Welcome to Garfield County, Montana

Image Courtesy of KariLyn Honadel Photography

1930 Map of Garfield County.

Located in the northeastern portion of the State of Montana, Garfield County is 4,840 square miles in size. It is bordered on the North by Fort Peck Lake and the Missouri River, as well as by Phillips and Valley Counties. Petroleum County is to the West, Rosebud and Custer Counties lay to the South, and McCone and Prairie Counties are to the East.

Garfield County was created in 1919 out of Dawson County, one of the original sixteen counties at Statehood. Most of Garfield County is drained by Big Dry Creek, mentioned in the Lewis and Clark Journals. Large cattle companies made use of the open range until the late 1880's, when the first fenced ranches began to form. Many of these early ranchers were cowboys employed, or formerly employed, by the large cattle companies. The population of the Big Dry Creek Country increased greatly during the homestead boom between 1900 and 1920. After 1920, the population declined, and Old homestead lands returned to grazing land. Garfield County remains ranch country to the present day. The county seat is Jordan. In 2010, the county had a population of over 1,200.

Garfield County Communities

The county has an active historical society. County contacts, as well as links to the Garfield County Historical Society, Message boards and other helpful sites can be found on the Resources Page.

Garfield County Resources

Neighboring MTGenWeb County Sites and USGenWeb Resources

1930 County map from The Literary Digest 1931 Atlas of the World and Gazetteer By Rand McNally and Company. Dan Shurtliff is your MTGenWeb Project Volunteer for Garfield County. If you have questions about this site, or have ideas for improvements, feel free to contact me. I am unable to do research.

This website was last updated April 8, 2019.