current, and cataracts.
The county is visited annually by thousands of tourists. It is a favorite resort
for the hunters of big game. Fishing is excellent in the streams and lakes.
The industries are lumbering, mining, farming and fruit growing. Lumbering is
the leading industry and large lumber mills are operated at Libby, Eureka and
Warland. It is estimated that there are twenty billion feet of merchantable timber
standing in Lincoln county. Large numbers of men are employed at good wages
in the lumber industry whose permanence is assured. The lumber camps furnish a
local market for farm products and the wages of the workmen contribute largely to
the business of the town.
The mineralized area is extensive and rich. In the southwestern part is the
Libby silver-lead mining district whose rocks are said to be a counterpart of those
of the rich Coeur d'Alene district of Idaho. The Snowshoe mine, in this district,
has produced about $1,000,000. About 40 miles southeast from Libby are the "West
Fisher gold fields where many discoveries of rich ores have been made and much
development work done. As soon as a railroad is built into this district, it will
begin to produce large quantities of gold. In the northern part near Eureka, are
also promising mineral claims; and the Yakt district, in which is Sylvanite, contains
much mineral wealth. The quartz mines present many opportunities for the suc-
cessful investment of capital to aid in their development. The Libby placers were
among the lirst discovered in Montana and have been producing gold since the
early sixties. Hydraulic mining followed the ground sluicing and gold dredges may
be used where the ground is favorable.
The average rainfall is about 24 inches and irrigation is not necessary. The
growing season is long, and the altitude away from the mountain peaks, is low,
being 2,308 feet at Eureka, 2,113 at Jennings, 2,055 feet at Libby, and 1,881 feet at
Troy. Tobacco Plains is the largest area without a growth of timber; smaller tracts
of the same kind exist in many sections, and the area of farm lands is annually
added to by the clearing of cutover timberlands. Throughout the county the
conditions of soil, rain'all and climate are such as to insure prolific growths of all
grains, grasses, vegetables and fruits.
As a fruit country, Lincoln county has exceptional advantages. The Tobacco
Plains district has a number of excellent orchards. Apples, plums, pears, cherries,
and berries of all kinds produce large crops of excellent quality. The same is true
of the whole Kootenai valley, which has the lowest altitude of any part of the
state. Many thriving orchards exist near Libby and every year a number of acres
of newly cleared land are planted to orchard trees. Troy is at an even lower altitude;
and the whole Kootenai valley has the advantages to make it one of the greatest
fruit districts in the country.
The main line of the Great Northern runs through the county and a branch line
through Eureka and north to tap the coal lields of Canada.
Libby, the county seat, Eureka, a big lumbering center and Troy, a railroad
town are the principal towns of the county. Libby, on the Kootenai river, has a
population of about 2,000, is modern with electric lights, newspapers, cement
sidewralks, miles of graded streets, beautiful homes, substantial business houses,
water works and a huge sawmill. Eureka is the chief trading point for the
Tobacco Plains country, has electric light, waterworks, creamery, banks, newspaper
and a large sawmill.
Lincoln county's area is 3,660 square miles, including 4,640 acres of un-
reserved and unappropriated public land. The county also has 56,925 acres of
state land.
The estimated population of Lincoln county in 1918 is about 8,000. The assessed
valuation in 1918 is $6,951,277 including the railroad property.
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MADISON COUNTY.
It was in the GO's, when gold seekers attracted by the rich placer diggings of
Alder Gulch, flocked in by thousands, that Madison county's agricultural worth
was discovered.
For nearly a year after the discovery in 1863, there were 30,000 in Alder Gulch
and vicinity, and as food was scarce and had to be freighted from long distances,
many who were unable to secure mining properties, turned farmers and helped
supply those who worked the diggings. The fertility of the soil was thus known
early and those who engaged in raising foodstu fs at that time, probably fared
better as a class than the men who worked the placer mines.
The valleys of Madison county are among the most productive of the state.
The early day farmers naturally chose the land along the creeks and streams
because they were easy to irrigate and close to the gold diggings, their market.
That left the rich bcnchlands tor the later corners who have tbrived upon them.
From the mining county of 40 to 50 years ago, Madison county developed into
a great stock raising community, where horses and cattle were raised the year
around on the open ranges. Now the livestock is largely crowded to the forest
reserves and are fed upon the ranches where hay is grown in huge amounts. Year
by year the open range is disappearing and the county will soon be filled with
settlers who iinl profit in the growing of grains and forage crops. Some of the
best bred horses, cattle and sheep in the United States are to be found in this
county. Big herds o: cattle and sheep are still numerous
The county is watered by the Madison, Jefferson, Ruby, Beaverhead and Big
Hole rivers and their numerous tributaries. A large quantity of hydro-electric
power is available, part of which is utilised by the Montana Power Company,
which has built, seven miles from Norris, a dam across the Madison and established
a plant which generates 20, COO horse power the year around. The power is trans-
mitted to Bozeman, Livingston and other places east.
The chief agricultural districts are in the valleys and between the mountain
ranges which traverse the eastern boundary, the center of the county and the
western border. The Jeiferscn valley extends from the northern boundary to
Twin Bridgs, where the river is formed and embraces its own drainage and those
of the South Boulder and Willow Creek, a great extent oil valuable farm land,
South of Twin Bridges are the Beaverhead and Ruby valleys, the lormer about
15 miles long and 5 miles wide and the latter 30 miles long and from a mile to
three miles wide. These valleys contain many valuable farms. The Ma.ison
valley is about 3G miles long and including the bench lands, about five miles
wide. The upper part of the Willow Creek valley extends to Pony and Norris.
Large crops of oats, wheat and hay are raised. Meadow Creek, McAllister, Ennis,
Jeffers, Cameron and Lyon are postoffices in the Madison valley, which has room
for perhaps live times its present farming population. There are many stock
ranches in this section. The Waterloo section is adapted for all agricultural pursuits
and fruit raising.
Small iruits prove a valuable crop and dairying is on the increase. Sugar
beets grow well, the yield being from 16 to 20 tons. The sugar content is high.
Mining is still one of the big industries of the county. The county produces
more gold than any other in the state. Quartz mining followed the rich placer
mining but at the mouth of Alder Gulch large dredges are still handling large
quantities of gold bearing dirt. The greater part of the county is in a mineralized
region and numerous mining camps exist — Silver Star, Iron Rod, Twin Bridges,
Rochester, Sheridan, Virginia City, Pony, Norris and Red Bluff, are surrounded
by mining districts.
The principal towns are Virginia City, the county seat, an important mining
and commercial center and a town of great historical interest for it was the
territorial capital; Twin Bridges which is situated at the head of the Jefferson
valley is a lively bustling town, a stock shipping point and the location of the State
Orphans' Home with its numerous buildings; Pony a town used as a trading point
for the Willow Creek country; Sheridan, surrounded by rich farming community
and near to producing mines.
The Northern Pacific has a branch line extending from Whitehall to Alder
and another from Sappington to Pony and Norris. The population of the county is
estimated at 9,000. There are 617,88/ acres of land available for homestead entry, of
which 330,718 acres are not yet surveyed. There is also 115,900 acres of state
land in the county. The land area is 3,588 square miles. The assessed valuation
in 1918 is $9,566,552 including the railroad valuation.
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MEAGHER COUNTY.
Meagher county was once one of the largest counties in the state and was one
of the sixteen counties existing when Montana was admitted to the Union in 18S9.
It has since been hacked and sliced by new counties until its area, though still
quite large, has been reduced to 2,369 square miles. Its last loss of territory came
during 1917, when by legislative enactment, Wheatland county was organized and
in addition to a row of townships from Sweet Grass county, it took from Meagher
1,184 square miles.
The county was named for General Thomas F. Meagher, once acting governor
of Montana territory, a soldier of fame both in the old world and in the United
States, whose statue adorns the grounds of the Capitol at Helena.
Meagher county is separated from the Missouri valley by the Big Belt range
of mountains. The creation of Wheatland county sliced off about a third of the
county, taking in the eastern part, including the towns of Harlowton and Judith
Gap, located in an agricultural section. The northern boundary of Meagher is the
Little Belt mountains.
The principal railroad is the Milwaukee, which crosses the southern part of the
county from east to west. A branch line of this road runs to White Sulphur
Springs from the main line.
The chief farming district is in the Smith river valley in the northern part
of the county. The southern part of the county has long been and is still a great
stock country. Large tracts of land were acquired by stockmen who ranged
cattle and sheep on the open range and raised hay and grain for their own use to be
fed during the winter. Lands in the valley were irrigated, and it is only within a
few years that farming has been carried on to any extent on unirrigated land. Irri-
gated lands in the Smith river valley produce large crops of wheat, oats, barley,
timothy, alfalfa and vegetables.
This valley is about 50 miles long by 12 to 15 miles wide. It was formerly
given over largely to stock raising, but settlers discovered the fertile soil was
adapted to grain raising and a considerable area was put into crops the past two
or three years, although a railroad is badly needed to market the crops. The yield
shows 35 bushels of winter and as high as 53 bushels of spring wheat, 50 to 75
bushels of oats and 2 to 4 tons of hay to the acre. The oats is heavy, running
as high as 45 to 48 pounds to the bushel. The county has won many prizes at
the State Fair. Sixteen Mile creek which rises in the Castle mountains and flows
west through a canyon joining the Missouri at Lombard is a scenic route much
favored by tourists.
Meagher county has been very famous as a stock region. Cattle and sheep
are ranged and much of the irrigated section of Smith River valley is devoted to
the raising of hay for winter feed.
There is considerable mineral in the mountains but except at Delph there is
little activity. At one time Castle was a producer of silver in quantities.
White Sulphur Springs, the county seat, is an old town, but modern neverthe-
less. It has a fine hotel, a city auditorium, ample to serve a city thrice its size,
court house, electric lights, a high school, graded schools, three churches, cement
sidewalks, banks, a newspaper, many retail stores and fine residences. The town
is picturesquely situated near the head of the Smith river valley 18 miles from the
main line of the Milwaukee railroad, with which it is connected by the White
Sulphur Springs and Yellowstone Park railroad. The wTaters of the wonderful springs
that give name to the town possess healing qualities of great value. The water has
a copious flow of 110 degrees. The springs have been bought by John Ringling,
the circus owner, who will make them a great health resort. Some of the large
ranches in the neighborhood have been divided up and sold to farmers.
The county is in the Helena land district and 325,219 acres of public land are
still available for homestead entry. There are also 91,585 acres of state land. The
estimated population of the county is about 3,000.
The assessed valuation of the county in 1918 is $7,609,693 including railroad
property.
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MINERAL COUNTY.
Mineral county was created in 1914 from the western part of Missoula county,
and hence is one of the newer counties of the state. It is in the extreme western
end of the state, next to the Idaho line. The county is of irregular shape, running
northwest and southwest, along the Idaho boundary about midway in Montana. It
is bounded en the north by Sanders county, the Coeur d'Alene mountains separating
the two. On the cast are Sanlers and Missoula counties, on the south and west
is Idaho. The Bitter Root mountains frcm the western boundary of Mineral county,
separating it from Idaho. Nearly the whole county is in the Lolo National Forest
reserve.
Two railroads traverse the county from end to end, following the irregular
direction of the county. They are the Chicago, Milwaukee and St .Paul and the
Northern Pacific. These follow the Missoula river for a considerable distance through
the center of the county, and then the head waters of the Clark's Fork of the
Columbia, to the Idaho line.
The county, which is generally composed of picturesque ranges of mountains,
is practically cut in two by these two rivers and thus contains one of the longest
and most fertile valleys of the state, although the valley, in many places is very
narrow. Back of this valley there are, in places, benchlands which have been
found to be very productive. A steady growth in agriculture on these lands has
been noticeable in the pact few years, and many good ranches have come into being.
The county for many years has been the seat of activity in lumbering and
mining, and these are yet the principal industries. The county has many mountain
ranges and heavy forests. At St. Regis is located one of the largest saw mills in
Montana and at Henderson another big mill is in operation. West of St. Regis
the land is heavily timbered and for years to come there will be a supply sufficient
to keep the mills running at capacity.
The mining properties are located near Superior and in the western end near
Saltese. The past year about 500 men have been actively engaged in mining and
many prospects are being brought into the producing class.
There is a possibility of development of 20,000 horse power from the swift
running Clark's Fork, a tributary of the Columbia and when this is reached, much
impetus will be given to the industrial life of the county.
