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 Three Forks (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 Three Forks. 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 Three Forks ...
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 occur.
For example, a typical abbreviation for Three Forks: Three Frks.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Three Forks. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Three Forks.
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 and doctors 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.
Three Forks is located in Gallatin County.
To see how the shape of Montana's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Gallatin County: Fremont (ID), Broadwater, Jefferson, Madison, Meagher, Park, Park (WY) & Teton (WY).
Below are the counties that are near Three Forks. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Three Forks:
- Gallatin County (The home county of Three Forks)
- The following are listed by their distance from Three Forks, with the one closest to Three Forks listed first.
- Willow Creek
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Manhattan
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Amsterdam
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Amsterdam - Churchill
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Arnold
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Arnold is located in Gallatin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnold
- Churchill
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Churchill is located in Gallatin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Churchill
- Hillman
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Hillman is located in Gallatin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillman
- Belgrade
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Gallop ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Gallop is located in Gallatin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gallop
- Four Corners
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Four Corners is located in Gallatin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Corners
- Wisner Crossing
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Wisner Crossing is located in Gallatin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wisner Crossing
- Story
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Story is located in Gallatin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Story
- Gallatin Gateway
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Broadwater County
- The following are listed by their distance from Three Forks, with the one closest to Three Forks listed first.
- Copper City
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Copper City is located in Broadwater County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copper City
- Crow Creek City ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Crow Creek City is located in Broadwater County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crow Creek City
- Toston
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Radersburg
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Townsend
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Jefferson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Three Forks, with the one closest to Three Forks listed first.
- Cardwell
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Whitehall
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Piedmont
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Piedmont is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piedmont
- Madison County
- The following are listed by their distance from Three Forks, with the one closest to Three Forks listed first.
- Harrison
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Jefferson Island
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Jefferson Island is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson Island
- Red Bluff
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Red Bluff is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Bluff
- Pony ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Norris
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Strawberry ‑ Historic
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Strawberry is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strawberry
- Mammoth
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Mammoth is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mammoth
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Three Forks, see our County-by-County Page for Three Forks.
Cemeteries Near Three Forks ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Three Forks.
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.
Although we don't have the information ourselves, if you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our list of websites on our Genealogy Helper Page for Three Forks - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Three Forks covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Three Forks, with the one closest to Three Forks listed first.
- Fairview Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Logan Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Headwaters Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Mt. Green Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mt. Green Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Mt. Green Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the north of Willow Creek.
- The Mt. Green Cemetery has also been known as:
- Willow Creek Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #21006 <2>
- Stateler Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Sappington Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Meadowview Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowview Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Meadowview Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located 2 miles [3.2 km]<3> to the southeast of Manhattan.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #20989 <2>
- Fly Cemetery
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Churchill Cemetery
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Harrison Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Black Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Dry Creek Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Continue List (24 more) ...
- Hills Cemetery
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Little Holland Cemetery
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- South Boulder Cemetery
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
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>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Three Forks had a population of 142 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Three Forks had a population of 2,043 people.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Three Forks, with the one closest to Three Forks listed first.
- Gallatin ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Gallatin is located in Gallatin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gallatin
- Willow Creek
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Logan
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Logan is located in Gallatin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Logan
- Manhattan
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Harrison
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Jefferson Island
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Jefferson Island is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jefferson Island
- Belgrade
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Toston
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Red Bluff
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Red Bluff is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Bluff
- Pony ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Gallop ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Gallop is located in Gallatin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gallop
- Norris
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Continue List (6 more) ...
- Story
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Story is located in Gallatin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Story
- Springhill
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Springhill is located in Gallatin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springhill
- Whitehall
(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 Three Forks. See our List of 1890's Communities around Three Forks.
Newspapers Published in Three Forks ...
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 38 newspapers that have been published in the area around Three Forks.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Three Forks, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Three Forks.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Three Forks:
- Websites specific to Montana
- Pages specific to Gallatin County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Broadwater County
- Jefferson County
- Madison County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Montana
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 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. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Three Forks) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Three Forks, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |