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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 Canyon Ferry (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 Canyon Ferry. 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.

Name Variations for Canyon Ferry ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Canyon Ferry: Canyon Fry. (or less commonly used: Canyon Frry.)

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Canyon Ferry. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Canyon Ferry.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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 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.

Canyon Ferry is located in Lewis and Clark County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Lewis and Clark County: Broadwater, Cascade, Flathead, Jefferson, Meagher, Powell & Teton.

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

  • Lewis and Clark County     (The home county of Canyon Ferry)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Canyon Ferry, with the one closest to Canyon Ferry listed first.
    • Cavetown
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Cavetown is located in Lewis and Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cavetown
    • East Helena
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Helena
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Helena is located in Lewis and Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helena
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 33,737 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Helena <1>
    • Fort Harrison
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Park City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Park City is located in Lewis and Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park City
    • Birdseye
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Birdseye is located in Lewis and Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birdseye
    • Silver City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Silver City is located in Lewis and Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver City
    • Austin
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Austin is located in Lewis and Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Austin
    • Rimini ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Rimini is located in Lewis and Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rimini
    • Canyon Creek
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Frontier Town
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Frontier Town is located in Lewis and Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frontier Town
    • Marysville ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Wolf Creek
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Broadwater County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Canyon Ferry, with the one closest to Canyon Ferry listed first.
    • Winston
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Whites City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Whites City is located in Broadwater County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whites City
    • Diamond City
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Diamond City is located in Broadwater County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond City
    • Townsend
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Cascade County
    • Millegan
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Millegan is located in Cascade County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millegan
  • Jefferson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Canyon Ferry, with the one closest to Canyon Ferry listed first.
    • Montana City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Clancy
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Alhambra
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Alhambra is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alhambra
    • Jefferson City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Elkhorn
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Elkhorn is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhorn
  • Meagher County
    • Fort Logan
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Fort Logan is located in Meagher County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Logan
  • Powell County
    • Blossburg
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Blossburg is located in Powell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blossburg

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

Cemeteries Near Canyon Ferry ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Canyon Ferry.

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.

Although we don't have the information ourselves, if you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our list of websites on our Genealogy Helper Page for Canyon Ferry - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Cemetery Island / Canyon Ferry Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • York Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Hardgrove Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • St. Anns Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Serbian Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • East Helena Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Turner Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Winston Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Beaver Creek Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Diamond City Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Sunset Memorial Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Lewis & Clark County Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (21 more) ...

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.<3>

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

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

  • Clasoil
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Clasoil is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clasoil
  • East Helena
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Montana City
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Helena
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Helena is located in Lewis and Clark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helena
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 33,737 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Helena <1>
  • Iron
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Iron is located in Lewis and Clark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron
  • Clancy
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
  • Alhambra
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Alhambra is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alhambra
  • Canton
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Canton is located in Broadwater County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canton
  • Birdseye
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Birdseye is located in Lewis and Clark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birdseye
  • Jefferson City
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
  • Corbin
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Corbin is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corbin
  • Townsend
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (10 more) ...
    • Fort Logan
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Fort Logan is located in Meagher County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Logan
    • Rimini ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Rimini is located in Lewis and Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rimini
    • Wickes ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Wickes is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wickes

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

Newspapers Published in Canyon Ferry ...

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 118 newspapers that have been published in the area around Canyon Ferry.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Canyon Ferry, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Canyon Ferry.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These 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 Canyon Ferry:

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>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.
<3>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 Canyon Ferry, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Canyon Ferry) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.