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Richland County, Montana

32 topographic sheets cover 26 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
Richland County within Montana

What the record shows

  • 193 topographic sheet readings cover the county's settlements.
  • 3 properties here are on the National Register of Historic Places: 3 buildings.
  • The Geographic Names Information System records 26 populated places in this county; 26 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
Burgess Garagebuilding200404001434
Peoples' Congregational Churchbuilding198282003179
Ruffatto Schoolbuilding2023100009561

Wildfire, 1998 to 2020

91 fires

Every wildfire the federal occurrence database records inside this county: 91 of them, burning about 8,736 acres. 16 started naturally and 6 were recorded as arson. Each settlement page carries the fires within five miles of it.

Reported cause Fires
Equipment and vehicle use25
Missing data/not specified/undetermined24
Natural16
Debris and open burning10
Arson/incendiarism6
Smoking3
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Fireworks2
Misuse of fire by a minor2
Recreation and ceremony1

The five largest, by the area the report gives. One of them was set deliberately.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
20 July 2017Equipment and vehicle use7,817 acresMiles City Field OfficeYOOPER
19 August 2017Missing data/not specified/undetermined250 acresEastern Land OfficeROAD 334
28 July 2012Equipment and vehicle use90 acresFort Peck AgencyTRUCK FIRE
15 August 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined68 acresRoosevelt CountyFDH-MTLG17-273
11 April 2000Debris and open burning46 acresFort Peck AgencyMATAJOVSKY
29 April 2010Arson/incendiarism39 acresFort Peck AgencyS. HOPKINS
30 May 2002Missing data/not specified/undetermined35 acresFort Peck AgencyBILL SMITH
26 July 2017Missing data/not specified/undetermined28 acresEastern Land OfficeLISK

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

Storms, 1956 to 2026

60 of 491 shown

The NOAA Storm Events Database holds 491 reports for this county, causing no deaths, 6 injuries and about $1,871,750 in recorded property damage. Each settlement page carries the reports that name it.

Kind of event Reports
Thunderstorm Wind215
Hail214
Flood17
Flash Flood16
Tornado13
Heavy Rain9
Funnel Cloud4
Lightning2
Frost/Freeze1

