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 Fort Benton (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 Fort Benton. 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 Fort Benton ...

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.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Fort Benton: Ft. Benton

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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the east. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the south.

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 east contained birth and death records; the county to the south 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.

Fort Benton is located in Chouteau County and is the County Seat.

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 Chouteau County: Blaine, Cascade, Fergus, Hill, Judith Basin, Liberty, Pondera & Teton.

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

• Chouteau County     (The home county of Fort Benton)
  • The following are listed by their distance from Fort Benton, with the one closest to Fort Benton listed first.
  • Loma
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loma
    • Loma is located in Chouteau County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Loma <1>
  • Carter
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carter have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carter
    • Carter is located in Chouteau County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Carter <1>
  • Big Sag
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Sag
    • Big Sag is located in Chouteau County
  • Highwood
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highwood
    • Highwood is located in Chouteau County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Highwood <1>
  • Floweree
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Floweree
    • Floweree is located in Chouteau County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Floweree <1>
  • Virgelle
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virgelle
    • Virgelle is located in Chouteau County
  • Geraldine
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Geraldine have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geraldine
    • Geraldine is located in Chouteau County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 251 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Geraldine <1>

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Fort Benton ...

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 11 newspapers that have been published in the area around Fort Benton.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

• A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Fort Benton. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Fort Benton and those printed in the larger area surrounding Fort Benton.
• An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3> of Fort Benton.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful 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 Fort Benton:

• Websites specific to Montana
  • Jump to Cyndi's List
  • Jump to Family Search
  • Jump to Genealogy Trails
  • Website for the Montana Historical Society

• Pages specific to Chouteau County
  • Jump to Cyndi's List
  • Jump to Family Search
  • Jump to Genealogy Trails

• Genealogy information for nearby counties

• Cemetery Information and Directories for Montana
  • Cemetery Junction: Cemeteries of Montana
  • Cyndi's List
  • Cemeteries of Montana
  • Cemeteries of Chouteau County
  • FamilySearch.org: Cemeteries of Montana
  • Find-A-Grave: Home Page
  • Interment.net
  • Cemeteries of Montana

Cemeteries Near Fort Benton ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Fort Benton.

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 Fort Benton covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

• Riverside Cemetery
  (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Riverside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Riverside Cemetery
• Montague Cemetery
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Montague Cemetery
• Carter Cemetery
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Carter Cemetery
• Clear Lake Cemetery
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Clear Lake Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clear Lake Cemetery
• Upper Shonkin Cemetery
  (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Upper Shonkin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Upper Shonkin Cemetery
• Upper Highwood Cemetery
  (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Upper Highwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Upper Highwood Cemetery
• Twin Hills Colony Cemetery
  (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Twin Hills Colony Cemetery
• Geraldine Cemetery
  (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Geraldine Cemetery
  • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2152774 <4>
• Lower Belt Cemetery
  (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lower Belt Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lower Belt Cemetery
• Sample Flat Cemetery
  (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sample Flat Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sample Flat Cemetery
• Graceville Cemetery
  (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Graceville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Graceville Cemetery
• Wolfe Cemetery
  (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wolfe Cemetery
  • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2341515 <4>
• Continue List   (4 more) ...
  • Big Willow Cemetery
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Big Willow Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Big Willow Cemetery
  • Big Willow Cemetery
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Big Willow Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Big Willow Cemetery
  • Kenilworth Cemetery
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Kenilworth Cemetery is located 14 miles [22.5 km]<3> to the east of Big Sandy.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kenilworth Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #20946 <4>

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Fort Benton had a population of 624 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Fort Benton had a population of 1,442 people.

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

• Tunis
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tunis have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tunis
  • Tunis is located in Chouteau County
• Highwood
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highwood
  • Highwood is located in Chouteau County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Highwood <1>
• Floweree
  (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Floweree
  • Floweree is located in Chouteau County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Floweree <1>
• Portage
  (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Portage have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portage
  • Portage is located in Cascade County
• Verona
  (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Verona have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Verona
  • Verona is located in Chouteau County

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

Off-the-Road Links ...

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

The official website for Chouteau County: www.co.chouteau.mt.us/

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