USA > Montana > Yellowstone County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 51
USA > Montana > Park County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 51
USA > Montana > Dawson County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 51
USA > Montana > Rosebud County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 51
USA > Montana > Custer County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 51
USA > Montana > Sweet Grass County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 51
USA > Montana > Carbon County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 51
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102
On the site of the present town of Junction, in the month of June, 1877, William Taylor located with a little stock of goods, and there opened a trading store, his patrons being the soldiers left to guard the supply depot and Crow Indians. This trading post was first called Terry's Landing, and when the stage line was established it became one of the sta- tions of that line. It did not become a place of much importance until the year 1880. In that year we find that the little town and the sur- rounding country, known as Sage Brush, boasted of a population of 41 people.
The coming of the railroad did not greatly increase the population of Junction, but those who had made this place their home enjoyed a good trade with Fort Custer and Fort Mag- innis and the mines in the vicinity. In the early days the town was known as a "typical western town." The Junction City townsite was platted and approved by the county com- missioners of Custer county on March 8, 1883. On Thursday afternoon, April 5. 1883. a
3II
HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY.
large portion of the business part of the town was destroyed by fire, entailing a loss of about $10,000. In 1888 the town had a population of about 200.
With changing conditions around it the town itself changed, until it is today a quiet business community of intelligent and indus- trious citizens. A new era is beginning here on account of the opening of the Crow reserva- tion. The favorable location of Junction, in the very midst of this great tract of irrigable land, is affording opportunity to her merchants to build up an excellent trade. The land in the vicinity is all fertile and only waiting the ad- vent of water to rival any portion of the Yel- lowstone valley.
MUSSELSHELL.
In the northeastern part of Yellowstone county, on the Musselshell river, 68 miles northeast of Billings and 42 miles northwest of Junction, is the little village of Musselshell. The town supports a good school, a Methodist church, two lodges (M. W. A., Musselshell Camp No. 10,514; and R. N. A., Isabella Camp No. 3908), one general store, hotel, livery stable, blacksmith shop and saloon. It is connected by a stage and mail line with Bill- ings, and is the terminus of four other lines which extend to neighboring postoffices. Set- tlement was first made here in 1882.
Musselshell is the center of a large cattle and wool growing district, and a large amount of business is done here, it being the leading town of northern Yellowstone county.
OTHER PLACES.
Besides these places already mentioned are a number of postoffices, railway stations and settlements. Allendale is on a spur of the North- ern Pacific 13 miles west of Billings. A town- site was laid out here January 6, 1893, by Dr. W. A. Allen and J. L. Guyler. The following
year a flouring mill was completed, and an at- tempt was made to found a town, which, how- ever, resulted in failure.
Anita is a railroad station on the B. & M. R. fifteen miles east of Huntley, the nearest postoffice. Ballantine is another station on the same road nine miles northeast of Huntley. Bull Mountain is a station on the N. P. 38 miles northeast of Billings. Clermont is a station on the same road 21 miles northeast of Billings. Corinth is a station on the Bur- lington 22 miles east of Huntley. Custer is a postoffice, station and little village on the main line of the Northern Pacific 53 miles north- east of Billings. While until recently Custer was on the Crow reservation, that point has been quite a little shipping point ever since the Northern Pacific railroad was built. In the late eighties it was the shipping point for Buffalo, Lander. Dayton. Fort Custer and many other towns and supply points in north- ern Wyoming and on the Crow reservation. There were four warehouses. a store, two blacksmith shops, railroad station and the resi- clence of the agent. Since the opening of the northern part of the reservation Custer has grown into quite a little village.
Fattig is a country postoffice on Fattig creek, 50 miles northeast of Billings. It has daily mail and stage from Billings. Six miles northeast of Billings is Lockwood station on the Northern Pacific. Mifflin is a station on the Cody branch of the Burlington 15 miles southwest of Toluca. Peritsa is a station on the Burlington about midway between Fort Custer and Toluca. Pompey's Pillar is a sta- tion on the main line of the Northern Pacific, 29 miles northeast of Billings, and located near the famous rock of the same name. Ron- ald is a station on the Cody branch of the Bur- lington, eight mile: southwest of Toluca. Roundup is the name of a country postoffice on the Musselshell river. 45 miles northeast of Billings, with which city it is connected by a stage and mail route. Summit is an interior
312
HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY.
postoffice 30 miles northeast of Billings. It has a daily mail from Billings. Toluca is the junction point of the main line of the Burling- ton and the Cody branch. It is 16 miles north- west of Fort Custer, its nearest postoffice. Waco is a station on the Northern Pacific be- tween Custer and Bull Mountain. Wolf Spring is the name of a country postoffice 26 miles northwest of Custer. It is on the stage and mail line between Musselshell and Custer.
