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The Commemorative Quarter for Montana





Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

We have a couple of goals for our Gazetteer:

  • That it be a tool which helps us with planning our trips.
  • We're trying to shape our Gazetteer as a tool to help us understand the community in which our ancestors lived, the community that was part of their daily lives.
  • On our trips, we try to visit those places where our ancestors left their footprints.

By learning about Bend (and the surrounding area) during the time that our ancestors lived, we hope to have a better understanding of both their community and its relationship to their lifes. We hope that this tool helps to give us an insight into their world.

As we add data and organize our Gazetteer to help with our family research, we will be adding to this our Genealogical Helper for Bend. While we don't have information that is specific to any given person or family, we intend to expand our understanding about where and how people lived.

Neighboring Counties ...

When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties.

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.

So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties instead of the county in which they lived:  their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the west contained birth and death records; the county to the north contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.

Bend is located in Sanders County.

To see how the shape of Montana's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Sanders County: Bonner (ID), Shoshone (ID), Flathead, Lake, Lincoln, Mineral & Missoula.

Below are the counties that are near Bend. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Bend:

  • Sanders County     (The home county of Bend)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bend, with the one closest to Bend listed first.
    • Niarada
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Niarada have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Niarada
      • Niarada is located in Sanders County
    • Lonepine
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lonepine have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lonepine
      • Lonepine is located in Sanders County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lonepine <2>
    • Eddy
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eddy
      • Eddy is located in Sanders County
    • Thompson Falls
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thompson Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thompson Falls
      • Thompson Falls is located in Sanders County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,432 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Thompson Falls <2>
    • Trout Creek
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Hot Springs
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hot Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hot Springs
      • Hot Springs is located in Sanders County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 587 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hot Springs <2>
    • Tuscor
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Tuscor. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuscor
      • Tuscor is located in Sanders County
  • Flathead County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bend, with the one closest to Bend listed first.
    • Marion
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Kila
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Lake County
    • Lake Mary Ronan
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Mary Ronan
      • Lake Mary Ronan is located in Lake County
  • Lincoln County
    • Happys Inn
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Happys Inn
      • Happys Inn is located in Lincoln County

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Bend, see our County-by-County Page for Bend.

Cemeteries Near Bend ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bend.

This is a new section and is likely to have errors. If you find an error, such as a missing cemetery or we have the wrong name, please let us know. If you know of them, we would also appreciate learning about previous or alternate names.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Bend covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Bend, with the one closest to Bend listed first.

  • McKay Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McKay Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the McKay Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Indian Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Indian Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Indian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Niarada Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Niarada Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Niarada Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Whitepine Trout Creek Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
  • Murray Memorial Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Murray Memorial Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Murray Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fraternal Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fraternal Cemetery
    • The Fraternal Cemetery has also been known as:
    • IOOF Cemetery
  • Wild Rose Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
  • VFW Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the VFW Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the VFW Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Maillet Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Maillet Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Maillet Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Ventling Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ventling Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ventling Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Moore Cemetery
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Moore Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Moore Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.

Nearby Communities in 1895 ...

We've built the following list with information that came from an Atlas published by Rand McNally in 1895. The Atlas had details such as the population of the community (which appears to have come from the 1890 Census) and whether there was a post office and/or railroad service available. We also indicate if the community no longer exists and is now historic.<5>

While we didn't find Bend in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Bend.

These communities are listed based on their distance from Bend, with the one closest to Bend listed first.

  • Childs
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Childs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Childs
    • Childs is located in Sanders County
  • Belknap
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Belknap have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belknap
    • Belknap is located in Sanders County
  • Eddy
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eddy
    • Eddy is located in Sanders County
  • Trout Creek
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
  • Tuscor
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Tuscor. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuscor
    • Tuscor is located in Sanders County

We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Bend. See our List of 1890's Communities around Bend.

Newspapers Published in Bend ...

An ongoing effort between the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has resulted in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).

To share their results, the partnership has created the Chronicling America website. The goal of this partnership is to assemble a database about the current and historic newspapers of the United States. This includes a growing collection of scanned images from selected papers. All of it available to the public on their website.

Using information that we've taken from the Chronicling America website, we've identified 4 newspapers that have been published in the area around Bend.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bend, there are papers which were published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bend.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer websites offer the information directly or else point to where you can find it. Their information is open to everyone.

To help you get started, the following links will take you to the pages that are relevant to Bend:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Bend. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Sanders County: www.co.sanders.mt.us/

The official website for State of Montana: https://mt.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<4>The Find-a-Grave website is an excellent research tool with information about a cemetery's location and interments. They also offer a forum for their members which can provide additional help. More information about Find-a-Grave can be found on their website: findagrave.com.
<5>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Bend, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Bend) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bend. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.9094, Longitude: -115.0496       In this case, the coordinates for Bend have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025