From the standpoint of scenic beauty and hunting and fishing, the mountains
of the county ot'ier a lure to tourists and sportsmen. Good roads and trails lead
into the bills and the entire section is easily accessible. The great abundance of
timber makes the county cne of the finest camping places in the state. The main
automobile road frcm Missoula into Idaho and on to the coast, traverses the entire
length of the county, up the Missoula river valley.
The principal town is Superior, the county seat, with an estimated population of
about 400. It is located on the Clark's Fork between mountain ranges and has two
weekly newspapers, a bank with more than $100,000 deposits, a number of retail
stores, a theater and churches. The schools are excellent. Other towns are De-
Borgia, St. Regis and Saltese, all located on the railroad.
In the development of the county it seems probable that dairying will soon play
an important part. The excellent pasturage which the cut over lands of the county
furnish, together with the purest water and a never failing market for dairy
products, tend to make dairying very remunerative along the Clark's Fork and
Missoula rivers. This industry promises to enjoy much growth in the future. More
cows are being brought into the county and creameries are planned at the smaller
towns, which should open up the industry in good shape. There is also an abundance
of hay for winter feeding.
The estimated population of Mineral county, based upon the school census
of 1918 is 2,244.
All of the land in the county has been surveyed. There is a total area of
57,795 acres of unreserved and unappropriated public land at the present time,
subject to entry under the homestead laws. In addition to this there are 20,085
acres of state land that can be purchased at a low price. The national forests
include about 875,000 acres.
The assessed valuation of Mineral county in 1918 is $4,560,236 including the
railroad property which amounted to more than $2,000,000.
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MISSOULA COUNTY.
Missoula county was one of the counties in the state at the time it was admitted
to the Union. Since then the flourishing counties of Ravalli, Missoula, Sanders, Flat-
head, Mineral and Lincoln counties have been formed from Missoula county, which
still retains an extensive area, with a large variety of natural resources. The
county is in the extreme western part of the state. It is on the western slope
of the continental divide and has an average altitude of 3,000 feet. Its area is 3,022
square miles; its estimated population, 30,000.
Agriculture, in various forms, constitutes the chief industry of the county,
though lumbering is of almost equal importance. Mining, milling and manufactur-
ing are also prominent.
Missoula county has become widely known for her yields of grain and fruit.
With these two products, she has time and again won first prizes at state and
national expositions. But profitable as are these two forms of agriculture, farmers
of the county are fast coming to realize that natural conditions in Missoula county
offer the greatest reward to dairying and stock raising. This is practically a new
view point on agriculture in this county, but already it has gained a good foot-
hold and is rapidly spreading.
Grain and fruit ranches in many cases have given way to this new form of
agriculture. Mild climatic conditions, cool nights and warm days, an abundant
supply of clean water, and luxuriant growths of clover, alfalfa and peas combine
to afford to dairying advantages which are exceptional. The growth of this in-
dustry is making itself manifest in the many new creameries which are springing
up in the county. The Missoula creamery, situated in Missoula, is probably the
pre-eminent example. It has only recently been constructed but already has the
largest business of the kind in western Montana. In all recent state tests for
richness and purity, Missoula creamery butter has led.
Stock raising, too, is rapidly gaining in importance as a form of industry in
Missoula county. Here, again, conditions of climate, soil, an1 nature in general,
are especially favorable. There are in the county, two breeding herds deserving
special mention. They are those of T. L. Cape of St. Ignatius, and of Harold
Haegg of Ronan. Both are Holstein herds. The success with which hay may be
grown in the county, is another inducement to stockraising. Clover, alfalfa and
some varieties of wild hay grow in abundance.
The fruit of the Bitter Root valley and the grains of the Missoula and Mission
valleys, are still counted as the county's most important crops. Bitter Root
cherries and apples are in first demand in the eastern markets. The Mcintosh
Red apples grown in the Bitter Root have been adjudged the best in the world at
national expositions. Missoula county wheat has for years won first prizes at
state and national fairs.
Lumbering is carried on extensively in the county. The Anaconda Copper
Mining company's mill at Bonner, the Western Lumbering Company's mill at
Milltown and the Harper and Baird mill at Hayes spur, are the most important
of the saw mills of the county, though there are many others being operated.
This year the output of the A. C. M. mill alone will be 150,000,000 feet.
Missoula, St. Ignatius, Ronan, Bonner and Ravalli are the more important of
the towns of the county.
The city of Missoula is the metropolis of the western part of Montana. It is
conveniently located at the northern end of the Bitter Root valley which extends
south for about 65 miles, has the Missoula valley adjacent to it, is close to the
Flathead reservation on the north and to the Big Blackfoot valley on the east.
Missoula is a well built, progressive city that has all modern improvements, good
public, business and private buildings, banks with large deposits, electric lights,
power and street railway, two daily newspapers, numerous large business houses,
a number of manufacturing establishments and openings for many more. A beet
sugar factory is in operation here. The Western Montana Apple show is an
annual event in Missoula and wonderful displays of Montana fruits are made. The
secretary of the State Board of Horticulture, who is also the chief inspector of fruit
and fruit trees, maintains an office in the city. The headquarters of the United
States forestry service for district number one are also in Missoula, at which is also
located the United States land office for the district. Fort Missoula is an army
post in the suburbs. Missoula is the seat of the University of Montana which, in the
few years since its establishment, has grown to be an institution of great usefulness.
It is a delightful place of residence and is known as "the Garden City."
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MUSSELSHELL COOTY.
Musselshell county is named from the Musselshell river, which traverses the
county from west to east and with its tributaries drains the greater part of the
county. The county was created from parts of Fergus, Yellowstone and Meagher
counties, by an act of the legislature, on March 1, 1911.
Its industries are coal mining, stock growing, grain farming, and diversified
farming to a limited extent. Its ccal deposits are very extensive, estimated to
cover an area of seme GOO square miles. A small percentage of these lands have
been exploited, but several producing mines are being operated in the county, pro-
ducing upwards of 7,000 tons daily. An excellent grade of coal is mined, a large
amount of it being used by the Milwaukee railroad for its engines.
A constantly increasing acreage is being seeded to wheat, the production in
1917 being estimated at 1,000,000 bushels. For 1918 the acreage is considerably
increased, and the yield will be correspondingly heavier. Dry land iarming is
the prevailing method of eultivatien, and yields of from 25 to 40 bushels of wheat
to the acre are not uncommon, the average yield being about 28 bushels. A small
acreage lying along the river is irrigated ani produces splendid alfalfa, clover,
corn and garden crops. The bench lands are surprisingly productive, and alfalfa
and sweet clover have been successfully grown on these lands. Among vege-
tables the root crops are yielding good returns, and cats, ilax, barley, and rye
arc produced extensively.
There are very few homestead lands to be had which arc suited for general
farm purposes, most of them being enly suite! for grazing. There are, however,
plenty of lands which may be purchased at reasonable prices, and on long terms,
Rvhich will make splendid wheat land. The cairying business is coming into
prominence, and will eventually be cne of the chief sources of revenue of the
farmers who are preparing for it. Sweet clover is being extensively sown for hay,
pasture and silage, and seems to thrive on dry land and benches.
Formerly the territory comprising this county was devoted to extensive cattle
and sheep ranches, some of which still remain, but with the ccming of the rail-
road, settlers and homesteaders appeared, until now the production of small
grains is the chief occupation of the farmers. There are still several big outfits
operating ranches, and shipping a substantial number of cattle to eastern markets.
Roundup, the county seat and chief city is a thriving city of nearly 5,000 peo-
ple, with paved' streets, sewer, water and light systems, and substantial business
houses and banks. Two coal camps located at the outskirts of the city produce
5,000 tons of coal daily, and give employment to nearly 1,000 men whose payroll
averages $100,000 per menth. Four elevators and a llcuring mill care for the
large wheat crop tributary to this point. There is a four year accredited high
school and an excellent graded school system.
Melstone at the eastern extremity of the county is a division point for the
railroad and furnishes a trading center to a large number of farmers in that
section. It also has several undeveloped coal fields which will eventually add
materially to its prosperity.
Ryegate at the western end of the county is surrounded by a fertile farming
community. It is a substantial town and is increasing in importance and popula-
tion.
Lavina is also one of the agricultural centers of the county and the rich farms
around it are causing it to grow and prosper. An artesian well furnishes an abund-
ance of fine water at good pressure. The new town is located about a mile from
the old town which was quite a noted place in the old stage coach days.
The area of the county is 2,944 square miles, and is located in the Billings
and Lewistown land districts. There are about 37,194 acres of public land yet
available for homesteading while 93,388 acres of state land can be purchased in
the county. The population is estimated at about 14,000.
The character of the soil, the climate conditions and sheltered positions of
considerable area of land in Musselshell county suggest that fruit growing on a
commercial basis would be -successful; and the growing of sugar beets on irrigated
lands in the valley would surely be carried on on a large scale if there were a
beet sugar factory within shipping distance.
The assessed valuation of the county in 1918 is $15,119,187 including the
railroad property.
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PAIIK COUNTY.
Park county is located in south-central Montana, extending north 100 miles
from the north line of Yellowstone Park, is 50 miles wide on its south, and 40 miles
wide on its north line. The elevations above sea level vary from 4,000 to 8,000 feet,
affording the variety of topography that is marked with valley, bench, foot hills and
mountain. Both the east and west' lines of the county are occupied with ranges
of high mountains, the Crazy range on the east, being erratically artistic spurs of
the Rockies. The center of the county is occupied by two large and fertile moun-
tain valleys. The Shields River valley extends south from the north line of the
county 50 miles and is frcm 25 to 30 miles in width. The Yellowstone valley which
enters at the east center, extends west 20 miles, then turns south extending 50
miles to the north entrance to Yellowstone National Park. This valley varies
from 5 to 50 miles in width. Added to these are many small tributary valleys and
mountain basins that add largely to the agricultural and pastoral lands. Scenically
the county is one of the most beautiful sections of the continent.
Park county has a national reputation as an agricultural and pastoral prize
winner. The soil of its fertile valleys is the richest and strongest on the conti-
nent, the analysis showing a composition of nitrogen, phosphorous, lime and potash,
all the most valuable elements of plant food. The lands, with their extremely
nitrogenous and mineral plant lood content, will produce grain, grasses and
vegetables steadily and bountifully, for an indefinite period. The soils of Park
county are noted for their production of grasses and of the finest quality of hard
milling spring and winter wheat, the acreage production ordinarily running from
twenty-five to fifty bushels and yields up to sixty bushels are not uncommon.
Oats yield seventy-five to one hundred and twenty- ive bushels and alfalfa, from three
to five tons to the acre. All vegetables and moderate-zone fruits are grown in
the greatest abundance. High grade seed peas, the total estimated crop of which
will this season exceed 100,000 bushels, alfal a, timothy, clover, etc., are grown
abundantly. Cattle and sheep raising are prominent sources of wealth production
and during the past couple of years, many high grade milch cows have been
imported into the country. The climate, good drainage, pure water, clean pastures
and easy production of milk-producing fodders, warrant the prediction that in the
near future the valleys and basins will be largely devoted to dairying. The weather
throughout the year is genial and healthLul and from an agricultural standpoint
wholly advantageous.
The largest prospected and considerably developed mineral area in the county
Is the New "World mining district or which Cooke City is the center. 1'he district is
unusually large, being about eight by twelve miles and embracing many hundreds
of claims. It contains a great variety of minerals and is considered to be the
most important mining center in the state, excepting Butte, when it reaches its
development. So far it has been handicapped by lack of transportation. However,
a company has secured a permit to construct a road through Yellowstone Park,
the line running a few miles south of the north line of the Park, from Gardiner to
Cooke City, a distance of 55 miles.
The southwestern part of the county has great supplies of coking and bituminous
coal, dykes of gypsum, lime, marble and granite.
Livingston is the gateway to Yellowstone National Park and is visited annually
by over twenty-five thousand tourists. It is the county seat of Park county and
is a live, prosperous and wide awake city of 7.000 people. It has a fine water system,
electric lights, sewers, cement walks and paved business streets, county court house,
city hall, fine federal building, public library, six grade school buildings, county
high school, parochial school, line church buildings of nearly all religious denomina-
tions, four banks, modern hotels and mercantile establishments, large railroad shops
and moving picture shows and theatres. The Northern Pacilic passenger depot is of
large proportions, providing ample and com.ortable facilities for handling the
business of the city and the National Park travel.
Other towns in the county that are in a thriving condition are, Wilsall, Clyde
Park, Hunter's Hot Springs, Chico Hot Springs, Emigrant and Gardiner. The
latter town is at the entrance of the National Park, and is considered the official
entrance to the great playground.
