28. Powell County

Deer Lodge County (30) was one of the original counties created by the Montana Territory in 1864.  The county seat was at Deer Lodge, a town that had also been known as Spanish Fork, Cottonwood, LaBarge City and Idaho City.  In 1901, the Montana Legislature split off the northern section of the county to form Powell County, with Deer Lodge (the city) as seat.  Powell County covers 2,333 square miles, stretching over 100 miles from north to south.  The 2010 U.S. Census counted 7,027 residents, down 2.1% from the 2000 count which, at 7,180 was the highest ever recorded in the county.  The county takes its name from Mount Powell which was named for one of the first settlers in the county, John W. Powell. Granville Stuart said Powell was in this region as early as 1856 and located a ranch at the foot of the mountain in 1864.

Powell County's history is full of Montana firsts.  Meriwether Lewis, on his return from the coast, traveled across what is now Powell County in 1806. The first gold strike in Montana occurred at Gold Creek in 1852.  The Mullan Road, connecting Fort Benton to Fort Walla Walla crossed the county in 1860, using much the same route as Lewis's 1806 adventure.  Montana Territory authorized the building of a prison in Deer Lodge in 1870.   In 1878 the Presbyterian Church built Montana College in Deer Lodge, the first institution of higher education in the territory.  The Northern Pacific Railroad drove their "golden spike" near Gold Creek in 1883.  The NP was the first transcontinental railroad built in the northern half of the country. 

The Powell County Court House, Deer Lodge, Montana

Deer Lodge is the only incorporated city in the county.  The town was incorporated in 1864 and was named seat of the newly created Deer Lodge County in 1867.  When in the 1890s, nearby Anaconda lost the battle to become state capitol, it took on as a consolation prize the role of county seat.  Upon the creation of Powell County in 1901, the new county's seat returned to Deer Lodge.  Today Deer Lodge is a city of 3,111 residents according to the 2010 U.S. Census.  In addition to its role as County Seat, Deer Lodge remains home to the Montana State Prison, now housed in a modern facility on the flanks of Mount Powell west of town.  The original Territorial Prison still stands in the middle of town, now housing several different historic displays including the Old Montana Prison, the Montana Auto Museum, Yesterdays Playthings, Frontier Montana and the Powell County Museum, all run under the auspices of the Powell County Museum.  Included as part of the Museum's collection are a number of Milwaukee Railroad items, including Little Joe, an electric locomotive so named because it was originally intended for use on Joseph Stalin's railroads in the Soviet Union.  

Little Joe, Old Prison Museum Complex, Deer Lodge, Montana

Just north of town lies the Grant Kohrs Ranch, a National Historic Site administered by the National Park Service.  The park today covers 1,600 acres, but in its heyday, the ranch was headquarters for a ten million acre spread.  Visitors to the park can see some eighty historic structures, including the historic ranch house, the bunkhouse, the blacksmith shop, horse barns, and cattle sheds.  To this day the Grant Kohrs Ranch is a working cattle ranch, the only National Historic Site still functioning as such.  Novelist Patricia Nell Warren grew up on the ranch and set her novel The Fancy Dancer in Deer Lodge (renamed Cottonwood in the novel).

The far northern end of the county is a mountainous region and home to much of the Bob Marshall Wilderness Area, the fifth largest wilderness area in the contiguous forty-eight states.  South of the mountains, the Ovando Valley along the Blackfoot River is home to many cattle ranches and is a sportsman's paradise with first class hunting and fishing available.  Brown's Lake, east of Ovando, finds its water disputed between the fishermen and the windsurfers who come to take advantage of the constant afternoon winds that blow across the water.  The lake has arguably the best windsurfing in western Montana.  Driving south on Montana 141, you'll pass near Helmville, home of what may be the best small town rodeo in the country.  Held every Labor Day weekend, the rodeo attracts visitors from all over.  The official Montana State Travel website refers to it as "the biggest little rodeo in Montana."

Powell County Farm.  Little Blackfoot River Canyon near Avon, Montana

Continuing south on Montana 141, you'll pass the Nevada Creek Reservoir and arrive in Avon, another small Powell County town, and home to the Avon Family Cafe.   I find it somewhat amusing that the Yahoo Travel site for the cafe lists it as a pizza restaurant.  I've had many a great breakfast there, and will often stop for lunch, but never once have I had a pizza there.  I don't recall even seeing pizza on the menu.  The homemade pies, however, are well worth a stop if you're driving by on your way between Helena and Missoula.  U.S. Highway 12 passes right in front of the restaurant, following the routes of Meriwether Lewis in 1806 and the Mullan Road of 1860, both mentioned above.  This is the canyon of the Little Blackfoot River, a scenic valley with high rock formations lining the sides of the canyon and lush farmlands along the canyon floor.

 Thirteen miles west of Avon, U.S. Highway 12 meets Interstate 90 at Garrison.  Garrison is also where the Butte, Anaconda and Pacific Railway's northern terminus joins the Burlington Northern Railroad's tracks operated under lease by Montana Rail Link.  The railroad has always played an important role in Powell County, from 1882 on.  In that year, the Utah Northern built a line from Butte to the mouth of the Little Blackfoot (now known as Garrison).  As noted above, the Northern Pacific completed the first northern transcontinental railroad by driving the "golden spike" at Gold Creek in 1883.  The Milwaukee Road (Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific) came through in the first decade of the 1900s, and Deer Lodge was a division headquarters for that line.  Unfortunately, the Milwaukee closed all Montana operations in 1980, and nothing has taken its place as far as employment in Powell County is concerned.  Agriculture accounts for 23% of the county's industrial base, at least as far as male employment is concerned, with Public Administration following at 16%.  Public Administration accounts for 19% of female employment, for in addition to the Powell County offices and the state prison, Montana's Department of Justice Vehicle Licensing Bureau has its headquarters in Deer Lodge.  

