XOTITTT EASTERX MONTANA 



119 



SHERIDAN COUNTY 



w 



ITII only about ball' of its tillable aiva 



improved, Sheridan was the leading county 



in the eastern half of Montana in crop 



production in lD2li, and ranked second in 



the whole state. It is one of the older uon- 



irrigiited districts of the state and conse- 



■ifc'"^'^^" '''^*"' *vls**'' ■"- *> quently there has been greater development 



mW' J^KS^S^MK^ "'^^ p(>rmanently improved farms and of a 



^^^^■■^*^^* -—-■•■■■^ staliilized lyi)e of aiiriculture than in some 



of the other districts. Aside from coal pro- 

 duction, it is exclusively agricultural and 

 stock raising in character. 



It lies in northeastern Montana. From 

 the Canadian border on the north it extends 

 southward about 42 miles and from the 

 Dakota boundary on the east westward 

 about 4~) miles. The Big Muddy, which 

 rises in Canada and runs southeasterly, is 

 the only stream of any size. About a 

 third of the county is classified as sharply rolling or as bad lands. Much infor- 

 mation concerning Sheridan county is found in Bulletin No. 158, Montana Experi- 

 ment Station, Bozeman. The soil has been classified into five types, the most im- 

 portant of which is the Williams loam, with a surface soil of 7 to 10 inches 

 of friable to mealy dark chocolate brown to brown loam, and a gray to grayish 

 brown calcareous loam sub.soil. This soil covers 68 per cent of the county. 



For 25 to 30 years prior to 1906 stock raising was the leading industry. The 

 homesteading era in this region began in 190S and reached its climax between 1910 

 and 1916. Spring wheat and flax are the principal cash crops 

 Farm Survey with oats, barley and corn as feed crops. A detailed report on 

 of Region farming in Sheridan county is given in "Farming in North- 

 eastern [Montana," issui'd January. 1923. by the Bureau of 

 Agricultural Economics, U. S. Department of Agriculture. The average size farm 

 in Sheridan county was 492 acres, according to the report, of which 230 acres were 

 in crop and 30 acres in fallow. Farming operations alone resulted in the better- 

 ment of the financial condition of 64 per cent of the Sheridan farmers included 

 in the survey, while farming activities and increased land values, combined, re- 

 sulted in the betterment of the financial condition of 92 per cent of them. The 

 one-crop system predominated. Ijivestock prodvicts amounted to an average of 

 only .$106 per farm, which the report says, "seems low for a region which at one 

 time was wholly devoted to grazing." With the expansion of the corn acreage, 

 more attention is being given livestock. 



There are no large coal mines in Sheridan, but considerable lignite is mined 

 for home markets, ])rincipally during the winter months. Near Redstone the 

 U. S. Geological Surve.v reports the existence of an extensive bed of clay, which is 

 suital)le for brick making and, aside from its color, for pottery. The proximity of 

 lignite coal plus nearness of the railroad are factors that give the clay beds poten- 

 tial commercial importance. 



A branch of the Great Northern Railway out of Bainville runs north to 

 Plentywood, near the geographical center of the county, and then swings westward 

 into Daniels county. A branch line of the Soo road enters the count.v from 

 Dakota, near the northern border, and runs westerly to a terminus in Daniels 

 county. 