PHILLIPS COUNTY.
Phillips is one of the newest counties in the state, having been created in
February, 1915, from the eastern portion of Blaine county and the western portion
of Valley county. It has for its northern boundary the Dominion of Canada and
the Missouri river forms its southern boundary. It is situated about midway
between the Rocky Mountains and the North Dakota line.
The county has been rapidly settling during the last five years, very few home-
steaders having ccme before 1913. They have come in so rapidly that there is at
the present time very little hemestead land desirable for agricultural purposes,
although there is still a gocd deal of land left. The dry land farming produces the
greatest income and the county is dotted everywhere with the homesteaders' cabins
where dry land methods are used. Those who have made a careCul study of dry
farming methods are making a very ccmfortable living. Many people who came to
Phillips county five years ago, with nothing, are now estimated to be worth from
$5,C00 to $15,000.
This county is in the central part of the Milk River Irrigation Project which
when completed will water a total acreage of 220,000 acres. Phillips county lias
approximately r<2,0C0 acres capable of irrigaticn. The natural How of the Milk
river is supplemented by water stored en St. Mary's river in the edge of Glacier
Park and diverted from that river to the Milk river. Storage is also provided at
Nelson reservoir,, located in a natural basin between Malta and Saco. This water,
though brought a leng distance, iurnishes an adequate supply during the hot dry days
when it is needed. Under the irrigation ditch there are always good crops.
The Little Rock Mountains are situated in the southwestern part of the county
and rival the big Rockies lor scenery. It is here that the mines of Phillips county
are located. Ihe county has four mines producing gold and silver and they are
of much importance, ranking secend in these metals in the state and seventh in
value of total production of minerals. The Whitccme Mining Mills are situated in the
Little Rockies and are considered the second largest cyanide plant in the United
States.
The percentage of sunshine in Phillips county is very large. The weather
reports show seme days in the winter to be cold by the themometer, but the
residents know that these days are bright with sunshine. Forty degrees below zero
in Montana is not as cold as fifteen below in a damper climate. Many of the old
settlers and ranchers graze their cattle cut during most of the winter months.
Malta, the county seat, is a modern town in every respect. It has experienced
a very material growth since becoming a county seat and now has a population
of approximately 1.5C0. It is one of the most important trading points in northern
Montana and supplies the needs of the settlers within an area of 3,000 square
miles. Other important towns in the county are Saco in the eastern part and
Dodson in the western part, both now being incorporated and being trading points
for a large area in their respective parts o; the county.
The town of Bowdoin, situated on the shores of Bowdoin Lake has grown like
magic. The Great Northern railroad has recently made it a division point and has
a twenty-five stall roundhouse and extensive yards at this place The town
promises within a year or two to become the metropolis of the county.
Considerable drilling is being done in the county for oil and the indications for
striking oil are excellent. A large district, comprising twenty-eight townships, most
of it located in Phillips county, has been withdrawn by the federal government as
good oil territory.
On account of the rapid immigration into this county, the population can only
be estimated. The War Department basing its estimate upon the military registra-
tion, gives the county 26,6C9 people.
Phillips county, which is in the Havre and Glasgow land districts embraces an
area of 5.266 square miles, including 1,325,9*1 acres of surveyed and unsurveyed,
unappropriated public lands available for entry under the homestead laws, 143,342
acres of state land, and 29,240 acres of national forests.
The assessed valuation of the county in 1918 is $7,083,585 including the rail-
road property.
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POWELL COUNTY.
Powell county was carved from the old county of Deer Lodge, along with
Silver Bow and Granite counties in 1901. It is one of the first agricultural sections
to be reached after crossing the main range of the Rocky Mountains west of the
continental divide.
The industries of the county are mining, stock growing and farming. In 1858
placer gold was discovered and this, it is claimed, was what load to the settlement
of Montana. The placers have been worked from early days and much gold re-
covered. Quartz mines are to be found on both sides of the Deer Lodge valleys and
there are valuable properties in the Opbir and Ovando and Elliston districts. Sap-
phires have been found in Dry Cottonwood Creek, not far from Deer Lodge, the
county seat.
Deer Lodge valley where much farming is done on irrigated tracts, has an
exceptionally rich soil. Dry land farming is profitable, there being abundant
rainfall. The valley is served by two railroads, the Milwaukee and the Northern
Pacific, and has an area of about 300,000 acres of farm lands and 500,000 acres
of grazing land. Its topography consists of a stretch of river bottom from 10 to
15 miles wide and gently rolling bench lands from fifty to five hundred feet above
the river level. The lower slopes are generally irrigated, the benches being used
for dry farming. The foothills are grazing lands. The altitude of the valley is
4,500 feet above sea level and the climate mild and healthful. Few winter days
see zero weather.
According to government reports the rainfall is 18.38 inches annually and
comes largely in April, May, June and July, the growing mouths for crops. Evapora-
tion is at a minimum, owing to absence of hot winds.
The soil in the valley varies from a rich black loam to a light chocolate, in
depth from ten inches to ten feet. It has a gravelly sub-soil and produces heavy
crops of wheat, oats, barley, flax and field peas without appreciable exhaustion of
the soil.
Alfalfa and hay are the big crops in Powell county, but there have been big
crops of winter wheat, oats, barley and flax, fruit and garden truck. Dairying
and poultry offer exceptional inducements as well as hog raising. The proximity
of the markets of Butte and Anaconda are a big factor in making intensive farming
pay big profits.
The valley of the Little Blackfoot. though not extensive has many good farms.
The Big Blackfoot valley is a fine stock country which will change to a farming
district when railroads enter it. On some of the large ranches and on smaller
ranches and homesteads, excellent crops have been raised. The northern part of
Powell county is almost exclusively a stock raising district at present. Cultivated
grasses make large yields and the native grasses are abundant and nutritious.
Water is plentilul and is furnished by mountain streams, springs and wells which
vary in depth from ten to thirty feet.
In the northern part of the county the timber is ample for a considerable
amount of lumbering and there is an abundance of fuel.
The main line of the Northern Pacific alter crossing the main divide follows
the course of the Little Blackfoot and at Garrison is joined by the line from Butte,
extending through the Deer Lodge valley. The Milwaukee railroad runs through the
Deer Lodge valley.
Deer Lodge, the county seat, is a city of beautiful homes, has churches and
graded schools and St. Mary's Academy for girls. There are many substantial
business houses, banks and cement sidewalks, waterworks and sewerage system. The
Montana State Prison is located at Deer Lodge.
*"" Other towns are Elliston on the Little Blackfoot in a mining district, Garrison,
a railroad junction point, Ovando and llelmville, the latter the principal trading
town in the northern part of the county and surrounded by a good farming region.
The county has an area of 2,549 square miles, including 207.500 acres of
unreserved and unappropriated public land available for entry under the home-
stead act, and 0,S31 acres of state land. It population is estimated at 3,000 people.
The assessed valuation of the county in 1918 is $8,588,181 including the rail-
road valuation.
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I'ltAJIHE COUNTY.
Prairie county was Montana's baby county until the last session of the state
legislature created two new counties, Carter and Wheatland. It is one of the
smallest agricultural counties. It was formed in 1915 from parts of Custer and
Dawson, both of which are large counties in the eastern part of the state.
It received its name from the noble prairies of which it is entirely composed.
It is a county of excellent land and for that reason is well settled and well
developed. In fact, it is one of the best, developed counties of eastern Montana,
embodying the choicest parts of both Custer and Dawson, from which it was
taken. Practically the entire area of the county is available for farming purposes
although 29,515 acres are still listed by the federal land office as available for
homestead entry. There is no unsurveyed land in the county. Because the county
is small, all parts of it are within easy access of the railroad, so the county has
some of the best transportation iacilities. Undoubtedly it will be but a short time
until every tillable acre in the county is under the plow, as the development which
had so well begun in this section before it was created a county has continued with
even more vigor since its separation.
Prairie county is watered by the Yellowstone river, which flows through the
county from west to east, and by a number of smaller streams which flow into the
Yellowstone. While there is seme irrigation practiced in the county, it is not
emphasized to any extent. Very fine yields have been secured by non-irrigatd farm-
ing, so irrigation is not deemed necessary.
This county, like the rest of eastern Montana was formerly the home of great
herds of cattle. Now, however, on every hand is seen the well cultivated and well
fenced farm. Acres of wheat, cats, llax, rye, barley and corn have been planted and
are being planted where in lormer years cattle reigned supreme. Fine dairy barns
and silos are being tuilt, and dairy herds of well bred cattle are being installed,
Cream separators and creameries are found everywhere and butter brings a good
price.
Prairie county is in the heart of the "corn belt" of Montana and with Custer,
Rosebud, Fallon, Wibaux, Carter, Dawson and Richland make up the corn counties
of the state. The leng growing season and the high number of heat units of this
section, which is the highest in the state, enables corn to mature in good shape.
The heat units at Miles City, only a short distance from Terry, the county seat of
Prairie county, are 3,971, or nearly the same as Minneapolis, Minnesota, which has
4,000. This is considered sufficient for good corn growing, as has been demonstrated
in Prairie county. Besides the corn raised here, there are large crops of wheat,
oats, rye, barley and potatoes planted. Practically every kind of vegetable thrives
because of the length of the growing season.
The climate is practically the same as that of Iowa and Illinois. The alti-
tude is approximately 2,300 feet, insuring cool nights, there are comparatively few
severe storms; the air is dry and one does not feel the cold of winter or the heat
of summer as in more humid regions. The normal rainfall is in excess of fiTteen
inches, more than half of which tails during the growing season and, under proper
cultivation, this has proved ample for all crops in this soil.
Two railroads, both of them main lines, pass through the county. They are
the Northern Pacific and the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul which supply excellent
connections and shipping facilities to eastern points. Good markets are thus made
convenient to any part of the county.
Terry, the county seat and principal town, is served by both of these roads and
is the large distributing center for the farming country adjacent. It has had a rapid
growth in recent years and is today considered one of the most important eastern
Montana towns. It is progressive in every respect having all the conveniences of a
modern city. It has a four year accredited high school, churches, hotels and busi-
ness houses of metropolitan appearance. The town of next importance in the county
is Fallon, which is located near the eastern edge of the county. It serves a farming
community and has a large trade and a bright future. The other towns of the
county are smaller villages and are easy of access from most of the farming
communities.
Land area — Prairie county, which is in the Miles City land district, embraces
an area of 1,685 square miles. It has 29,515 acres of land open to homestead entry,
classi.ied as unreserved and unappropriated land. It also has 59,337 acres of state
land that is available at a low price.
The assessed valuation of the county in 1918 is $6, 951,120 including the rail-
road property.
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RAVALLI COUNTY.
Ravalli county is one of the richest and best improved counties in the state.
It is located in the famous Bitter Root valley, noted because of the salubrity of
the climate, the fertile soil and beautiful scenery. All but about 15 miles of this
valley, which is 75 miles long and varies in width from a mile to 15 miles, lies in
Ravalli county.
Dairying, horticulture and general farming are the chief occupations of the
people of Ravalli, with lumbering an important industry.
An abundance of water for irrigation ccmes from the Bitter Root river, one
of the headwaters of the Columbia river. In the winter the mercury seldom
falls to zero, for the valley is protected by the Bitter Root and Rocky mountain
ranges. The valley is one of the best watered in the west. Fine roads and the
park to park highway makes the valley a favorite of tourists.
In this section the first wheat, oats and potatoes were grown. They were
planted under the direction of Father DeSmet who built the first church in Mon-
tana in 1841. The first saw mill and Hour mill in what is now Montana were
built by the missionaries assisted by the Flathead Indians who inhabited the
section at the time. The county was named Ravalli after Father Ravalli, one of
the missionaries among the Indians. It was created in 1S93 from a part of Mis-
soula county.
In the early days of the county a number of orchards were planted and the
results were such that it was realized the valley possessed great possibilities as
a fruit raising country. Horticulture, accordingly, became a well established indus-
try and is today. Much capital was invested in irrigation and the land is intensively
cultivated.
In the last few years a change has come over the valley and the diversified
farming has come into its own. Small farms are now the rule. The average would
be GO acres. Fruit farms are plentiful and apples, particularly the Mcintosh Red,
are raised to perfection. Small fruit grows in abundance, while cherries, both
sweet and sour arc establishing a place in the world market for the Bitter Root
products. Experts have pronounced the valley as ideal for the dairy industry and
it is taking an important rank. It boasts the first cow testing association to
be formed in Montana and the Bitter Root Cooperative Creamery the maker of
a butter which has taken so many prizes, is the pride of valley. In addition
there are cheese factories at Victor, Woodside, Corvallis and Hamilton and a
creamery at Hamilton.