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
July 2006LightningSidney3 hurtno account filed
June 2012Thunderstorm WindLambert1 hurt, $162,000Initial reports came from Richland County Sheriff's Department and then also from trained spotters in the area. There were a total of 8 large steel tanks blown over that weigh 12,000-14,000 pounds each. They were empty, and not staked into the ground yet. They stood about 25 feet tall and 8 feet across. Consulted with expert damage assessors with NWS Warning Decision Training Branch and at the University of Oklahoma, who agreed with the NWS Glasgow wind speed estimate of 95 mph winds to blow those tanks over. A 5th wheel camper was also blown over at the site, and an occupant was injured, but was not transported to the closest medical center. A pickup truck was also crushed under the tanks.
June 2015Tornado (EF1)Crane1 hurt, $50,000The National Weather Service in Glasgow, along with Richland County Disaster and Emergency Services conducted a damage survey of a property. The mobile home and its associated storage building (also a mobile home) were thrown from its foundation. The primary home lost its metal frame and was thrown onto a storage shed to the southwest, about 60 feet to the southwest. The two mobile homes, which did not appear to have been strapped down, were overturned and one had the entire frame bent and twisted. While there were tree branches broken in the region, the most significant damage was on this property site, due to the rural nature of the area. Power poles on the property were not damaged, although the lines were snapped. ||One 79 year old gentleman was in the home with his dog also on the property. The gentleman was in the mobile home and suffered injuries requiring transport to a local and then regional hospital. The dog was found trapped under rubble but was ok. ||Based off of the damage that was observed, the winds were estimated at 100 mph. The tornado continued through rural area to the south-southeast where it went into North Dakota about 5 miles south-southeast of the property site with the damage. No reported damage has been noted in North Dakota and the tornado dissipated south-southwest of Trotters.
June 2003LightningSidney1 hurtno account filed
July 2011Thunderstorm WindSavage$500,000Some light damage consisting of tree branches down and fence damage was noted south of Lambert. More significant damage was found about 9 miles southeast of Lambert on Rd. 115. At this location, numerous trees were uprooted or snapped, and there was damage to homes and vehicles. Residents reported hail up to 2.5 inches breaking windows in homes.||Major to minor crop damage was seen over a large area from 9 southeast of Lambert to Savage. An irrigation system was destroyed just north of Savage. There was some damage to structures in and near the town of Savage, with the most significant structural damage surveyed occurring on a ranch 6 miles west-northwest of Savage. At this location, an attached garage was destroyed with the garage door torn off and a wall blown out. The garage door and wall, which were blown 200 feet down wind of the house. Also, this ranch had a grain bin torn off its foundation and blown a half mile down wind, where it was found in a mining pit.||About 4 miles of power poles were blown down or snapped along Rd. 107 west of Lambert. Poles on the south side of the road were blown down, while those on the north side were not, even though those on the south side were thicker poles. The poles that were blown down were a little taller than those that did not get blown down, and had cross members near the top.||In the town of Savage, numerous trees were uprooted or snapped. The cemetery at Savage had the most trees blown down.||Crop damage occurred as far south as County Road 107, with hail also being reported. However, significant structural and tree damage was reported by the public (not surveyed) further south, without hail also being reported. A dairy 2.4 miles west-southwest of Savage had considerable damage, including the roof. All of the debris from the dairy was blown down wind towards the south.||The perception of the residents of Savage was that they experienced a tornado. This is a reasonable perception as the residents first received a tornado warning form the NWS, then lost power, and then experienced powerful damaging winds. However, all of the damage surveyed flowed primarily in one direction, towards the south. Also, the damage extended over a wide area exceeding 4 miles in width, and tornadoes are much more localized. In fact, this wide area of damage is more significant than that produced by most tornadoes.||As all of the observed damage implied flow from the north, it was concluded that the damage was caused by a strong macroburst. A macroburst is defined as a strong downdraft from a thunderstorm affecting a path of greater than 2.5 miles. A macroburst forms when hail and rain aloft fall and entrain air, forming a downdraft. As large hail has a high fall speed, strong downdrafts can develop in storms with a lot of large hail (which this storm had). When the downdraft impacts the ground, the flow spreads out horizontally, creating strong straight line winds which radiate out from the center of the downdraft along a gust front. The rotation of the storm can add to the downdraft effect, creating a large area of uniform wind direction. Radar indications did not show large hail approximately south of County Road 107, which agrees with surveyed crop damage and public reports. However, significant damage still occurred for at least several miles south of Rd. 107. It is not unusual for gust fronts to travel considerable distances away from the storms which produce them, which evidently happened in this case.