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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

So far, we found very little information about Fort Maginnis. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Fort Maginnis to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Fort Maginnis, please Contact Us.


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 Maginnis (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 Maginnis. 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 southwest 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 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 west 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.

Although our information shows that the community of Fort Maginnis is historic, it would have been located within present day Fergus 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 Fergus County: Blaine, Chouteau, Golden Valley, Judith Basin, Musselshell, Petroleum, Phillips & Wheatland.

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

  • Fergus County     (The home county of Fort Maginnis)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fort Maginnis, with the one closest to Fort Maginnis listed first.
    • Maiden
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maiden
      • Maiden is located in Fergus County
    • Giltedge ‑ Historic
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Giltedge
      • Giltedge is located in Fergus County
    • Hilger
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Roy Junction
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Roy Junction. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roy Junction
      • Roy Junction is located in Fergus County
    • Roy
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Forestgrove
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Heath
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heath
      • Heath is located in Fergus County
    • Christina
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Christina
      • Christina is located in Fergus County
    • Kendall ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kendall
      • Kendall is located in Fergus County
    • Lewistown Heights
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lewistown Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewistown Heights
      • Lewistown Heights is located in Fergus County
    • Lewistown
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lewistown have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewistown
      • Lewistown is located in Fergus County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,905 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lewistown <2>
    • Grass Range
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grass Range have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grass Range
      • Grass Range is located in Fergus County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 105 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grass Range <2>
    • Glengarry
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glengarry
      • Glengarry is located in Fergus County
  • Petroleum County

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

Newspapers Published in Fort Maginnis ...

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 25 newspapers that have been published in the area around Fort Maginnis.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Fort Maginnis, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Fort Maginnis.

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 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 Fort Maginnis:

Cemeteries Near Fort Maginnis ...

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

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

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

  • Ft. Maginnis Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Gilt Edge Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gilt Edge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gilt Edge Cemetery
  • Hilger Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hilger Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hilger Cemetery
  • Central Montana Memorial Gardens
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Great Divide Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Ayers Ranch Colony Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Roy Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Roy Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Roy Cemetery
  • Forest Grove Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Dengel Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dengel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dengel Cemetery
  • Calvary Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Calvary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Calvary Cemetery
  • Kendall Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kendall Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kendall Cemetery
  • Lewistown Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Grass Range Cemetery
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Grass Range Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Grass Range Cemetery
    • Beaver Creek Cemetery
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Beaver Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Beaver Creek Cemetery
    • Winifred Cemetery
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)

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.

Fort Maginnis itself is historic and was described in the Rand McNally Atlas as having a population of 43 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Maiden
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maiden
    • Maiden is located in Fergus County
  • Christina
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Christina
    • Christina is located in Fergus County
  • Lewistown
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lewistown have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewistown
    • Lewistown is located in Fergus County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,905 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lewistown <2>
  • Grass Range
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grass Range have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grass Range
    • Grass Range is located in Fergus County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 105 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grass Range <2>
  • Cottonwood
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cottonwood have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
    • Cottonwood is located in Fergus County

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

The official website for Fergus County: www.co.fergus.mt.us/

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

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 Fort Maginnis, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 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.
<5>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- Fort Maginnis) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Fort Maginnis. We have been unable to find the coordinates for Fort Maginnis. That said, to estimate its location, we are using the latitude and longitude of what we believe to be a nearby cemetery (likely the town cemetery). The cemetery that we've chosen is named Fort Maginnis Cemetery and it is located at 47.1880, -109.1476   .
<6>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.









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 10 Mar 2024