Rapids is a station on the Northern Pacific eight miles southeast of Columbus and 32 miles southwest of Billings. The station is 3.483 feet above the level of the sea. There was formerly a postoffice at this point, but it has been discontinued. It is one of the oldest settled portions of the county, Mr. Isaac M. Hensley having taken up a ranch there in 1877. The postoffice was established in 1881, and Mr. Hensley was the first postmaster.
CHAPTER VII
DESCRIPTIVE.
Yellowstone county lies a little to the sontli and east of the center of the state of Montana. It is bounded on the north by Fergus county, from which it is separated by the Musselshell river; on the east by Rosebud county, on the south by the Crow Indian reservation and Car- bon county, and on the west by Sweet Grass county. Prior to the opening of the Crow lands in 1906 the area of Yellowstone county was 3710 square miles, and this recent acquisi- tion has added about one-third more. This gives the county an area larger than the com- bined areas of the states of Delaware and1 Rhode Island, and yet the county is not classed among the large counties of Montana.
The territory of Yellowstone county is a prolongation of the Great Plains region, which covers nearly the whole of eastern Montana. The surface of nearly the whole of the county is level or gently undulating, and the elevation varies from 3,000 to a little over 4,000 feet above sea level. The soil varies from a sandy loam to "gumbo," and from a few inches to 40 feet in depth. The Yellowstone and Mussel- shell rivers, the principal streams of the county, have carved narrow valleys through the plain. so that their bottom lands are bounded by steep
bluffs a hundred or more feet in height. Trib- utaries of these two streams have cut other narrower valleys at numerous places. A trav- eler passing along these two river courses finds them bounded by bench lands, whose nearly level surface appears to be so high above the river as to render the introduction of water upon them of doubtful practicability.
While Yellowstone county is a compara- tive level country, its scenic beauties are not to be overlooked. Standing upon the brow of the high cliff overlooking the city of Billings, a heroic picture unfolds itself. Dotting the face of the sunlit sweep of russet valley and steppe here and there are the green and amber squares of grain fields and newly plowed lands, amid which the modest honies of the settlers nestle. As far as the eye can follow these cheerful signs of possessive life may be traced in the midst of a region which but a few years ago was penciled in the sombre tints of a forbid- ding and uninhabited desert by some of the foremost explorers and writers of the day. Far away on the horizon the white masses of the mountains loom up mistily in their solemn stillness, the broad sweep of yellow terrace melting imperceptibly into the curtained vapors
313
HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY.
at their feet. For miles the picturesque curves of the Yellowstone wind across green meadows or beneath shadowing cliffs, its surface here and there casting back the lance points of the sun, and over all the perspective is the mellow, golden haze that lends its indescribable charm to all mountain prospects.
Yellowstone county is as fine a stock and agricultural country as can be found anywhere in the United States. It is covered with herds of cattle and flocks of sheep, while the num- erous valleys are dotted with irrigated farms. Mayor Fred H. Foster, one of the early set- tlers of the county, has written of the condi- tion of the country in which he has so long made his home :
We have one of the few considerable areas of agri- cultural land capable of irrigation at moderate cost to be found in Montana. Our farms are bounded not by inaccessible mountains, but by gently rolling grazing lands, affording excellent feed and natural shelter. The Yellowstone river and its tributaries are mountain streams fed by perpetual snows, and can annually deliver more water per mile at less cost than any other river system in the northwest, except perhaps the Clark's Fork of the Columbia. The Yellowstone valley around Billings contains the only large body of agricultural land from Lake Yellowstone to Fort Buford. Other valleys can perhaps raise more grain per acre, we alone over a considerable area can annually produce every agricul- tural product of the middle states. Other grazing lands may afford better feed in summer. But throughout the winter for hundreds of square miles we have natural shelter, hills bare of snow and covered with grass. and generous stacks of irrigated hay. Of no other stock region in the northwest is this true. The range losses of a dozen years have proven that here we have the lightest snow fall, the warmest climate, the best winter feed and shelter and the most abundant hay crop. In no other region in the northwest are such large area of agricultural lands tempered with so mild a climate, fed with such abundant streams, surrounded with such an ideal stock range. Nowhere else can every farmer be a stockman and every stockman be a farmer.
