RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Montana >> Fergus County >> Box Elder >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Box Elder, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Box Elder and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • Astronomy & Satellites ...
    • Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
    • To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for Box Elder:
    • 47.338869, -108.917379
    • Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Box Elder
  • Bird Watching ...
    • We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
    • The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected Fergus County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fergus County
    • Since Box Elder is near Petroleum County and also Blaine County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Petroleum County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Blaine County
  • Waymarking ...
    • Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Box Elder

Communities Also Named Box Elder ...

We found nine communities that are also named Box Elder.

There are three communities within Montana that are also named Box Elder.

Beyond Montana, we know of six communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Located In Montana ...
    • Cascade County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Montana community of Box Elder [Cascade County].
    • Chouteau County
      • This Box Elder is located in Chouteau County and lies 84 miles [135.2 km]<2> to the northwest of the Box Elder that is located in Fergus County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Chouteau County community of Box Elder.
    • Phillips County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Montana community of Box Elder [Phillips County].
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Colorado
      • Larimer County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Colorado community of Box Elder [Larimer County].
    • Nebraska
      • Red Willow County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Nebraska community of Box Elder [Red Willow County].
    • South Dakota
      • Pennington County
      • This Box Elder is located in Pennington County and lies 358 miles [576.1 km]<2> to the southeast of the Box Elder that is located in Fergus County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pennington County community of Box Elder.
    • Tennessee
      • Hardin County
      • This Box Elder is located in Hardin County and lies 1,349 miles [2,171 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Box Elder that is located in Fergus County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hardin County community of Box Elder.
    • Utah
      • Box Elder County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Utah community of Box Elder [Box Elder County].
    • Virginia
      • Suffolk City
      • This Box Elder is located in Suffolk City and lies 1,792 miles [2,883.9 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Box Elder that is located in Fergus County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Suffolk City community of Box Elder.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Box Elder ...

As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.

  • Canyon ‑ Historic
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Canyon is located in Fergus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canyon
  • Dryland ‑ Historic
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Dryland is located in Fergus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dryland
  • Giltedge ‑ Historic
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Giltedge is located in Fergus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Giltedge
  • Grass Range
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
  • Little Crooked ‑ Historic
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Little Crooked is located in Fergus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Crooked
  • Maiden
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Maiden is located in Fergus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maiden
  • Nelson ‑ Historic
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Nelson is located in Fergus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nelson
  • New Year
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • New Year is located in Fergus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Year
  • Roy Junction
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Roy Junction is located in Fergus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roy Junction
  • Ruby Gulch ‑ Historic
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Ruby Gulch is located in Fergus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruby Gulch
  • Rustle ‑ Historic
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Rustle is located in Fergus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rustle
  • Valentine
    (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Valentine is located in Fergus County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valentine

How Far From Box Elder to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Box Elder to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic community of Box Elder once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Box Elder and extending to:

  • Lewistown, which is the Seat of Fergus County, lies 32 miles [51.5 km]<2> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Box Elder to Lewistown, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
  • Helena, which is the State Capital of Montana, lies 155 miles [249.4 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,695 miles [2,727.8 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 67 days and walking would take 97 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,530 miles [10,509 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,298 miles [11,745 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,302 miles [8,532.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Box Elder, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>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- Box Elder) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer.

Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name.

Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time.

Also keep in mind that Box Elder could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out.
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day.
<6>The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Box Elder to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Box Elder. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.3389, Longitude: -108.9174       In this case, the coordinates for Box Elder have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 330.038 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 329.884 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 319.25 degrees.