The poultry industry of the valley also leads the state at the fairs and in
the amount of the annual business. Hogs are largely raised and beef cattle and
sheep are a big item. In general farming the main crops are potatoes, sugar beets,
peas, both for canning and for seed, alfalfa, timothy and clover and grains of all
kinds. Practically every thing is grown in the valley except melons, and semi-
tropical fruits. Corn is now being grown with some success but has not as yet
become an important crop.
Its forest clad mountains furnish an abundance of logs for lumbering. On the
West Fork paying gold placer mines are in operation. In the center of the valley
near Victor a zinc mine is in operation and at many points rich copper prospects
are found. At Darby a coal mine is in operation. On the foot hills dry farming is
successiully carried on and beef cattle and sheep are grazed. All these things con-
tribute to the valley but its main resources are agriculture and upon that its future
will depend.
Hamilton, the largest city and the county seat has a population of 2.240 by the
last census. It has a large department store, creamery, planer, cheese factory, nine
churches, a fine system of schools, and many stores. It has paved sidewalks and
electric lights.
Stevensville is a city of about 1.000. It owns its own water works, has elec-
tricity, is the home of the Bitter Root Creamery Company and has a canning
factory. It is well supplied with churches and has a fine school system, including
a high school.
Darby, Victor, Corvallis and Florence are all thriving towns, each with a large
consolidated school.
Ravalli county is in the Missoula land district and its area is 2,391 square
miles. It has about 2,437 acres of land still open to homestead entry and 2G.458
acres of state land remaining.
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RICHLAND COUNTY.
Richland county is one of the eastern row of counties next to the North Dakota
line. The Missouri river and Sheridan county bound it on the north, North Dakota
on the east, Wibaux and Dawson counties on the south and Dawson county on the
west. It is approximately ninety miles long by fifty miles wide. It is one of the
newer counties in the state having been created from Dawson county in 1914.
Located as it is on the lower Yellowstone Reclamation Project, it is con-
sidered one of the best and most productive counties in the state. The Yellowstone
river flows through the eastern part of the county, northward to its junction with
the Missouri near the Montana-North Dakota line. The valley of the Yellowstone
is from two to six miles wide all through the county. Back above the valley are
higher up-lands, rolling but rich and productive. It was this county that was
formerly regarded as one of the premier stock ranges of the great cattle country
of eastern Montana, when the cowboy ruled the plains. Cattle was shipped in train-
loads from this section only a few years ago. Many of the ranchers from this range
and northern Dawson county drove their stock north to the main line of the Great
Northern, swimming them across the Missouri river, near Culbertson and shipping
from that point to the eastern markets.
The valley land is practically level; its soil is unusually rich and the valley
is irrigated by the lower Yellowstone project which was constructed by the govern-
ment in 1908. There is no stone, gumbo nor sage-brush except in small spots.
The principal crops under irrigation arc alfalfa, all small grains, corn, potatoes
and all vegetables including sugar beets of which there were about 1,000 acres
under cultivation this year. The present crop will be shipped to the sugar factory at
Billings but it is expected that Richland county will have its own beet sugar
factory at an early date.
While the Lower Yellowstone valley has one of the best irrigation systems in
the United States, it is not necessary to irrigate to raise bumper crops on the
up-lands or "bench lands" as they are called here, although large crops are raised
by the proper use of water.
Generally speaking, the bench lands are rolling but quite level in places
and then sometimes running off into rougher land along creeks and rivers. This
land is practically free from stone, chocolate loam in character and underlaid with
clay subsoil. Lignite coal is found in abundance almost everywhere and good
water in unlimited quantities can be obtained at depths varying from 20 to 60 feet
on an average. The average depth for the Sidney district is about 30 feet.
This county is served by the Northern Pacific and Great Northern railways;
the former running up from Glendive and the latter, connects with its present main
line at Snowden. At this time the Great Northern is building its new main line
which will extend from New Rockford, North Dakota to Lewistown, Montana, and
this line runs through Richland county from east to west. This is considered one
of the most important new railroads in the state and will open up a rich territory
through this section.
Sidney, the county seat, is the most important town in the county. It has had
a remarkable growth in the last few years. It is located at the junction of the
Northern Pacilic and Great Northern railroads, the former's branch line running
to Sidney from Glendive and the latter's branch running from Snowden on the main
line. Sidney has a population of about 1,S00 and is considered to be one of the
liveliest and cleanest little cities in the state. It has modem water works, sewerage
system, electric lights, hospital, flour mill, a fine high school and grade school
buildings, and some of the finest mercantile establishments, banks and residences
to be found anywhere.
The other principal towns in the county are Fairview, Lambert, Savage and
Enid. These are all progressive towns with up-to-date business enterprises. There
are a number of smaller places with stores, elevators, etc.
Owing to the fact that there has been a large influx of immigration the past
few years, what homestead land remains, is a considerable distance from the rail-
roads. The new line of the Great Northern, however, will tap a large area of good
farming land. There are about 8S.329 acres of unreserved and unappropriated
public land in the county open to homestead entry. In addition to this there are
92,481 acres of state land that can be purchased at a low price. The population
of the county is estimated to be about 15,000 in 1918. The assessed valuation of
the county in 1918 is $10,585,671.
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R0SE1SUD COUNTY.
Rosebud county is one of the largest in the state, embracing an area of 6,067
square miles. It is one of the counties in the Yellowstone valley, in the south-
eastern part of the state. It is bounded on the north by Dawson county, on the
east by Custer, on the south by Big Horn, and on the west by Big Horn, Yellow-
stone and Musselshell counties.
Rosebud county was created in 1001 from a part of Custer county; and in
January, 1913, a large area in the western and southern parts was taken by the
new county of Big Horn. Rosebud is one of the counties which has been developing
very rapidly in recent years tut is still sparsely settled and offers excellent oppor-
tunities to homeseekers. Stock growing was almost the only industry when the
county was organized and is still a very important one. Large quantities of wool
and large numbers of beef cattle are annually shipped.
The county has a great extent of arable lands and the farming industry is
rapidly growing in importance. Farm lands are of two kinds, irrigated lands, which
are situated in the valleys, and non-irrigated lands, which are situated on the
benches and in the foothills. The chief irrigated districts are in the Yellowstone
and Rosebud valleys where are produced great yields of alfalfa, sugar beets, wheat,
oats, barley, corn and vegetables. In no county in Montana does corn do better,
and stalks and ears of surprising size have been exhibited at the state fairs. The
productiveness of the soil is strikingly shown by the great yield of vegetables and
by the size of specimens. Yields on irrigated lands are about as follows: Wheat,
60 to 60 bushels; oats, 70 to 90 bushels; sugar beets, IS to 22 tons; alfalfa hay-
three cuttings — 2 to 6 tons an acre.
A large part of the Crow Indian reservation was in Rosebud county previous
to the creation of Big Horn county, in which it is now included, together with a part
of the Northern Cheyenne reservation. The agency and part of the latter reservation
remains in Rosebud county.
The Northern Pacific railroad follows the south bank of the Yellowstone river
from the eastern to the western boundary of the county. The Chicago, Milwaukee
and Puget Sound railroad runs along the north bank from the eastern boundary
to Forsyth, at which place it turns to the northwest, passes through the north-
western part of Rosebud county and enters the Musselshell valley at the boundary
line between Musselshell and Rosebud counties.
The principal town is Forsyth, the county seat, which is located on both
railroads, and in population and business is the most important town in the large
extent of country between Billings and Miles City. Forsyth is a progressive place,
has good schools, several churches, a public reading room and gymnasium, municipally
owned water works, a sewer system, cement sidewalks, electric lights, telephone,
a newspaper, banks, hotels, business houses and attractive residences. The railroads
employ a considerable number of men, and from Forsyth are shipped large quantities
of wool and livestock. It is the trading point for an extensive and developing
agricultural section.
Other towns on the Northern Pacific railroad are Rosebud, which is a thriving
town and trading point for a large territory on both sides of the Yellowstone river,
and for the country, drained by the Rosebud river, and Hysham in the western
part of the county, which is surrounded by a very productive couutry and is a pro-
gressive and growing town.
The estimated population of Rosebud county in 1918 is about 15,000, based upon
the latest school census.
The total area of the county is G.0C7 square miles. There are 261,647 acres of
unreserved and unappropriated public land subject to entry under the home-
stead laws. There are 194,956 acres of state land.
The assessed valuation of the county in 1918 is $16,556,818.
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SANDERS COUNTY.
Sanders county is named after Col. Wilbur P. Sanders, a distinguished pioneer
of Montana. It lies in the extreme western end of the state, next to the Idaho line.
The industries are farming, fruit growing, livestock, dairying, poultry raising,
lumbering and mining. Such parts of the county as are not covered with forest
are devoted to agriculture.
In the western half of the county the land is either cut-over land or natural
meadow. Almost all of it is irrigable by private projects. Near Thompson Falls,
3,000 acres in one tract are irrigated frcm Thompson river. This section of the
county is admirably adapted to dairying — clover and other forage crops growing in
abundance. The vast area of national forest reserve furnishes cheap pasturage.
The soil of Sanders county is of varying grades. The bottom lands are of
deep sandy loam, while a gravely loam predominates on the bench lands. The
rainfall varies from 15 inches at the east end to 30 inches at the west end.
Crops grown include wheat, clover, timothy, alfal"a, oats, potatoes, peas,
barley. Fruit raising is extensive, seme of the best orchards of the state being
located in the Plains valley. Apples, plums, cherries, pears and strawberries do
exceptionally well in the main valley.
The great forests are a valuable asset to the county. Along Thompson river
is one of the most valuable stands of white pine to be found in the United States
and the mountains elsewhere have valuable tracts of yellow pine, fir, ce^ar and
larch. The pole and post industry is a profitable one. While much lumbering has
been done in years past, the county's greatest woods are yet uncut.
Mining is an industry that is rapidly growing. This year many copper, silver,
lead and gold producing properties in the territory around Trout Creek and White-
pine are being developed.
As an outdoor land, Sanders county can compete with any section of the
United States. A score of wonderful trout fishing streams, great areas of virgin
forests inhabited by deer, elk, cougar, bear, wildcats, mountain lions, bighorn and
mountain goats offers the best hunting and fishing. Camp sites at beautiful moun-
tain lakes are easily accessible by National Forest trails.
Lands in the cut-over section of the county sell at from $10 to $50 per acre,
according to development. In the prairie section the price ranges from $20 to
$75.
Thompson Falls is the county seat. Excellent schools, churches, two banks,
two newspapers, a good hotel and fine stores are established. A system of water
works supplies the town from a mountain stream. Here is located the giant
power plant of the Thompson Falls Power Co. A dam across the Clark's Fork
river makes possible a development of 50,000 horsepower, all of which is used. Three
other projects for power development are in the 25 mile stretch of river immediately
below Thompson Falls.
Other growing larming towns in the west end of the county are Heron, Noxon,
Trout Creek, Whitepine, Alger and Belknap.
Plains, in the productive Plains valley, is the outlet for a large portion of the
fertile reservation country. It has a system of water works, electric lights, elevator,
a $25,000 public school building, four churches, two banks, a newspaper and
good stores. Some of the linest farms in the county are in the vicinity of Plains.
Paradise is the railroad division point of the Northern Pacific.
Hot Springs, twenty miles from Perma, on the Northern Pacific, on the Flathead
Indian reservation, is noted for its medicinal waters and mud baths. The springs,
located midway between the towns of Camas and Hot Springs, have been leased by
the interior department to a company, which is developing them as a health and
pleasure resort. The lease includes more than 100 acres. It is contemplated to
build an electric line connecting the springs with the railroad and extending beyond
the springs about forty miles. The mud baths are famous as a cure for rheumatism
while the waters are noted for their beneficial effects in the treatment of veneral dis-
eases and intestinal troubles. Unlike the great majority of mud baths, those at Hot
Springs continuously throw out hot mud which runs away with the water. The
springs are open throughout the year.
Perma is the outlet of a portion of the reservation farming country and enjoys
a big trade.
Dixon is the market for the eastern portion of the reservation country and
the fertile valley in Missoula county.
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SHE KID AN COUMT.
