Report

Population of Montana by Counties and
Minor Civil Divisions,

The Government Census Bulletin, June 1st, 1900, gives the following report of the population of the state:

Montana was organized as a territory May 26, 1864, and admitted as a state November 8, 1889. Table 1 shows the population of Montana at each census from 1870 to 1900, inclusive, together with the increase by number and per cent during each decade. TABLE 1.-POPULATION OF MONTANA, 1870 TO 1900.

The population of the state in 1900 is 243,329, as compared with a population in 1890 of 132,159, showing an increase during the decade of 111,170, or 84.1 per cent. A part of this increase is due to the fact that there were 10,346 Indians and 419 other persons, or a total of 10,765 persons, on Indian reservations, etc., in Montana, who were specially enumerated in 1890 under the provisions of the census act, but were not inIcluded in the general population of the state at that census. The population of the territory of Montana in 1870 was 20,595, and in 1889, 39,159, showing an increase of 18,564, or 90.1 per cent. During the following decade, from 1880 to 1890, in the last year of which the territory became a state, the population increased from 39,159 to 132,159, or 237.5 per cent. Although the numerical increase has been greater during the last decade than for any preceding one, the percentage of increase has declined. The population of Montana in 1900 is more than eleven times as large as the population given for 1870, the first census taken after its organization as a territory in 1864. The total land surface of Montana is, approximately, 145,310 square miles, the

average number of persons to the square mile at the censuses of 1890 and 1900 being as follows: 1890, 0.9; 1900, 1.7.

Table 2 shows the population of Montana by counties at each census from 1870 to 1900, inclusive, while table 3, which immediately follows, shows, for each county, the increase (or decrease) by number and per cent during the ten years from 1890 to 1900. TABLE 2.—THE POPULATION OF MONTANA BY COUNTIES, 1870 TO 1900.

1 Organized from parts of Jefferson and Meagher in 1897.

2 Organized form parts of Park and Yellowstone in 1895.

3 Organized from parts of Choteau, Lewis and Clarke, and Meagher in 1887; part of Meagher annexed since 1890.

4 Parts taken to form Teton in 1893, and part of Cascade in 1887.

5 Name changed from Big Horn in 1877; part taken to form part of Yellowstone in 1881.

6 Valley organized from part of Dawson in 1893.

7 Parts taken to form Silver Bow in 1881 and Granite in 1893; parts annexed to Flathead and Lewis and Clarke since 1890.

8 Organized from part of Meagher in 1885.

9 Organized from part of Missoula in 1893; part of, Deer Lodge subsequently annexed.

10 Parts taken to form Park in 1887 and part of Yellowstone in 1881.

11 Organized from part of Deer Lodge in 1893.

12 Part taken to form part of Broadwater in 1897.

13 Part taken to form part of Cascade in 1887; parts of Deer Lodge and Meagher annexed since 1890.

14 Parts taken to form Fergus in 1885, of Cascade in 1887. of Sweet Grass in 1895, and part of Broadwater in 1897; partsannexed to Cascade and Lewis and Clarke since 1890.

15 Parts taken to form Flathead and Ravalli in 1893.

16 Organized from part of Gallatin in 1887; parts taken to form part of Carbon and Sweet Grass in 1895.

17 Organized from part of Missoula in 1893.

18 Organized form part of Deer Lodge in 1881,

19 Organized from parts of Meagher, Park and Yellowstone in 1895.

20 Organized from part of Choteau in 1893.

21 Organized from parts of Custer and Gallatin in 1881; parts taken to form parts of Carbon and Sweet Grass in 1895.

TABLE 3-INCREASE IN POPULATION OF MONTANA BY COUNTIES, 1890 TO
1900.

The following territorial changes in the counties of Montana have been made since 1890: Flathead organized from part of Missoula in 1893; Granite organized from part of Deer Ladge in 1893; Ravalli organized from part of Missoula in 1893; Teton organized from part of Choteau in 1893; Valley organized from part of Dawson in 1893; Carbon organized from parts of Park and Yellowstone in 1895; Sweet Grass organized from parts of Meagher, Park, and Yellowstone in 1895; Broadwater organized from parts of Jefferson and Meagher in 1897; parts of Deer Lodge annexed to Flathead and Lewis and Clarke; and parts of Meagher annexed to Cascade and Lewis and Clarke.

From the foregoing it appears that 8 counties, namely, Broadwater, Carbon, Flathead, Granite, Ravalli, Sweet Grass, Teton and Valley have been formed since 1890. Of the remaining 16 counties all but 3 have increased in population during the decade. The 3 that show a decrease in population, namely, Jefferson, Meagher and Missoula, have also suffered material losses in territory.

Table 4 shows the population of Montana by minor civil divisions, so far as it was separately returned at the censuses of 1890 and 1900.