There are a few place names in Montana that folk from out-of-state really can't pronounce. Many Montanans have a problem with the proper pronunciation of Meagher County. Here's a hint. Most of the letters between the M and the R are silent. Thomas Francis Meagher, for whom the county is named, was born in 1823 in Waterford, Ireland, at that time part of the United Kingdom. You can learn a lot about the man as he became famous, or infamous, in Ireland, Great Britain, Australia and the United States. Convicted of sedition by the British Authorities, his death sentence was changed to transportation to Britain's penal colony, which we now know as Australia. He escaped from Australia, and made his way to New York City, settling there in 1852. With the outbreak of the Civil War, Meagher enlisted in the Union Army and eventually was promoted to the position of Brigadier General. With the end of the War, Meagher was appointed Secretary of the new Montana Territory, and assumed the position of Acting Governor when Sidney Edgerton went East in 1865. In 1866, Green Clay Smith was chosen to be Governor, but again Meagher stepped in as Acting Governor. Under suspicious circumstances, he fell off a riverboat on the Missouri River and was presumed drowned. His body was never found. Today, his memory is kept alive in Montana through an equestrian statue placed in front of the state capital in Helena, and through Meagher County, which was formed shortly after his death in 1867, and thus became one of the original counties in the State of Montana.
While Meagher County is located to the south and west of the geographic center of Montana, the 2010 US Census placed the population center of the state in the northwestern section of the county. From its original boundaries, land was taken in the formation of six newer counties. The 1890 Census counted 4,749 residents, the highest ever for the county, but the 2010 Census showed only 1,891 folk living there. As the county covers 2,395 square miles, the population density is less than 1 person per square mile. The only incorporated city in Meagher County is White Sulphur Springs, the County Seat.
The Meagher County Courthouse
White Sulphur Springs, Montana
September 8th, 2007
The hot springs that led to the town's name were well known to Native American people. Crow Chief Plenty Coups talked of them, but they only came to the attention of the white settlers when James Brewer found them and named them Brewer's Springs. Different sources give different dates, but in turn, Brewer sold the springs to Dr. William Parberry, an early Montana pioneer, who renamed them White Sulphur Springs, and then laid out the townsite. Today, the Parberry Block East is on the National Register of Historic Places. The springs continued to draw considerable attention, even bringing John Ringling of the Ringling Brothers Circus to the area. Ringling planned on building a resort, but the Great Depression killed his Montana dreams. The springs continue to attract visitors, and the Spa Hot Springs Motel and Clinic is happy to be of service should your travels bring you their way.
Roughly half the population of Meagher County lives in White Sulphur Springs, and famous former residents include the actor Dirk Benedict, probably best known for his roles in the original (1979) Battlestar Gallactica and the A-Team. He's also known for his biographical Confessions of a Kamikaze Cowboy in which he relates his battle with cancer and how he adopted a macrobiotic diet. Speaking of writers, in my opinion, the best of today's writers using Montana for their landscape, is Ivan Doig, author of This House of Sky and at least a dozen other novels. Doig was born in White Sulphur Springs. Anyone familiar with The Great Gatsby would not expect to find Scott Fitzgerald in Montana, but in 1915 the future author arrived to spend the summer on a working cattle ranch just outside of White Sulphur Springs. His short story "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz" is based on his adventures in Meagher County.
The Castle
White Sulphur Springs, Montana
September 7th, 2007
White Sulphur Springs calls itself the home of the only castle in Montana. Bryon Roger Sherman, another pioneer Montanan, moved to the Smith River Valley in the late 1800s after a life as a miner and rancher in western Montana. He built a home to be his legacy on top a hill overlooking the town. Today the stone structure is home to the Meagher County Museum.
But don't spend all your time in town. Driving north from Interstate 90 on the Montana Centennial Highway, US 89, the first place you come to in Meagher County is Ringling. There's not much left of this settlement founded by the circus family, but it does have a fascinating history. A stop on the Milwaukee Railroad, (and also the southern terminous of John Ringling's White Sulphur Springs and Yellowstone Park Railway, the immediate area was used by the circus as winter quarters. Ivan Doig set This House of Sky in the Ringling area, and when you're driving by, make sure you have Jimmy Buffet's Living and Dying in 3/4 Time on your playlist so you can hear his song, "Ringling, Ringling."
St. John's Catholic Church
Ringling, Montana
July 30th, 2011
Continue north on US 89, passing through White Sulphur Springs, and you arrive at Neihart, across the line in Cascade County. But before you leave Meagher County, you'll pass Showdown Ski Area at King's Hill Pass at 7,385 feet in the Little Belt Mountains. This section of US 89, starting just east of White Sulphur Springs and heading north for 71 miles, has the official designation of the King's Hill Scenic By-Way.
Two other Scenic By-Ways cross at least parts of Meagher County. Heading northwest from White Sulphur Springs is the Smith River Scenic By-Way, a 92 mile stretch of mostly unpaved road that connects White Sulphur Springs to Interstate 15 at the town of Ulm. The Smith River flows northwest from its source in the Castle Mountains to its confluence with the Missouri south of the city of Great Falls. On its course, it has cut a canyon between the Big Belt Mountains on the west and the Little Belt Mountains on the east. The river is so popular as a recreational site, that access is limited by an annual lottery. Folks lucky enough to win a permit enjoy a multi-day float covering 59 miles of river between the only access point and the only take-out point on the river. Montana Highways 330 and 360 run more-or-less parallel to the river for those who don't win the lottery and are forced to see the scenery by motor vehicle.
East of White Sulphur Springs, turning north off US Highway 12 west of the town of Martinsdale, the Judith River Backcountry Drive crosses the eastern Little Belt Mountains and offers great views of the different mountain ranges of central Montana. But if you'd prefer to stay on paved highway, then stop at the town of Martinsdale and visit Charlie Bair's home. Martinsdale isn't actually on US Highway 12, but a few miles south, but it's worth the sidetrip. Charlie Bair at one time had the largest herd of sheep in the U.S., perhaps in all of North America. He came to Montana as a conductor on the Northern Pacific, left Montana to make his fortune in the Klondike, and returned to Montana where he invested not only in sheep, but also in banking, land and oil. In the process, he built a beautiful home where his two daughters continued to live out their lives well into the last part of the twentieth century. With their passing, they made provisions to turn the homestead into a museum, one of the best in Montana. The former Fox Theatre in Billings was remodeled in the early 1980s, and Charlie's daughter Alberta gave the lead gift in the fund raising effort. The theatre was renamed the Alberta Bair Theatre in 1987. I had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Bair during my tenure at UM's School of Fine Arts, and I can say with no doubt this daughter of Meagher County could drink any man under the table.
Bair Reservoir
Checkerboard, Montana
July 30th, 2011
In short, there's plenty to see and do in Meagher County, Montana, and if you're still wondering how to pronounce the county name, it's simple. M*a***r. I told you most of the letters in between are silent. Mar County might be more easily said, but not nearly as colorful as the proper Irish spelling.
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