Gold Butte, Toole County, MT, photo ©Gary Splittberger

 


Welcome to Toole County MTGenWeb

Hi, my name is Karen De Groote and I am the foster county coordinator for Toole.
If you would like to try your hand at volunteering as a county coordinator, please let me know and we can get you started with excellent support.  Please visit the state pages if you would like to join the family!!

~~Attention Helen Eagle:  I received an email from you in July and have tried to respond since then.  It comes back as undeliverable.  If you could write from an email that I can respond to, I would love to talk to you!  Karen~~
 

 
Toole County formed in 1914 from Hill and Teton Counties, Toole  County is named for Joseph K. Toole.

Toole County, situated in the northern part  of Montana with the Canadian line as its northern boundary, is an agricultural and livestock county, having practically no other industries, aside from the mercantile business in the towns.   It was created from parts of Hill and Teton counties on May 7,  1914, and has a land area of 1,958 square miles. 

A part of its southern boundary is formed by Maria's (Marias) River, which flows through the south- eastern portion.  In the eastern part are several creeks, the largest  of which is Willow, which rises in the Sweet Grass hills and  follows a southerly course through the county. In the Sweet Grass hills and elsewhere indications of oil and gas have been found.

 

 
 

 

Toole County Chronology
 
 
1803 Louisiana Purchase
1805 Maria's River named by Captain Meriwether Lewis
1806 Maria's River explored by Captain Lewis, Reuben and Joseph Field, and George Drewyer
1846 Fort Lewis established-renamed Fort Benton in 1850
1853-1855 Survey for western railroad by General Isaac Stevens
1870 Whoop up Trail - from Fort Benton to Fort McLeod
1882 Soldier Camp on the Marias - from Fort Shaw
1885 Gold Discovered in Sweetgrass Hills
1888 Indians "sold" the Sweetgrass Hills - land opened to white settlers
1889 Montana enters the Union as the 41st State
1890 Narrow Gauge Railroad built from Lethbridge to Great Falls - end of steamboat travel on the Missouri River
1891 Great Northern Railroad completed to the Marias Pass
1895 Gold Butte established - first post office and first school at Gold Butte
1903 May blizzard - many cattle and sheep perished
1908 June flood of the Marias River - destroyed homes and property
1910 Coming of Homesteaders
1914 Toole County formed with Shelby as the county seat

 

Copyright  Toole County MTGenWeb and individual submitters 1999-2022

 
Page Last Updated:  26 Apr 2022

Page maintained by Karen D