NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA 



135 



Chester, the county seat, is the larsost coinmuuity and the principal trading 

 point. Grain elevators are located at Chester. .Toplin. Tiber and Lothair, on the 

 railroad. There are a numhcr of inland trading points. 



The Sweet Grass hills and the region along the Marias were the locale of 

 many thrilling scenes during the time of the fur-traders and in early territorial 

 days. 



LIBERTY COUNTY — Ranks fifty-third in population (2.416) fortv-tliird in area 

 (928,640 acres): fiftieth in combined 1922 crop and livestock value: forty-eighth in bank 

 deposits, 1922: forty-eig-hth in assessed valuation, 1922. Acres public land, 20,760; acres 

 state land, 88,415. 



WEALTH PRODUCTION — Estimated 1922 crop value, $334,800; estimated livestock 

 value. January, Ht23. $495,800: total bank deposits, September 15, 1922, $282 154 



TAXATION 1922 — Total assessed valuation, $10,525,465; total taxable value, 

 $3,313,685. Total outstanding county bond indebtedness, $52,000; total outstanding 

 county warrant indebtedness, $186,004: total outstanding- school bond indebtedness, 

 $81,048; other school debts, $397. Total general and special county taxes, $94,370; 

 total general and district school taxes, $74,839; total municipal taxes, $3,951; total state 

 taxes, $15,563; total tax (inclusive municipal), per capita, $78.11. 



EDUCATIONAL — Number graded schools, 48; enrollment, 544. Number high schools, 

 3; enrollment, 93. 



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

 and sidetracks. 26.08. Number of manufactures, 3; average number wage earners, 1; 

 value of products, $14,110. Number of banks, 2. Number general stores, 7; confec- 

 tionery, etc., 3; groceries and meats, 4: lumber yards, 1; total number merchants, 49. 

 Total assessed valuation 1922 merchandise, $147,617. Number grain elevators, 11; total 

 capacity, 299,000 bushels. Number of lawyers, 1. Number of plivsicians, 2. 



AGRICULTURE (1920 census) — Number farms, 517; farm acreage, 310,742; im- 

 proved farm acreage, 99,225: irrigated acreage. 800; average value all propertv, per 

 farm, $14,675. Livestock assessed 1922 — number cattle, 4,8l4; number sheep, '6,387; 

 number horses, 4.194; number swine (census), 399. 



CLIMATO LOGICAL DATA — At Chester. Elevation, 3,132 feet. Average date last 

 killing frost in spring. May 25; average date first killing frost in fall, September 7. 



Jan. Feb. Mar. April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. 

 Ave. Prec. .60 .26 .34 .47 1.60 2.77 1.02 1.18 1.30 .30 .32 

 Ave. Temp. 9 7 12.8 25.9 41.8 51.9 59.3 66.5 64.0 53.4 44.9 30.4 



County Seat, Chester. Population County Seat, 402. 



County Agricultural Agent — No. 



Dec. 



.34 



18.3 



An- 

 nua] 

 10.50 

 39.9 



TOOLE COUNTY 



HE discovery of petroleum March 14, 1922, 

 in the Kevin-Sunliurst field, changed the 

 character and hopes of Toole county over- 

 night. From a stock-raising and non-irri- 

 .eated farming region it has been converted 

 into an oil and gas region, the limits of 

 which are as yet imdetermined. It is an 

 amliitious county, evidenced for one thing 

 in the creation of an irri.gation pro.iect de- 

 signed to place 200.000 acres of land under 

 the ditch. Much preliminary work has 

 been done. 



Toole county lies in north central Mon- 

 mW^'^-^m,^- .: ^^^^^^„^^^§ tana. Tt extends .southward from the Inter- 

 IHr^^^H^^^JBH^^^^^^Bl national boundary average distance of 



"^IM^^^^^^^^Sw^^^^^Bl 50 miles, and is about 40 miles wide, 



^A^W^W^ • -.SKI ^^^^ ^"^^ west. Save for the northeastern 



■■r-Zl ^>*ft~_ '€^H1 quarter, where the Sweet Grass Hills, an 



isolated mountain range, arise, topography 



Soil types range from sandy and gravelly 



loams to heavier types of clay and heavy clay loams in the Marias River district 



in the southern part. The Marias is the only stream of any size. Willow Creek, 



in the eastern part, is the largest of .several streams who.se flow is intermittent. 



The first settlement of any consequence in what is now Toole county was 



precipitated in the early eighties by the di.scovery of gold in the Sweet Grass Hills. 



is rolling prairie and bench lands. 



