19. Chouteau County

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One of the original nine territorial counties created on February 2, 1865, Chouteau County covered all of north central Montana. Eventually Meagher (Number 47), Fergus (8), Cascade (2), Teton (31), Broadwater (43), Hill (12), Blaine (24), Toole (21), Phillips (11), Wheatland (44), Glacier (38), Pondera (26), Liberty (48), Judith Basin (36), and Petroleum (55) counties would all be formed (at least in part) from land taken from the original Chouteau County.

Pierre (1789 - 1865) and his brother Auguste (1786-1838) Chouteau grew up in an important American fur trading family. Their father (Pierre, senior) and uncle (Auguste) were born into a French family in New Orleans, New France, and uncle Auguste later founded St. Louis, Missouri. The older generation, still French nationals, proved very helpful to Lewis and Clark, The younger generation were involved in John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company and founded several mercantile forts including Fort Pierre (across the river from Pierre, South Dakota) and Fort Benton (now the county seat of Chouteau County). Choteau, Montana (Teton County's seat) bears Pierre's name and Chouteau, Oklahoma was named for Auguste. The Chouteau brothers named Fort Benton after their friend, influential Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton.

The Chouteau County Court House
Fort Benton, Montana

The Chouteau brothers established Fort Benton in 1847, making it one of the oldest communities in the American West. It was the last trading post on the Missouri River, and as such the town around the fort grew into a major shipping center. Steamboats based as far away as New Orleans docked at Fort Benton, and in 1860, the U.S. Army began construction of the 642 mile Mullan Road, designed to connect the Missouri River at Fort Benton to the Columbia River (well, actually the Snake River) at Fort Walla Walla (now in Washington State). The city's website claims that the town was once the "world's innermost port." Built in 1884, the county's court house is the second oldest such building still in use in Montana. Fort Benton is also home to the first bridge built in Montana spanning the Missouri River, the Grand Union Hotel (once deemed the "finest accommodations between Minneapolis and Seattle"), the "Bloodiest Block in the West" where twelve of the thirteen establishments were saloons, dance halls, or brothels, the Museum of the Upper Missouri, and the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument Interpretive Center. It is also home to Montana's oldest Episcopal Church, St. Paul's, in continuous service since 1881. In short, there's plenty of places to visit in historic Fort Benton.

St. Paul's Episcopal Church
The Oldest Episcopal Church in Montana

Chouteau County today covers 3,997 square miles, of which 24 are water. The 2010 U.S. Census counted 5,813 county residents, down from 5,970 in 2000. The highest population count for Choteau County in its present formation was in 1930, when the Census counted 8,635 residents. The county is Montana's number one winter wheat producer, and as across all of Montana, agriculture forms the principal industry. Forty-seven percent of the industry in Chouteau County is agriculture, dwarfing the second largest industry, construction, with eight percent. Forty-four percent of the men and eight percent of the women are employed as farmers, farm managers or agricultural workers. The average size farm is 2,924 acres, and 63.15% of all farms in the county are owned by individuals or families.

At the very northern edge of the county, you'll enter the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation (most of which is in neighboring Hill County.) Rocky Boy is home to the Chippewa-Cree tribe, made up of Chippewa and Métis who moved south from Canada and Cree who moved west from North Dakota. Rocky Boy, the smallest of Montana's seven reservations, is home to Stone Child College, one of the tribally run junior colleges in Montana.

The Missouri River, which divides the county in half and was responsible for the county's historical importance, is the county's most prominent topographical feature, along with its tributaries the Teton and Marias Rivers. US Highway 87 is the only federal highway in the county. Fort Benton sits 40 miles north of Great Falls and 75 miles south of Havre on the east side of US 87, a two-lane road. The highway passes miles and miles of wheat fields, and bypasses the towns of Floweree, Carter, Loma, Big Sandy and Box Elder as you cross the county. For my money, the best way to cross Chouteau County is the same way Lewis and Clark, the Chouteau brothers, and thousands more did it--on the Missouri River.

