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THE PHILIPSBURG MAIL
,fA,
County Names of ]Montaua Honor Prominent
Ci00izens00 Hi0000orica00 Events and Natura00 Features
(The following article is the first
of a series of two on the source of
names for Montana's 56 counties.
The second will appear next week).
By ERIC THANE
Fifty-six counties comprise the
commonwealth of Montana. They
were created over a period of 60
years, beginning in 1865, when the
territorial administration formed
the old counties of Beaverhead,
Madison, Deer Lodge and Mis- I
soula out of the Idaho territory.
From 1865 to 1925 is a long space
of time, but it was not until this
latter date that the last county of
Montana achieved statehood, be-
came rich, and developed from a
desolate region of mountains and ,plains
into the Treasure state of today, and
between those dates the county political
units for the more efficient adminis-
tration of government within the state
were established.
The counties were named variously
after events, persons, and to a lesser
extent, natural formations. Foremost
in the category of the last is Beaver-
head county, named for Beaverhead
rock, a limestone cliff some 150 feet
high between the present Madison and
Beavrhead counties. This rock, fa-!
incus because of mention by Lewis and
Clark in their journals and because it
was a famous landmark, was so named
by .the Indians due to its resemblance
to the head of a beaver. The original
Idaho territorial county was created
on Jan. 15, 1864, and a year later it
'became a Montana territorial unit.
Bannack, Montana's first territorial
capital nd scene of the first of the
serles of big gold rushes in Montana
and also of Vigilante activities, is lo-
cated in Beaverhead county. The coun-
ty seat is Dillon.
BLA"Bear's Paw" was the name
of this county before the state legisla-
ture designated it in honor of the
American statesman, James O. Blaine,
who was a man of ill luck, politically,
being presidential candidate twice, the
' first time losing to Hayes in an un-
precedented close vote in the electoral
college and the second time going
down to defeat before Grover Cleve-
land after a close struggle.
The present Blaine county, of which
the county seat is Chinook, was cre-
ated Feb. 29, 1912.
Two Big Horn Counties I
BIG HORN--The Big Horn river, so[
called because of the large number of l
big horn sheep along its banks in the
early days, names this county. It was[
created in Idaho territory on Jan. 16,,
1864, and became a Montana county I
on Jan. 13, 1913. An original Big Horn
county, not to be confused with the
present political unit, was absorbed by
Custer county.
BROADWATERThe noted Mon-
tana pioneer, Col. Charles A. Broad-
water, who came to this state in 1862,
has this county named in his honor.
Colonel Broadwater was an active fig-
ure in Montana's business history; he
was general superintendent of the
CLI CItARLES A. BROADWATER
Diamond R freighting company and l
later an active head of the Montana
Central railroad--the "Jawbone" sys-
tem, so named because, it is said, it
was built mainly on verbal promises.
CARTER--Named in honor of a man
of sagacity and Judganent who was
held in high esteem throughout Mon-
tana--Thomas H. Carter. Carter was
the last territorial and the first state
delega.te to the United States congress
from Montana.
CARBONeated March 4, 1895, the
prent county seat being Red Lodge.
.Th's county is named from the large
coal deposits which make it the biggest
coal producer in the state.
CASCADE---The series of waterfalls
in the Missouri, one of the greatest
natural phenomena in North America,
names this well-populated division of
the state. Lewis and Clark, in their
Journals, describe the cascades as "one
of the grandest sights in nature." They
were exceedingly happy to see them,
for down the river they had been told
by the Indians that the .true Missouri
had falls and rapids. The Marias had
looked to them the logical stream to
follow, but on the chance of finding
the falls they had come up the real
Missouri. As early as 1865 the Great
Falls of the Missouri was mentioned
as one of the emblems to be placed on
,the territorial seal which later became,
with some slight change, the state seal.
Creation of the county occurred in
December, 1887.