The county is very well watered. The Yellowstone is the principal stream, flowing through the county in a generally northeastern direction. Into this, within the borders of the county, flow over a score of more or less im-
portant creeks and rivers. From the south come Duck, Blue, Bitter, Pryor, Arrow, Lost Boy, Mill and Sand creeks and Big Horn river. Into the Big Horn from the Yellowstone county side come Mission and Sorrel Horse creeks. Flowing into the Yellowstone from the north are the following creeks: Keyser, Hensley, Tilden, Valley, Canyon, Alkali, Five- Mile, Twelve-Mile, Crooked, Razor, Pompey's Pillar, Hibbard and Buffalo. Bounding the county on the north is the Musselshell, one of the principal tributaries of the Missouri. The main branch of the Musselshell takes its rise in the Belt range of mountains; a southern branch has its source in the Crazy mountains, and the two streams unite at Martinsdale, in Meagher county. From that point for a dis- tance of 150 to 175 miles the river flows in a general easterly direction on a line almost par- allel with the Yellowstone and at an average distance of about 40 miles from it. At what is called in local parlance the Big Bend the river makes a broad turn and flows norther!y to its junction point with the Missouri; at this point of turning it leaves Yellowstone county. The principal creeks flowing into the Mussel- shell from Yellowstone county are as follows : Fish, Big Coulee, Painted Robe. Deer, Gould- ing. Half Breed, Fattig, Hawks and Carpen- ter. In what is known as the Lake Basin, in the western part of the county, are several streams which have no apparent outlet. Among these are Whitney, Cedar, Gurney, Adobe, Greenwood and Comanche creeks.
The tales of the genial climate of Yellow- stone county have been a cause of much incre- dulity on the part of those persons unac- quainted with local conditions. The climate is dry, as is proven by the fact that irrigation is necessary to insure successful farming. The hot growing weather of summer ( accompan- ied by the restful coolness of the nights, due to the elevation), the moderate temperature of the sunny, open winters, and the exhilarating brightness of the 300 days of sunshine, are all
314
HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY.
facts that are hard to reconcile with the ex- perience of local conditions elsewhere. The country is protected by the surrounding moun- tains, and it never gets very cold in winter, as the chinook winds prevent the cold from taking any vigorous or long-continued hold. There is seldom any cold winds in the Yellowstone valley when the weather is cold. Neither is the snow fall heavy, there being less than in southern New York or southern Ohio. Fruit trees are never killed by frost. The following table shows the average monthly and yearly temperature of the county :
Degrees
Month
Fahr.
January
24.4
February
26.5
March
31.1
April
50.5
May
57.9
June
62.9
July
72.6
August
69.3
September
58.6
October
51.5
November
30.8
December
28.9
Yearly average
47.0
Stock raising and farming are the principal industries of the people of Yellowstone county. the backbone of the county's prosperity. We shall tell of these industries in the words of the Billings Gasette of April, 1905 :
STOCK RAISING.
Cattle. Cattle raising was the first important stock interest to find place on the vast open ranges adjacent to the Yellowstone valley. The rich native grasses and the mild winter weather permitted the easy fattening of cattle and their safe wintering. At the present time ship- ments of southern cattle to Montana ranges have prac- tically ceased, and the vast cattle outfits are largely succeeded by individual owners of herds, seldom ex- ceeding 500 in number. Some of these smaller herds range together with the sheep, and all do well if over- crowding is avoided. A few still have exclusive range. Nearly all of our farmers now handle small bunches of cattle, many of these being brought to the home ranch during a part of the winter for alfalfa feeding.
Horses. In the development of that most noble animal, the horse. the Yellowstone valley has not been behind her neighbors. On ranch and range the quality of the individual horse has been gradually improved. so that a shipment of Yellowstone valley horses to the eastern or southern market is now able to compete with those of much older sections. Six thousand horses were shipped from Billings during the year 1904, many of them bringing fancy prices.