The Old Fort Benton Bridge
Fort Benton, Montana

Driving north from Fort Benton, about fifteen miles past Loma, you will see a sign on the right pointing to Virgelle. Turn off 87 and take the dirt road approximately seven miles to the Virgelle Mercantile. You can't miss it. It's the only building in Virgelle. The Virgelle Merc is a combination bed & breakfast and antique store, and is the home of Don Sorensen and the Missouri River Canoe Company. Don will put you up overnight, fully outfit your trip, and send you on the adventure of a lifetime. I know, I did it four years in a row back in the mid 1990s, and I'd gladly do it again and again. Once on the river, you'll see the country virtually unchanged from the way Lewis and Clark saw it in 1804. There are no bridges on a fifty-mile stretch of the river, and once you put in at Virgelle Landing, you can spend the next four days crossing one of the most amazing landscapes in the western United States. Be forewarned, Montana weather is highly unpredictable, so be prepared for everything from blazing sun to pouring rain. The river is slow, and there are stretches where you will have to paddle with all you've got in you, just to move on downstream against the prevailing head winds. But oh is it worth it. And by all means, take along the relevant portion of Lewis & Clark's journals. As you camp each night, you can read about the section you've just passed and feel as if you've traveled back two hundred years in time. (I'll take my canoe over their boats, though, and my tent, sleeping bag and air mattress over their gear any day.)

The Missouri Breaks
Chouteau County, Montana

Photo Information:

Chouteau County Sign: Taken 4/23/2011 on the Chouteau/Hill County Line, US Highway 87. ISO 200, f /16.0, 1/125 second. Nikkor 16-85 mm lens set at 32 mm.

Chouteau County Court House: Taken 3/14/2010 in Fort Benton, Montana. ISO 125, f /11.0, 1/60 second. Nikkor 16-85 mm lens set at 16 mm.

St Paul's Episcopal Church: Taken 3/14/2010 in Fort Benton, Montana. ISO 125, f /11.0, 1/20 second. Nikkor 16-85 mm lens set at 16 mm.

Fort Benton Bridge: Taken 3/14/2010 in Fort Benton, Montana. ISO 125, f /11.0, 1/180 second. Nikkor 16-85 mm lens set at 22 mm.

Missouri Breaks: Scanned from a photograph taken in August, 1995, looking down at the Missouri River. No data available.

18. Beaverhead County

One of the original nine counties formed when Montana became a territory, Beaverhead County is the only one not to lose much of its original size due to the formation of new counties. Aside from a minor county line adjustment with neighboring Madison County (number 25), Beaverhead County today covers the same area it did in 1865. Today it is the largest county in area in the State of Montana, covering 5,572 square miles of which 30 are water. With a 2010 population of 9,246 (up .5% from the 2000 count of 9,198), the county has a population density of 1.7 people per square mile. Located in the southwestern corner of the state, Beaverhead County is bounded by the Continental Divide which separates it from the state of Idaho on the south and west, and from Ravalli County (number 13) on the northwest. While there are numerous mountain lakes throughout the county, the largest single body of water is the Clark Canyon Reservoir, formed in 1964 when the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation built the Clark Canyon Dam on the Beaverhead River south of Dillon, the County Seat.

The Beaverhead County Courthouse
Dillon, Montana

Founded in 1857, Dillon is one of the oldest cities in Montana, and with a 2010 population of 4,134, the largest city in Beaverhead County. Named for the president of the Union Pacific Railroad, Sidney V. Dillon, the town got its start as a shipping point for goods coming up from Utah for the mining camps in Montana. Agriculture and livestock production soon established its pre-eminence, and Dillon for a time shipped more wool out of Montana than any other Montana location. Cattle, too, have played an important role in the county's history, and the Big Hole Valley in the western part of the county has been called the "Land of 10,000 Haystacks."

Dillon is home to the University of Montana-Western(formerly known as Western Montana College). Founded in 1893 as the Montana State Normal School, Western today maintains its tradition of excellence in teacher education while offering a full course of study leading to Associate and Bachelors Degrees in Biology, Business, Education, English, Environmental Studies, Equine Studies, Fine Arts, Mathematics and the Social Sciences.

