RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Montana >> Gallatin County >> Cowan >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • 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 Cowan:
    • 45.723540, -111.185231
    • 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 Cowan
  • 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 Gallatin County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Gallatin County
    • Since Cowan is near Park County and also Broadwater County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Park County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Broadwater 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 Cowan

Communities Also Named Cowan ...

We found twelve communities that are also named Cowan.

Within Montana, the name Cowan is unique.

Beyond Montana, we know of twelve communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these twelve communities, ten are located in the United States and two are in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Marion County
      • This Cowan is located in Marion County and lies 1,165 miles [1,874.9 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Cowan that is located in Gallatin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marion County community of Cowan.
    • Georgia
      • Morgan County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of Cowan [Morgan County].
    • Indiana
      • Delaware County
      • This Cowan is located in Delaware County and lies 1,354 miles [2,179.1 km]<1> to the east of the Cowan that is located in Gallatin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Delaware County community of Cowan.
    • Kentucky
      • Fleming County
      • This Cowan is located in Fleming County and lies 1,478 miles [2,378.6 km]<1> to the east of the Cowan that is located in Gallatin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fleming County community of Cowan.
    • Manitoba
      • This Cowan lies 646 miles [1,039.6 km]<1> to the northeast of the Cowan that is located in Gallatin County.
    • Missouri
      • Christian County
      • This Cowan is located in Christian County and lies 1,103 miles [1,775.1 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Cowan that is located in Gallatin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Christian County community of Cowan.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Armstrong County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Pennsylvania community of Cowan [Armstrong County].
      • Union County
      • This Cowan is located in Union County and lies 1,733 miles [2,789 km]<1> to the east of the Cowan that is located in Gallatin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Union County community of Cowan.
    • Quebec
      • This Cowan lies 1,801 miles [2,898.4 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Cowan that is located in Gallatin County.
    • Tennessee
      • Franklin County
      • This Cowan is located in Franklin County and lies 1,501 miles [2,415.6 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Cowan that is located in Gallatin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Franklin County community of Cowan.
    • Texas
      • Erath County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Texas community of Cowan [Erath County].
    • Virginia
      • Pulaski County
      • This Cowan is located in Pulaski County and lies 1,677 miles [2,698.9 km]<1> to the east of the Cowan that is located in Gallatin County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pulaski County community of Cowan.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Cowan ...

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.

  • Dogtown ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Dogtown is located in Gallatin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dogtown
  • Four Corners
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Four Corners is located in Gallatin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Corners
  • Greenwood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Greenwood is located in Gallatin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
  • Holland
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Holland is located in Gallatin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holland
  • King Arthur Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • King Arthur Park is located in Gallatin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for King Arthur Park
  • Middle Creek ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Middle Creek is located in Gallatin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middle Creek
  • Nelsons Crossing ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Nelsons Crossing is located in Gallatin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nelsons Crossing
  • Powers
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Powers is located in Gallatin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powers
  • Sheds ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Sheds is located in Gallatin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheds
  • Story
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Story is located in Gallatin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Story

How Far From Cowan 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 Cowan to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Cowan and extending to:

  • Bozeman, which is the Seat of Gallatin County, lies just to the East Southeast.
  • Helena, which is the State Capital of Montana, lies 72 miles [115.9 km]<1> to the north northwest (NNW). If you could drive a straight line from Cowan to Helena, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 4 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,791 miles [2,882.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 70 days and walking would take 102 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,679 miles [10,748.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,448 miles [11,986.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,456 miles [8,780.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Cowan) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Cowan 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.
<3>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.
<4>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 Cowan 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 Cowan. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.7235, Longitude: -111.1852       In this case, the coordinates for Cowan have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 331.741 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 331.703 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 320.862 degrees.