Glacier County was formed in 1919 from Teton County.
The county seat is Cut Bank. Glacier was among seven counties created in 1919, and only 6
more would follow later. There are 56 counties in the state of Montana. From 1893 -1919
you will find the area that became Glacier County located in Teton County, with the town
of Choteau as the county seat. Prior to 1893, the area was part of Chouteau County, with
Fort Benton as the County seat. Chouteau County was one of Montana’s original
counties formed in 1865.
(note: Chouteau County and the town of Choteau have different spellings)
Glacier County is a diverse land area containing
many mountains, including Mount Cleveland at 10,438 ft, as well as the plains to the east.
The county holds a rugged portion of Glacier National Park, with many mountains in the
9000+ ft elevation level, some dropping drastically in elevation at their base. On the
west side of the county near the Flathead County line lies the Rocky Mountains and Glacier
National Park. Throughout the central and eastern portion of the County are rolling and
flat plains, and scattered buttes. The plains are often windy, and trees in this area are
scarce. There are small lakes and rivers throughout Glacier County. The northern border to
the county meets Alberta, Canada. To the east borders Toole county, and on the southern
end lies Pondera county.
The weather in Glacier County can be extreme.
Temperatures during winter can drop as low as -40 degrees. Temperatures and snow can vary
according to the area, whether mountains or plains, but the weather here can easily change
in a matter of hours, dropping as much as 40 to 50 degrees. Glacier County, and especially
Browning, are known for it’s wind. The 80’s are normal for its warmest summer
months.
The Blackfeet Indian Reservation makes up
approximately 80 percent of the land that is Glacier County. Glacier County is Blackfeet
Country. This land is the land of the grizzly, buffalo, beaver, elk, and antelope. The
Blackfeet settled this area long before the first white explorers headed into the area.
The Blackfeet arrived in the area from Saskatchewan sometime after 1730. The Blackfeet
hunted the buffalo that were plentiful on the plains, and were well aware of the good,
clear water available. The size of the territory and reservation has varied over the
years, but the Blackfeet remain a huge part of Glacier County, and it’s heritage. The
tribal government is centered in Browning. The Blackfoot Confederacy has three tribes: the
Blackfeet proper, the Piegan of Pikuni (or Piegan’s as they are usually referred to),
and the Blood’s. The native name for the Blackfeet is Siksika, and Kainah/Kainai for
the Blood's. The Blackfeet wore blackened moccasins, which lead to the name. (
For much more history on the Blackfeet, visit the history
page at the Official Blackfeet Nation Website. You
will need to google for it as it has been moved again-KDJ)
With the arrival of Lewis and Clark in Montana in
1805, and shortly after Francios Antoine Larocque, the territory was open to mountain men
and fur traders, and the eastern settlers who began heading west. In the early days of the
area, few ventured into Blackfeet territory. Even though the mountains of western Glacier
county held beavers and other furbearers, most of the mountain men and fur trappers
avoided the area due to raids and conflicts with the Blackfeet tribe. It was not until
after the turn of the century that fur trapping had a role in Glacier County. By the
1880’s copper mining was in full swing farther south in the Rocky Mountains, and a
few miners dwindled north. Copper mining in the Glacier area brought mostly surface
deposits, and was short lived. The vast rangeland across Montana brought cattle ranchers
and sheepherders to graze Glacier County. With the steady decline and disappearance of the
buffalo, the Blackfeet also became cattlemen, playing a large part in cattle ranching. In
1889, the Great Northern Railroad reached Cut Bank. Shortly after it reached Browning, and
East Glacier, before heading further west. As word filtered east that reservation land
might be opened to settlement, homesteaders headed west. The Enlarged Homestead Act of
1909 brought many to the plains of Glacier. Many of the new settlers began to cover the
plains in wheat, grain, and barley fields that still consume a large portion of the
county. The farmers life was hard on the wind swept plains, and the early 1920’s saw
the departure of many farm families following a five year drought that started in 1917.
The same drought, and the severe winter of 1919-1920 also consumed many of the stockmen of
Glacier County.
Glacier County also experienced an oil boom. While
the first oil was discovered in Montana in 1864, the first drilling in the county was
believed to be in 1902 following the discovery of oil at Swift Current Creek. Oil was
accidentally discovered by copper miner Sam Somes, who abandoned mining for oil. While a
few other wells were drilled, Swift Current’s strike faded, and oil was overlooked in
the area for sometime. It was during the 1920’s that interest in oil in Glacier
County errupted again. A massive strike in nearby Shelby brought oil prospectors farther
west into Glacier County. In 1931 a well in Cut Bank began producing, and it’s oil
production fueled the oil boom that Glacier County saw during the ‘30’s. By 1933
the Cut Bank field was producing extremely well, and it went on to become Montana’s
top ranking oil field in 1936. While most of the oil industry in Montana suffered during
the depression, Cut Bank not only held on, but it managed to continually increase
it’s oil production. Oil wells still stand throughout Glacier County.