The Montana Territorial Prison, Deer Lodge, Montana

Powell County's website can be found at:  http://www.powellcountymt.gov/

The Powell County Chamber of Commerce has an informative site at:  http://www.powellcountymontana.com/

Photo Information:  (All photographs were taken with a Nikon D80 DSLR and a Nikkor 16-85 mm wide angle/tele/zoom lens unless otherwise noted.   Clicking on any photograph will open a full-sized image in a new window.)

Powell County Sign:  Taken 3/24/2010 on Interstate 90 at the Granite/Powell County Line.  Focal length 85 mm.  ISO 125, f /11.0, 1/250 second.

Powell County Court House:  Taken 10/3/2009 in Deer Lodge, Montana.  Focal length 16 mm.  ISO 125, f /16.0, 1/45 second.

Little Joe Locomotive:  Taken 4/1/2010 in Deer Lodge, Montana.  Focal length 22 mm.  ISO 100, f /27.0, 1/8 second.

Powell County Farm (Little Blackfoot Valley):  Taken 7/1/2011 along US Highway 12, Powell County, Montana.  Focal length 70 mm. ISO 125, f /8.0, 1/60 second.

The Montana Territorial Prison:  Taken 4/1/2010 in Deer Lodge, Montana.  Focal length 62 mm.  ISO 100, f /38.0, 1/6 second.

27. Richland County

In 1914, the Montana Legislature took the northern part of Dawson County (16) to create a new county extending south from the Missouri River along the North Dakota state line.  Because of its location as a gateway to Montana, the name Gate County was originally proposed for the new creation, but in the interest of attracting settlers, county residents chose the name Richland.  And for much of the past ninety-eight years, the land has proven to be prosperous.  Unlike much of eastern Montana, Richland County has retained most of its population in the years since it was first created.  The 1920 U.S. Census counted 8,989 county residents and the 2010 Census showed 9,746. up almost 1% from the 2000 count.  In fact, for most of its life, Richland County has had a relatively stable population of 10,000, give or take 500.  An anomalous census count in 1980 showed 12,243 county residents, due to an oil boom in the 1970s but that figure dropped back to 10,716 by 1990 as the oil bubble burst. Should the development of the Bakken Oil Fields currently underway continue through this decade, I have no doubt that the 2020 Census will show a considerable increase over the 2010 figures.  It is almost impossible to find a place to live in the county today, as every available space has been claimed by oil field workers, and new construction is proceeding apace.

Over half the population of the county lives in Sidney, the County Seat.  Sidney's 2010 U.S. Census counted 5,191 residents of the city locals call "Montana's Sunrise City."  (It is, after all, the city closest to Montana's eastern border, although there are towns further east, indeed Fairview, also in Richland County, which sits right on the state line and is considered the Sugar Beet Capitol of both Montana and North Dakota.)  The U.S. Post Office was established in 1888, and given the name Sidney for a six year old boy who was visiting the area at the time.  When Richland County came into being, Sidney was named County Seat.  Its population grew relatively steadily until the oil boom and bust created anomalous growth as shown in the 1980 census, and once again, like the county it serves, Sidney is growing with the current interest in oil.  Revenues from the current boom have allowed the county to construct a new justice center in town, and the lovely court house is being completely renovated.  I thank the powers of historic preservation that Richland County did not choose to demolish the grand old building and replace it with a modern box.

The Richland County Court House, Sidney, Montana

While visiting Sidney in August, 2011, I had several interesting experiences.  First, I paid more for my motel room than I have paid anywhere, including San Francisco which is notorious for being an expensive city.  Second, I had what I consider a unique adventure when, while having dinner in the town's only Chinese restaurant, all conversation around me proceeded in Spanish.  Finally, when I asked local residents what they considered the most photogenic place in Richland County, the one place they would want outsiders to know about, every single person I asked replied "Richland Park."  I hunted down the park (it's not an easy place to find, in my opinion), and I have to wonder what the locals find so enticing about what appeared to be a muddy river bank with little to no grass.  I took pictures, but I won't include them here as I found many places much more worth recording as I traveled the county's back roads--but then that's just my opinion.

Storm Clouds above the Yellowstone River Bluffs

Richland County covers 2,103 square miles, most of which is used for agriculture.  With the Missouri River as the county's northern boundary, and the Yellowstone River crossing the county south to north along its eastern edge, there is no shortage of water for irrigation.  Important crops include grains, sugar beets, corn, beans and hay, according to the county's website.  A new crop, showing up in almost every available field, would seem to be oil pumps, and these are fairly ubiquitous throughout the county.  While no federal highway brings traffic to or through the county, Montana Highway 200 crosses it from west to east, and Montana Highway 16 from south to north.  Montana Highway 23 is a short road, running from just south of Sidney to the North Dakota border, and Montana Secondary 201 crosses the county west to east with its eastern terminus at Fairview on the North Dakota state line.  The county has seemingly no end of county roads, however, most of which are dirt or gravel.  (I know, I've driven many miles on those roads.)

