FALLON COUNTY. 



With the creation of Carter county by the state legislature at its 1917 session, 

 Fallon county lost 3.318 square miles of: its former territory. There remained 

 within the county 1,685 square miles, or about one-third of the original size of the 

 county. However, over half of the population was left within Fallon, and with this 

 number added to by the development of gas during the past two years, Fallon is 

 considered one of the best developed of the newer counties. The population of the 

 county is now estimated at close to 7,000 people, or about 1.500 more than Carter 

 county. The possibility of oil discovery is bringing in new immigrants continually, 

 and this has increased the population to quite an extent. 



Fallon county, though somewhat cut down in territory, is still one of the best 

 in the state. It is one of the extreme eastern counties. Wibaux county bounds it 

 on the north, North Dakota en the east, Carter on the south and Prairie county on 

 the west. 



For many years, Fallon, which was then a part of Custer county, was merely 

 a great stock range; today it is largely a grain field, and every year thousands of 

 new acres are brought under the plow. 



There are no rivers of importance watering the county, but Fallon creek and 

 Pennel creek, together with a number of small streams How through it. Extensive 

 valleys follow the courses of these streams and back of these valleys are great 

 stretches of bench lands, which are being farmed by the non-irrigated method. 



The county is largely agricultural at the present time, with a considerable 

 amount of stock raising as a side industry. The chief crops are wheat, oats, flax and 

 corn, while all kinds of garden products do very well. The yields in the county have 

 been large, due to the lavorabfe climatic conditions and the excellent character of 

 the soil. 



The county has retained its reputation as a livestock county, and all kinds of 

 animals are rapidly increasing. Today, however, they are all kept on the smaller 

 farms and are in the nature of a higher grade of well bred stock. Dairying is also 

 rapidly increasing, with a number of excellent and well kept dairy herds. Cream- 

 eries are being built and more high grade cows imported from eastern states. 

 Alfalfa is being raised more extensively for winter feed, and silos are built, on a 

 number of farms. 



In addition to the farming and stockraising industries of the county, natural 

 gas has been developed on a large scale. It is because of this that Fallon has 

 attracted so much attention from the other parts of the state and from places outside 

 the state in the last few years. Several wells have been drilled close to the town 

 of Baker, in which a fine deposit of gas has been found. The gas has been piped to 

 Baker and is used for heating purposes. A heavy flow of gas, 18 miles from Baker, 

 was recently encountered at a depth of 650 feet. This is 250 feet more shallow than 

 the wells which have been supplying Baker. Eventually, it is hoped, these fine 

 supplies of cheap fuel will be used for industrial development, that will locate at 

 these places. It is said that this same gas lield underlies most of the county. 



In addition to the gas development there is extensive prospecting now in 

 progress for oil in commercial quantities. A test well for this field is being drilled 

 in Dawson county, near Glendive, a short distance from Baker, which should prove 

 this field as far as oil is concerned. 



Baker, the county seat and principal town, is growing rapidly. It is one of the 

 newer towns of the state, but claims a population of about 2,000. It is located on 

 the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railway and has access to a large territory. The 

 discovery of gas wells has greatly added to the population of the town. A flax-tow 

 mill was established a couple of years ago in Baker and is pronounced a success. 



Baker has a progressive population in every respect. A fine school system, 

 including a four year accredited high school, is the pride of the town. Up-to-date 

 business houses, elevators, churches, hotels and banks are found here. 



Kingmont, Westmore and Plevna are other towns on the railroad which are 

 thriving and promise to be rivals of the county seat. Plevna is the location of the 

 United States weather bureau for the county. 



There are 18,641 acres of public land in the county subject to homestead entry 

 and 51,255 acres of state land. 



The assessed valuation of the county in 1918 is $7,016,729 including railroad 

 property. 