Sheridan county is in the northeastern corner, as the state is entered on the
Great Northern railroad. It is a typical western agricultural domain, practically
eighty miles square. While only a few years ago practically every corner of Sheri-
dan county was claimed by range stockmen, they have in a remarkably short time
given away to actual farmers, with well developed farms, equipped with modern
homes and farm buildings, the result of but a few years of endeavor in the west.
Neither has the stock raising industry been abandoned since grain raising became
the principal pursuit, for today all through Sheridan county, farmers are raising
some of the best grades of farm horses, high grade beef and dairy cattle and many
sheep and hogs. The rapid farm development in Sheridan county has been the
means of progressive cities and towns springing un everywhere, and more local
markets for the farm products are being created all the time.
In 1917 the county boasted of having seventy-two elevators, twenty-eight banks
and twenty-four newspapers. Last year there were but two flour mills in the county,
but in 1918 there are ten in operation. The county lays claim to the largest culti-
vated farm in the state — 3,200 acres, all in grain. This big ranch lies south of
Flaxville, and is operated by Kanning Brothers. Four big engines are used for
plowing, discing and seeding the big tract.
Only eight years ago the actual grain raising farmers started operations In
Sheridan county. At that time the town of Culbertson was the only grain market.
It was therefore necessary for many farmers to haul their grain fifty to seventy-five
miles, requiring four to six days to make the trip. There are now seventy-two
elevators scattered along the railroads all through the county. Many of these eleva-
tors are owned by farmers, or by farmers' companies.
The wheat raised in the county is of good quality. The terminal milling points
offer a high price for Sheridan county wheat, because of its excellent milling
qualities.
In every city or town a number of modern improvements and municipal con-
veniences have been installed. Every town is equipped with an electric lighting plant,
electrioliers for the streets, local and farm line telephone exchanges, cement
sidewalks, and waterworks and sewer systems. They have modern school build-
ings and religious facilities. Every town can boast of thrifty, enterprising banks,
physicians and professional men of all kinds, well stocked mercantile establishments
and enterprising shops. Good roads throughout the county are also being improved
each year.
In Sheridan county productive lignite coal mines are being developed throughout
every corner of the county, supplying the farmer with a high grade of cheap fuel
practically within reach of his own door step. The natural resources of the county
are abundant.
Plentywood, the county seat, is a thriving city with a population of nearly
2,000. It has grown from a small hamlet during the last seven years, due to the
adjacent agricultural territory. It is located on the branch line of the Great
Northern which extends into the northern part of the county. Froid, Homestead.
Medicine Lake, Antelope, Flaxville, Redstone and Scobcy are other growing towns on
this branch line. Scobey is the western terminal of the line and has had a very
rapid growth in the last few years.
On the main line of the Great Northern, along the southern part of the county
are Culbertson, Bainville, Mondak, Brockton, Poplar and Wolf Point. Culbertson
is the oldest town in the county, Poplar is the supply point for most of the Fort
Peck reservation and Wolf Point, which has just been made the division point on
the Great Northern is growing by leaps and bounds. There is every evidence that
It will be the largest town in the county very socn.
The Soo line which parallels the Canadian boundary for fifty or sixty miles has
a number of progressive towns in Sheridan county. Westby, near the North Dakota
line, is the center of a large farming section and does a large volume of business
each year. Other towns on this line are, McElroy, Uooley, Raymond, Comertown,
Daleview, Outlook and Whitetail. Whitetail is the western terminal of the line and
Outlook is one of the most progressive and up-to-date towns in the county.
The Fort Peck reservation contains some of the best land in Montana, and
since opened for settlement has been rapidly taken up. The price put on the land
by the Government has retarded settlement to some extent, but settlers are now
beginning to realize that the land is worth the money, because of its excellent
qualities. The assessed valuation of the county in 1918 is $17,417,623.
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SILYER BOW COUNTY.
Silver Bow county, the smallest and yet the richest county in Montana has an
abundant and steady market for all manner of products of the farm. It is an essen-
tially mining district and produces about one-fifth of the world's production of
copper. The zinc production, chie'ly from the Butte and Superior mine, and which
has been stated is one of the largest in the world, comes a close second to the
copper production. About twenty-five thousand tons of lead is also produced while
the gold product averages $1,000,000 and silver about 12,000,000 ounces.
A great deal of the farming done is mixed — about 12,000 acres is privately owned,
and about 75,000 acres unappropriated public lands and J.30,000 acres in national
forests. Government reports show that thousands of acres are devoted to the raising
of timothy, clover, al alfa and other forage crops that find a ready sale in Butte.
Silver Bow county also has many poultry and stock ranches.
Butte is practically Silver Bow county and contains a population of about 70,000.
It is served by the Northern Pacific, Great Northern, Chicago, Milwaukee & St.
Paul, Oregon Short Line and the Burlington railroads, and is the chief distributing
point for all parts of Montana. The annual freight charges at Butte averages
$10,000,000 a year, or over $100 per hour for every hour in the year. Statistics reveal
that Butte has distributed in bananas, beans, butter and eggs, canned goods, fruit
an i vegetables, flour and mill supplies, livestock, and other commercial commodities
over 3,i00 cars, and no account has been taken in these figures of merchandise sup-
plied by farmers in the vicinity, and which are brought in by wagon.
The mining industry is the principal asset and the production of the red metal
is being kept up. About Hi, COO miners are engaged in mining and surface work
around the mines, and with the increase in wages, Butte enjoys the distinction of
having the largest payroll in the United States compared to its population. The
combined payroll at the present time, including the mines, railroads, and all com-
mercial enterprises reaches the enormous sum of $3,500,000 per month.
Climatic conditions in Butte are extremely good, and advantage is taken by
citizens and visitors, to visit Columbia Gardens, a beautiful spot at the foot of the
Rocky Mountains, where the Hon. W. A. Clark ha3 spent huge sums of money in
beautifying the place. Thompson Park in the Nine Mile Canyon is also being beauti-
fied and many are taking advantage of using this park for picnic purposes.
The roads in Silver Bow and adjoining counties are in excellent condition and
there are many scenic routes leading cut of the county to various parts of the state.
Tourists report that Silver Bow county roads are well marked and better than most
roads of other states.
Butte has thirty-seven public and parochial schools — high school with manual
training facilities — also the State School of Mines from whose ranks many of our
most prominent mining engineers have graduated.
Nearly every religious dencmination may be found and the churches are
elegant structures with fine choirs; while the pulpits are filled with men of learn-
ing. The linest business houses are to be found — both wholesale and retail —
and the Federal Building, Court House, Silver Bow Club, are structures that any
city might well be proud of. There is in course of construction a new Y. M. C. A.
building, costing nearly $300,000, Deaconess hospital, new Knights of Columbus hall,
a Masonic Temple and Woman's Club House. The residence district contains some
beautiiul homes. Elegantly iurnished apartment houses are situated in the best
districts for transients, and the hotel accommodations are unsurpassed.
The banks, of which there are six, are all housed in their own elegant structures,
which are most liberal in their support to the legitimate trade and guided by men
who are past masters at the art of banking.
In connection with Government war activities, Butte has been most liberal, and
excels all other cities relative to population. On the First Liberty Loan its allotment
was $1,800,000; Butte subscribed $7,900,000. The second, the allotment was
$2,400,000; subscribed, $4,329,950. The Third, allotment, $2,100,000; subscribed,
$4,39 7,000. For the Red Cross the allotment was $150,000, Butte subscribed $170,000.
War Recreation Fund allotment, $4,000, raised, $5,800. Y. M. C. A. building fund
allotment raised $213,000. Butte's War Chest will provide $600,000 annually. Y. W.
C. A. activities, Butte raised $4,000. Butte also furnishes $5,000 annually for the Boy
Scouts, while there was furnished 3,000 first class books for the soldiers. The
Women's Patriotic Association have shipped to France over $13,000 in bandages and
surgical supplies and the Red Cross have shipped 206 boxes of similar material.
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STILLWATER COUNTY.
Stillwater county, while not large in area, is still one of the best and richest
of agricultural counties of the state. It was created in 1913 from parts of Yellow-
stone, Sweet Grass and Carbon counties and so is bounded by these counties on
three of its sides. On the north it adjoins Musselshell county. The county is in the
southern part of the state, in about the center east and west. This is one of the
finest sections of Montana.
The county has enjoyed an exceptionally rapid growth since its creation. The
fact that it is located in the heart of the agricultural section of southern Montana
has added to its fame and has attracted settlers until now it is well filled up. It is
one of the oldest farming communities in the state.
The chief industries of the county are farming, stockraising and fruit growing.
These have been developed by the thoroughly progressive people to an extent found
in few of the communities in the state.
The farming is both by irrigated and non-irrigated methods. Around Absarokee
there are many irrigated farms where intensive farming is practiced and a good
deal of fruit grown. The water is taken from the Stillwater river, which supplies
the southern part of the county and flows north, emptying into the Yellowstone at
Columbus. The dry farming region of the northern part of the county embraces a
portion of what is known as the Lake Basin country, one of the best developed and
most productive dry land farming sections in the state. The yields on these non-
Irrigated lands are very good.
Stock raising is carried on in connection with the farming principally, in small
well kept herds. Many of these are of high grade. Cattle, horses, sheep and hogs
are all raised in the county.
The Yellowstone river flows through the county from west to east. The
Northern Pacific railway follows this river. A branch of this road is to be con-
structed in the Lake Basin country to the north, which will open up a rich region
and assure better markets.
The price of land in the county is low, considering the quality of the soil and
the development of the farms. Improved farm land may be had at $30 an acre and
unimproved land at $20 or less. There is very little homestead land left in the
county that is desirable and close to the railroad.
Dairying is rapidly becoming an established industry. Conditions are very
good and point to success in this line. Creameries and cheese factories are being
built in the various towns to handle the produce. There are good markets for all
forms of dairy and poultry products.
Columbus is the county seat and principal town. It is said to be the best
lighted town of its size in the state and is a thoroughly modern little city in every
way. It now has a population of about 1,000 according to estimates. This means that
It has doubled in size since the census of 1910. The banks have a total deposit
of close to $750,000, there are a dozen or more retail stores, two newspapers, two
elevators, two lumber yards, a flour mill, schools and churches. Near Columbus
is quarried the famous Columbus sandstone which was used in the erection of the
State Capitol at Helena. A power plant is being considered on the Yellowstone
river which will have an estimated horse power of 15,000.
An effort is being made to secure the construction of an electric or steam road
up the Stillwater valley. Such a road would not only furnish much needed trans-
portation for an agricultural population of 4,000 but would also tap extensive timber
lands and coal and mineral deposits. The Rosebud Lakes, easily reached from
Columbus, offer fine scenic attractions and the East Rosebud Lake colony is one of
the popular summer places of the state.
There are 1.CS4 square miles in the area of the county. The land is all sur-
veyed and there are still 21,127 acres unreserved and unappropriated public land
available under the homestead laws. There are also 41,230 acres of state land
which may be obtained at a reasonable figure.
The main crops of the county are wheat, oats, barley, potatoes, sugar beets
and hay.
The estimated population of the county in 1918 is nearly 10,000. The assessed
valuation in 1918 is $7,589,560.
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SWEET GRASS COUNTY.
Sweet Grass county is located in the southern part of the state between
Park and Stillwater and like them, is rich as a farming region and well supplied
with resources that make for a progressive county. It is bounded on the north
by the new county of Wheatland, by Musselshell and Stillwater on the east and
on the south and west by Park.
The county is well watered. The Yellowstone river runs from west to cast
nearly through its center. On the south the land rises from the level of the river
to a high range of mountains in which head the Boulder and Stillwater rivers;
and on the north the land rises to the Crazy mountains. Big Timber and Sweet
Grass creeks are large streams that enter the Yellowstone river from the north.
There are also many rich valleys. The Yellowstone valley, about 55 miles
long by 2 wide, the valleys of the Boulder, Big Timber, Sweet Grass, American
Fork and Otter creek, of varying length and width, are the chief agricultural dis-
tricts. Private irrigation ditches have brought water to the lands in the valleys
where hay is the chief crop and is raised in connection with stock raising. The
county is noted for the excellence of the native grasc.es and stock growing is an
important and profitable industry. Sheep are owned in large numbers and great
quantities of wool are shipped from Big Timber.
In the southern part, much of which is in a forest reserve, are tracts of mer-
chantable timber and a highly mineralized district containing ores of gold, silver,
lead and copper. Coal has also been found. This region is one of remarkable
scenic beauty. Many visitors ccme each year to fish in the Boulder river, a
beauti ul mountain stream in which trout abound. One of the most wonderful
natural cb.ects in the state is the Natural Bridge over the Boulder river. On
several streams are cascades of rare beauty.