Error Now Does Service
CHOUTEAU -- Named for P i e r r e
,Chouteau Jr., a descendant of the
family .that founded St. Euis. He was
an active partner in the American
Fur Co., and as a trader he was the
first man to see the ,advantages of the
steamboat in fur trade on the lAs-
scurf. When Chouteau county was cre-
ated in 1865 its name was spelled
Choteau. This error was corrected in
1867, but the city of Choteau in Teton
county still retains the incorrect spell-
ing, an error which now serves to
distinguish the town from the cotmty.
CUSTER Named for MaJ. Gen.
George Armstrong Custer, "the Glo
Hunter," vho on JLme 25, 1876, lea
five. trooi., of the Seventh cavalry to
mer aeam on the Little Big Horn
in a battle Whose details axe disputed
to this day. Warned by Crow scouts
who pointed to a late snowfall as an
omen of death, he blundered headlong
into the camp of Tatonka-e-Yotanka,
known to the white men as Sitting
Bull, the spiritual leader of tile Sioux.
He faced a force estimated as from
5,000 to 10,000 warriors. The battle-
ground is now a national monument.
The county was created in 1877 out of
a part of Dawson county, and included
at that time all or parts of Carter,
Powder River, Fallon, Wibaux, Prairie,
Custer, Rosebud, Treasure, Yellow-
stone and Big Horn counties.
DANIELSThis county was created
in 1920 and named in honor of Mans-
£ield A. Daniels, a pioneer of north-
I
MANSFIELD A. DANIELS
Northeastern Montana pioneer for
whom Daniels county was named.
eastern Montana. Daniels had much to
do with the early life of Scobey.
Daniels county was created as a Sub-
division of Sheridan county, and at
various times the territory included
within its boundaries has been a part
of Valley county, Dawson county and
the original Big Horn county.
DAWSON--Andrew Dawson, in whose I
honor this county was named, was an[
employe and a leader in the work of]
the American Fur Co. during its last l
years in Montana. He was factor at
Fort Benton, head of navigation on the I
Missouri. Dawson county is carved I
from the old Big Horn county, which I
passed off the map in 1869, most of/
its territory being taken over by Daw- i
son. Dawson is llth in age among I
Montana counties.
DEER LODGE--This county was cre-
ated as one of the original nine coun-
ties in 1865, and was named for a
prominent conelike butte which is now
included within the grounds of the
Warm Springs hospital. From the bop
of this cone issues hot water
mid
steam. The Shoshone Indians called
this natural feature the "Lodge of the
White-tailed Deer," because so many
t of .the animals frequented the locality,
especially in the winter. Deer Lodge
county existed first in the territory of
Idaho, having almost the same boun-
daries as today.
Miners' Clerk Itonored
FERGUS--The clerk of the first
miners' gulch government organized in
Alder gulch was James Fergus, re-
garded as one of Montana's most im-
portant pioneers. He took a prominent
part in the work of the vigilance com-
mittee in 1863 and later. The Fergus
family were early settlers in the region
north of the present site of Lewistewn.
They were ranchers on a large scale,
and James Fergus was one of the lead-
ers who helped to organize action
against thieves and rustlers in tha
region. He stood always for law and
better government, even though he was
connected with certain movements
whose methods of achieving law were
not ethically lawful. Fergus county
was Montana's 14th, created in 1886.
FALLONThe name of Fallon takes
its genesis from O'Fallon creek, a
small stream that has source in north-
ern Carter county and flows through
Carter, Custer and Prairie counties.
It has confluence with the Yellow-!
stone river about six miles east of]
Terry. The creek was named in honor I
of Maj. Benjamin O'Fallon, who first l
entered Montana history as an agent
of the United States government. He
was a member of the party of General i
Atkinson who commanded the first.
organized military expedition to carry
the prestige aria authority of the
United States government among the
Indians of the region which later be-
came Montana.
