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Montana State...
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Montana Counties
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Montana Counties
There are 56 counties in Montana. Montana has two consolidated city-counties—Anaconda
with Deer Lodge County and Butte with Silver Bow County. The portion of Yellowstone National Park that lies
within Montana was not part of any county until 1997, when part of it was nominally added to Gallatin County,
and the rest of it to Park County.
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Gallatin County, Montana
Gallatin County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education
County Seat: Bozeman
Year Organized: 1864
Square Miles: 2,507: |
Court House: 311 West Main Street
County Courthouse
Bozeman, MT 59715-4594
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Etymology - Origin of County Name
Albert Gallatin, the United States Secretary of the Treasury at the time of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
Demographics:
County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick
Facts
History
Gallatin County was created 2 February 1865 as an original county. County seat: Bozeman
Gallatin County, Montana, derives its name from the Gallatin River, one of the forks of the Missouri River that rises
in Yellowstone Park, the three rivers, Gallatin, Jefferson and Madison, being named by Lewis and Clark, famous
explorers, on their expedition to this part of the world in 1805. The Gallatin River was named for Albert Gallatin, at
that time secretary of the United States Treasury under President Thomas Jefferson. Albert Gallatin was a native of
Switzerland. He was graduated from the Academy of Geneva in 1778, and came the following year to the United States,
where he became a great American statesman and one of the foremost financiers of the country. The Gallatin River has its
source in Gallatin Lake among mountain peaks with an elevation of more than 9,000 feet in Yellowstone National Park.
The other rivers uniting with the Gallatin to form the Missouri River, a few miles from the present town of Three Forks,
are the Jefferson, named in honor of Thomas Jefferson, then president of the United States, and the Madison, named in
honor of James Madison, then Secretary of State. It was in July 1805, that Lewis and Clark reached the three forks of
the Missouri, and they spent considerable time in exploring the three streams and the territory immediately tributary.
These streams have retained the names designated at that time.
Entries in the journal of Lewis and Clark under date of July 28, 1805, tell of their naming these three branches of the
Missouri River as mentioned, and their description says: "The Jefferson and Madison, as well as the Gallatin River, run
with great velocity and throw out large bodies of water. Gallatin River, however, is the most rapid of the three, and
though not quite as deep, is yet navigable for a considerable distance. Madison River, though much less rapid than the
Gallatin, is somewhat more rapid than the Jefferson; the beds of all of them are formed of smooth pebble and gravel, and
the waters are perfectly transparent."
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2,632 square miles (6,816 kmē), of which,
2,606 square miles (6,749 kmē) of it is land and 26 square miles (67 kmē) of it (0.99%) is water. The county
attained its present boundaries on November 7, 1997, when the former Yellowstone National Park (part)
county-equivalent was dissolved and apportioned between Gallatin County and Park County. Gallatin County received
99.155 square miles (256.81 kmē) of land area and 0.119 square miles (0.309 kmē) of water area, whereas Park County
received 146.229 square miles (378.73 kmē) of land area and 0.608 square miles (1.575 kmē) of water area. The
geographies transferred are known now as Census Tract 14 in Gallatin County, and as Census Tract 6 in Park County.
Neighboring Counties:
- Madison County, Montana - west
- Jefferson County, Montana - northwest
- Broadwater County, Montana - north
- Meagher County, Montana - northeast
- Park County, Montana - east
- Park County, Wyoming - southeast
- Teton County, Wyoming - southeast
- Fremont County, Idaho - southwest
Cities and Towns:
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- Belgrade |
city |
Incorporated Area |
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- Bozeman
(County Seat) |
city |
Incorporated Area |
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- Manhattan |
town |
Incorporated Area |
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- Three Forks |
city |
Incorporated Area |
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- West Yellowstone |
town |
Incorporated Area |
County Resources:
Enter County Resources and Information Here
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County Resource Guide
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The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic
features of our country!"
But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.
Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally,
act locally." |
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