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Prairie County, Montana

34 topographic sheets cover 13 settlements here, and 3 properties are on the National Register of Historic Places.

Research this county

From the record

3 National Register listings published here.

Sources: the National Register database, National Park Service

Montana within the United States
Prairie County within Montana

What the record shows

  • 105 topographic sheet readings cover the county's settlements.
  • 3 properties here are on the National Register of Historic Places: 2 structures and 1 building.
  • 1 of the 3 listings was added during the 1970s.
  • The Geographic Names Information System records 13 populated places in this county; 13 are covered by at least one topographic sheet.

Places on the National Register

3

Every property in this county listed on the National Register of Historic Places, with the year it was listed and the federal nomination document.

Photograph PropertyType ListedReference
Grandey Elementary Schoolbuilding197878001689
Powder River Bridgestructure201009001186
Yellowstone River Bridgestructure201009001187

Wildfire, 1994 to 2020

126 fires

Every wildfire the federal occurrence database records inside this county: 126 of them, burning about 10,517 acres. 66 started naturally and none was recorded as arson. Each settlement page carries the fires within five miles of it.

Reported cause Fires
Natural66
Equipment and vehicle use35
Missing data/not specified/undetermined10
Railroad operations and maintenance4
Power generation/transmission/distribution4
Debris and open burning4
Firearms and explosives use1
Smoking1
Other causes1

The five largest, by the area the report gives. None of them was recorded as arson.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
6 July 2006Railroad operations and maintenance833 acresMiles City Field OfficeO FALLON
16 February 1995Debris and open burning700 acresEastern Land OfficeFEBRUARY
25 August 2017Natural659 acresMiles City Field OfficeSAGEBRUSH DRAW
26 March 2007Debris and open burning622 acresMiles City Field OfficeDINOSAUR
12 August 2017Natural606 acresMiles City Field OfficeCHERRY
16 February 1995Missing data/not specified/undetermined545 acresMiles City Field OfficeCAMP CREEK
12 July 2015Equipment and vehicle use464 acresMiles City Field OfficeMM 172
29 August 1995Natural400 acresMiles City Field OfficeMILDRED

Every settlement page carries the fires within five miles of it - see the settlement index below.

Storms, 1955 to 2025

60 of 337 shown

The NOAA Storm Events Database holds 337 reports for this county, causing no deaths, no injuries and about $714,000 in recorded property damage. Each settlement page carries the reports that name it.

Kind of event Reports
Hail185
Thunderstorm Wind118
Flash Flood13
Heavy Rain8
Flood8
Tornado3
Wildfire1
Funnel Cloud1

