Distinctly Montana Magazine

94 D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A M A G A Z I N E • S U M M E R 2 0 2 4 article and photos by BRYAN SPELLMAN G E T T O K N O W G E T T O K N O W A C O U N T Y A C O U N T Y F A L L O N C O U N T Y F A L L O N C O U N T Y O N DECEMBER 19TH, 1913, the Montana Legislature took the southeastern portion of Custer County to create Fallon County, the fourth and last county created that year, and the thirty-fifth county in the state. Over the next six years, the Legislature would reduce Fallon County's size to create Wibaux, Prairie, and Carter Counties. Today, the County covers 1,623 square miles, placing it in 45th place. The 2020 US Census counted 3,049 residents in the Coun- ty, or 42nd in the State. The County takes its name from Benja- min O'Fallon, an Indian Agent and nephew of William Clark, leader of the Corps of Discovery, better known as the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Despite calls to the Fallon County Library and Baker's O'Fallon Museum, I have been unsuccessful in finding out why the O' disappeared when the County took its name. Every history I've found for Fallon County begins in 1908. That is when the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad crossed the state line from North Dakota, bringing first workers building the line and then settlers. This date, of course, neglects any mention of indigenous people who may have lived in the area. Surely both Crow and Dakota must have hunted the area's hills. After the railroad pushed on westward, things changed rapid- ly for this southeastern Montana area. 1908 saw the birth of Baker, and 1909 Plevna. 1912's discovery of oil and natural gas added to population growth, so that by 1920, the first census after the County's creation, and after it lost land and people to new coun- ties, 4,548 people were living here. The 1930 census was Fallon County's high, at 4,568, and the count has trended down on a roll- er coaster ride ever since. For an in-person study of Fallon County's history, be sure to visit the O'Fallon Historical Museum, 718 E. Main Street, in Baker. The Museum's offices are located in the original coun- BAKER BAKER

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