Old Farmstead by Dirt Road, Eastern Richland County

The largest body of water other than the rivers is Fox Lake, near the town of Lambert in western Richland County.  Fox Lake National Wildlife Refuge is home to numerous species of birds and other wildlife.  The refuge covers almost 1500 acres consisting of the lake itself, the surrounding marshland, and short-grass prairie.  Roads take you into both the northern and southern edges of the refuge, but you have to hike into the interior.  When I visited, the most prevalent form of wildlife seemed to be the grasshopper, countless numbers of which covered my windshield, hood, and filled all available ducts leading to the car's radiator.  Lambert, the town closest to Fox Lake, was, in fact, originally named Fox Lake.  Judging by the size and number of grain elevators (now mostly derelict), Lambert shipped a lot of grain out on the Northern Pacific spur line that connected the community to Sidney, some twenty-four miles east.

Oil Derrick Rising in the Wheat Fields (Central Richland County)

Currently, the future looks bright for Sidney and Richland County, but the community has not forgotten its history.  While not actually in Richland County, or in Montana for that matter, both Fort Union and Fort Buford are historical sites nearby in North Dakota that help to bring the history of this region alive.  In Sidney itself, the MonDak Heritage Center offers a wide range of programs and displays bringing both historic and current cultural artifacts and events to an appreciative public.  The Heritage Center is open Tuesday through Saturday, and is free to the public.  Members enjoy special events free of charge, or at a reduced price.

Richland County's web site can be found at:  http://richland.org/

The Sidney Area Chamber of Commerce has a very informative site at:  http://sidneymt.com/

Photo Information:  (All photographs were taken with a Nikon D80 DSLR and a Nikkor 16-85 mm wide angle/tele/zoom lens unless otherwise noted.   Clicking on any photograph will open a full-sized image in a new window.)

Richland County Sign:  Taken 8/27/2011 on Montana Highway 200 at the McCone/Richland County Line.  Focal length 62 mm.  ISO 125, f /11.0, 1/90 second.

Richland County Court House:  Taken 10/7/2009 in Sidney, Montana.  Focal length 20 mm.  ISO 250, f /22.0, 1/250 second.

Storm Clouds Above the Yellowstone:  Taken 10/7/2009 from Montana Highway 16 near Savage, Montana.  Focal length 85 mm.  ISO 250, f /22.0, 1/350 second.

Old Farmstead by Dirt Road:  Taken 8/27/2011 near Sidney, Montana.  Focal length 16 mm.  ISO 200, f /11.0, 1/125 second.

Oil Derrick Rising in the Wheat Fields:  Taken 8/27/2011 in Central Richland County.  Focal length 85 mm. ISO 125, f /11.0, 1/250 second.

26. Pondera County

I have seen the name spelled many different ways, but this one is the closest to the phonetic spelling of the original French.  In Idaho, the lake with the same name uses the original Pend Oreille, and the Idaho town is Ponderay.  In short, the name means "ear ring" (or at least something hanging from an ear), and refers to the pendants worn in the ears of the Kalispel people who lived in what is now northeastern Washington State.  The county covers 1,640 square miles and is home to 6,153 people, according to the 2010 U.S. Census.  This figure is down 4.2% from the 2000 Census count, and down 1,500 from the county's all time high of 7,653 which was recorded in the 1960 Census.  Eighty-four percent of the population claims white heritage, and 14.5% are Native American (mostly members of the Blackfoot Confederacy whose reservation extends into Pondera County).  The Montana Legislature created Pondera County on April 1, 1919, by taking land from the northern section of Teton County (31) and western Chouteau County (19).  The town of Conrad became the county seat.  Interestingly the county's own website gives two different accounts for the name, both coming from the French.  In addition to the ear pendant version, another explanation is that the name actually means "Gilded bread," or "pain d'oré" which would fit the agricultural heritage of the county.  Even today the primary crop raised in Pondera County is wheat.

In the 1860s, the fur trade opened up a wagon route running from Fort Benton on the Missouri River (now the county seat of Chouteau County, #19), and Fort Macleod in what is now the Canadian Province of Alberta.  Fort Benton was as far up-river as the riverboats could run, and much of early day Alberta was built on supplies carried north along this trail, which came to be known as the Whoop Up Trail.  Buffalo robes made up the principal cargo of the south-bound wagons. By 1890, the wagon road had been replaced by a narrow-gauge railroad, The Great Falls and Canada Railway, which ran between Great Falls, Montana and Lethbridge Alberta.  One trading post along the way, Pondera, was established just east of the current site of Conrad, and a post office named "Pondera" appears in the U.S. Post Office's historical records as of  March 15, 1892.  When the narrow-gauge railway became part of the Great Northern Railroad, standard gauge tracks were laid one mile west, and the buildings of Pondera followed.  This was the beginning of the town of Conrad.  According to the 2010 U.S. Census, 2,570 people call Conrad home.

 The Pondera County Court House

Conrad, Montana

 The town of Conrad takes its name from the Conrad brothers, W.G. and Charles E., who owned the 7 Block Ranch, a spread of over 200,000 acres that stretched across much of this part of Montana.  Originally a sheep raising operation begun in 1886, the 7 Block sold off all their sheep in 1903 and brought in a type of cattle not before seen in Montana, the Hereford.  On average, the 7 Block ran 10,000 head of cattle.  In 1909, the Conrad brothers sold the ranch to a Wisconsin family, the Cargills, and the ranch's last horse mounted round up took place, bringing 1,000 head of cattle to auction.  The purpose of the sale was to fund the creation of an irrigation pond which today is the largest body of water in Pondera County, Lake Frances. Today, Lake Frances continues to supply area ranchers with water, but it is also a major recreation spot with fishing, boating and wind surfing being popular activities.  With the construction of the lake, a town grew up nearby to house and serve the workers.  That town is  today Pondera County's second largest, and in addition to Conrad, the county's only other incorporated city, Valier.

