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1945 Map of West Butte

Name: 1945 Topographic Map of West Butte
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1946
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1946

About this map

West Butte dominates this high-plains landscape just south of the Canada United States border in Toole County. During the mid-1940s, the area's ranching economy was firmly established, marked by numerous family-named operations such as the Sweetgrass Hills Ranch, Quarter Circle ZN Ranch, and the Bow and Arrow Ranch. The settlement pattern is characterized by scattered rural schools including O'Loughlin School and Toole Sch, which served as localized community hubs in an otherwise expansive terrain.

Water management and natural drainage are central to the map's detail, with a complex network of coulees such as Police Coulee, Twomile Coulee, and Black Coulee carving through the prairie. The presence of the Mcdermott Mine on the eastern slopes of the butte suggests localized mineral extraction alongside the primary grazing industry. This survey provides a precise look at the section lines and township grids that organized Montana's northern borderlands after the war.