r Av .juMp LLlllllHSIK i<!li Vfll-USM mi 





TETON COUNTY. 



Teton county is one of the larger counties of the northern tier, lying next to 

 Canada and just east of the Rocky Mountains. It has an area of 6,560 square miles. 

 It was created in 1S93 and contained at that time a part of what is now Toole county. 

 The western boundary is the mountains where many streams rise arid flow east, 

 affording means for irrigation of valleys and low lands to the cast. The varying 

 altitude give to the county a varied climate. The snowfall is heavy in the mountains 

 and less in the slopes to the cast. The Marias and Teton rivers and their numerous 

 tributaries and creeks water the entire county. The trend of all the streams is 

 toward the east. The average rainfall is about 16 inches. The Blackfeet Indian 

 reservation and a portion of Glacier National Park are in this county and the scenic 

 beauty of those sections attract many tourists. 



Stock raising has been for years the chief industry of the people. There are 

 or were vast herds of cattle, horses and sheep and of late years much attention 

 has been paid to the breeding of blooded stock. The wool clip from this county 

 is large and there are many noted ranches, established during the early days of 

 the state. 



In recent years farming has been gaining by leaps and bounds. In the eastern 

 and central portions of the county there are wide expanses of fine prairie land 

 and these are being rapidly taken. Yields on the dry land farm are large and 

 from IS to 35 bushels of wheat are an average crop. The yields of oats and barley 

 are correspondingly high. The Burton bench is a large farming district where 

 wheat yields about 40 bushels to the acre and the heaviest oats in the state have 

 been raised there, going as high as 85 bushels to the acre. Flax has made heavy 

 yields in several sections and at Conrad there is a factory which makes fiber from 

 flax straw. 



The largest irrigation project is located at Valier, which contemplates the 

 reclamation of 126,000 acres including 40,565 acres of deeded land. The farming 

 carried on in the irrigated district is highly successful. Near Valier there is a 

 large colony of Belgians who have developed the section wonderfully by means of 

 intensive farming. 



In the western part of the county there are indications of minerals but not 

 much has been done in the way of development. Coal is mined in several places 

 and much prospecting for oil and gas has been done within the past year, owing 

 to the proximity of the country to the gas fields of Canada and Hill county in this 

 state. 



Valier lies in the center of the Valier Carey Act project and is located on 

 the bank of a large artilicial lake and has grown wonderfully in the past four 

 years. It is the terminus of the Montana Western railroad which connects at 

 Conrad with the Great Northern. 



Conrad, the principal town, has about 200.000 acres of irrigated land and 

 600.000 of unirrigated acres of land tributary to it. It is a shipping point for grain 

 and stock. Cut Bank is a railroad and trading point adjoining the Blackfeet Indian 

 reservation. Choteau is the county seat, an attractive place of probably 1.200 popu- 

 lation. It is located in the Teton valley and has a large farming section sur- 

 rounding it. 



Power, Dutton, Collins and Brady are thriving new towns that are shipping 

 points for a large and rapidly developing dry farming region. 



There are about 174,226 acres of homestead land available to entry, 144.146 

 acres of which are surveyed and 30.080 acres unsurveyed. There are 154,619 acres 

 of state land and a large area of national forests. 



There are a number of good schools in the county. The county high school 

 is located at Choteau, while Conrad, Valier and Cut Bank have excellent high 

 schools. The people of the county are progressive along educational lines. 



The assessed valuation of the county in 1918 is $20,032,280. 