Lake Frances, Valier, Montana

In 1927, oil was discovered in the area, and this led to a boom of sorts.  Today you'll find pumps working in many farmers' fields, and the county's website notes that oil and gas production accounts for a significant portion of the employment in the county.  With the discovery of the vast reserves under the Bakken field in eastern Montana and western North Dakota, speculation is that this major new find extends all the way to the Rocky Mountain front, an area that includes Pondera County.  More exploration is almost certainly in the forecast.  

Agriculture remains the predominate industry in the county, with 30% of the men and 6% of the women involved in agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, the catch-all category used by city-data.com.  The average size of a Pondera County farm is 1,731 acres, and the average value of agricultural products sold per farm is $92,657.  The county's website reports:  

Agriculture -- small grains and cattle -- is the largest income producing segment of the Pondera County economy. Most farms are family-owned and of above average size. Crops include wheat, barley, hay and livestock. In recent years, there has been an increase in such alternative crops as oilseeds, peas, and lentils.

 Working Oil Pump on a Pondera County Farm

As is the case in much of north central Montana, there is a strong German heritage in the county.  Twenty-four percent of the county residents report German ancestry with another fourteen percent reporting Norwegian family origin.  There are five Hutterian Brethren colonies in the county, which no doubt accounts for the number of people reporting German as their native language.  Among the various religious groups in the county, the Hutterites are the third largest, accounting for 13% of the county's religious population.  They have more adherents than any other denomination except for Roman Catholics (43%) and members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (21%).  The Hutterites are German Anabaptists, as are the Amish and Mennonites, but unlike those more familiar groups, the Hutterites do not eschew modern equipment and do practice communal living.  Their colonies in the United States (and most of them are located in Montana) tend to be large tracts of farm land where the people live and work together, raising crops that allow the colonies to be completely self-sufficient. 

A Pondera County Farm with the Rocky Mountains in the background

The Pondera County website can be found at http://ponderacountymontana.org/
The City of Conrad has its site at http://www.conradmontana.com/
Valier also has a very informative site at http://www.valier.org/index.html

25. Madison County

NOTE: Clicking on any picture will open a new window with a full-screen view of the picture. Also all links open in a new window.

One of the original counties formed with Montana Territory in 1864, Madison County has the oldest surviving Court House still in use in the state.  The County Seat, Virginia City, also served as Montana's territorial capitol from 1865 until 1875 at which time the capitol was moved to Helena in Lewis and Clark County (5).  While an important part of Montana history, Madison County and Virginia City are today best known as recreational sites for history buffs, hunters and anglers.  According to the 2010 U.S. Census, 7,691 people call Madison County home, but only 190 live in Virginia City, the second smallest county seat in the state.  Now when we add in the tombstone census, it's a different story.  At 5,761 feet in elevation, Virginia City is Montana's highest county seat, higher even than the city that sits a mile high and a mile deep--Butte in nearby Silver Bow County (1).

Madison County's current boundaries enclose 3,603 square miles.  Depending on how you look at things, the county was either named for Secretary of State (later President) James Madison, or for the Madison River which was definitely named for the politician.  When Lewis and Clark reached the headwaters of the Missouri River, they found three rivers joining to form that mighty stream  They named the rivers for the President who sent them on their journey, Thomas Jefferson, his Secretary of State, James Madison, and the man who financed their expedition, the Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.  Montana attached those names to three contiguous counties.  Ironically, in today's world, the county named for the banker is the largest (Gallatin, #6), and the one named for the President (Jefferson, #51) would be the smallest did it not serve as a bedroom community with lower taxes for the state's capitol, Helena.

The Madison County Court House, A.D. 1875

Virginia City, Montana

Once the capitol moved to Helena, Virginia City's star faded.  The town lost most of its population (some 10,000 miners and tradespeople in the mid 1860s), and the mines dried up.  It was not until the 1950s that the city began a come back of a sort.  Thanks largely to the efforts of Charles and Sue Bovey who had begun buying up the town during the 1940s, the ghost town was resuscitated and today serves as an open-air museum where over half the town's 300 buildings were constructed before 1900.  During the summer tourists watch staged gun fights on Main Street, can attend 19th Century live theatre at the Opera House, and spend a fun evening of comedy and song, often in the form of political satire, at the Brewery Follies.

Just down the road from Virginia City, another gold rush ghost town, Nevada City, has also been restored.  Nevada City actually predates its more famous sister, having been settled in 1863 and incorporated as a town shortly thereafter.  Today, again thanks to the Bovey family, the town boasts several operating enterprises, including the Star Bakery, the Nevada City Hotel, and Alder Gulch Accommodations.  A museum in town, the Nevada City Music Hall, holds the largest collection of automated music machines in North America.  During tourist season, a steam train carries visitors between Nevada City and its more famous neighbor one and a half miles away.

Nevada City in the Winter

For outdoor recreationists, Madison County is known for its trout streams.  I grew up camping along the Madison River south of Ennis where my father loved to fish. On August 17, 1959, just before midnight, an earthquake brought down the mountain on the south side of the Madison River, burying campers alive.  The shock of the earthquake was felt hundreds of miles away, and property damage occured over a similar swath of land.  Friends in Laurel, Montana, saw their driveway crack from the quake, even though they were 220 road miles away (much closer as the crow flies).  I cannot visit the site, even today, without a chill going down my back.  Had we not just moved to California in June, we might well have been camped there ourselves.