There is both irrigated and ncn-irrigatel lands in the county. The irrigated
farms are either under private irrigation ditches or under the Big Timber Carey
Act project. This project has greatly developed the county in an agricultural way.
Since its completion many settlers have flocked in. They have raised excellent
crops and more land is being cultivated each year. Large communities of farmers
and fruit growers now occupy sections that a few years ago were used only lor
grazing. Ihe yield of wheat, cats, flax and potatoes is heavy on these lands —
wheat going as high as 40 bushels to the acre. Potatoes are always an excellent
crop. Alfalfa is one of the chief crops on the irrigated lands and good yields
are also reported lrom the non-irrigated tracts. The rain.'all is about 20 inches
annually, which with the rich soil assures a crop.
Dairying should be a profitable business, lor the county affords excellent
native grasses, a fine supply of pure water and has a fine climate. The farmers
are keeping more cows, creameries are being built and the success of this industry
seems assured.
Hog raising is attracting attention and the conditions are favorable for its
development into a very profitable branch of farming. Hogs thrive on the al'alta
and barley raised here.
Many orchards have been set out and the county promises to become a large
producer of fruit in a. few years. The climate is very favorable to this. Sugar
beets are well adapted .to the soil and climate of Sweet Grass and should be raised
very profitably.
Big Timber, the chief town is a growing place and is also the county seat.
It is an attractive place with fine business establishments and residences. It also
has elevators, creamery, newspaper, hotels, electric lights, water works system
and court house. It is the center of a rich region. There is considered to be about
20,000 horse power available from the Yellowstone river at this place.
Melville and McLeod are other towns of importance in the county. Melville
Is in the northern part and supplies a large district there. McLeod likewise sup-
plies the southern part of the county.
The estimated population of Sweet Grass county in 1918 is about 5,500 accord-
ing to the school census.
The county has a total area of 2,058 square miles, having lost 252 square miles
in 1917 by the creation of Wheatland county, which cut off a row of townships
from the north side of Sweet Grass. There are 89.412 acres of unreserved and
unappropriated public land in the county available for entry under the homestead
laws. All of the land has been surveyed. There are also 52,129 acres of state
land that can be bought at a low price. The county also has large forest re-
serves in the southern part. The assessed valuation of the county in 1918 is
$7,408,691.
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TETON COUNTY.
Teton county is one of the larger counties of the northern tier, lying next to
Canada and just east of the Rocky Mountains. It has an area of 6,560 square miles.
It was created in 1S93 and contained at that time a part of what is now Toole county.
The western boundary is the mountains where many streams rise arid flow east,
affording means for irrigation of valleys and low lands to the cast. The varying
altitude give to the county a varied climate. The snowfall is heavy in the mountains
and less in the slopes to the cast. The Marias and Teton rivers and their numerous
tributaries and creeks water the entire county. The trend of all the streams is
toward the east. The average rainfall is about 16 inches. The Blackfeet Indian
reservation and a portion of Glacier National Park are in this county and the scenic
beauty of those sections attract many tourists.
Stock raising has been for years the chief industry of the people. There are
or were vast herds of cattle, horses and sheep and of late years much attention
has been paid to the breeding of blooded stock. The wool clip from this county
is large and there are many noted ranches, established during the early days of
the state.
In recent years farming has been gaining by leaps and bounds. In the eastern
and central portions of the county there are wide expanses of fine prairie land
and these are being rapidly taken. Yields on the dry land farm are large and
from IS to 35 bushels of wheat are an average crop. The yields of oats and barley
are correspondingly high. The Burton bench is a large farming district where
wheat yields about 40 bushels to the acre and the heaviest oats in the state have
been raised there, going as high as 85 bushels to the acre. Flax has made heavy
yields in several sections and at Conrad there is a factory which makes fiber from
flax straw.
The largest irrigation project is located at Valier, which contemplates the
reclamation of 126,000 acres including 40,565 acres of deeded land. The farming
carried on in the irrigated district is highly successful. Near Valier there is a
large colony of Belgians who have developed the section wonderfully by means of
intensive farming.
In the western part of the county there are indications of minerals but not
much has been done in the way of development. Coal is mined in several places
and much prospecting for oil and gas has been done within the past year, owing
to the proximity of the country to the gas fields of Canada and Hill county in this
state.
Valier lies in the center of the Valier Carey Act project and is located on
the bank of a large artilicial lake and has grown wonderfully in the past four
years. It is the terminus of the Montana Western railroad which connects at
Conrad with the Great Northern.
Conrad, the principal town, has about 200.000 acres of irrigated land and
600.000 of unirrigated acres of land tributary to it. It is a shipping point for grain
and stock. Cut Bank is a railroad and trading point adjoining the Blackfeet Indian
reservation. Choteau is the county seat, an attractive place of probably 1.200 popu-
lation. It is located in the Teton valley and has a large farming section sur-
rounding it.
Power, Dutton, Collins and Brady are thriving new towns that are shipping
points for a large and rapidly developing dry farming region.
There are about 174,226 acres of homestead land available to entry, 144.146
acres of which are surveyed and 30.080 acres unsurveyed. There are 154,619 acres
of state land and a large area of national forests.
There are a number of good schools in the county. The county high school
is located at Choteau, while Conrad, Valier and Cut Bank have excellent high
schools. The people of the county are progressive along educational lines.
The assessed valuation of the county in 1918 is $20,032,280.
DO MINION
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TOOLE COUNTY.
Toole county is another of the newer and smaller counties of the state. It is
situated along the northern border, next to the Canadian boundary. It was created
out of parts of Teton and Hill counties in 1914.
Farming and stcckraising are the chief industries, and are in the initial stages
of development. All farming is by non-irrigated methods, wheat, oats, barley and
flax are the principal crops, flax producing well on the new land. There is a good
deal of wild hay cut for winter fodder for the stock and some alfalfa is raised.
Stock graze out during a large part of the milder winters. Cattle and sheep are
run in many places in large herds, while the newer settlers all have small herds of
cattle, sheep and horses. The nearness of the Flathead reservation and the Glacier
National Park, which are across Teton county to the west, make it possible to secure
feed for stock there.
There are ranches along the creeks and stockraising is secondary in importance
only to farming. Formerly the county was used almost exclusively as a grazing
area.
The Marias river forms a portion of the southern boundary of the county and
flows through the southeastern portion. The eastern part is watered by several
creeks, the largest of which is Willow.
Recently, there has been considerabled work done in an effort to develop the
large oil deposits which are believed to lie beneath the Sweetgrass hills in the
northern part of Toole county. Strong flows of gas have been encountered, but thus
far the oil development has not reached a commercial scale.
Natural gas has been encountered while drilling for oil in certain sections of
the county hut it has not been found in sufficient quantity to be valuable com-
mercially. That sinking to greater depth will bring in gas wells seems certain
for the pressure becomes more pronounced as drilling continues.
Shelby, the county seat and principal town, is a railroad junction point and is
the trading center for a large and productive territory. Sweetgrass, in the northern
part of the county, is a port of entry from the Dominion of Canada. Galata and
Devon, in the eastern part of the county, are good farming towns, both growing
rapidly.
Toole county is just at the edge of the Rocky Mountains, in the foothills, and
so is adjacent to some of the linest scenery on the continent. Glacier Park is
easily reached from any part of the county. The towns find the tourist traffic of
value, for many automobilists make the Toole county towns stopping points on their
way to the park. Any of the residents of the county can easily find opportunity to
camp and fish in the park during a part of the summer, while the nearness to the
mountain ranges makes hunting big game possible during the hunting season.
The population of Toole county is estimated at about 7,000 people. The popula-
tion of Shelby, the county seat, is about 800.
The schools of the county are good, with a fully accredited high school at
Shelby, to which any of the pupils in the county may come free of tuition. Many
of the rural schools have summer terms instead of winter sessions. There are
wagons to haul the pupils in to some of the town schools.
Land area — Toole county is in the Great Falls and Havre land districts, and
embraces an area of 1.949 square miles. It has 89.292 acres of surveyed land
and 4,160 acres unsurveyed, all subject to homestead entry. It also has 110,622 acres
of state land which can be purchased.
Both of the past years have been rather dry in Toole county as far as
crop production goes. In 1917 the drought that hit the state was particularly
hard, cutting down the yield of all grains a great deal. Livestock did fairly
well, however, and dairy products brought in a good income to most of the
farmers. In 1918 the drought has continued, making it necessary for the
state to extend aid to some of the homesteaders. This is an abnormal condi-
tion, as nothing like two years of drought has been known in the county before.
The people of the county are optimistic, however, and are staying on the job to
plant a big crop next year.
The assessed valuation of the county in 1918 is $6,762,324 including railroad
property.
DOMINION OF CANADA
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VALLEY COUNTY.
Valley county, one of the largest counties in the state in area, is situated in
northeastern Montana. The county extends 110 miles in length and 73 miles in width.
The chief industry is farming but stockraising is still done on a large scale
in most sections of the county. There are two methods of farming pursued, the
irrigation and dry land. The irrigation district comprises practically 40,000 acres
of land, which lies in the Milk River Valley project. The history of irrigaton develop-
ment of this great project, which is the largest in the world is well known through-
out the United States and the world at large. The first irrigation canal in this
valley was started at Chinook in Blaine county, at that time Chouieau, and is known
as the Belknap Canal. This reclaimed 14,400 acres of valley land east and west
of the town. T. C. Burnes, who had arrived from the Gallatin Valley in 1889 was
the promoter. The first co-operative irrigation canal to be started in Valley county
was commenced on the Frenchman creek. Some 1,320 acres being shown on
the U. S. Government plats are being irrigated from this canal. The unfortunate
experience had in connection with the earlier history of the Frenchmen creek canal
led many in Valley county to believe that the farmers could not work in harmony
together in the construction of irrigation canals, and it is said that this experience
set back the irrigation development of the county at least ten years.
Today the Milk River Valley project extends from St. Mary's Lake to the
Missouri River a distance of 400 miles.
Wheat, oats and alfalfa are the principal crops grown under this project.
The first cutting of aUalta in 1918 yielded from two to three tons per acre. Three
such crops are cut each year. Wheat lands yield from 25 to 40 bushels to
the acre and oats 45 to GO bushels according to crops in this district in past years.
Dry land farming has been very successful in Valley county, with the excep-
tion of several years, when due to drought conditions crops were poor, notwith-
standing these conditions every year more land have been developed. Today prac-
tically all agricultural land in the county has been filed on by settlers. This year
more land has been planted to crop than any previous year in the county. Wheat,
oats, barley, speltz, corn and hay are the principal crops. Vegetables grow in
abundance and are of excellent quality.
The county claims to produce the best spring wheat in America for milling
purposes.
The sportsman will find plenty of sage hens, prairie chickens, wild ducks and
geese and other game birds. Fishing is also a favorite pastime. Deer hunting along
the Missouri River breaks is an annual sport.
The principal cities in Valley county are Glasgow, Hinsdale, Opheim, Glentana,
Nashua, Baylor and Oswego.
Glasgow is the county seat and was founded in 1SS7 with the coming of the
railroad and was named by the late James J. Hill. It has a population of approxi-
mately 3,500 people and is the largest city within a radius of 100 miles extend-
ing in every direction. It is situated on the main line of the Great Northern rail-
way about half way between Spokane and St. Paul, Minnesota. The Northern
Trail which extends from Port Arthur, Canada to the Pacific Coast passes through
Glasgow. Tourists routing their trip will find excellent hotel and garage service here.
For the information of travelers Malta is G6 miles west of Glasgow; Havre 153 miles
and Great Falls 276 miles; Plenty wood 1G5 miles east and Culbertson 100 miles.
Miles City can be reached from Glasgow by way of ferry at Lismas. A good road
traverses the entire route. Calgary, Canada, and other Canadian points are direct
north of Glasgow and excellent roads the entire distance make it more easily
traveled by the tourists.
The U. S. Land Office and U. S. Employment Office are located here. It has
excellent schools, beautiful homes, and is one of the best business towns in Mon-
tana. Flour milling is the largest industry.
Opheim, Glentana and Baylor, all inland towns lying 40 to 50 miles north of
Glasgow, lie in the heart of a rich agricultural country. Nashua lies adjacent to
the Fort Peck Reservation and is a good business center. Oswego is one of the
largest towns on the reservation and is a live town. Hinsdale is a thriving busi-
ness center and is the second largest town in the county.