The most serious of them, by death, then injury, then recorded damage. The accounts are quoted exactly as the forecast office filed them.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 2005Thunderstorm WindTerry$145,000Damaging thunderstorm winds blew over a pivot sprinkler. The strong wind destoyed one machine shed. There were multiple reports of structural damage to occupied and unoccupied structures. A couple of cars were damaged from fallen tree limbs.
May 2005Thunderstorm WindMc Cloud$132,000Damage to three pivot irrigators.
June 2006Thunderstorm WindTerry$120,000A severe thunderstorm moved into southern Prairie county and raced off to the northeast at 50 mph. As the storm first entered the county it produced wind damage 12 miles southwest of Terry at 5:12 pm. A National Weather employee reported a pole barn was significantly damaged at a family members home. The poles were pulled right out of the ground. A shed was also destroyed on the property. As the storm continued to track off to the northeast it produced wind gusts in excess of 80 mph. At 5:30 pm an 88 mph wind gust was measured in Terry. Numerous tree branches were downed in the area, and many homes had minor roof damage.
May 2011Tornado (EF1)Terry$75,000At approximately 8:27pm on May 20, a tornado struck a ranch 8 miles south of Terry on 10 Mile Road. The tornado was observed by a resident of the house on the ranch. The house itself received no damage, though it was about 150 feet away from observed damage. Significant damage occurred to 4 outbuildings on the ranch. There were no injuries and the horses on the ranch were uninjured as they were out in pasture at the time of the tornado. The damage path was about 500 feet and the width was 200 feet. Based on the damage, the wind speed was determined to be 90 mph or a low end EF-1 tornado.
July 1997Flash FloodTerry$50,000Six inches of rain in less than 4 hours caused flash flooding. The town of Terry was inundated. Both Terry and Fallon reported extensive street flooding. A section of Interstate 90 by Terry had water running across it. Several washouts were reported on gravel county roads.
August 1993Thunderstorm WindTerry$50,000Trees were blown down and a trailer was blown over. Heavy rain fell causing Cherry Creek to run over the road north of Terry.
May 2006Flash FloodMc Cloud$30,0002 feet of water running over north folk of Cherry Creek Road. Considerable damage was caused to outbuildings. One culvert was washed out and the roads needed repair in several areas where the water ran across them. Many fences and watering tanks were destroyed.
June 2005Flash FloodTerry$30,000Water flowed over Highway 253 northwest of Terry, and caused damage to the highway.
July 1955Tornado (F1)not stated$25,000no account filed
July 1998HailMildred$12,000A severe thunderstorm produced golf ball sized hail and gusty winds. A large dead elm tree was blown down and a roof was blown off of a steel building. Several small trees were also blown down. Wheat crops in the area suffered devastating damage.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindMildred$10,000Wind tore a solid roof off a barn and drove a 2x6 foot wood beam 1.5 inches into a tree.
July 2001Flash FloodEast Portion$10,000Heavy rainfall of 2 to 4 inches caused ditches to fill up and water to start running up to two feet deep across Highway 10 east of Terry. Some damage occurred to the road, but it was not washed out.
July 2007Thunderstorm WindTerry$6,000The wind blew down 6 power poles between Terry and Fallon.
April 2007Thunderstorm WindTerry$5,000A thunderstorm was dying and the outflow winds from it damaged a 14' by 44' hog shed and pushed it 75 feet from its slab. The nearest measured wind was at the Miles City Airport with a gust of 48 mph. Other buildings in the area were not damaged at all and no other reports of severe weather occurred in the area.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindTerry$5,000A small grain bin was tossed into a grain field and destroyed.
August 1993Thunderstorm WindTerry$5,000no account filed
September 2009HailMc Cloud$2,000Storm produced quarter-size hail and damaged a pick-up truck on the property.
July 2008HailTerry$1,000Some windows were broken.
July 2007HailFallon$1,000The hail destroyed a kitchen window.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindTerry-Winds estimated to be at least 60 mph based on video posted to social media and tree limb damage reported by public.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindTerry-County Emergency management shared multiple damage reports from the town of Terry, including downed branches from multiple trees, a downed main power line causing a power outage, a peeled tin roof at the local baseball field. Time is estimated. Wind speed estimated at 65 mph.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindBluffport-A wind gust of 58 mph was recorded at the BLM Terry mesonet site.
July 2025HailBlatchford-Public reported hail up to the size of quarters, lasting for 15 to 20 minutes.
July 2025HailSutherland-Public reported golf ball size hail.
