Hill County, Montana 1921
Hill County, pre-eminently noted for
its stock raising interests and extensive ranches, is a section
of Montana abounding in beautiful scenery and replete with
historical associations. It occupies a north central position,
with Canada just across the northern border, and in shape is
almost square, its length and width being equally sixty miles,
though the regularity of the square is broken in the southeast
corner where it extends into the Bearpaw Mountains. It is in
this southeast portion that the Rocky Bay Indian Agency is
located.
Hill County was created February 28,
191 2, by the division of Chouteau County, and the recent census
showed a population of 13,958. With the exception of the
mountain region above noted, the county is a rolling prairie,
interspersed with bench lands and with coulees in those parts
adjacent to streams. A rich and fertile sandy loam is the
characteristic soil, producing various crops, the most extensive
acreage being devoted to wheat and flax. Aside from these, oats,
barley, rye and speltz are grown successfully, and potatoes do
particularly well both as to yield and quality. The growing of
corn and sunflowers for silage is receiving more attention than
formerly.
From northwest to southeast the
county is traversed by the Milk River, one of the largest
streams in Montana, which receives a number of small
tributaries. Sage, Box Elder and Beaver creeks are also streams
of importance, furnishing water for irrigation. The amount of
land thus artificially watered for the year ending July 12,
1920, was 3,025 acres, ranging in value from $30 to $100 an
acre. At the same time the county assessor's report showed a
total of 1,016,189 acres of non-irrigated farm land and 16,705
acres of state land, most of the latter under sale contract. The
dry land is worth from $8 to $50 an acre. Dry land farming has
been carried on since the early settlement of the county, but
still affords ample opportunity for expansion, especially with
the aid of modern methods. Irrigation is being introduced more
widely where per mitted by the nature of the surface and
contiguity to a water supply, two large projects having recently
been planned. Stock raising is followed with profitable results,
and dairying and market gardening are making good progress, but
are capable of much further development. At Fort Assiniboine,
near the county seat, is located the Northern Montana
Agricultural Experiment Station, which is maintained by the
state. The growing season is from 101 to 126 days.
The deposits of coal in Hill County
are large enough to encourage its commercial exploitation,
especially in view of its good quality, and mining is carried on
profitably, some of the mines operating all the year round, and
others being worked only in the winter when the labor from the
farms can be utilized. In drilling for oil, natural gas has been
found and oil prospecting is still proceeding vigorously with
unknown possibilities for the future.
The tourist visiting Hill County can
find many objects of interest, both natural and historical.
Among the most peculiar and picturesque are the "Bad Lands"
along the Milk River, which occupy a large region in the
vicinity of Havre. Though not so well known as the corresponding
formations in Dakota and Eastern Montana, they are fully as
interesting and as well worthy of inspection. The beautiful
scenery in the Bearpaw Mountains is one of attractions
possessing historical associations, for it was there that
General Howard's troops finally captured Sitting Bull after a
long and hazardous campaign.
Old Fort Assiniboine
The agricultural station at Fort Assiniboine has many features
of interest to dry land farmers, and the old fort itself, many
buildings of which are still in repair, recalls memories of
frontier days in the Northwest, of Indian raids and military
expeditions, when life was a romance tinged with danger and only
the strong and brave were likely to survive. The United States
troops stationed here, and those at Forts Missoula and Helena,
co-operated with the Canadian mounted police to render the
Montana and Canadian border safe for the pioneers and early
settlers of the state, some of whom, still surviving, retain
vivid memories of those eventful days. Now Hill County is
traversed east and west by the main line of the Great Northern
Railway, the Great Falls-Butte branch running southwest from
Havre to Glacier Park.
Havre
Havre, the county seat, is an
incorporated city with three wards and a population, according
to the last census, of 5,429. It was until recently a railway
division point on the Great Northern, having the largest
roundhouse and railway machine shop in the state, but a
re-arrangement of divisions on that road has diminished its
importance as a railroad center. It is, however, a busy
commercial town with modern improvements, including ten miles of
boulevard illuminated with clustered tungsten lights. Havre has
three banks, three graded schools, one for each ward and high
school, giving employment altogether to more than sixty
teachers.
Another important educational
establishment is the large parochial school connected with St.
Jude Thaddeus Church. Prominent among local institutions is a
tasteful and well-constructed Carnegie Library containing 3,500
volumes. Three newspapers are published in Havre, there are
twelve societies represented, and the Masons have erected a
commodious temple. The United States land office also has
quarters here. Four miles northwest of the city is the county
hospital, near which are found cement deposits of commercial
value.
Of the five churches in Havre, three,
the Catholic, Methodist Episcopal and Presbyterian-are of early
origin, having been established between 1891 and 1893. Local
interests are watched over and assiduously promoted by a
well-organized commercial club, with T. E. McCroskey as
secretary. The Roosevelt Highway runs through Havre on its way
to Glacier Park.
The report of the county
superintendent shows that there are 104 public schools in Hill
County, and at Rocky Bay Indian Agency there is a school with
120 pupils.
Along the Theodore Roosevelt
International Highway in Hill County there are a number of
prosperous towns, including Hingham, Kremlin, Gildford, Rudyard
and Fresno. Laredo and Box Elder are towns on the Great Falls
branch of the Great Northern. Other towns and villages are
springing up in various parts of the county, some of which may
be destined to future importance.
Montana Counties 1921
Return to
Montana AHGP
Source: Montana its Story and Biography,
by Tom Strout, Volume 1, The American Historical Society, 1921
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Montana Counties 1921
Return to
Montana AHGP
Source: Montana its Story and Biography,
by Tom Strout, Volume 1, The American Historical Society, 1921
|