The assessed valuation of the county in 1918 is $10,716,192.
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WHEATLAND COUNTY.
Wheatland county is the "baby" county of the state, it having come in as
number 43 at the last session of the legislature. It was officially declared a
county April 1, 1917, by special legislative enactment.
The area of Wheatland county is 1,436 square miles, 252 square miles having
been taken from Sweetgrass county and 1,1 S4 square miles from Meagher county.
It is very compact in iorm, being nearly forty miles square. It is bounded on the
north by Fergus county, on the east by Musselshell, on the south by Sweet Grass and
ou the west by Meagher.
Wheatland is well supplied with transportation facilities, as two railroads
traverse it. The main line of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Taul passes through
the county from east to west. This is the main line from Aberdeen to the coast.
It is at Harlowton, Wheatland county, where the electrUicaticn of the line begins.
From here it extends across the main ranges of the Rocky and Bitter Root moun-
tains, a distance of 440 miles to Avery, Idaho. This is the most extensive piece of
electrified road in the country. A branch of this road runs across the northeast
corner of the county from Harlowton to Lewistown. The other road is the Great
Northern from Great Falls to Billings. This cuts the county in the northeastern
part and supplies a rich part of the county with transportation facilities.
The main industries of the county are farming and stock raising, which are both
well developed. Recently, however, there has been much prospecting for oil. In the
territory south of Twodot the indications are particularly favorable and the explora-
tion has been extensive.
Both winter and spring wheat grow equally well in Wheatland, and other
grains such as barley, oats and flax yield abundantly. In the production of cattle,
sheep and horses it is not excelled by any other section of the state. The county
is well watered, the principal stream being the Musselshell river, which flows
through the southern part. The rainfall is generous, approximately twenty-six
inches annually.
The bottom lands lying along the Musselshell are especially adapted to the
growing of alfalfa, and frcm these, three good crops are annually obtained.
Irrigation is practiced to a considerable extent, but this is not required in the
growing of the cereals. Dry land farming is most successfully engaged in. and it
is upon these the best wheat is produced. Spring wheat yields from twenty to
thirty bushels per acre un£er ordinary conditions, while the output from the winter
wheat tracts is anywhere from thirty to fifty-five bushels per acre.
Improved dry land sell at from $20 to $35 an acre, while irrigated lands sell
at from $50 to. $75 an acre. Within the past five years Wheatland county has
been thoroughly settled by homeseekers, and within its borders there is little desir-
able government lands subject to entry. There are 02,761 acres of state land that
can be bought for a low price.
Harlowton is the county seat of Wheatland county, and its population is 2,000.
It is on the main line of the Milwaukee railway system, and the eastern terminus
of that road's electrification system; it is also a freight and passenger division, and
the southern terminus of the Lewistown-Great Falls branch. The city is equipped
with water and sewage systems, is a distributing point for the Montana Power Co.,
is very substantially built with line business blocks and spacious residences, has
large flouring mills, three churches, exceptionally good schools, two banks, one
newspaper.
The estimated population of Wheatland county is 5,400.
The following will give an idea of how productive Wheatland county lands are
in the growing of wheat:
Grower Acres Bushels
J. H. Leckey 80 55
Melvin Eads 80 52
Clarence Morgan 100 53
Toolev, Baxter & Tice 375 50
H. B. Myers 60 48
Labrie Ranch Co 89 43
L. L. Dixon 116 SSVo
Wm. McFarland 310 35
Jim Trimmer 40 47
The assessed valuation of the county in 1918 is $9,417,585 including railroad
property.
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WIBAUX COUNTY.
Wibaux county is the smallest agricultural county in the state of Montana and
the third smallest of all the counties in the state. The two mining counties of
Silver Bow and Deer Lodge are of smaller area. Although small, "Wibaux county has
a larger percentage of its total area under cultivation than any other county.
The county is known as the "gateway" county of Montana for it is through here
that all Northern Pacific trains pass on entering the slate from the east. It is
therefore next to the North Dakota line, just midway between the Canadian line
and the northern boundary of Wyoming. It is bounded on the north by Richland, on
the east by North Dakota, on the south by Fallon and on the west by Dawson.
Wibaux was originally a part of Dawson county but separated to form a choice
division of the state with the thriving town of Wibaux for the county seat. There
Is very little waste land and very little that has not been cultivated and proven
productive.
The county has very little land in the irrigated valley of the Yellowstone
river, as it is a little too far east to come into this Lower Yellowstone project. For
that reason there is no large river in the county. It does have creeks flowing
through it of which Beaver Creek is the largest. It extends northward, forming a
fertile valley which is highly productive.
There is one railroad, the Northern Pacific, which bisects the county from east
to west. This is the main line of the road from Minneapolis and St. Paul to the
coast. For that reason the county has excellent transportation facilities and can
readily and easily reach good markets.
There are good highways in the county and a main automobile road, the
Red Trail, follows the Northern Pacific railroad through the county to Fargo,
North Dakota. Many tourists pass over this trail annually on their way to Yellow-
stone Park, western Montana and the Pacific Coast.
Farming and stock raising are the principal industries. There are five elevators
with a combined capacity of 250,000 bushels in the principal town which is an indi-
cation of the farming that is done. Great quantities of wheat and oats are marketed
as well as barley, corn, flax and potatoes. Corn does very well in the county,
because of the fertility of the soil and the long growing season. The amount of
land in crops has more than doubled in the past two years.
The corn which can be raised for silage and the alfalfa for winter feeding
make dairying profitable. Wibaux has a creamery which handles the milk and
cream. Some of the best dairy farms and buildings in the state are found in this
county.
Most of the desirable homestead land in the county has been taken. There
are, however, 9,210 acres of unreserved and unappropriated public land still avail-
able for entry under the homestead laws. In addition to this there are 31,358 acres
of state land which can be purchased for a low price. Privately owned land,
improved and unimproved, may be bought for a reasonable price per acre. The
unimproved land brings from $15 to $1S and the improved about $25 an acre. The
county is in the Miles City land district and has an area of 944 square miles.
Wibaux, the county seat and principal town, is a thriving little city of more
than 1,000 population, and is growing rapidly. There are two banks, about twenty
retail establishments, a creamery, live elevators, four garages, two hotels, two
newspapers, city water works, electric lighting plant, a flour mill, several churches,
good streets and fine sidewalks. There is a splendid county high school in the city,
with an attendance of 51 from the county. It is accredited lor four years. There
is also a splendid graded school system. The town is progressive and has a
metropolitan appearance.
Other towns on the railroad are Yates and Beaver Hill. Smaller towns in the
country district are St. Phillip, Edgehill, Dennis, Been and Brenizer.
The estimated population of the county in 1918 is 4,640. The assessed valua-
tion in 1918 is $3,797,530.
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YELLOWSTONE COUNTY.
With a population of over 37,000, Yellowstone county is one of the most import-
ant and well known counties in the state. Farming and stock growing are its chief
industries. It is situated in the center of one of the largest irrigated districts in the
state. Within the past few years, farming interests have extended over the entire
county, practically all government land is settled and the lands above the ditches are
now producing wonderful returns.
Al"al fa and sugar beets are the most important crops on the irrigated lands,
the yield of the former being 3 to 6 tens per acre and of the latter 10 to 20 tons.
Oats yield from 50 to 90 bushels per acre, wheat from 40 to 60 bushels and corn from
30 to 50 bushels. Potatoes yield lrom 200 to 400 bushels per acre and the largest
known yield from one acre, 1,213 bushels, was made near Laurel in this county.
Vegetables of various kinds are grown successrully; berries are very profitable;
winter apples do splendidly and many orchards have been set out. Fruit growing
is an increasing industry, and the products of the orchards sell for a large sum
annually. Stock raising in Yellowstone county is going hand in hand with farming.
Sugar beet raisers fatten their stock on beet tops, allala and grains. Many of
them finish their product on a combination with beet pulp at the sugar factory.
Large stock-feeding companies finish thousands each year and top the eastern
markets.
Billings is the county seat of Yellowstone county and has a population of
about 19,000, having nearly doubled in population since 1910, when it numbered 10,031
citizens.
Billings is the largest railroad, financial and distributing center in eastern Mon-
tana and supplies a huge section of the country in southeastern Montana and north-
ern Wyoming, known as the Midland Empire. It is a thoroughly modern and
up-to-date city; the home of many wholesale and jobbing concerns; and some of
the chief industries located in the city, are a sugar factory, alcohol plant, packing
plant, bakery, creamery, flouring mill, pickle factory and foundry.
The Midland Empire Fair, the largest and most important in the state, except
the State Fair, is held under the direction of Yellowstone county at Billings each
year. It has the largest covered auditorium in the northwest. Here will be held
on January 9, 10, 11 and 12, 1919, the first annual exhibition of the Midland Stock
Show Association.
Yellowstone county has excellent education facilities. All of the towns have
progressive schools, several of which maintain accredited high schools. Billings
has one of the finest high schools and elementary school systems in the state. The
Billings Polytechmic Institute, an institution of higher learning is located in Billings.
It has a yearly enrollment of about 160 students.
The climate of Yellowstone county is delightful. It is located in the southern
part of the state, and it is protected by the mountains tempering the climate at
all times of the year. The winters are not rigorous and the growing season is
long. During the past five years the average temperature for December, January
and February has been 29 degrees above zero. Spring opens early, and plowing
and planting is commonly done before the rainy season, April, May and June,
in which months half the annual rainfall of over 15 inches falls. The long days
of sunshine are ideal for the maturing and harvesting of crops.
The Yellowstone valley is the oldest beet growing section of the state, and
the sugar beet factory at Billings pays the farmers a million and a half dollars each
year for beets, and manulactures 60,000,000 pounds of sugar.
Irrigated lands range in price from $50 to $250 per acre. Excellent non-
irrigated farm lands range in price from $15 to $50 per acre.
The other towns of the county are: Laurel, which has a population of 1,500
and is a rapidly growing railroad division point with large railroad shops; Broad-
view, a thriving town in the non-irrigated district of the Lake Basn. Huntley,
Worden and Ballantine are reclamation project towns, situated on the government
Huntley Reclmaton Project. Custer, Pompey's Pillar, Acton, Comanche and Shep-
herd are rapidly developing towns in good communities.
The assessed valuation of the county in 1918 is $25,338,553.
OFFICIAL DIRECTORY
EXITED STATES OFFICIALS
U. S. Senator THOMAS J. WALSH, Helena
U. S. Senator HENRY L. MYERS, Hamilton
Representative, First District JOHX M. EVANS, Missoula
♦Representative, Second District C. \V. RIDDICK, Lewistown
Marshal JOSEPH L. ASBRIDGE, Helena
District Attorney E. C. DAY, Helena
District JirJge GEORGE M. BOURQUIN, Butte
Surveyor General HENRY GERHARZ, Helena
STATE OFFICIALS
Governor SAMUEL V. STEWART
Private Secretary to Governor WILL AIKEN
Lieutenant Governor W. W. McDOWELL
Secretary of State CHARLES T. STEWART
Attorney General SAMUEL C. FORD
Adjutant General PHIL GREENAN
State Treasurer H. L. HART
fState Auditor, Insurance and Investment Commissioner GEORGE P. PORTER
State Superintendent of Public Instruction MAY TRUMPER
Chief Justice Supreme Court THEODORE BRANTLY
Associate Justices Supreme Court W. L. HOLLOW AY fCHAS. H. COOPER
Clerk Supreme Court J. T. CARROLL
Superintendent of Banks and Bank Examiner H. S. MAG RAW
State Historical Librarian W. Y. PEMBERTON
Recorder of Marks and Brands D. W. RAYMOND
State Land Agent C. A. WH IPPLE
Register State Lands SIDNEY MILLER
State Veterinarian W. J. BUTLER
State Forester J. C. VAN HOOK
State Engineer A. W. MAHON
State Commissioner Agriculture and Publicity CHARLES D. GREENFIELD
State Fish and Game Warden J. L. DeHART
State Commissioner of Labor and Industry W. J. SWINDLEHURST
State Dairy Commissioner WILLIAM H. FLUHR
Chancellor State Educational Institutions E. C. ELLIOTT
State Horticulturist A. L. STRAUSZ, Missoula
iS. V. STEWART, ex-officio chairman, governor
CHAS. D. GREENFIELD, ex-officio secretary,
commissioner of agriculture.
lMRS. TYLAR B. THOMPSON, Missoula.
