Pondera County, Montana 1921
While Pondera County is one of the
youngest in the State of Montana, having been created April 1,
1919, it is likewise one of the most progressive, in several
ways, and during its life as a separate county this locality has
made rapid strides. It is situated in the northwestern part of
Montana and was formed from several other counties, notably
Teton, and has a land area of 1,658 miles, being eighty-four
miles long east and west and from eighteen to thirty miles wide
north and south. The Continental Divide of the Rocky Mountains
marks its western boundary, and the Blackfeet Indian Reservation
and Maria's River its northern boundary part of the way. This is
one of the regions which still retains many of the old
traditions of the West of the early days, although the tendency
of recent years has been toward development of all the resources
of the county along material lines, and twentieth century
progress has largely subjugated the free-and-easy, open-handed
methods of the past.
Pondera County takes its name from
the Pondera River, which is found in the eastern part of the
county. The principal streams in the western part, running
north, are Birch Creek, Blacktail Creek and Dupuyer Creek,
emptying into Maria's River. Well water is found at depths
ranging from 20 to 200 feet, depending upon the locality. About
125,000 acres are under irrigation, the majority of this acreage
being included in a Carey project of the Valier Land and
Irrigation Company. The eastern two-thirds of the county is
tillable, but the western portion of the county is mountainous
and is valuable chiefly for stock raising and grazing. The soil
is a black loam of considerable depth in most places. At the
present time wheat, flax, oats, barley, potatoes and alfalfa are
the chief crops, but the county is still in a state of early
development, and as settlers on the irrigated lands are becoming
better established, more diversification in crops is being
noted. For one thing, more forage is being raised and dairying
and stock raising are being included in the operations of the
more progressive agriculturists.
These two vocations, farming and
stock raising, are the chief occupations of the residents of
Pondera County and will probably remain so, as the county for
the greater part is best adapted to the pursuits of the soil.
However, coal has been found in the western part of the county
in sufficient quantities to make mining profitable, and wells
are being drilled for oil on several formations which look
promising. Naturally, should the latter mineral be discovered in
sufficient quantities it may change the entire aspect of the
industrial situation in the county. As to timber in Pondera
County, some commercial wood is found in the western part of the
county, and there are 121,616 acres of Pondera County land
included in the Lewis and Clark National Forest.
Transportation facilities in Pondera
County are highly acceptable. Through Burlington trains from
Chicago to the Pacific coast use the Great Northern Railway
through the eastern part of the county as a main line, and the
Montana Western Railway, connecting with the Great Northern at
Conrad, runs northwesterly to Valier, serving the irrigated
district. The Geysers-to-Glaciers Highway, the Y-G-Bee Line
Highway and the Banff-Grand Canyon Road traverse the county
north and south, and local roads are well maintained. Irrigated
land in Pondera County sells at $90 to $125 an acre.
Non-irrigated farming lands range from $15 to $50 an acre, and
non-improved, non-irrigated lands sell at from $10 an acre up.
For those who desire to settle
permanently in the county, development of the agricultural and
stock raising industries will prove the most interesting and
profitable investment. For those who are visiting the community
merely as tourists, good hunting and fishing are provided in the
western part of the county, while the Blackfeet Indian
Reservation on the north affords opportunity to study the
western Indian in his native environment.
Conrad
Conrad, the county seat of Pondera County, is the most important
town in the county, and is the distributing center for a rich
and growing locality. It has all modern improvements, including
a high school accredited for four-year terms, in which, among
other courses, are given manual training, domestic science,
commercial and normal training. Valier, the second largest town,
is a modern community and a growing one, with an accredited
four-year-term high school, and is in the heart of the irrigated
district. Other important community centers, all of which have
good graded schools, are Dupuyer, the oldest town in the county;
Brady, Williams, Manson, Ledger and Fowler. Williams is the
headquarters of the Community Club of the irrigation project,
the first organization of its kind in the county. The first
Project Fair was held under the auspices of this club, and the
first Pondera County Fair in connection with the second annual
Project Fair. The county fair has been made a permanent annual
event and is doing much to stimulate interest in modern methods
of farming and stock growing.
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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