FLATHEAD--When a subdivision of
the old Mlssoula county was made
necessary by the extension of the Great
Northern railway to the Pacific coast
in 1893, and the subsequent develop-
ment of the northern and western]
parts of the state, Flathead county was,
formed. It was named after the Flat-I
head, or SeUsh, Indians. The meantng l
of the term is obscure, since this trlbe
did not practice the habit of flattening i,
of heads, as did some tribes of that
Pacific coast. The original home of the[
Selish was the Bitter Root valley, but]
they were moved later when the white t
men ,became dominant in the country}
to bhe Jocko reservation, later renamed l
the Flathead reservation, north of l
Missoula. i
GALLATIN--The principal river of
the county gives it its name. The Gal-
latin, with the Madison and the Jeffer-
son, combine at Three Forks to form
the Missouri. It was named by Lewis
and Clark after Albert Gallatin, sec-
retary of the treasury in the cabinet
of Pres. Thomas Jefferson who spon-
sored and handled the financing of
the Lewis and Clark expedition. Gal-
latin county was first created as a
county by the Idaho legislature in 1864
and in 1865 was made one of the or-
iginal nine counties of Montana ter-
ritory. Its original county seat was
GaUatin City, close to Three Forks.
Bozeman is county seat today.
Honors Martyred President
GARFIELD--Name is taken from
James A. Garfield, our second max-
tyred president, who was shot by an
assassin July 2, 1882. The county was
formed in 1919 out of part of what
had been old Dawson county, one of{
a group of seven tha hurried to get
their county division projects through l
that year beforo a change in valuation I
for new counties took effect the fol-I
lowing year. J
GLACIER--In 1920 the valuation for l
new counties was i'aised from $3,000,-I
I
000 to $4,000,000 and the percentage of
votes needed for the creation of new
counties out of an old was raised from
51 percent to 58 percent. Glacier coun-
ty was one of the group, including
Garfield, which was hurried along in
1919 before the new law went into ef-
fect. The eastern boundary of Glacier
national park, created out of a part of
the Blackfeet reservation in 1910, forms
the western boundary of the county.
The naming of the county was thus
a very natural one. Formerly a range
and wheat raising county, Glacier is
now the largest oil producer in the
I state. Cut Bank is the county seat.
GRANITE -- Named for G r a n i t e
mountain, once laden with silver. :in
the great days of silver mining before
1896 this was a region of activity; here
was the present ghost city of Granite
which in 1890 had a population of
I 1,310 and was llth in size among the
, settlements of Montana. It was near
the present city of Philipsburg. During
I the years that it worked, the Granite
Mountain mine produced some $25,000,-
000 in silver ore, and supported a boon:
I population which with the decline in
!importance of the mines faded away
until today only ghosts remain.
i VALLEY--Established in
GOLDEN
1920 and so named because the fruitful
soil in the locality produced wonderful
i crops during the cycle of wet and
abundant years which promoted the
homestead invasion into Montana
Golden X:alley was one of a group of
six counties establizhed between 1919
and 1925, representing the last spasm
in the frenzy for "county-splitting"
which characterized the period just be-
fore and after the turn of 1920.
HILL---This county was created in
the big homestead boom, and made
necessary by the advent of the dry-
landers and squatters who settled
around Havre begimling with 1909.
Hill county was named as a tribute to
James J. Hill, the "empire builder,"
Who had pushed through the building
of the Great Northern railroad which
opened the northern prairies to settle-
ment. West of Havre grew a whole row
of 'towns which were prosperous dur-
hag the cycle of wet years, but today
are only dusty relics of what they
once were. Hill county was cut frGm
old Choutau county and was one of
ja
SIDNEY EDGERTON
For whom Edgerton county was named,
the name being later changed by the
legislature to Lewis and Clark cunty.
the three divisions of that county, the
other two being Blaine and the present
Chouteau counties.
JEFFERSON--It is supposed that
this name was taken from the Jeffer-
son river, although Jefferson City, the
first county seat, may have been the
source of the county title. Jefferson
City was named for a number of fam-
ilies from Jefferson City, Mo., who
settled there. Jefferson was one of
the original counties established by an
act of the 1865 legislature--Montana's
first legislature.