M. M. DONOGHUE, Butte.
'I. D. O'DONNELL, Billings.
SIDNEY M. LOGAN, Kalispell.
. J. KELLY, Butte.
10. V. PECK, Danvers.
SAMUEL SANSBURN, Bloomfield.
WILL A. CAMPBELL, Helena.
^N. T. LEASE, Great Falls.
*Takes office March 4, 1919.
tTakes office January 1, 1919.
Montana Council of Defense.
Railroad and Public Service
Commission
State Livestock Commission.
State Highway Commission.
DAN BOYLE, Chairman.
j. e. Mccormick, and
"LEE DENNIS, Commissioners, Helena.
CHARLES P. COTTER, Helena, Sec'y.
J. H. BURKE. Helena, Pres.
H. B. MITCHELL, Great Falls, Vice-Pres.
PERCY WILLIAMSON, Miles City.
W. H. DONALD, Melville.
GEORGE T. FARRELL, Ronan.
T. B. STORY, Bozeman.
D. W. RAYMOND. Secretary.
OSCAR ROHN, Butte, Pres.
HUGH R. WELLS, Miles City, Vice-Pres.
A. W. MAHON. Helena. Secretary.
A. V. GIBSON, Kalispell.
C. H. BUFORD, Virginia City.
FRANK CONLEY, Deer Lodge.
C. W. MORRISON. Fort Benton.
SAM WEBB, Columbus.
D. T. CURRAN, Missoula.
H. A. TEMPLETON, Great Falls.
E. A. RICHARDSON, Forsyth.
T. F. HAGEN, Glendive.
P. D. PRATT, Helena, Chief Engineer.
„.,.„,., ( S. V. STEWART, Pres.
Board of Education <
( MAY TRUMPER, Sec'y.
( D. J. DONOHUE, Butte. Pres.
State Board of Health J w. j. BUTLER, Helena, Vice-Pres.
( W. G. COGSWELL, Helena, Sec'y.
( PAT CARNEY, Waterloo, Pres.
State Fair Board 1 „ ,
/ HORACE S. ENSIGN, Helena, Sec'y.
/ S. V. STEWART, Pres.
I C. T. STEWART
, M ,. , ) GEORGE P. PORTER
Board of Equalization \ s c vord
/ H. L. HART
I J. J. RYAN, Clerk
State Game and Fish
Commission
J. L. KELLY, Anaconda, Chairman
NELSON STORY, JR., Bozeman, Sec'y.
J. L. DeHART, Helena
W. M. BICKFORD, Missoula
M. D. BALDWIN, Kalispell
♦Takes office January 1, 1919.
State Board of Hail Insurance-
Board of Medical Examiners.
E. K. BOWMAN, Helena, Chairman
C. D. GREENFIELD, Helena, Sec'y.
GEORGE P. PORTER
P. J. ANDERSON, Conrad
G. A. SLATER, Canyon Creek
DR. P. II. MCCARTHY, Butte, Pres.
DR. S. A. COONEY, Helena, Sec'y.
G. E. LONGEWAY, Great Falls. Pres.
- ■{ G. A. CHEVIGNY, Butte, Vicc-Prcs.
C. M. HAMPTON, Helena, Sec'y.
( C. W. MAHAFFAY, Helena, Pres.
State Osteopathic Examiners < T,rTT,A„^ at- i o •
( ASA WILLARD, Missoula, Sec y.
Board of Examiners for Nurses.
MARGARET HUGHES, Helena, Pres.
MRS. MAUDE LALLY, Butte, Sec'y.
HOWARD WELCH, Bozcman, Pres.
F. S. GRAY, Great Falls. Vice-Pres.
A. D. KNOWLES, Missoula, Sec'y.
W. R. MONTGOMERY, Butte, Pres.
J. A. RIEDEL, Boulder, Sec'y.
J. H. BURKE, Helena, Chairman
W. J. BUTLER, Helena, Secretary
( A. E. SPRIGGS, Helena, Chairman
State Industrial Accident Board ^ Q Q ^^ ^^ ^
( REV. J. F. McNAMEE, Helena, Pres.
Board Charities and Reform < MRS. MARTHA RIDGE, Billings, Sec'y.
( DR. B. C. BROOKE, Helena
Bureau of Child and Animal Protection J. E. NEVILLE, Deer Lodge, Sec'y
Board of Examiners in Veterinary
Medicine and Surgery
Board of Pharmacy
State Livestock Sanitary Board-
State Board of Examiners.
State Board of Poultry
Husbandry
f S. V. STEWART, Pres.
S. C. FORD, Helena
C. T. STEWART, Helena
| A. E. McFATRIDGE, Helena, Clerk
I R. J. LEMERT. Accountant
JOHN REES, Anaconda, Pres.
W. F. SCHOPPE, Bozeman, Sec'y.
J. D. VEACH, Hubbard
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INDEX
Page
Absences allowed from homestead 25
Acres homestead lands 26
Acres irrigated lands 43
Acres state lands 28
Acres, total assessed 6
Agricultural college 137
Airalfa ... 38
Apples, varieties grown 51
Area of Montana 6
Assessed valuation state 5
Average acre production 8
Banks and banking 97
— footings of banks 98
— increases in a year 97
Beaverhead county, description and products ]45
— assessed valuation 143
— homestead and state lands in 145
Bees 69
Big Horn county, description and products 147
— assessed valuation 143
— homestead and state laud in 147
Billings project, cost, crops, etc 49
Big Timber projects, cost, crops, etc 49
Blackfeet Reclamation project 46
Blaine county, description and products 149
— assessed valuation 143
— homestead and state lands in 149
Broadwater county, description and products 151
— assessed valuation 143
— homestead and state land in 151
Canning factories, peas and vegetables 95
Carey Land Act projects 48
Carbon county, description and products 153
— assessed valuation 143
— homestead and state land in 153
Carter county, description and products 155
— assessed valuation 143
— homestead and state land in 155
Cascade county, description and products 157
— assessed valuation 143
— homestead and state land in 157
Cattle, number, value, shipments 55
Page
Cheese factories 63
Chouteau county, description and products 159
— assessed valuation 143
— homestead and state land in 159
Churches 132
Citizenship of Montana 124
CI i mate : 116
Coal mines, production 80
Conservation of game, game preserves _ Ill
Consolidated schools 136
Copper production 75
Corn, acreage, production, value 36
Councils of Defense 1 31
County high schools 137
Cows, number and value 06
Creameries, number and production 03
Custer county, description and products 101
— assessed val uation 143
— homestead and state land in 161
Dairying _ 03
Dawson county, description and products 1G3
— assessed val uation 143
— homestead and state land in 1G3
Deer Lodge county, description and products 1G5
— assessed valuation 143
— homestead and state land in 105
Denominational schools 139
Directory state and U. S. officials 230
Ed ucation in Montana 134
Endowment public schools 1 34
Equal suffrage 129
Fairs, county and state 128
Fallon county, description and products 1G7
— assessed valuation _ 143
— homestead and state land in 1G7
Farm legislation 124
Farm loans 125
Farm organizations 127
Fergus county, description and products 169
— assessed valuation 143
— homestead and state land in 169
Fishing, species of fish, streams, etc 113
jst^ii^k'WJ'. vruSBSJSIIflStf
^V'W^ MAi - ^ '-* * "
w-
241
Page
Flathead county, description and products 171
— assessed valuation 143
— homestead and state land in 171
Flathead reclamation project 47
Flatwillow project 49
Flax, acreage, production and value 34
Flax fibre factories 94
Foreword 3
Fort Peck reclamation project _ 47
Fraternal organizations 133
Fruit growing, districts, varieties of fruit 51
Gallatin county, description and products 173
— assessed val uation 143
— homestead and state land in 173
Game and fish 1 11
Glacier National Tark 10S
Grain grading , 126
Gold production _ 74
Granite county, description and products 175
— assessed valuation 143
— homestead and state land in _ 175
Hail insurance, state 125
Hatcheries, fish - 114
Highways - 99
Hill county, description and products 177
— assessed valuation 143
— homestead and state land in 177
Homesteads open to filing 26
Horses, number, value, shipments 57
Huntley reclamation project 43
Hunting licenses . H4
Hydro-electric power 87
— horsepower developed 90
— electric railways 87
— number and capacity of plants 91
Industrial laws 128
Initiative and Referendum 129
Investment of school funds 134
Irrigation, different kinds and scope 41
Jefferson county, description and products 179
— assessed valuation 143
— .homestead and state land in 179
K. of C. war fund 131
Lakes and streams 109
mm
u\J un^***
Page
Land districts 22
Lands for leasing 27
Lands, logged off 29
Land office fees 25
Laws, U. S. lands 21-26
Lead production 75
Lewis and Clark county, description and products 181
— assessed valuation 143
— homestead and state land in 181
Liberty Loans, first, second, third, fourth 130
Lincoln county, description and products 183
— assessed valuation 143
— homestead and state land in 183
Little Missouri project 49
Livestock 54
Lodge homes and institutions 133
Lower Yel lowstone project 45
Lumber, mills, production, shipments, etc 85
Madison county, description and products _ 185
— assessed valuation 143
— homestead and state land iu 185
Manganese production 76
Manufacturing, scope of, different plants 93
Materials of war, grain, livestock, minerals 131
Meagher county, description and products 187
— assessed valuation 143
— homestead and state land in 187
Men of Montana in the war 130
Metal production by years 80
Milk River reclamation project 46
Mineral county, description and products , 189
— assessed valuation 143
— homestead and state land in 189
Mineral wealth of state 71
Mines and mining 71
Missoula county, description and products 191
— assessed valuation 143
— homestead and state land in 191
Montana in the war 130
Mules, number, value, shipments 58
Musselshell county, description and products 193
— assessed valuation 143
— homestead and state land in 193
National parks : _ _ 103
Page
Normal school 139
Oats, acreage, production and value 33
Oil and gas 81
Opportunities for investors 7
Orchards 51
Park county, description and products 195
— assessed valuation 143
— homestead and state land in 19&
Peas, seed and for stock feed 38
Petroleum production 81
Phillips county, description and products 197
— assessed valuation 143
— homestead and state land in 197
Pioneer clergymen 132
Political conditions 129
Powell county, description and products 199
— assessed valuation 143
— homestead and state land in 199
Power 87
Potatoes, acreage, production and value r. 37
Poultry, breeds, co-operative marketing, etc C7
Prairie county, description and products 201
— assessed val nation 143
— homestead and state land in 201
Prizes won by Montana in agriculture 31
Progressive people 124
Prohibition 129
Protection to labor 129
Ravalli county, description and products 203
— assessed valuation 143
— homestead and state land in 203
Reclamation projects 48
— acres under ditch and cost 48
Red Cross, war fund 131
Richland county, description and products 205
— assessed valuation 143
— homestead and state land in 205
Rosebud county, description and products 207
— assessed valuation 143
— homestead and state land in 207
Sanders county, description and products 209
— assessed valuation 143
— homestead and state land in 209
Sapphires 77
Scenic wonders :. 103
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Schools and colleges 137
School of Mines 138
Sheep, number, value, shipments 59
Sheridan county, description and products 211
— assessed valuation 143
— homestead and state land in 211
Silver production 74
Silver Bow county, description and products 213
— assessed valuation 143
— homestead and state land in 213
Smelters and smelting 77
Soldiers and sailors, homestead laws for 24
State university 137
Stillwater county, description and products 215
— assessed valuation „ 143
— homestead and state land in 215
Sugar beet raising 38
Sun River project 44
Sweetgrass county, description and products 217
— assessed valuation 143
— homestead and state land in 217
Swine, number, value, statistics 61
Teton county, description and products 219
— assessed valuation 143
— homestead and state land in 219
Teton project 49
Timber, standing, varieties 83
Toole county, description and products 221
— assessed valuation 143
— homestead and state land in 221
United States, comparative yield of farms 8
Vacations 103
Valier project 48
Valley county, description and products 223
— assessed val uation 143
— homestead and state land in 223
War, men sent, funds raised, etc 130
Wealth of state 18
Weather, temperatures and precipitation 116
— map showing same at various altitudes -.-. 119
Wheat, acreage, production and value 33
Wheatland county, description and products 225
— assessed valuation 143
— homestead and state land in 225
— —r
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Wibaux county, description and products 227
— assessed valuation 143
— homestead and state land in 227
Wool production 59
Yellowstone county, description and products 229
— assessed valuation 143
— homestead and slate land in 229
Yellowstone National Park 104
Y. M. C. A. war fund - 131
Zinc production 7&
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