Today numerous Madison County businesses cater to those wishing to hunt and fish the area.  If you're in the area over Labor Day weekend, you should take in the Ennis on the Madison Fly Fishing Festival.   In addition to the Madison River itself, Madison County is home to the Ruby River, parts of the Jefferson River, the Big Hole River, the Beaverhead River, and Ennis Lake.  I've camped beside a hot spring fed pool just west of the Ruby Reservoir, where gold fish color the water, so many are living in the pool.  While the main entrance and lodging facilities for Big Sky Ski Resort are in neighboring Gallatin County (6), much of the ski area itself is on the Madison County side of the line.  And after a day on the river or ski slopes, why not stop for a soak at Norris Hot Springs, also known as the Water of the Gods.

The place where the mountain fell

1959 Hebgen Lake Earthquake

Other communities in Madison County include Sheridan, Twin Bridges, Alder, Laurin, and Pony.  Sheridan is marketing itself as a tourist destination with free Wi-Fi available throughout the town.  It is the home of the oldest Methodist Church in Montana.  Twin Bridges is the home of Montana's State Orphanage (now closed) and is a well-known fly fishing destination in its own right.  Alder sits just below the Ruby Reservoir, and Laurin is home to one of the most astonishing sights along any rural road.  The St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church rises south of the highway, looking like something that has been dropped in this rural western landscape out of medieval France.

Madison County is a bit out of the way as it lies east of Interstate 15 and south of Interstate 90.  The various communities are all served by two lane mountain roads, including US 287 which connects Madison County with West Yellowstone and Yellowstone National Park, Montana 41 which connects Twin Bridges with Dillon and Interstate 15 in neighboring Beaverhead County (18), and Montana 287 which connects Twin Bridges with Ennis, passing through Sheridan, Laurin, Alder, Nevada City and Virginia City along the way.  All of these communities are well worth your time as each has something unique to offer the tourist.

The Montana State Orphanage (no longer in use)

Twin Bridges, Montana

Madison County has a website at: http://madison.mt.gov/aboutus/
As a state historical park, Virginia City's website can be found at:  http://www.virginiacitymt.com/
The Ruby Valley Chamber of Commerce has a site that covers much of the activities in the county:  http://rubyvalleychamber.com/

Photo Information:

Madison County Sign: Taken 2/14/2010 on the Madison/Beaverhead County Line, Montana Highway 41. ISO 125, f /19.0, 1/90 second. Nikkor 16-85 mm lens set at 62 mm.

Madison County Court House: Taken 2/14/2010 in Virginia City, Montana. ISO 125, f /19.0, 1/45 second. Nikkor 16-85 mm lens set at 16 mm.

Nevada City in the Winter: Taken 2/14/2010 in Nevada City, Montana. ISO 125, f /19.0, 1/60 second. Nikkor 16-85 mm lens set at 45 mm.

Hebgen Lake Earthquake Site: Taken 6/30/2010 along US Highway 287, Madison County, Montana. ISO 100, f /4.8, 1/125second. Nikkor 16-85 mm lens set at 16 mm.

Montana State Orphanage: Taken 2/14/2010 in Twin Bridges, Montana. ISO 125, f /19.0, 1/20 second. Nikkor 16-85 mm lens set at 85 mm

24. Blaine County

Blaine County, named for U.S. Secretary of State James G. Blaine, came into being in 1912 when the Montana Legislature took parts of Chouteau County (19) to form Blaine, Phillips (11) and Hill (12) Counties.  Blaine, formerly a Representative and then Senator from Maine, served as Secretary of State twice, first under Presidents Garfield and Arthur, and later under President Benjamin Harrison.  He was in that office when Montana entered the union as the 44th state.  Located just east of the Montana mid-point of U.S. Highway 2, Blaine County stretches from the Canadian border in the north to the Missouri River in the south, covering 4,239 square miles.  The 2010 U.S. Census counted 6,491 residents, a decrease of 7.4% from the 2000 Census count of 7,009, and a drop of almost 1/3 from the county's highest count, 9,566 recorded by the 1940 Census.  Racially, the county is 52.6% white, 45.4% Native American, with other races, or mixes making up the balance.

Blaine County is the home of the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation which covers over 1,000 square miles mostly within Blaine County.  Fort Belknap is home to the Gros Ventre and Assiniboine tribes, or the A'aninin and Nakoda to use their own tribal names. The A'aninin are historically part of the Blackfoot Confederacy, and the Nakoda split from the Yanktonai Sioux and moved west with their allies the Cree.  Neighboring tribes called the A'aninin the "water fall" people.  Gros Ventre is the name given them by the French traders who misunderstood the sign language for water fall, calling them big belly instead.  Fort Belknap Reservation was created by Act of Congress on May 1, 1888.  The current governmental organization came about through the Indian Reorganization Act of June 18, 1934, and the tribe's constitution and corporate charter date from 1935 and 1937 respectively.  The reservation is home to Aaniiih Nakoda College, one of the seven tribal community colleges in Montana.

The Blaine County Court House

Chinook, Montana

Chinook is the county seat, a town of 1,203 residents according to the 2010 Census.  The name of the town comes from the Assiniboine word Šiną́ga and is used to describe a warm wind that raises air temperature significantly.  In Montana, at least, the name is pronounced with a soft ch, or perhaps it would be better to say "sh,"  shuh-NOOK.  Unlike the county it serves, Chinook has a population that is 91% white.  Settled in the late 1800s,  Chinook grew as a trade center for a vast farming area.  In 1924, the Utah-Idaho Sugar Company moved in, and processed sugar beets into molasses and beet pulp until the early 1960s.  Today the company is remembered chiefly through the high school mascot, a fighting sugar beet.  According to the Chamber of Commerce's web site, Jay Leno ranked the mascot as number 2 in the nation's list of strange mascots.