Land of 10,000 Haystacks
The Big Hole Valley

Beaverhead County offers a wealth of recreational opportunities. Fisherman consider the Big Hole and Beaverhead Rivers to be blue-ribbon trout streams. Hunters flock to the Big Hole Valley for big game and birds. RATPOD (Ride Around the Pioneers in One Day) attracts over 600 bike riders each year for a 130 mile ride through breath-taking mountain vistas and elevations ranging from 5100 feet at Dillon to over 8000 feet on the Pioneer Scenic Byway. Along the way, riders pass by Elkhorn Hot Springs and Crystal Park, two other favorite recreational sites in Beaverhead County. In the winter, snowmobilers take over the mountain roads, and skiers can find miles of cross-country trails and downhill skiing available at Maverick Mountain.

Upper Twin Lake
Bitterroot Mountains

History buffs have plenty sites to visit in Beaverhead County. Those first great western US travelers, Lewis & Clark, came through the area. Their Shoshone guide Sacagawea showed them a rock formation the Shoshone thought looked like a beaver's head. The county is named for that rock formation. The Corps of Discovery (Lewis & Clark) camped for several days at Camp Fortunate, now unfortunately submerged under the waters of the Clark Canyon Reservoir. When Sidney Edgerton convinced the U.S. Congress to create Montana Territory in 1864, and arrived to serve as the first territorial governor, his capital city was Bannack, now a Montana State Park and well preserved ghost town. On a more somber note, the Big Hole National Battlefield commemorates the August 9, 1877 battle between the U.S. Cavalry and a group of Nez Percé indians led by Chief Joseph. The cavalry attacked before dawn, killing over 90 sleeping indians and losing over thirty of their own men. I cannot visit the site without chills running down my spine.

The Masonic Lodge
Bannack Montana

Today, agriculture (including forestry, fishing and hunting) accounts for twenty-five percent of the county's industrial base, roughly two and a half times the state average. Construction follows at twelve percent and educational services at ten. For men, eleven percent are employed as farmers with an additional nine percent employed as agricultural workers. No other industry comes close. The average size of a Beaverhead County farm is 3,038 acres with an average annual sales of $150,274 and average expenses of $129,006. The average age of the principal farmer is 55, and 66% of the farms are family or individually owned.

Median household income is $37,116, or $5,000 below the Montana state median, and sixty-three percent of workers earn a salary or wage. Twenty-five percent work for the government, and eleven percent are self-employed. All data comes from the city-data.com website.

Photo Information:

Beaverhead County Sign: Taken 2/14/2010 at the Beaverhead/Madison County Line on Montana Highway 41. Focal length: 52 mm. ISO 125, f /19.0, 1/45 second.

Beaverhead County Courthouse: Taken 2/14/2010 in Dillon, Montana. Focal length: 18 mm. ISO 125, f /19.0, 1/60 second.

Land of 10,000 Haystacks: Taken 9/7/2008 near Jackson, Montana. Focal length: 48 mm. ISO 200, f /9.5, 1/350 second.

Upper Twin Lake: Taken 9/7/2008 in the Bitterroot Mountains. Focal length: 56 mm. ISO 200, f /9.5, 1/125 second.

Masonic Lodge: Taken 6/6/2009 in Bannack, Montana. Focal length: 45 mm. ISO 200, f /5.6, 1/500 second.

17. Roosevelt County

President Theodore Roosevelt had spent more time in the West than any of his predecessors. After he died on January 6, 1919, the State of Montana honored him by dividing Sheridan County (number 34) along an east-west axis, and naming the southern section Roosevelt County. This happened on February 18, 1919. Note that Montana created seven counties in February and March of 1919, and another four in 1920, but the location of Roosevelt County makes it particularly apt for honoring its namesake, being the only one of the eleven new counties to border North Dakota where Roosevelt had his ranch. The county is rectangular in shape, having a natural southern border on the Missouri River and an arbitrary northern border at approximately 48'34" north latitude for most of its extent, stair-stepping down to 48'23" at its eastern edge. The 2010 US Census counted 10,425 residents in the county, down 1.8% from the 2000 count of 10,620.

