Check it out - Lost and Found Montana

I recently encountered a brief mention of the Lost and Found Montana project in a newspaper insert.  While this project is news to me, it is not new news.  Way back in August, the story of Jeremy Lurgio,’s project appeared in the Missoulian.  Lost and Found Montana is a multimedia presentation and website documenting 18 towns that the Department of Transportation planned to eliminate from the state road map. Lurgio is an associate professor of photojournalism and multimedia at the University of Montana. His Lost and Found Montana Exhibit was unveiled at the Rocky Mountain School of Photography in Missoula and at the same time he launched his website lostandfoundMontana.com. The exhibit ran through October and netted Lurgio second place at Atlanta Photojournalism contest for Multimedia Interactive Presentation.  I have visited the website and I encourage everyone else to do so too.  It is a reminder that even though towns can seem to vanish, their people and their stories do not.  The wide expanse that is Montana is full of remnants of towns that have all but disappeared.

www.lostandfoundmontana.com

County Name Quiz Answers

I hope you enjoyed the County Name Quiz.  Here are the answers:

1.  Judith Basin County was named for the Judith River.  The river was named by Meriwether Lewis for his cousin, Judith Hancock of Faircastle, Virginia.

2.  Garfield County was named for President James Garfield who was assassinated in 1881 after serving less than six months in office.

3.   Ravalli County was named for the Jesuit Missionary, Father Anthony Ravalli,  who arrived in the Bitterroot Valley in 1845. You can learn more about Father Ravilli at:
                      http://www.saintmarysmission.org/PhotoTourRavalli.html

4.  The name for Mineral County was suggested by George Willett, a railroad employee who was elected to serve in the state legislature.  Willett had served in the Philippines during the Spanish American War where he contracted leprosy.  It took years before the symptoms of the disease developed and Willet had just been elected for a second term when he became ill. At that time there was no known cure for the malady.  After living in quarantine near Alberton,  he and his wife were forced to move to a leprosarium.

5.  Lincoln County was named for President Abraham Lincoln.

6.  Sanders County was named for Wilbur Fisk Sanders, nephew of the first territorial governor, Sidney Edgerton.

7.  The counties that were named specifically to attract homesteaders were Richland, Golden Valley and Treasure.  (I guess with the Bakken (check the spelling) oil boom, Richland County  has really lived up to its name.)

8.  Toole County was named for J.K. Toole, Montana’s first Governor.

9.  The obvious answer for this question is Lewis and Clark County.  The not so obvious one is Chouteau County which was named for Augustus and Pierre Chouteau,  fur traders, American Pioneers and founders of the city of St. Louis.

I hope you enjoyed this quiz. On a final note here is some food for thought.  If part of the county you live in were to break off to form a new county what would you suggest for the new county’s name?

Montana County Name Quiz

As a diversion from all the holiday hustle and bustle, I thought you might enjoy a short quiz to test your knowledge of Montana County history.

1.  There are twenty six counties in Montana that were named for men, either directly or indirectly. (By indirectly, I mean that a county was named for a river or other feature that was named for a person.  An example would be Madison County which was named for the Madison River which was by the Lewis and Clark Expedition for then Secretary of State James Madison).  Only one Montana County was indirectly named for a woman. Can you name that county?

2.  Of the counties named for U.S. Presidents, which one bears the name of an assassinated president that did not play an important role in Montana history?

3.  Which county was named for an important religious figure who figured prominently  in Western Montana history?

4.  This is a hard one, don’t feel bad if you don’t get the answer.  Which county, formed in 1914, was named by a man who served in the state legislature from that county and later was quarantined there because he suffered from leprosy?  (I warned you it was a hard one.)

5.  Which county was named for the U.S. President who signed the bill making Montana a territory?

6.  Which county was named for a man who was a vigilante, a lawyer, first president of the Montana Historical Society, and  represented the state of Montana in the U.S. Senate?

7.  There were three counties whose names were chosen to attract homesteaders. Can you name at least two of them?

8.  Which county was named for a Montana Governor?

9.   This is another tricky one.  Which two counties were named for two men?

I will post the answers in a couple of days so that you can see how you did.