||The maximum wind speeds with this event are estimated from the resulting damage. Uprooted and snapped hardwood trees, building damage, and broken power poles are all consistent with winds above 95 mph over a wide area, with winds up to about 110 mph for the most significant damage.||The survey team did not find any damage from a tornado at any location, though one was conclusively observed and photographed. This is not surprising as the time the tornado was observed, when combined with radar indications of a possible tornado, place the tornado in an empty area just southwest of Fox Lake near Lambert. A tornado in this location would not have left behind any damage for the survey team to catalog.
July 1997Flash FloodSidney$269,000Six inches of rain falling in less than four hours caused flash flooding throughout much of Richland County. Five bridges in the county sustained damage. One family along Lone Tree Creek was evacuated as the normally dry creek rose four feet. Numerous county roads were closed due to washouts and flood waters over the roads. The added water put a strain on the Vaux Dam and there was some concern it would fail.
August 2013Thunderstorm WindLambert$150,000Based on photos from emergency management and in discussion with those in the area, the wind speed is estimated to be at least 90 mph. Trees were stripped of their leaves, windows were broken, There was a home with part of the roof torn off, windows broken a shed completely destroyed, and a nearly one hundred year old barn that had been restored in the past two years that was destroyed.
June 2015Thunderstorm WindFairview$100,000A large, four-year old roping barn was destroyed by a microburst. The winds peeled the metal roof back, the tresses collapsed, and the east wall was blown eastward. Based on photographs from the Emergency Manager, and archived radar data, the maximum wind gusts from the microburst were estimated at 95 mph.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindSidney Airport (Ksdy)$100,000Initial wind gust was from the west-northwest. Straight line wind damage, or a macroburst was the cause of the damage in Sidney. Power was out for several hours in the Sidney area as power lines were broken by fallen trees and branches. The majority of the damage appears to be with uprooted and snapped evergreen trees, although some cottonwoods and poplars were also damaged. A storage building was destroyed just north of Sidney. A window was ripped out of its frame at 405 pm on the east side of town.
June 2007HailEnid$50,000Nickel to quarter hail covered the ground. Thunderstorm winds estimated at 80 mph accompanied the hail and caused significant crop damage and some damage to windows and roofs on area farms. See entire episode narrative for full details.
July 2004Thunderstorm WindSavage$50,000Two buildings were damaged in Savage. A portion of a roof was blown off of one building and the entrance door to a second building was damaged.
June 2001HailSidney$50,000no account filed
June 2012Thunderstorm WindFairview$30,000A total of 21 wooden power poles over a 2.1 mile stretch were snapped off at the bases with an additional two leaning enough to need replacement. A 4000 bushel grain bin was tipped over and an open steel shed had the roof blown off and thrown 150 yards to the north. The measured wind gust was from a Richland County agrimet station right in the area of the poles that were down.
July 2009Thunderstorm WindEnid$30,000Mobile home damaged. Insurance adjuster estimated wind gust close to 65 mph.
August 1997Thunderstorm WindSavage$30,000Thunderstorm winds downed power lines and large trees.
July 1995Thunderstorm WindBig Timber$30,000A thunderstorm downburst toppled a trailer house, tore doors off a quonset hut, blew a fuel tank 300 feet into a tractor and blew a feeder into a grain bin. There was major damage to a garage.
June 2002Thunderstorm WindFairview$25,000Severe thunderstorm winds hit south of Fairview and blew apart grain bins and structurally damaged several farm implement buildings.
June 1991Tornado (F0)not stated$25,000no account filed
June 1975Tornado (F2)not stated$25,000no account filed
June 2015HailSioux Pass Dot$23,000Trained spotter reported ping pong ball-sized hail with crop damage, roof damage, and broken windows, along with heavy rain.
July 1997Thunderstorm WindSavage$20,000Thunderstorm winds left a 6 mile wide path of damage with tree limbs as great as 4 inches in diameter felled by the wind.
August 1996Thunderstorm WindSidney$20,000no account filed
August 2013Thunderstorm WindLambert$15,000Ten power poles that were only 1-2 years old were snapped by the powerful thunderstorm winds.
June 2007HailCrane$15,000The roofs on greenhouses were damaged.
July 2001Thunderstorm WindSidney$15,000High winds blew down a total of 13 wooden power poles.