The largest city and county seat is Wolf Point, located in the extreme southwestern corner of the county, on the Missouri River floodplain. The courthouse was built through the depression-era Works Progress Administration (WPA), as were several other local buildings. Wolf Point, incorporated in 1915, had a 2010 population of 2,621, down 2% from the 2000 count of 2663. and down considerably from its high in 1960 of 3,585. Wolf Point is home to the oldest rodeo in Montana, the Wild Horse Stampede, held annually since 1921 on the second weekend in July. Wolf Point is also home of the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center. Fort Peck Community College has a branch campus in the city as well.

The Roosevelt County Courthouse
Wolf Point, Montana

The Fort Peck Indian Reservation covers most of Roosevelt County. Established in 1871, the Reservation is home to the Assiniboine and Sioux people. The current tribal agency town is Poplar, Roosevelt County's only other incorporated city. The Reservation extends some 100 miles in length and 40 miles in width, crossing into neighboring Valley (number 20), Sheridan (34) and Daniels (37) counties. The Reservation was opened to non-Indian settlement in 1913, and today, of the over 2 million acres included in the Reservation, Indian-owned land amounts to less than half. As is the case so often with European/Native interactions, the history of the Sioux and Assiniboine people on the Fort Peck Reservation is filled with tragedy. Ill-supplied, many native people lived in poverty and hundreds starved to death in the early days of the Reservation. The Presbyterian Church, through their Board of Foreign Missions (!) was quite active in the area, and built churches and schools at Wolf Point, Poplar, Brockton (Makaicu), Ash Point (Hohay), and Chelsea (Minisdah). The Minisdah church was organized on December 15, 1904, and today stands abandonned, with a large, unkempt cemetery hidden in the weeds behind the church.

The Minisdah Presbyterian Church
Organized 1904
Chelsea, Montana

Roosevelt County and the Fort Peck Reservation are also home to the Fort Peck Community College with its main campus in Poplar and a branch campus in Wolf Point. One of seven tribal colleges in Montana, Fort Peck Community College awarded its first degree in 1987. With an average enrollment of 435 students, over 75% are Native American students resident on the Reservation. The college offers Associate of Arts, Associate of Science, Associate of Applied Science degrees, and has various one year certificate programs.

As the Reservation covers over 74% of the land area of Roosevelt County, it should not come as a surprise that the county's demographics are heavily skewed by the Native population. Forty-seven point four percent of the population claim to be solely of Native blood, while an additional 14.7% claim to be of two or more races. Only 36.4% claim to be "white." Median household income is considerably below the state's average, and the number of individuals living below the poverty level is more than twice the rate for the whole state. Employment figures show that 46% of workers work in private industry and 38% work for the government. Fifteen percent are self employed. Unemployment, at 8.6%, is only slightly higher than the state's rate. The most common industry is agriculture which makes up 21% of the county's total, and the most common male occupation is farming (16% with an additional 4% employed as agricultural workers and supervisors). Women are most commonly employed in the education and health care fields.

Cattle cooling off in the summer heat
Froid, Montana

The average size of farm in Roosevelt County is 2,111 acres, 81.11% of which are family owned. The average value of products sold per farm was $74,366 in 2009, while the average cost of producing those products was $63,699, and the average age for the principal farm operators was 58. Livestock accounted for 22.69% of agricultural value, and wheat was the principal crop, with 319,614 acres planted. All figures in the previous two paragraphs come from the city-data.com website.

