Daniels County, Montana 1921

The history of Daniels County, under its present name, is a short one, inasmuch as it was created recently, the date being August 28, 1920. In its formation there was removed the western half of Sheridan County and a small portion of Valley County, and the land area of 1,422 square miles is now included in a territory that has a maximum length of forty-eight miles east and west and a maximum width of thirty miles wide north and south. During a long period of time the country that is now included within the boundary lines of Daniels County was a big cattle range, the heavy and nutritious grass furnishing excellent forage for livestock, but in recent years there has been a great influx of settlers of the farming class and as a result a large part of the range has been broken up into farms. There is still some livestock, but the old days of the big ranches have passed here as well as in other portions of the state, and the soil, for the most part a fertile chocolate loam, tillable practically throughout the county, is producing big crops of flax, wheat, oats, corn and wild hay, with some sunflowers for silage.

Practically none of the land in Daniels County is irrigated, although this could be easily accomplished as the water supply is plentiful, the Poplar River, rising in Canada, flowing southerly through the middle of the county, Wolf Creek angling through the southwestern corner of the county in a southeasterly direction and there being a number of smaller streams. Along these waterways are found willow and cottonwood, but the county possesses no commercial stand of timber, and its mineral resources are few, for while lignite coal is found, it is of no commercial importance. Land in this county sells from $10 to $60 an acre, depending upon its location and the improvements which have been made. While growing rapidly as to population, Daniels County still has room for many more settlers, who will find opportunities in the development of the agricultural industry in its various branches. Wherever the branch lines of the railroads are extended west there will be increased activity in this direction. At the present time a branch line of the Great Northern Railway, leaving the main line at Mondak, runs through Roosevelt and Sheridan counties and then turns westerly, its present terminus being at Scobey. Whitetail, north of Scobey, is the terminus of a branch of the Soo Line, which enters the county from the east.

Educational facilities in Daniels County are ample, and in addition to a good rural system county there are graded schools and a high school, accredited for the four-year term, at Scobey, the county seat. This is the largest and most important community in the county and is the main distributing point for the surrounding country. The next largest town is Whitetail, and Madoc, Navajo, Julian, Orville, Kraft and Flaxville, are other prosperous and growing towns.

Montana Counties 1921

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