July 2010Thunderstorm WindSioux Pass Dot$10,000Spotter 14 miles south-southeast of Culbertson estimated a wind gust of 60 mph at 2223 MST which blew over a 15 foot grain hopper. At 2339 MST, Sioux Pass DOT sensor recorded a wind gust of 58 mph.
August 2002Thunderstorm WindSidney Richland Arpt$10,00063 mph wind reported at the Sidney Richland County Airport. The wind downed a street light and 12 inch diameter trees in Sidney.
July 2001Flash FloodNorth Portion$10,000Three to four inches of rain in two hours caused a culvert to wash out, causing the road to become washed out.
June 1997Flash FloodSidney$10,000More than 6 inches of rain falling in less than 2 hours caused a total loss of wheat which was pounded by heavy rain or washed away. Rapid runoff caused Hay Creek to rise rapidly and the high flow and velocity took out a bridge on County Road 350. Further downstream the creek washed out a bank causing a telephone pole to be toppled as well as taking out a shed and a propane tank. The resident of the property esttimated he lost about 125 square feet of property.
August 1995HailSavage$10,000Golf ball-size hail broke windows in a home and damaged vehicles. A wheat field was flattened.
June 2012Thunderstorm WindLambert$6,000Six power poles and lines were downed in this area. Wind speeds estimated on other damage in the area and the EF Scale Toolkit.
June 2012Thunderstorm WindFairview$6,000Six power poles and lines were snapped and damaged.
June 2012Thunderstorm WindFairview$5,000Five power poles and lines were down just west of Highway 16 and Road 144. Wind speeds estimated on other damage in the area and the EF Scale Toolkit.
June 1997Flash FloodSidney$5,000A bridge northeast of Lambert sustained damage due to flash flood waters.
July 1997Thunderstorm WindSavage$5,000no account filed
July 1962Tornadonot stated$2,500no account filed
June 1962Tornadonot stated$2,500no account filed
August 2013HailEnid$2,000Public reported golf ball sized hail, a broken window, and crop damage.
June 2010HailEnid$2,000Storm brought 1.75 hail and strong winds caught damage to rain gutters, air conditioner units and window seals.
May 2010Flash FloodCrane$1,000Richland County Law enforcement reported a washed out low spot on County Highway 120 about two miles west of Highway 16.
August 1994Thunderstorm WindSidney$500Large tree blown down.
June 1972Tornado (F2)not stated$250no account filed
April 2026Thunderstorm WindEnid-The Badger Creek CWOP mesonet site (F2498) recorded a 61 mph wind gust.
April 2026Thunderstorm WindSavage-The Savage MT-16 DOT site (MTSVG) recorded a 59 mph wind gust.
April 2026Thunderstorm WindEnid-The Lambert MT-200 DOT site (MTLBT) recorded a 58 mph wind gust.
April 2026Thunderstorm WindSavage-The Savage CWOP mesonet site (F8536) recorded a 60 mph wind gust.
April 2026Thunderstorm WindCrane-The Crane W Montana Climate Office mesonet site (CRBM8) recorded a 61 mph wind gust.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindEnid-Reported at the Badger Creek station.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindSavage-A wind gust of 62 mph was measured at the Savage MT-16 DOT site (MTSVG).
August 2025Thunderstorm WindLambert-Public estimated 80 mph wind gusts.
August 2025HailLambert-Public reported quarter size hail, strong winds, and heavy rain.
August 2025Thunderstorm WindLambert-The mesonet site (D8633) near lambert recorded a 64 mph wind gust.
August 2025Thunderstorm WindLambert-The mesonet site near Lambert (D8633) recorded a 58 mph wind gust.
August 2025FloodSidney-Richland County Dispatch in Sidney reported flooding at the intersection of W Holly St and Third Avenue.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindSidney-The public reported an estimated 60 mph thunderstorm wind gust.
May 2024HailSioux Pass Dot-A trained spotter reported hail up to the size of half dollars.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindEnid-Public estimated a 75 mph thunderstorm wind gust. It was estimated from an ACURITE weather sensor.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindSavage-Public reported near Savage a 58 mph thunderstorm wind gust.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindSavage-The Savage MT-16 DOT site measured a 61 mph thunderstorm wind gust.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindEnid-Public reported, via Facebook, a thunderstorm wind gust of 68 mph.

Mines and quarries

6 recorded

The Survey's mineral resources record lists 6 workings inside this county. 1 still produces and 5 are closed or unrecorded. Each settlement page carries the workings within five miles of it.

Commodity Workings
Uranium3
Sand and Gravel, Construction2
Sulfur1

The least common of them first, because a county's hundredth gravel pit says nothing its first ten did not.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Eagle-PitcherSulfurPast Producer
Fawcitt PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Nb Frontage PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Stanoline Oil Co.UraniumOccurrence
UnknownUraniumOccurrence
Unnamed Uranium DepositUraniumOccurrence

Every populated place in the county

26

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 Richland 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.