Shecp. The rapid development of the sheep rais- ing business is largely responsible for the corresponding decline in large cattle holdings. For a long time sheep owners depended on the ranges for both summer and winter feed. hut so few winters passed during which sheep are safely carried through by this method that nearly all in the vicinity now depend on more or less winter feeding. For this purpose vast crops of alfalfa grown by the valley farmers are utilized. There is an- other phase of alfalfa feeding to sheep that is receiv- ing much attention, that is winter feeding for market. About 250,000 head are fattened each winter near Bil- lings, largely without grain. An average gain of 20 pounds per head is easily ohtained by ordinary open air alfalfa feeding.
Poultry. This county raises large quantities of poultry. Turkey> do well. and many geese and ducks are raised.
Swinc. The raising of hogs has been successful in this vicinity. They are summered on alfalfa and fat- tened on corn, bran, wheat or oats.
Bees. Considerable attention is given to the raising of bees. The vast alfalfa fields yield a quantity of honey even superior to the clover honey of the east.
FARMING.
Diversified agriculture is unusually successful in the Yellowstone valley. The soil here is adapted to every form of cereal growth. An eighty acre irrigated farm in the Yellowstone valley will insure annual re- turns of wheat, oats, rye, barley and corn at a lower price than any rain belt district of the middle west. Such a farm will yield an average of 4,000 bushels of mixed cereals every twelve months. This grain never sells for less than one cent a pound on the local markets.
Corn. There has been a constant increase in the amount of corn grown in the valley during the last few years. The crop ripens well, and forty to fifty bushels per acre are raised. but it has never been extensively grown on account of the cost of cultivation.
Wheat. All varieties of wheat are successfully raised here. Local mills that formerly imported wheat from the Dakotas now use the native product entirely.
Barley. The finest malt producing barley is grown here. The vield is abundant and there is never any loss of color due to local rains.
Oats. Oats is a staple product and a heavy yielder.
315
HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY.
There are immense exports besides the large amounts used locally.
Flax. Flax yields a good crop. The fiber is excel- lent and the seed production good. So far, however, there are few farmers giving attention to this crop.
Potatocs The Yellowstone valley promises to be- come one of the greatest potato sections of the United States. The product of one twenty acre tract sold for nearly $2,300. On one acre of land near Park City 1213 bushels were harvested. This is the world's rec- ord. All varieties are grown, late and early seeming to thrive equally well. Home markets at present con- sume the entire product and prices are always good.
Dairying. General dairying has been very success- ful in this valley. Private creameries find an active local market at excellent prices during the entire year. One dairy farm of forty acres cleared $2,000 in one year. The new company creamery will stimulate cream production on many farms.
Garden. All kinds of garden products are culti- vated throughout the valley. Onions, celery, tomatoes, cabbages, turnips, melons, etc., are extensively raised. Many car lot shipments are made to nearby cities dur- ing the season.
Fruits. All kinds of fruits grow and produce abundantly. Many farms have fine commercial apple orchards, from which an excellent revenue is derived. Peaches and pears are easily grown. Plums and cher- ries produce excellent crops. Blackberries, raspberries and currants thrive, and the local strawberry crop is an abundant source of revenue to the market gardner.
Since the above was written the establish- ment of the beet sugar factory at Billings has added beet culture to the farming crops, and that industry has taken a prominent place. Alfalfa is also a leading crop of the county.
Now let us consider the causes that have made Yellowstone county the rich agricultural country it is. The Yellowstone valley is nat- urally arid and unfit for agricultural purposes without the application of water, but by means of irrigation the land is made to produce won- derfully. In Yellowstone, more than in any other county of the state of Montana, have been demonstrated the possibilities of artifi- cially watering the land. There are no failures of crops under irrigation, and under the flood- ing system, peculiar to this valley on account of the smooth lying lands, one man can handle as much water as three men can in districts where furrow irrigation is practiced. There
is an abundance of water supply, and the silt of the mountains, where the streams head, is carried to the land, so that the fertility of the land is perpetually maintained.
