Browning, Montana
9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1901 and the latest in 1968. It stands in the Blackfeet Reservation census division. It lies in ZIP code area 59417. It stands on Depot Creek. The Survey maps it on the Browning quadrangle. 1,018 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 4,377 feet above sea level.
Research this city
On record in Browning
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 2 records
Camp DisappointmentNational Historic Landmark · listed 1966
Holy Family Missionlisted 1982
Population over time
2 figuresBrowning grew from 1,016 to 1,018 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 1,016 | |
| 2020 | 1,018 | +2 (+0%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 surveys from 9 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1901 USGS Browning quadrangle1:125000
- 1903 USGS Browning quadrangle1:125000, 2 printings
- 1960 USGS Cut Bank quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1963 USGS Cut Bank quadrangle1:250000
- 1964 USGS Cut Bank quadrangle1:250000
- 1968 USGS Browning quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
1,260 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1,260 fires within 5 miles of Browning between 1992 and 2020, burning about 28,055 acres in total. 35 started naturally. 67 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Fireworks | 535 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 210 |
| Debris and open burning | 107 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 89 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 67 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 67 |
| Smoking | 55 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 40 |
| Natural | 35 |
| Other causes | 27 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 21 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 7 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2007 | Fireworks | under an acre | Blackfeet Agency | GROUND FIRE |
| 9 September 1994 | Smoking | under an acre | Blackfeet Agency | MORMONCHRH |
| 8 September 2017 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Blackfeet Agency | RED HEAD |
| 8 September 2009 | Smoking | under an acre | Blackfeet Agency | CORNER GROCERY FIRE |
| 8 September 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Blackfeet Agency | LITTLE BULL |
| 8 September 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Blackfeet Agency | BLUE BERRY HILL |
| 8 September 2006 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 1.0 acres | Blackfeet Agency | ONE ACRE |
| 8 September 1996 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | Blackfeet Agency | GLACRHMS#2 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
4 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Browning: 4 unknowns. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown |
Storms near this place
22 since 2002Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Browning in 22 storm reports between 2002 and 2025: 13 hail, 5 heavy rain, 2 thunderstorm wind, 2 funnel cloud. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Browning | - | Mesonet station MTBWG Browning measured a 61 mph wind gust. |
| June 2025 | Hail | Browning | - | Hail up to walnut size was reported. |
| June 2025 | Hail | Browning | - | Browning BIA reported large hail. Location is estimated. |
| June 2022 | Heavy Rain | Browning | - | Browning Raws bgrm8. |
| June 2022 | Heavy Rain | Browning | - | Bgrm8 Browning raws. |
| July 2022 | Hail | Browning | - | Public reports via social media of 1.5 inch hail. Multiple reports of broken windows in the city of Browning. |
| August 2014 | Heavy Rain | Browning | - | Heavy rain, measuring 1.99 inches storm total, was reported. |
| June 2014 | Heavy Rain | Browning | - | Heavy rain of about 1.59 inches since midnight was reported at the Browning RAWS. |
| June 2013 | Hail | Browning | - | Severe hail measuring 1.75 inches (approximately golf ball sized) was reported in Browning, MT. |
| June 2013 | Hail | Browning | - | Severe hail measuring 1.75 inches (approximately golf ball sized) was reported 1 mile S of Browning, MT. |
| June 2013 | Hail | Browning | - | Severe hail measuring 1.00 inches (approximately quarter sized) was reported 7 miles NNE of Browning, MT. |
| June 2013 | Heavy Rain | Browning | - | Heavy rain of about 4 inches in 2 hours reported 8 mi W of Browning, MT. |
| June 2012 | Hail | Browning | - | Hail measuring 1.75 inches was reported in Browning. |
| July 2010 | Funnel Cloud | Browning | - | A funnel cloud was observed by law enforcement personnel at Browning 22SE. It lasted a minute or two. |
| July 2010 | Hail | Browning | - | A thunderstorm dropped 1.75 inch diameter hail at Browning. The hail shattered the windshield of a police cruiser. |
| July 2010 | Hail | Browning | - | A thunderstorm dropped 1 inch diameter hail at Browning 1S. Hail drifts one foot deep were reported. |
| July 2010 | Hail | Browning | - | A thunderstorm dropped 1.5 inch diameter hail at Browning 7NNE. |
| July 2009 | Funnel Cloud | Browning | - | A funnel cloud was reported by law enforcement at Browning 10E. |
| July 2009 | Hail | Browning | - | A severe thunderstorm dropped 1 inch diameter hail at Browning 10E. |
| July 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Browning | - | A severe thunderstorm produced a wind gust between 70 and 80 mph near Browning. Numerous tepees and trailers were over turned at the camp ground. |
| June 2006 | Hail | Browning | - | no account filed |
| August 2005 | Hail | Browning | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Browning | 0.7 miles | 9 | |
| North Browning | 0.9 miles | 9 | |
| Durham | 6.1 miles | 9 | |
| Starr School | 7.1 miles | 9 | |
| Blackfoot | 7.4 miles | 9 | |
| Star | 10.6 miles | 9 | |
| East Glacier Park Village | 13.5 miles | 11 | |
| East Glacier Park | 13.5 miles | 11 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Browning | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q964747 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 802063. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
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.