Fifteen miles south of Chinook you'll find a section of the Nez Percé Historical Park, Bear Paw Battlefield.  I've written about the Nez Percé War in my post on Beaverhead County (18).  Bear Paw Battlefield is the site of the final battle between the U.S. Cavalry and the non-treaty Nez Percé led by Chief Joseph.  It was here, just forty miles south of the Canadian border, that Chief Joseph gave his famous "I will fight no more forever" speech on October 5, 1877.  I have cited the speech before, in another setting, but it remains one of the most powerful pieces of American oratory, and deserves to be quoted again.

I am tired of fighting.  Our chiefs are killed.  Looking Glass is dead.  Toohulhulsote is dead.  The old men are all dead.  It is the young men who say yes or no.  He who led the young men is dead.

It is cold and we have no blankets.  The little children are freezing to death.  My people, some of them, have run away to the hills and have no blankets, no food.  No one knows where they are--perhaps freezing to death.  I want to have time to look for my children and see how many I can find.  Maybe I shall find them among the dead.

 Hear me, my chiefs.  I am tired.  My heart is sick and sad.  From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever.

Central Blaine County, looking toward the Bear's Paw Mountains

The Blaine County Museum in downtown Chinook serves as the interim visitor center for the Battlefield.  The Museum is open year round, with reduced hours during the winter months.  It charges no admission fee and has exhibits ranging from pre-historic (it is a stop on the Montana Dinosaur Trail), the homesteading era, and Assiniboine and Gros Ventre culture.  Its bookstore and gift store have hundreds of books and other items to enhance your knowledge and understanding of this part of Montana.

The Blaine County Wildlife Museum is a separate entity, open during the summer and offering tours by appointment.  Entrance fees are $5.00 for adults and $3.00 for students.  The Museum features dioramas of various Montana terrains, extending its purview beyond the boundaries of Blaine County.

Grain Elevators at Zurich, Montana

East of Chinook, along U.S. Highway 2 and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad tracks, is the small hamlet of Zurich.  Named for the famous Swiss city, it is hard to imagine a place less like Switzerland.  The story goes that as the railroad expanded westward, railroad moguls would take a globe, spin it and stick a finger on the spinning globe to find a name for the next railstop along the route.  As a result, Blaine County has such community names as Zurich and Harlem, while neighboring counties are home to Malta and Kremlin.  

According to city-data.com, agriculture accounts for 32% of the county's industry, followed by construction in a distant second at 13%.  The average size of a Blaine County farm is 3,846 acres, and the average value of agricultural products sold per farm is $90,637.  Livestock, poultry and their products account for almost 55% of the total market value.  Seventy-three percent of all farming is done by families or individuals, and the average age of the principal farmer is fifty-five.  For white residents of the county, 19% report German ancestry and another 8% claim Norwegian heritage.  Only 4% report English ancestry, which may be why, in a statistic that is interesting to me personally but probably very few of my readers, there are more members of the Hutterian Brethern in Blaine County than there are Methodists.

A Blaine County Farm, Zurich Montana

The Blaine County website can be found at:  http://co.blaine.mt.gov/

Chinook's Chamber of Commerce has a great site at:  http://www.chinookmontana.com/index.html

Photo Information (All photos taken with a Nikon D80 DSLR and a Nikkor 16-85 mm wide angle/tele/zoom lens):

Blaine County Sign: Taken 4/22/2011 along Montana Highway 66 at the Blaine/Phillips County Line. Lens set at 85 mm. ISO 200, f /16.0, 1/200 second.

Blaine County Courthouse: Taken 10/8/2009 in Chinook, Montana. Lens set at 25 mm. ISO 250, f /6,7, 1/180 second.

Central Blaine County Landscape: Taken 4/223/2011 fromMontana Highway 66, Blaine County, Montana. Lens set at 58 mm. ISO 200, f /16.0, 1/125 second.

Grain Elevators: Taken 10/8/2009 from US Highway 2, Zurich, Montana. Lens set at 38 mm. ISO 250, f /9.5, 1/350 second.

Blaine County Farm: Taken 10/8/2009 from US Highway 2, Zurich, Montana. Lens set at 65 mm. ISO 50, f /5.6, 1/500 second.

23. Musselshell County

(Taken during one of the spring snowstorms that led to the floods of 2011)

On February 11, 1911, the state of Montana took land from Fergus (8) and Yellowstone (3) counties to create a new county named for the longest river that flows entirely within the state of Montana, the Musselshell. (Counting the streams that come together to form the river, the Musselshell spans almost 500 miles and drains over 108,000 acres.) Rising in the Castle, the Crazy and the Little Belt mountains (one fork from each) just east of the Continental Divide, the Musselshell flows in a generally easterly direction across the middle of Montana till it makes a ninety degree turn to the north to debouch into the Missouri. For approximately fifty miles prior to that dramatic turn north, the river meanders on the south side of US Highway 12 across the breadth of Musselshell County.

The Musselshell County Courthouse

At the time of the county's creation, Roundup was named seat, a distinction it retains to this day. There are many stories about how Roundup got its name, but all agree that the location served as a convenient place for the cattle ranchers to round up their herds in the spring and fall. Some claim that the area was the northern terminus of a cattle drive running from Texas to Montana, and some claim that the round up was strictly local. In any event, the people of Roundup worked for two years to present the Great Montana Cattle Drive for the state's centennial celebration in 1989. The latter day cattle drive was such a success that it continues in legend today. Beginning on September 4th, 1989, over 3600 horses and riders drove some 3000 head of cattle from Roundup to Billings, fifty miles to the south. Some three hundred wagons accompanied the drive, which took five days and had to be a logistical nightmare. Tanker trucks carried 200,000 gallons of water along the route and 140 tons of hay were carried to feed the stock. Not the way things were done in the old days.

