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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 Spion Kop (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 Spion Kop. 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 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.

Spion Kop is located in Judith Basin 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 Judith Basin County: Cascade, Chouteau, Fergus, Meagher & Wheatland.

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

  • Judith Basin County     (The home county of Spion Kop)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spion Kop, with the one closest to Spion Kop listed first.
    • Geyser
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Raynesford
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Stanford
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Arrow Creek
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arrow Creek
      • Arrow Creek is located in Judith Basin County
    • Windham
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windham
      • Windham is located in Judith Basin County
  • Cascade County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spion Kop, with the one closest to Spion Kop listed first.
    • Armington Junction
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Armington Junction
      • Armington Junction is located in Cascade County
    • Armington
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Armington
      • Armington is located in Cascade County
    • Belt
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Belt have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belt
      • Belt is located in Cascade County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 568 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Belt <1>
    • Monarch
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Neihart
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Neihart have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neihart
      • Neihart is located in Cascade County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 48 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Neihart <1>
    • Sand Coulee
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Stockett
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Eden
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden
      • Eden is located in Cascade County
  • Chouteau County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spion Kop, with the one closest to Spion Kop listed first.
    • Big Sag
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Sag
      • Big Sag is located in Chouteau County
    • Highwood
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Geraldine
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • 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>
  • Fergus County

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

Newspapers Published in Spion Kop ...

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 17 newspapers that have been published in the area around Spion Kop.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Spion Kop, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Spion Kop.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with 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 Spion Kop:

Cemeteries Near Spion Kop ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Spion Kop.

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

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

  • Geyser Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Geyser Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Geyser Cemetery
  • McLeish Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the McLeish Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McLeish Cemetery
  • Kibbey Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kibbey Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kibbey Cemetery
  • Big Willow Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • 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
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • 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
  • Monarch Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Monarch Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Monarch Cemetery
  • Lone Tree Park Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lone Tree Park Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lone Tree Park Cemetery
  • Goodman Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Goodman Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Goodman Cemetery
  • Dry Fork Road Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dry Fork Road Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dry Fork Road Cemetery
  • Pleasant View Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Upper Highwood Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • 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
  • Surprise Creek Colony Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (20 more) ...
    • Barker Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Barker Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Barker Cemetery
    • Upper Shonkin Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • 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
    • Geer Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Geer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Geer 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.<4>

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

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

  • Armington
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Armington
    • Armington is located in Cascade County
  • Monarch
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Belt
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Belt have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belt
    • Belt is located in Cascade County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 568 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Belt <1>
  • Stanford
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Highwood
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
  • Evans
    (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Evans have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evans
    • Evans is located in Cascade County
  • Neihart
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Neihart have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neihart
    • Neihart is located in Cascade County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 48 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Neihart <1>
  • Sand Coulee
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)

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

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

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>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.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Spion Kop) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Spion Kop. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 47.2850, Longitude: -110.6172       In this case, the coordinates for Spion Kop have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>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 Spion Kop, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024