We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
There are many holidays throughout the year. From Talk Like a Pirate Day (September 19th), to National Hot Dog Day (July 17th), to even Be Kind to Lawyers Day (April 8th). It seems like just about everything gets it day. With that being said, why does one of the finest places in the world, our very own Blaine County, not have its own official day? Well, after an exhaustive analysis of which of the 365 days would be the most fitting, I proclaim (with absolutely no authority) that March 1st should be dedicated from here on out as Blaine County Day.
Why the First of March? Because it was on March 1st 112 years ago that Blaine County came to be.
In 1910, there were 28 counties in Montana and Chinook, Harlem, and other communities that today reside in Blaine County were located in Chouteau County. At that time Chouteau County comprised of what is now Chouteau, Hill, Liberty, and Blaine counties, and parts of today's Phillips, Toole, Pondera, and Teton counties. While massive, in 1900 Chouteau County was home to only about 11,000 residents.
However, with the turn of the century, the further expansion of the railroads and the Homestead Act, and the development of communities in Eastern Montana, more and more settlers looked to this area for opportunity. Pushed by advertisements promising mild winters, fertile lands, and ample moisture, it is estimated that between 70,000 and 80,000 people flooded into eastern and central Montana between 1909 and 1918.
This wave of people into the sparsely populated eastern counties empowered a movement to break the massive handful of counties into smaller ones. By 1920 the six largest eastern counties would be split into over twenty smaller counties. It is this climate that motivated the residents of what we now know as Blaine County to start the movement to break away from Chouteau.
The idea had sprouted up from time to time over the previous decades, but outside interests mostly located in the more populous and powerful cities of western Montana prevented efforts to divide the counties. Yet in 1911, the state legislature succumbed to the unrelenting pressure and passed the Leighton Act, which allowed special elections to be held to divide existing counties and form new ones. In November of that same year, county commissioners set the date for when the vote to establish Blaine County would be held as February 20, 1912. On the same ballot the voters would also have to decide between Chinook and Harlem to serve as the County Seat if the new county were to be established.
Much could be written about the subsequent campaign to establish Blaine County. Of the many arguments for division of the counties and the mechanisms through which the effort was promoted. Of the numerous arguments against division made by those the Chinook Opinion called "the sore thumb brigade." Of the rivalries over which town would be the county seat and of the influences of outsiders who wanted to see the efforts downfall. And even why the name Blaine County was selected for this area. I will save the savory details for a future article.
Overall, the message to the voters was clear. Establishing Blaine County would reduce taxes while putting more money towards the infrastructure, schools, and services Blaine County residents used, all while giving them more say into how their communities were governed. This message resonated.
The Front Page of the February 22nd Chinook Opinion read in large bold font, "DIVISION EASY WINNER." By a vote of 971 to 338, "For Division" triumphed easily and well over the 65% threshold required for success. By a vote of 888 to 364, Chinook was selected as the County Seat (curiously, five people in Chinook voted for Harlem to be the county seat while five voters in Harlem voted for Chinook), and inaugural county officers were selected. Next door, a similarly wide margin had voted to establish Hill County on the same day. The celebratory mood victory evoked was summarized in the paper "If we seem a little noisy, remember we have been at this for twenty years and have sure got a good hollering coming."
All that awaited was an official canvas of the election results and a proclamation from Governor Edwin Norris establishing our new county. This proclamation came on the morning of Friday the 1st of March, 1912. With that, Blaine County was created and would commence the next 112 years of local governance which has seen so much growth and change throughout this area. I believe many of us feel lucky to have called this area home, so why not take some time this upcoming March 1st to celebrate Blaine County Day and all our wonderful home means to us!
Thank you to the Blaine County Museum staff for their efforts in digitizing decades of Chinook Opinion articles which allowed for this research.
