Treasure County was one of the counties formed during a ten-year period when land developers went crazy. From 1909 through 1919, twenty-two of Montana's fifty-six counties were created, seven of them, including Treasure County, in 1919. So many counties were formed in 1919 in anticipation of a push-back by state leaders who felt that too many counties had been formed under the lax laws in place during the 1909-1919 period. With new laws in place, only six counties were formed after 1919.
Under the laws enacted in 1919, Treasure County would probably not have been formed, but created it was, and the 1920 US Census showed a total county population of 1,990, the highest count ever for this small piece of Montana real estate (979 square miles) with less than 1 person per square mile. Only three Montana counties are smaller than Treasure in area (Silver Bow, 1; Deer Lodge, 30; and Wibaux, 52), and only Petroleum County, 55, is smaller in population. The land for Treasure County came from Rosebud County, 29, which borders Treasure on both the north and the east.
Prior to 1906, much of the land of Treasure County was part of the sprawling Crow Indian Reservation, but in that year, the US Government reduced the size of the Reservation, moving its eastern boundary west to its present location. This opened the land to white settlement, and in no time, The Flying E cattle ranch was formed, managed by Charlie J. Hysham. The Flying E had thousands of head of cattle, and in order to supply the ranch, the Northern Pacific Railroad built a siding. The town of Hysham grew up around this siding, and when the county was formed, Hysham became the County Seat. To this day it is the only incorporated town in the county, with a 2010 population of 312.
The Treasure County Courthouse, Hysham Montana
Note the map of the county done in contrasting brick
Of particular note in Hysham is the Yucca Theatre, built in 1931 by brothers David and Jim Manning. David Manning was not just a theatre owner, but a businessman, civic leader/booster, and politician. He was partially responsible for the city's swimming pool and water system, having improved area irrigation by building two dams in the region. He served in the Montana Legislature for fifty-two consecutive years (1933-1985) where he promoted rural electrification and highway construction, both vital to remote rural communities like Treasure County.
The Yucca Theatre, Hysham Montana
Next door to the Yucca Theatre are a series of statues, my favorite ones in the entire state. I especially love the fact that Sacajawea is pointing out the wooly mammoth and the saber tooth tiger to Lewis and Clark who came through this area on their exploratory tour of the new Louisiana Purchase.
Lewis (or is it Clark) with a Saber Tooth Tiger and a Wooly Mammoth
Next door to the Yucca Theatre, Hysham Montana
Education comes in second employing 6.7% of males, and construction and public administration are tied in third place with 6.3% each. Among women, education is the largest source of employment, with 21% of women working in the schools, and 15.3% work in public administration. Like the rest of Montana, Treasure County is overwhelmingly "white," with 92.8 claiming a "white" racial background, and 3.5% claiming "Hispanic." Again, mirroring the state as a whole, the largest reported "first ancestry" is German, with 29%, and Norwegian second at 14%. 97.8% of Treasure County residents report speaking English at home.
Early pioneer history is always a fun topic for research, and today's researchers are fortunate to have Tales of Treasure County available on-line. One early pioneer, a Scotsman named Robert Grierson, wrote his family in Scotland, describing conditions in what would become Treasure County.
"I considered it good land though not black and the amount of bottom land is small compared with the big extent of grassland around. This part of Montana grows grain without irrigation. This country is on the sandstone and coal formation no gold on it. As to objections the insects are pretty bad and next to that horse stealing by straggling Indians is too common. I most decidedly think this is the best of the United States to go to and now [March] is the proper time as far as the climate affects the production of corn, watermelons, pumpkins and such like. It is not a smooth, bare plain but river bottoms for farming sheltered with grassy hills that afford lots of free pasturage for stock. And another advantage is the construction of the Northern Pacific Railroad. Another advantage, this is the center of grazing grounds of the great buffalo."
Apparently his letters convinced his brother Donald to bring his family to Montana. Further reading in Tales of Treasure County brought this story to my attention: the attempt by residents in the Pease Bottom area to secure postal service:
Having no post office equipment of their own, the citizens of Junction City decided they needed that of the Etchetah Post Office. With the aid of the stage driver, Wiley King, Guy's Post Office was loaded one time while Guy was away and taken to Junction. It was returned, however, when Guy impressed the Junction residents of the probable consequences resulting from the theft of a United States Post Office.
And while we're thinking of postal service, one of the unincorporated areas in Treasure County, Sanders, has its own zip code, 59076, even though its on-again, off-again post office first opened in 1904 and finally closed in 1994. Sanders is situated on the Yellowstone River and got its start as a place where the Northern Pacific locomotives could get the water they needed for steam generation.
Treasure County today is crossed west to east by the Yellowstone River, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad (successor to the original Northern Pacific), and Interstate Highway 94, itself successor to US Highway 10, and the original Yellowstone Trail.
Treasure County Landscape
Southwest of Hysham
While Treasure County itself does not seem to have its own website (the Treasure County Health Department does, though), the Hysham Chamber of Commerce has a site that can be found at http://hysham.org/
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