If you drive fifteen miles over dirt roads southeast from Bainville, you arrive at the North Dakota State Line and Fort Union. While Fort Union is technically speaking in North Dakota, it is considered such an important part of Montana history that it routinely shows up in various lists of things to see and do while visiting Montana. Operating between 1828 and 1867, Fort Union was the longest lasting trading post in the American West. And make no mistake, this was not a government or military post but a business run by the American Fur Company. Despite the difficult road (it's easier coming in from the North Dakota side), Fort Union is well worth a visit as it depicts the way life was lived on the northern prairies in the early 1800s. The Fort has been reconstructed on the north bank of the Missouri, and there are many living history enactments throughout the summer months.

Indian Encampment Display
Fort Union

Photo Information:

Roosevelt County Sign: Taken 8/26/2011 at the Wolf Point Bridge on the Roosevelt/McCone County Line. Focal length: 38 mm. ISO 200, f /11.0, 1/250 second.

Roosevelt County Courthouse: Taken 10/7/2009 in Wolf Point, Montana. Focal length: 18 mm. ISO 250, f /22.0, 1/45 second.

Minisdah Presbyterian Church: Taken 8/26/2011 at Chelsea, Montana. Focal length: 25 mm. ISO 200, f /11.0, 1/250 second.

Happy Hour at the Watering Hole: Taken 8/27/2011 near Froid, Montana. Focal length: 80 mm. ISO 125, f /11.0, 1/45 second.

Fort Union Tipis: Taken 8/26/2011 at Fort Union, Montana/North Dakota. Focal length: 58 mm. ISO 200, f /11.0, 1/350 second.

16. Dawson County

While not one of the original territorial counties, Dawson County followed quickly in their steps. Taking the northern section of the original Big Horn County (see Custer County, number 14), Montana Territory created Dawson County on January 15, 1869, five years after the territory itself came into existence. Dawson County gets its name from Major Andrew Dawson, manager of the Fort Benton Trading Post from 1856 to 1864. In its original form, Dawson County took in all of Montana east of the 109th longitude and north of the 47th parallel. Today, the county covers 2,383 square miles, of which 10 square miles is water. From a population of 2,443 in 1900, the county quickly grew to 12,725 in 1910, a figure it has never again achieved. Of course, in 1910, it still covered almost all of northeastern Montana, Valley County (number 20) being the only portion separated from Dawson before 1910. In the next decade, Sheridan (34), Richland (27), Wibaux (52), Prairie (45), and Garfield (50) Counties would all be formed from parts of Dawson, and the 1920 Census counted 9,239 people in the greatly reduced in size Dawson County. By 1930, all fifty-six of Montana's counties had been created, and Dawson County had just under 10,000 residents. A new population high was recorded in the 1960 census, 12,314, but since the census has recorded a fairly steady decline. The 2010 census showed a population of 8,966, or 3.8 people per square mile.

The Dawson County Courthouse
207 W. Bell Street
Glendive Montana 59330

Glendive is both the largest (and only) city in the county and its seat. With a 2010 population of 4,935, over half the county's people live in its seat. The town got its name from a weathy Irish sportsman who in 1855 named his favorite hunting area using the Irish Gaelic words for Black Valley (Gleann dubh, or glen doove). The Nielsen organization has designated 210 television markets in the United States. Glendive has the smallest, number 210. Its one television station, KXGN, had a CBS affiliation and until 2009 also offered some prime-time NBC programming--the last station in the country to offer programs from more than one network.

Glendive also served as a rail hub for the Northern Pacific railway, and a handsome station still stands in the downtown area. In 1920, some 500 men worked for the railroad in town. Today, rail transportation accounts for 13% of the county's wealth, second only to agriculture, but it employs only four percent of the male population. Farmers and farm managers make up 13% of male workers, while electrical equipment mechanics and other installation, maintenance, and repair occupations account for 8% of male employment. Not surprisingly, women's occupations are primarily in health care, and secondarily secretarial, education, cleaning and maintenance and record keeping. Unemployment, as of April 2010, was 4.2%, half the state-wide rate. Sixty-seven percent of wage or salary earners are employed in the private sector, and only 20% have government jobs. Twelve percent are self-employed. These figures come from the city-data.com website, which has a wealth of information.