The Musselshell River at Roundup

The Montana Department of Transportation has mounted a sign on the south side of Roundup explaining how things went way back when:

Cow Country

In the 1880s, days of the open range, many a roundup outfit worked this country. The spring roundup gathered the cattle in order to brand and tally the calf crop. The fall roundup gathered beef critters for shipping.

An outfit consisted of the captain, the riders, the “reps” from neighboring ranges, the cavvy or horse herd in charge of the day herder and night hawk, the four horse chuck wagon piloted by the cook and the bed wagon driven by his flunky. Camp moved each day.

The cowboys rode circle in the morning, combing the breaks and coulees for cattle and heading them toward the central point to form a herd. In the afternoons of spring roundup the guards kept the herd together, the cutters split out the cows with calves, the ropers dabbed their loops on the calves, took a couple of dally welts around the saddle horn and dragged ‘em to the fire. There the calf wrestlers flanked and flopped them and the brander decorated them with ear notches, or dew laps, and a hot iron. It wasn’t all sunshine and roses.

Today Roundup is a pretty town of 1,788 residents, with broad, clean streets, and a park/rodeo ground along the river where I camped on my trip east in 2007. In the Spring of 2011, however, Roundup had quite a different face. Heavy winter snowfall and warm spring weather conspired to raise the water level to such a point that both US Highway 12, the main east-west route through the area and US Highway 87, the main north-south route were under water and Roundup was cut off from the rest of the state. The flood waters first rose on May 26 and didn't fully recede until June 23rd. The story made national news, including an article in the Huffington Post.

Typical Musselshell County Landscape

Musselshell County has, like the rest of Montana, primarily an agriculture based economy, accounting for over 25% of the county's industry.  Coal mining also played an important role in the county's history, and the local Chamber of Commerce attributes the population increase since 1990 to the resurgence of interest in mining local coal.  According to the 2010 US Census, Musselshell County has 4,538 residents, up from 4,497 in 2000, and up from 4,106 in 1990.  While a ten percent increase over twenty years is nothing earth shaking, it is unusual in an eastern Montana county too far removed from any urban center for the bedroom community effect to have any play in the figures.  In fact, from 1920, when Musselshell County first appeared in the US Census counts till 1970, each successive census showed a decrease in population, the most significant being the drop between 1920 and 1930.  At least part of this drop has to be attributed to the creation of Golden Valley County (53) in 1920.  Both of the incorporated towns in Golden Valley County were part of Musselshell County prior to that time.  But lest we forget that this was part of the Wild West, there is a sign on Main Street in Roundup that recounts the story of five people (including two innocent passers by) who were hanged in town for cattle rustling.  The sign notes than none of the vigilantes involved in stringing up the rustlers was ever prosecuted.

Today's visitors to Roundup should check out the rodeo grounds, the Busy Bee Cafe, The Bloomin' Shack, Allison Saddlery,  and the Musselshell Valley Historical Museum.  Also, be sure and check out Phillip Fowler's Accent Photo Facebook page for some wonderful photographic images.  South of Roundup, on the way toward Billings, you'll pass through Klein, what's left of one of the major coal mining ventures that brought a small measure of prosperity to Musselshell County.  Somewhere I have a picture of my friend Gary Klein standing in front of the sign announcing that we were entering "Klein."

Tree in eastern Musselshell County

Photo Information

Musselshell County Sign: Taken 4/22/2011 on the Musselshell/Golden Valley County Line alongside US Highway 12. Focal length 85 mm. ISO 200, f /16.0, 1/90 second.

Musselshell County Courthouse: Taken 9/9/2007 in Roundup, Montana. Sigma 18-50 mm lens set at focal length 20 mm. ISO 125, f /6.7, 1/180 second.

Musselshell River: Taken 9/9/2007 near Roundup, Montana. Sigma 18-50 mm lens set at focal length 34 mm. ISO 125, f /6.7, 1/180 second.

Landscape with Butte: Taken 9/9/2007 along US Highway 12. Sigma 18-50 mm lens set at focal length 34 mm. ISO 125, f /6.7, 1/350 second.

Tree: Taken 9/9/2007 near Roundup, Montana. Sigma 18-50 mm lens set at focal length 40 mm. ISO 125, f /6.7, 1/250 second.

22. Big Horn County

At the time Montana Territory was created in 1864, Big Horn County encompassed all of the eastern half of the state, but had so few white settlers that Gallatin County (6) handled all the administrative duties for the vast land area. After the Battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876, the county was renamed in honor of General George Armstrong Custer, and Big Horn County ceased to exist, at least in name. It was not until January 13, 1913 that the Montana Legislature created a new Big Horn County with Hardin as its seat. The county is Montana's sixth largest in area, and with a 2010 Census count of 12,865 it is fourteenth in population. Two reservations, the Crow Indian Reservation and the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, cover over seventy percent of Big Horn County's land area, and with a white population at less than 37 per cent of the total, the county is definitely in the forefront of twenty-first century American demographics. While native languages are declining and even dying across the country, almost 27 per cent of the people in Big Horn County speak Crow as a first language.

