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the patriotism that swept the land at the end of "e
Great War".
en, of course, there are the innumerable
counties that carry names of iconic landshapes asso-
ciated with them. Glacier and Beaverhead are sound
examples. Six counties have two word titles, but all
the rest only have one word. One county celebrates
a waterfall (Cascade) and another (Park) honors the
nation's first national park, even though most of the
park is in Wyoming.
Other states, with less land mass than Montana,
boast larger numbers of counties, like Kansas with its
105 counties and Iowa, with 99, all cut up into neat
squares with lile to distinguish one from another. In
sheer numbers, Texas tops them all with 254. Chanc-
es are, Montana's 56 will persist. It is unlikely that the
state will consolidate some of its counties or expand
with others. Our map is drawn up. Taken altogether,
we like our county monikers. But who knows? We
might appropriately end up with a county named
Piegan or Rankin or Sacajawea or Absaroka.
~ Michael J. Ober is four generations deep in Montana's culture and lore.
He is retired library director and Montana history instructor at Flathead
Valley Community College and worked for forty-four years as a seasonal
ranger in Glacier National Park.
MT
S
Montana's county map prior to the great homestead boom that split up the larger eastern
counties into smaller ones supporting the farming frontier.
s t e v e w o l f f p h o t o
action / adventure / documentary
www.stevewolffphoto.com