JUDITH BASIN--This county is a
product of the homestead boom, taking
its name from the farming area which
is almost enclosed by the Little Belt;
Snowy and Highwood morn:rains and
lying on the upper reaches of the
watershed of the Judith river. Miss
Julia Hancock of Fincastle, Vs., was
the inspiration for the name of the
river. It was given by Captain Clark
of the Lewis and Clark expedition, who
a few months after the end of the
expedition married the lady in ques-
tion. The name was first "Judy," then
dignified to "Judith." Captain Lewis
had wanted to call the river the "Big
Horn," because of the large number
of those animals seen near it, but he
was overruled for sentimental reasons.
LAKE--So called because it lies
south of Flathead lake and had part
of tl:e lake within its territory. It was
organized in 1923 as the 55th county
of Montana. Part of its population
consists of the Selish people who oc-
cupy the land that was once. the Flat-
llead, formerly Jocko, Indian reserva-
tion. The Selish in history were an
intelligent, peaceful race. Peter Ronan
probably the best known of Indian
agents in Montana, was for many
years stationed upon the Jocko reser-
vation.
County's Name Changed
LEWIS AND CLARK--Nmned from
the explorers, though the original
designation w "Edgerton county." It
was one of the original nine Montana
counties, and the first name was in
MADISON--One of the original nine
counties of Montana, its name sug-
gested by the middle of the three
rivers which form the Missouri--the
Madison, Gallatin and Jefferson. The
stream was named by Lewis and Clark
in honor of James Madison, secretary
of state at the time of the famous
exploring expedition, later president.
This region was the scene of much
stilting history in the early days of
gold. Virginia City, the county seat,
was territorial capital until 1875, when
it was moved o Helena.
McCONE--Nmned after George Me-
Cone, who in 1875 undertook the diffi-
cut and dangerous work of carrying
government mail from Fort Abraham
Lincoln in the Dakota territory to Fort
Keogh, located near the site of Miles
City. He rode his route for three years
and was successful in delivering mail
and at the same time keeping posses-
.sionof his scalp In a country infested
b'ny osthe Sioux and Cheyennes. Later
he followed the same work from Glen-
dive to Fort Buford and on to Wolf
honor of Sidney Edgerton, Montana's Point. He established a ranch on Burns
fh'st territorial governor. He was an-,re e ...............
• . elrl , u, utu uawson county in ltz,
pointed by lesiden% Lincoln, chi Y[ ,.rid w_q € .................. ,.
because he was a safe and dependable I CO'li's'o ",=,,,,...
republican. His niece was Miss Lucia J count v of c e,-, ..... :-- -^ -^,-^-
Darling who established the first to or--t ....... ": ...........
school in Montana ill Vlrglnla ulYlan, u,, ,o,,. ,.. - - ,#
in 1863 and 1864. The county under- 1 o, f,r ,,,, ..... , ,,o ..+ ....
went its change of name in 1867 at of "Mont*ana. ............... s .......
a meeting of the legislative assembly.
LIBERTY--The territory within the
present Liberty county was distant
from the county seats of Hill, Chou-
teau and Toole, and there was a feel-
ing that the drylanders of this region
were not receiving their just share
of the benefits of county government.
A county division project went through
and parts of Hill, Chouteau and Toole
(Continued Next Week)
Musselshell Rancher
Believed in Germany
William Sander, young Musselshell
cot m%y rancher, who left Roundup
eany m August for a visit with rela-
went into the making of Liberty coun- tires in Germany, is believed to be
ty. It was considered that this would detained in Europe by the war and
give the settlers more liberty, hence his friends in Montana are concerned
the title of the county. lest he be unable to return home due
LINCOLN--Lincoln county was or- to the conflict.
ganized in 1909 ott of the first Mis-
soula, later Flathead county. It was
made necessary after the extension of
the Great Northern railroad into that
territory and beyond to the Pacific
state had opened the region to settle-
ment and tapped Its extensive timber
resources. It was named after Abraham
Lincoln.
Sander drove a truck from Roundup
,to New York and sailed for Europe
on Aug. 10, expecting to remain away.
'for about two month.s. His old home
is a small wn between Kiel and
Fleusberg in northern Germany.
I Sander came ,to the United States:
only nine years ago, but he took out
I cltizenship papers four years ago.
:i!iiiiiiiiiiiiii
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