The Big Horn County Courthouse
Hardin, Montana

Historians believe the Crow people may have originally come from the area around Winnipeg, Manitoba, or perhaps northern Minnesota and Wisconsin. In an age old story, as the Lakota (Sioux) people were pushed westward by white settlement of North America, the Crow were in turn pushed west by the Sioux. Their tribal name, Apsáalooke, translates as "Children of the Big-Beaked Bird," a name the early French trappers took to mean "crow." That name stuck with the subsequent white settlers. Traditionally there are three (or maybe four) bands of Crow, the Mountain Crow, the River Crow, the Kicked in the Bellies, and possibly the Beaver Dries Its Fur who appear in the Crow oral tradition. Once established in what is now Montana, the Crow lived on a range that extended from present day Yellowstone National Park to the Black Hills in western South Dakota. The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 established Crow rights to this area, but the Lakota and the Cheyenne disputed this, and pushed westward, taking over large parts of the eastern Crow lands. This culminated in the Battle of the Little Bighorn in June, 1876, when the Hunkpapa Lakota and the Cheyenne under the leadership of Crazy Horse and inspired by a vision shared by Sitting Bull fought and defeated the US Army's Seventh Cavalry, led by Custer. Custer and over 260 of his soldiers were killed in what came to be known as Custer's Last Stand. The Crow, traditional enemies of the Lakota, had served Custer as scouts and guides.

The defeat of the 7th Cavalry, coming just prior to the U.S. Centennial celebrations and little more than ten years after the end of the Civil War, shocked the American people and brought a massive response that ended the Indian Wars within a few years. In 1879, the U.S. Government established a national cemetery on the site of the battle. In 1946, the site became the Custer Battlefield National Monument (the name I grew up with), and in 1991, in recognition that Americans are more than just white Europeans transported to North America, the site was renamed Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument (this despite the fact that the native people called the area Greasy Grass, rather than Little Bighorn).

Graves of George Armstrong Custer and 7th Cavalry Soldiers
Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument

Montana author Frank Bird Linderman has written extensively about the native people of Montana. Two of his books treat important Crow tribal members. Plenty-Coups, a Mountain Crow chief, had a vision where he saw the bison from the plains all running into a hole in the ground and disappearing. After the bison were gone, Plenty-Coups saw unfamiliar animals emerging from the same hole. These animals unfamiliar to him would seem to be the cattle that came to cover the rangelands. This vision told Plenty-Coups that unless the native people cooperated with the new white settlers, they would be defeated. Because of Plenty-Coups' leadership, the Crow people always worked with whites. Linderman wrote about him in his biography American. Similarly, using sign language and an interpreter, Linderman interviewed Crow medicine woman Pretty Shield. The resulting biography is considered one of the first works to examine the life of a native woman.

Ceremonial House in Shape of Tipi
Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation
Busby, Montana

As a side note, I would be remiss if I didn't mention a Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) agent serving on the Crow Reservation in the early 1900s. Fred E. Miller, a photographer and pharmacist originally from Iowa, became BIA agent to the Crow and brought his camera equipment with him. Unusual among government agents, Miller was so honest and compassionate that the Crow came to trust him and in turn adopted him and his family into the tribe. As a result, Miller was allowed access to Crow ceremonies and recorded amazing images on glass-plate negatives which his grand-daughter, Nancy Fields O'Connor, collected in the mid 1980s. I am proud to have had a part in the publishing of the collection and the first national tour of the resulting exhibition. I've placed a link below to Amazon's website where you can purchase your own copy of this wonderful book.

Like most of Montana, Big Horn County is largely rural and agricultural. Agriculture makes up 20% of the industrial base of the county, with public administration coming in at 15%. Sugar beets have been an important part of the local scene, and Holly Sugar operated a plant outside of Hardin for years. That plant closing had a tremendous negative impact on the Hardin economy and on the summer-time employment opportunities for the people in the area.

Grain Elevator, Downtown Hardin

Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, described on the Park Service's website as the Grandest Canyon in the Northern Rockies, is a recreational wonderland located in southwestern Big Horn County. Covering approximately 68,000 acres in Montana and Wyoming, the Bighorn Canyon offers boating, fishing, camping, hiking and other activities along the seventy-one mile extent of the Bighorn River backed up by Yellowtail Dam. To quote the National Park Service's brochure:

Bighorn Canyon is a geologist’s dream and an animal lover’s paradise. Bighorn Canyon offers a diverse landscape of forest, mountains, upland prairie, deep canyons, broad valleys, lake and wetlands. The wildlife is equally diverse. From the fabulous Pryor Mountain Wild Horses to the majestic Bighorn Sheep, hundreds of bird species and a world class fishery, Bighorn Canyon is truly one of the most significant natural areas in the United States.

Photo Information:

Big Horn County Sign: Taken 3/25/2010 on the Big Horn/Rosebud County line, US Highway 212. Focal length 85 mm. ISO 125, f /16.0, 1/15 second.

Big Horn County Courthouse: Taken 3/25/2010 in Hardin, Montana. Focal length 22 mm. ISO 125, f /8.0, 1/6 second.

Custer Battlefield Graves: Taken 5/28/2011 on the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. Focal length 85 mm. ISO 125, f /16.0, 1/10 second

Tipi House: Taken 5/28/2011 at Busby, Montana. Focal length 35 mm. ISO 125, f /16.0, 1/125 second.

Grain Elevator: Taken 3/25/2010 in Hardin, Montana. Focal length 34 mm. ISO 125, f /11.0, 1/6 second.

Below are the links to allow you to purchase any or all of the books I've mentioned above from Amazon.com. They will open an Amazon.com page in a new tab.