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The Commemorative Quarter for Montana





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 Grass Range (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 Grass Range. 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 Grass Range ...

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.

Another variation: Grassrange.

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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Grass Range is located in 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 Grass Range. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Grass Range:

  • Fergus County     (The home county of Grass Range)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Grass Range, with the one closest to Grass Range listed first.
    • Forestgrove
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Fort Maginnis ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fort Maginnis came from an uncertain source and they still need to be verified:<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Maginnis
      • Fort Maginnis is located in Fergus County
    • Giltedge ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Giltedge
      • Giltedge is located in Fergus County
    • Heath
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heath
      • Heath is located in Fergus County
    • Roy
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Maiden
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maiden
      • Maiden is located in Fergus County
    • Roy Junction
      (29 miles [46.7 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
    • Hilger
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Lewistown Heights
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • 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
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • 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 <1>
  • Petroleum County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Grass Range, with the one closest to Grass Range listed first.
    • Teigen
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Winnett
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Winnett have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winnett
      • Winnett is located in Petroleum County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 190 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Winnett <1>

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Grass Range ...

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 21 newspapers that have been published in the area around Grass Range.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Grass Range. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Grass Range and those printed in the larger area surrounding Grass Range.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<5> of Grass Range.

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 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 Grass Range:

Cemeteries Near Grass Range ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Grass Range.

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

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

  • Grass Range Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • 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
  • Dengel Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • 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
  • Ayers Ranch Colony Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Forest Grove Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Tyler Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Tyler Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tyler Cemetery
  • Ft. Maginnis Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Great Divide Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
  • Gilt Edge Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • 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
  • Winnett Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Winnett Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Winnett Cemetery
  • Pine Grove Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pine Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pine Grove Cemetery
  • Roy Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • 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
  • Flatwillow Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Flatwillow Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Flatwillow Cemetery
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Hilger Cemetery
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • 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
    • Calvary Cemetery
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • 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

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.<7>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Grass Range had a population of 21 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Grass Range had a population of 105 people.

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

  • Fort Maginnis ‑ Historic
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fort Maginnis came from an uncertain source and they still need to be verified:<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Maginnis
    • Fort Maginnis is located in Fergus County
  • Maiden
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maiden
    • Maiden 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 Grass Range. See our List of 1890's Communities around Grass Range.

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

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

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

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>If we found a location and have questions about the accuracy of our information, we will simply say that the marker is 'in the vicinity'. We are not confident about the location and the position of our marker is only a rough guide. If we have too many doubts about the location, we will not include it in our database.
<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 '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- Grass Range) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Grass Range. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.0261, Longitude: -108.8030       In this case, the coordinates for Grass Range have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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.
<7>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 Grass Range, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024