Carter County, Montana 1921
Owing to the fact that Carter County
cannot boast of a mile of railroad within its entire area of
3,318 square miles, this county, which lies in the southeastern
corner of the state, the South Dakota-Montana boundary marking
its eastern and the Wyoming-Montana state line its southern
side, has made little progress since the date of its creation,
February 22, 191 7. The county, which was named in honor of
Thomas Henry Carter, Montana's first representative in Congress
(1891) and subsequently a member of the United States Senate,
has a maximum length north and south of seventy-eight miles and
a maximum width east and west of forty-eight miles, in all of
which there has been little irrigation development, although a
feasible project exists along the Little Missouri River. Also, a
railroad has been projected through the county from Belle
Fourche, South Dakota, to Miles City. Until this is built the
trade from the southern end of the county will probably continue
to go to Belle Fourche, and from the northern end to Baker,
Montana.
Carter County, when fully developed,
will be one of the prosperous sections of the state, for there
are numerous industries and resources ready for promoters.
Farming and stock raising are the chief industries, the latter
principally in the southern end. Grain, particularly corn, and
forage crops can be raised in abundance, and the Chalkes Buttes
Country, southwest of Ekalaka, the Beaver Flats and the Box
Elder Valley are considered as teeming with opportunities. The
modern creamery at Ekalaka has served as a stimulus to dairying,
in which considerable progress has been made. The county also
abounds in minerals, large beds of lignite coal underlying most
of its territory, building stone being found in a number of
places and geologists believing that the county contains oil and
gas prospects that warrant development. Timber is also readily
available, as the Sioux National Forest occupies 114,541 acres
in the eastern part of the county. With the exception of this
tract, and the Blue Mud Hills near the center of the county,
most of the surface of Carter County is rolling prairie and
tillable, the soil varying from a sandy loam to a heavy gumbo.
Opportunities are to be found in this county for those who have
the patience to wait for the coming of the railroad, as land
prices range in value from $5 to $25 an acre. Carter County has
a good educational system, considering its lack of development,
there being seventy-six rural schools, as well as a high school
at Ekalaka, which is accredited for the four-year term. In
drainage and water supply, the county is also well supplied, the
Little Missouri River passing through the southeastern part of
the county, with the Box Elder and Beaver creeks flowing
northeasterly and a number of tributaries.
Lying forty-two miles south of the
Milwaukee Railway is Ekalaka, the county seat of Carter County
and it is the largest town. It has two banks, three garages, two
newspapers, two general stores, two drug stores, two hardware
stores, two lumber yards, good hotels, a creamery and a flour
mill. Piniele, in the southwestern part of the county, the
second largest community, has two general stores, a flour mill,
a drug store, a bank, a garage and a hotel, maintains a
newspaper, and is equipped with an electric lighting system.
Special attractions are held out to
visiting tourists. In ''Hunting Trips of a Ranchman,'' Col.
Theodore Roosevelt dealt with the Little Missouri River region,
just across the state line in South Dakota, where he ranched
during the '80s. Much beautiful scenery is to be found in the
Sioux National Forest, and in the northern part of Carter County
are located Medicine Rocks, sandstone formations likened to
Colorado's "Garden of the Gods," because of the fantastic shapes
which they present.
Montana Counties 1921
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Montana AHGP

Source: Montana its Story and Biography,
by Tom Strout, Volume 1, The American Historical Society, 1921
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