The Yellowstone river is the chief source of water for the lands of Yellowstone county. but owing to the difference in elevation between the large part of arable land and the stream, which has a somewhat lower grade for at least 100 miles above, only a portion of the arable land has so far been reached, and at the pres- ent time the reclaimed land is found mostly in the valleys bordering the river, separated from the higher bench lands by high walls of strati- fied sand rock. There are now under irriga- tion and cultivation within a radius of fifty miles from Billings about 25,000 acres of land, while that in other portions of the county will bring the total up to a higher figure. But this is only a small per cent. of the land that can be, and will be at an early date, put under water. To the north of the city of Billings, beginning at its very limits, is a tract of 500,- 000 acres of land that can be irrigated by the Yellowstone river by tapping it 100 miles west of that city. To the west, along the Yellow- stone and Clark's Fork rivers and their tribu- taries, there is another quarter of a million acres of land which private capital may be ex- pected to reclaim in the not far distant future. To the south there is another half million acres on which the government has nearly completed an irrigating system. To the east a large area can easily be irrigated, and the government is now constructing a ditch.
The idea of irrigating in Yellowstore county began with its settlement in 1882, when the Minnesota & Montana Land & Improve- ment company constructed its famous canal to irrigate Clark's Fork bottom and thereby brought about the building of the city of Bill- ings.
There were many other ditches constructed in Yellowstone county during the latter part of the eighties and the early part of the nineties.
316
HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY.
In 1894 we find that there were the following ditches, the list having been prepared by I. D. O'Donnell :
YELLOWSTONE RIVER.
Lengthı
Ditch Owners Miles
Minnesota & Montana Land & Imp. Co .. 39
Canyon Creek Ditch Co 19
Italian Ditch Co 24
Old Mill Ditch Co
12
Yellowstone Ditch Co.
15
Newman et al
2
Thomas McGirl I
S. R. Miller
21/2
L. Nutting 6
C. O. Gruwell
21/2
A. Countryman
I 12
H. P. Nelson
3
William Rodgers
114
Merrill Ditch Co.
6
Grey Eagle
2
William Deal
I
MUSSELSHELL RIVER.
M. F. Frank 3
Handel Bros.
3
Ryan Bros. et al 5
COW GULCH.
Randall Bros. ..... 3
KEYSER CREEK.
John Rosen
. 3
LAKE BASIN.
A. L. Tolle 3
Henry Stuck 3
R. J. Martin 4
A. Whitney 3
BIG COULEE CREEK.
Forsythe & Rye
3
Montana Cattle Co.
4
GOULDING CREEK.
Ed. Goulding
2
J. B. Herford
2
HALF BREED CREEK.
Wustrum & LaMott
4
W. F. Strait
I
BARROT CREEK.
A. D. Edminston
..
2
FATTIG CREEK.
Balch, Bakon et al
5
The most important irrigating project un- dertaken in Yellowstone county is that of the Billings Land & Irrigation company, which, under the provisions of the Carey act, is build- ing a fifty-mile irrigating ditch which will reclaim many thousand acres. This company was organized in 1903. and contracted with the state of Montana to construct, upon plans approved by the state engineer, a complete and adequate irrigation system for the reclamation of district No. I, the work to begin on or before January I, 1904. and to be prosecuted vigorously and continuously. In event of fail- ure to comply with the contract, the works constructed with all appurtenances, might be be acquired by the state at an appraised price.
Work has progressed very rapidly on this undertaking, and in all respects has met the approval of the Carey land act board. In the report of that board for the two years ending November 30, 1906, it is stated that of the
317
HISTORY OF YELLOWSTONE COUNTY.
three districts in which the work has been un- dertaken the one in Yellowstone county shows the most development. A perusal of that re- port shows that the company has so far built 42 miles of main canal and about 27 miles of laterals. Forty-five houses have been erected on land sold by the company, and they were all occupied by families. Twenty miles of road had been graded. Ten thousand acres of land had been sold, of which 2,584 were from the Carey selection or state lands.
The report says that because of the efforts of the board in the reclamation of the lands in this district and activities growing out of it, a 1,200-ton beet sugar factory has been estab- lished in Billings at a cost of $1,250,000 and is now employing 300 men; that the industry has created a pay roll of $287,000 in the lo- cality, in addition to the profit to the farmer, and a payroll of $1,000 a day at the factory when it is running. Of the results of the work so far the report continues: "Through the courtesy of the railroads running into Billings, and by the expenditure of $28,000 by the con- tracting company in systematic advertising, the population of Billings has increased 2,000 since the beginning of the construction of the canal. The value of farm lands near Billings at that time was between $12 and $20 an acre. Now they are selling from $40 to $100 an acre. City property has advanced 200 per cent and the banks admit their deposits have doubled within the three years past, and go so far as to say that farm and city property in and
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.