24 MONTANA : INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 



Copies of plats shuwinir all survoyed townships in ;Montana can be obtained at 

 a cost of 75 cents to $1.50 from the United States Surveyor General, Helena, Mon- 

 tana. If the Surveyor (Jeneral has a negative on hand of the 

 Topographic town.ship plat the price is 75 cents, but where a negative must 



Maps and be made to fill the order, the price is $l..jO. These plats 



Soil Surveys show the general topographic features of the township, such 

 as rivers, creeks, mountains, hills, brakes, etc. To a prospective 

 land buyer, the topographic features are the chief value. Topographic maps of a 

 iiuniber of districts in Montana have been issued by the United States Geological 

 Survey. They cost 10 cents each and are to be olitained from the Director, United 

 States Geological Survey. AVashington, D. C, who. upon reciuest. will indicate what 

 districts in the state are covered. These maps show roads, railroads, waterways, 

 and. by contour lines, the shapes of hills and valleys and the height above sea 

 level. 



Few soil surve.vs have been made in Montana. A detailed soil survey of the 

 Bitter Root valley was made in 1017 by the United States Bureau of Soils, of the 

 Gallatin Valley in 1905 and of a small area near Billings at an earlier date. The 

 Gallatin and Billings surve.vs are considered now out of date as they wei'e based 

 too much on the geology of the areas, rather than on the soils. 



In 1021, in cooperation with the United States Bureau of Soils, the Agronomy 

 Department of the Montana Experiment Station undertook a reconnoissance soil 

 survey of the state, ^lore than eleven million acres have been surveyed to the 

 present time. The work in Sheridan. Daniels. Roosevelt and Valley comities has 

 been completed, and about one-third of Phillips. Reports on Sheridan. Daniels 

 and Roosevelt soon will be available for distribution. The Valley county report 

 will not appear until later. The maps will show the topography, soil, area under 

 cultivation and the county classification of the lands, combined with a topograph- 

 ical map. 



About three-fifths of the area of ilontaua lies east of the Rocky Mountains 



and the remaining two-fifths on the western side. There is not much climatic 



or topographic similarity between the two districts. From the 



Topography main range to the eastern boundary, the country is mainly a 



and Elevation rolling plain, with a gradual descent from an altitude of 4.000 



to 5.000 feet at the base of the 7noun tains to less than 2.000 



feet at the eastern line. This plain, however, is broken in the north portion here 



and there by groups of mountains, and near the southern boundary by spurs from 



the main range, with many peaks rising to altitudes of 5.000 to S.OOO feet, and a 



few lumamed peaks in Carbon county to 1,3.000 feet. The highest namtnl peak in 



the state is Granite, with an elevation of 12.850 feet. The surface of the western 



two-fifths of the state is made up of numerous moiuitaiu ranges, shading abruptly 



into foothills and valleys, the latter having elevations varying from less than 2.000 



feet to 5.000 feet above .sea level 



One-fourth of Montana lies at an altitude of less than 2.000 feet, one-half at 

 less than 3.000 feet, and three-fourths of the state at less than 4.000 feet. The 

 state's average elevation is 3.400 feet, compared with Colorado's average of 6.800 

 feet, Wyoming's 6.700 feet, Utah's 6.100 feet. Idaho's 5.000 feet. Nevada's 5.500 

 feet and Arizona's average of 4.100 feet. Because of its lower altitude, climatic 

 conditions in Montana for agricultural purposes are more favorable than in many 

 districts of the states to the south. 



The drainage of the western part of the state reaches the Pacific ocean 

 through the Clark's Fork of the Columbia River; the drainage of a portion of the 

 northwestern part is into Hudson Bay through St. ilary's River, and the drainage 

 of the central and eastern districts is into the Gulf of ^lexico through the Mi.s- 

 .soxu"i. Yellowstone. Milk and Musselshell Rivers, the fotu- largest and most im- 

 portant streams on the eastern side of the mountains. 