Makoshika State Park--Montana's largest

Covering 11,400 acres, Makoshika (ma-KO-shi-ka) State Park is the largest in Montana. It sits on the eastern edge of the city of Glendive, which allows that city's residents to claim that they are "Good People surrounded by Badlands." (Makoshika means "land of bad spirits," or badlands, in the Lakota language.) In addition to the Visitor's Center and Museum, the park also offers an amphitheater, a rifle range, archery range, group use shelter, campgrounds and even a disk golf course--all open to the public. The park has four miles of paved roads, approximately twelve miles of unpaved roads, and three hiking trails. Off-trail hiking is permitted in the park as well.

Dawson County Rangeland
Looking north from Interstate 94

Agriculture has always been important in this region, and even today cattle ranches still cover large tracts of land. Barley, oats, corn (maize) and wheat all grow profusely in the rich soil of the county's rolling hills. If you drive the back roads, you'll pass mile upon mile of rangeland covered with cattle grazing, or seemingly endless acres of wheat fields. Again quoting from the city-data.com website, the average size farm in Dawson County covers 2,703 acres, or 4.22 square miles, and on average, each farm brings in $69,247 annually at an average expense of $62,382. Not a lot of profit there. Over 75% of the farms are operated by an individual or family, and the average age of the principal farm operator is 55. If that doesn't worry you, it should. Only 6.69% of all farmland in the county is irrigated, with 1331 harvested acres planted in corn and 164,040 in wheat. The value of livestock, poultry and their products accounts for 46.17% of total agricultural market value.

Glendive is also home to one of Montana's two-year colleges, Dawson Community College, which offers Associate of Applied Science degrees in Agribusiness Technology, Agricultural Mechanics, Business Management, Criminal Justice, Early Childhood Education, Engineering Technology, Gas and Diesel Technology, and even Music Technology, by which they mean training toward careers in the following fields, among others: "sound engineer, recording engineer, audio engineer, sound/video editor, multimedia publisher, radio program director, disc jockey, engineer mixer." Dawson Community College offers Associate of Arts degrees in a variety of fields, on-going Adult Education, and on-line learning possibilities, as well as providing educational outreach opportunities across eastern Montana.

If, like me, you enjoy a good Sunday drive, Dawson County offers plenty of opportunities to get out and explore. Aside from Makoshika State Park's paved and unpaved roads, you can drive Interstate 94 east to Wibaux County (52), or southwest to Prairie County (45), Montana 16 north along the Yellowstone River to Richland County (27), or Montana 200S northwest to McCone County (41). Along the way to Circle in McCone County, you'll pass through Lindsay, an up and coming agricultural community in 1920, now reduced to a pair of elevators and a few buildings. You also have a plethora of choices should you find the dirt back roads intriguing.

On what can only be described as a bit of Montana trivia, I have now photographed road signs indicating county boundaries for each of Montana's fifty-six counties. All use only upper case letters with one exception--Dawson County, as seen above.

All that's left of a once-thriving community
Lindsay, Montana

Photo Information:

All photos were taken using a Nikon D80 DSLR, a Nikkor 16-85 wide angle/tele/zoom lens, and were shot in RAW format and processed using Photoshop CS4.

Dawson County Sign: Taken 8/26/2011 at the Dawson/Wibaux County Line on US Interstate 94, west bound. Focal length: 62 mm. ISO 200, f /11.0, 1/500 second.

Dawson County Courthouse: Taken 10/7/2009 in Glendive, Montana. Focal length: 16 mm. ISO 250, f /22.0, 1/125 second.

Dawson County Rangeland: Taken 8/26/2011 on US Interstate 94, west bound. Focal length: 85 mm. ISO 200, f /11.0, 1/250 second.

Makoshika State Park: Taken 8/26/2011 in Glendive, Montana. Focal length: 85 mm. ISO 200, f /11.0, 1/350 second.

Lindsay Elevators: Taken 8/26/2011 in Lindsay, Montana. Focal length: 80 mm. ISO 200, f /11.0, 1/250 second.