Looking at things objectively, there is little reason today for Petroleum County to exist. Created on February 25, 1925 when the Montana State Legislature approved chopping off the eastern end of Fergus County (# 8), Petroleum County today has roughly 500 residents spread over 1,674 square miles of rolling plains. It is the smallest county by population in the state of Montana, and the seventh smallest nationally. When I stopped at the Court House in Winnett, the County Seat, I asked if there was any movement for the county to be reabsorbed into Fergus. I was told "Absolutely not." How five hundred people pay for a county government I have no idea. The woman I spoke with in the Court House told me that there are only four full-time employees, but even so. Now I have to say, I don't know which four she was counting as county employees, but the county's web page lists ten people in addition to the three county commissioners. Of course, many of those ten could be part-time employees.
Petroleum County is so named for the oil fields that were discovered in the Cat Creek area in 1920. Bounded on the north by the Missouri River and on the east by the Musselshell River, the southern and western boundaries are those straight lines we associate with man made distinctions, the southern line being the continuation of the division between Fergus (# 8) and Musselshell (# 23) counties that preceded the creation of Petroleum County.
The Petroleum County Community Library states that it is "Dedicated to the preservation of local history," and to that end the folks who serve as library staff and volunteers have collected and saved the local newspaper (The Winnett Times) back to 1921, and in 1979 began a project of collecting oral histories from the eldest residents of the county. In 1985 the project changed to one where questionnaires were used to collect information from county residents, which information was then condensed into a book Pages of Time--History of Petroleum County, from which I have gratefully taken much of the information in this post.
The Petroleum County Court House
Winnett, Montana
Taken March 26th, 2010
Located slightly south and west of the county's center, Winnett is both the largest community and the seat of the county. Walter John Winnett (WJ), a Canadian rancher, was captured by the Sioux and eventually adopted into the tribe. He started ranching in Montana Territory in 1879, and built his ranch home in 1900. In 1910, he built a store and petitioned the US government for a post office. That marks the "official" birth of the town of Winnett, although it wasn't until 1913 that the Milwaukee Land Company, an adjunct of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (The Milwaukee Road), secured land from rancher Winnett and platted a township which the company named for the rancher. The town grew rapidly, with many businesses located in the downtown area, and in 1917, WJ began construction of a two story sandstone building that became known as the Winnett Block. Originally housing a bank, a restaurant, the newspaper's printing shop, a lumber/hardware store with business offices on the second floor, by 1929 the building had become the county's Court House, as seen above. Today, Winnett counts 182 residents (2010 U.S. Census), down from an all time high of 408 in 1950. The three schools that make up the Public School system for the county have a total of 12 teachers (including one librarian) and 103 students in grades K-12. All three schools (elementary, junior high and high school) are on the same block in town. City-Data.com is usually good about listing all the churches in a county, but the site for Petroleum County says only that there is one Roman Catholic Church with 158 members in 2010 and the balance of county residents, 336 in number, being unchurched. I wonder how the members of the United Methodist Church, First Baptist Church and First Lutheran Church, all of which appear in the city-data.com page for Winnett feel about that.
The Rural Petroleum County Landscape
Taken March 26th, 2010
Pages of Time divides its story into eleven chapters, based on historic post offices and the communities that they served. It shows 19 post offices that existed once upon a time, but of those, only three communities remain today. Cat Creek, where were located the oil fields that give the county its name, lies in the eastern part of the county, near the Musselshell River north of Highway 200. The wells were abandoned in 1975, although new exploration has focused on natural gas and several new wells have been drilled, introducing fracking to the area. The Cat Creek area has also been known as Frantz, Frantzville, and Shay. Curiously, for a place with such an important part in the county's history, it does not appear on my 1994 Montana Atlas and Gazetteer.
Flatwillow is an unincorporated community in southern Petroleum County, not far from the Musselshell County line. While it does appear on the maps, its post office, which opened in 1883, six years prior to Montana's statehood, has been closed since 1946. Teigen, on Highway 200 near the Fergus County line, is another unincorporated community whose Post Office closed in 1983. If you're so inclined, however, you can use a Zip Code, 59084, to address any mail you have for Teigen. I suppose such mail will be delivered out of Winnett, Zip Code 59087. Other communities that might have been include Petrolia, Hoyleville, Ashley, Blakeslee, and Dovetail, all little more than dreams of the people who homesteaded the area in the early days of statehood.
An Abandoned Home or Business?
Winnett, Montana
Taken March 26th, 2010
Recreational opportunities include War Horse National Wildlife Refuge in the northwestern part of the county. Part of the Charles M. Russell Complex, War Horse is comprised of three separate units that cover some 3,200 acres. Each of the three units has its own lake, with Wild Horse and War Horse Lakes being two of the largest bodies of water in the county. Petrolia Lake, a dammed reservoir southeast of Winnett, is featured in several fishing oriented websites. The site Hook and Bullet says this: Whether you're fly-fishing, spinning, or baitcasting your chances of getting a bite here are good. On the other hand, Iceshanty.com has a lot of reports, all from 2007, about poor fishing conditions, presumably from ice fishing for perch. The northern extent of the county lies within the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge along the Missouri and Musselshell Rivers. The Crooked Creek Campground, 52 miles northeast of Winnett, has a boat ramp, which may or may not be usable due to fluctuating water levels in the Fort Peck Reservoir. It also has twenty campsites each with picnic table and fire pit, potable water, and a swimming area. CentralMontana.com says that the drive is a "beautiful scenic drive," and I'll take their word for it, as I personally have not been on that road. I'm saving that for my next trip to Petroleum County.
Tableland Southeast of Winnett
Winnett, Montana
Taken March 26th, 2010
In closing, I post below the poem, written by Marjorie W. King, that the Petroleum County Community Library has on its home page. While the words could apply to just about anywhere in Montana, they speak volumes to me about the love of a people for their home.
Petroleum County is March, roaring in like a lion, lambing sheds full of bleating sheep, two-year-old heifers waiting impatiently unsure of the stirrings within them, and old cows seeking shelter in the willows. It is soft spring winds with the smell of damp sage. V's of honking geese and meadowlarks who sing as though they alone had discovered spring. It is the taste of fresh rhubarb and new-grown asparagus. It is seeding and branding and watching the sky for June rains. It is hope.
Petroleum County is cloudless broad skies and new-mown hay, and black rolling thunderclouds shaking fingers of lightning at those who dare to venture forth. It is August and dry hot winds that wither the grass with dust devils teasing and skipping away. It is fear--fear of prairie fires and drought and grasshoppers and debt. It is utter discouragement.
Petroleum County is bountiful harvests and fat lambs and calves. It is chokecherry syrup and bright orange pumpkins and huge harvest moons. It is the first snowfall quietly covering the harshness of the landscape. It is long evenings and howling coyotes and northern lights. It is nights filled with millions of stars, and galaxies for those who search for them. It is acceptance of life.
Petroleum County is wind and blizzards, and worry for man and beast alike. It is the unmistakable blue of chinook clouds. It is everything that is beautiful.
