SOUTH EASTERN MONTANA 51 



furnishing forage for cattle and groin for hogs. Considerable alfalfa seed is being 

 raised, the Sarpy Creek district in the southeastern part of the county being the 

 chief producer. Bee-keeping is growing. 



Coal is found in some districts. One vein on Box Elder Creek, five miles 

 south of Ilysham, has been opened to provide fuel for local consumption. The 

 existence of a large deposit of bentonite, five miles long and up to a mile wide, 

 10 to 30 feet in tbickess, is reported six miles northwest of Hysham. 



The main line of the Northern Pacific follows the Yellowstone valley and is 

 paralleled by the main east and west highways. Trade from the northern part of 

 the county finds its nearest rail outlet through the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. 

 Paul on the north. 



Hysham, the only incorporated town, is the county seat. It has modern 

 municipal improvements. Sanders, Myers, Rancher and Big Horn are shipping 

 points. Big Horn serves a district along the Big Horn River and Tullock Creek, 

 as well as in the Yellowstone valley. 



Historically, Treasure county is one of the most interesting parts of the 

 state. Here, on the south side of the Yellowstone and the east side of the Big 

 Horn Rivers, in 1807, ]\Iauuel Lisa erected the first trading post on the upper 

 rivers of the northwest and the first building in what is now Montana. Other 

 posts followed — Fort Benton, Ashley -Henry post, Fort Sarpy and Fort Cass, but 

 scarcely their memory remains toda.v. There was a revival, in 1875, almost 

 at the same place, of the dream of empire concei\ed by Lisa in 1807. Fort Pease 

 was built on Pease Bottoms, near the present station of Myers, considered the 

 bead of navigation on the Yellowstone, with the intention of wresting from Fort 

 Benton the trade of the gold mines. The post was immediately invested by the 

 Sioux. Many of its defenders were Ivilled or wounded. Finally one man volun- 

 teered to seek help. In the dead of winter he made his way to Fort Ellis, 175 

 miles westward. In March of 1876 four troops of cavalry appeared and relieved 

 the emaciated garrison. 



TREASURE COUNTY — Ranks fifty-fifth in population (1,990): fiftieth in area 

 (614,400 acres); forty-eighth in combined 1922 crop and Uvestock vahie; forty-nintli in 

 bank deposits, 1922; fifty-fourtli in assessed valuation, 1922. Acres public land, 6,561; 

 acres state land, 35,628. 



WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value, $489,100; estimated live- 

 stock value, Januarv, 1923. $637,900; 1921 lumber cut, 35 M feet; total bank deposits, 

 September 15, 1922, $265,348. 



TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation, $6,849,088; total taxable value, 

 $2,220,005. Total outstanding county bond indebtedness, $85,000; total outstanding 

 county warrant indebtedness, $102; total outstanding school bond indebtedness, $98,551; 

 other school debts, $17,765. Total general and special county taxes, $94,734; total gen- 

 eral and district school taxes, $53,183; total municipal taxes, $10,686; total state taxes, 

 $10,800; total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $85.12. 



EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools, 19; enrollment, 465. Number high 

 schools, 4; enrollment, 72. 



BUSINESS STATISTICS — Number of railroads, 1; railway mileage, exclusive spurs 

 and sidetracks, 27.88. Number of manufactures, *. Number of banks, 2. Number 

 general stores, 4; groceries and meats, 1; lumber yards, 1; total number merchants, 24. 

 Total assessed valuation 1922 merchandise, $71,307. Number grain elevators, 2; total 

 capacity, 8,000 bushels. Number saw mills, 2. Number of lawyers, 3. Number of 

 physicians 3. 



AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Number farms, 330; farm acreage, 237,133; im- 

 proved farm acreage, 44,933; irrigated acreage, 7,788; average value all property, per 

 farm, $14,158. Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 7,814; number sheep, 13,843; 

 number horses, 2,800: number swine (census), 1,196. 



No climatological data. See Forsyth, Rosebud County. 



County Seat, Hysham. Elevation, 2,667 feet. Population County Seat, 360. 



County Agricultural Agent — No. 



♦Statistics on the number of manufactures, average number wage earners and the 

 value of products are not available, the 1920 census grouping Lewis and Clark, Deer 

 Lodge and Treasure counties together so as not to disclose the operations of individual 

 establishments. 