July 2025HailTerry-Trained spotter reported hail up to the size of quarters and heavy rain.
July 2025HailTerry-Public reported quarter size hail through the mPING system.
July 2025HailKamm-Public reported ping pong ball size hail through the mPING system.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindMc Cloud-A wind gust of 69 mph was measured at the Big Sheep Mountain RAWS site (LCFM8).
August 2025Thunderstorm WindMc Cloud-A trained spotter estimated wind gusts of 50 to 60 mph which broke off some tree limbs.
August 2025HailMc Cloud-A trained spotter reported quarter size hail.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindTerry-Prairie County DES estimated thunderstorm wind gusts of 60 mph.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindTerry-Public reported, via Facebook, an estimated 60 mph thunderstorm wind gust.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindMildred-Public reported that the wind lofted the roof of barn. Pieces of the roof were scattered up to half a mile away.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindBluffport-The BLM Terry mesonet site (MTM29) measured a 60 mph thunderstorm wind gust.
June 2023FloodBluffport-An emergency manager in Prairie County reported heavy rainfall caused water to flow over Interstate 94 at mile marker 181.
August 2023Thunderstorm WindBluffport-The BLM Terry Mesonet site (MTM29) measured a 58 mph thunderstorm wind gust.
August 2023Thunderstorm WindBlatchford-The public reported, via social media, that an open faced barn (shed) had blown down. The shed was laying over a tractor, four wheeler and bike. Wind speeds were estimated at 70 mph, and the time of the event was estimated by radar data.
July 2022HailMc Cloud-A trained spotter reported hail up to the size of quarters.
July 2022Thunderstorm WindMc Cloud-A trained spotter estimated a thunderstorm wind gust of 60 mph.
July 2022Thunderstorm WindKamm-A trained spotter estimated a thunderstorm wind gust of 75 mph.
July 2022HailKamm-A trained spotter reported hail up to the size of quarters.
July 2022Thunderstorm WindMc Cloud-Public reported, via Facebook, a thunderstorm wind gust estimated at 70 mph.
July 2022HailTerry-Public reported, via Facebook, hail up to the size of quarters.
July 2022HailMildred-A trained spotter reported hail up to the size of quarters.
July 2022HailMc Cloud-Public reported hail up to the size of quarters, as well as boards taken off of a fence.
July 2022HailMc Cloud-A trained spotter reported hail up to the size of quarters. They also reported some small branches broken off of some trees.
July 2022Thunderstorm WindMc Cloud-A trained spotter estimated thunderstorm wind gusts of 60 mph along with pea size hail.
July 2022Thunderstorm WindMc Cloud-A trained spotter measured a thunderstorm wind gust of 70 mph.
July 2022HailTerry-A trained spotter reported, via Facebook, hail up to the size of quarters.
June 2021Thunderstorm WindMc Cloud-The Big Sheep Mountain RAWS site (LCFM8), recorded a 70 mph thunderstorm wind gust.
June 2021HailMc Cloud-Public reported, via Facebook, hail up to the size of baseballs. Time is estimated.
June 2021HailMc Cloud-Trained spotter reported tea cup size hail, along with torrential rainfall.
June 2021Thunderstorm WindMc Cloud-Trained spotter reported multiple trees damaged: Ash trees snapped; Apple trees blown down; and an 80-year old spruce tree blown down.
June 2021HailMc Cloud-Trained spotter reported hen egg size hail.
July 2021HailMildred-Public reported ping pong size hail. Time estimated from radar.
July 2021Heavy RainMildred-Public reported 2 inches of rain fell during a two hour period. The rain came in two waves with most of it falling during the first 30 minutes. Time estimated from radar.
July 2021Thunderstorm WindMildred-Multiple well established cottonwood trees on a property, ranging from 30 to 40 feet tall and 1 to 3 feet in diameter were uprooted or blown over. Estimated wind was 70mph.
June 2021Thunderstorm WindMc Cloud-Big Sheep Mountain RAWS site (LCFM8) recorded a 59 mph thunderstorm wind gust.
May 2020HailMc Cloud-Trained spotter reported quarter size hail.
May 2020Thunderstorm WindMc Cloud-At the Big Sheep Mountain RAWS site (LCFM8), a 65 mph wind gust was measured.

Every populated place in the county

13

Named settlements recorded in the Geographic Names Information System, each with the topographic sheets covering it. Villages, hamlets and abandoned places alike. Each is shown with the nearest named watercourse or landform and the survey quadrangle it falls on.

The vanished settlements of Prairie County: the places named above that are no longer on the map.

Provenance

  • Topographic sheets. USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, county index, measured from the bulk metadata.
  • Fire insurance maps. Library of Congress Sanborn collection, faceted to this county.
  • Photographs. Each place queried individually against the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs search.
  • Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
  • Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
  • Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.