Piper, Montana
11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1889 and the latest in 1993. It stands in the Grass Range census division. It lies in ZIP code area 59457. The Survey maps it on the Loco Ridge quadrangle.
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 surveys from 11 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.
- 1889 USGS Big Snowy Mountain quadrangle1:250000
- 1893 USGS Big Snowy Mountain quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1954 USGS Roundup quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Roundup quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1970 USGS Loco Ridge quadrangle1:24000
- 1993 USGS Big Snowy Mountains quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
8 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 8 fires within 5 miles of Piper between 1992 and 2018, burning about 510 acres in total. 2 started naturally. None was 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 |
|---|---|
| Equipment and vehicle use | 3 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3 |
| Natural | 2 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 August 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 300 acres | Northeastern Land Office | not named |
| 19 August 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5.0 acres | Northeastern Land Office | REDDING RANCH |
| 17 August 1996 | Natural | 200 acres | North Central Montana District | FA 7 |
| 26 July 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Northeastern Land Office | not named |
| 21 July 2017 | Natural | 2.0 acres | Fergus County | TUSS |
| 19 July 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.1 acres | Fergus County | HORSETHIEF |
| 12 July 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Northeastern Land Office | not named |
| 5 May 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Northeastern Land Office | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
6 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Piper: 3 occurrences, 2 producers, 1 past producer. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Gypsum-Anhydrite, Clay. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kootenai Formation Clays | Clay | Occurrence | ||
| Piper Deposit | Gypsum-Anhydrite | Occurrence | ||
| Shoemaker Mine | Gypsum-Anhydrite | Producer | 1905, 1916 | |
| U.S. Gypsum Co. Mine | Gypsum-Anhydrite | Producer | ||
| United States Gypsum's Property | Gypsum-Anhydrite | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Location | Gypsum-Anhydrite | Occurrence |
Storms near this place
6 since 2008Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Piper in 6 storm reports between 2008 and 2025: 3 heavy rain, 2 hail, 1 flood. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2025 | Hail | Piper | $1,000 | Spotter reported hail between 2 to 2.5 inches in diameter. The spotter also noted the hail punched a hole into their deck. |
| June 2022 | Heavy Rain | Piper | - | Twentyfour hour rainfall total. |
| June 2022 | Heavy Rain | Piper | - | Twenty-four hour rainfall total. |
| June 2014 | Hail | Piper | - | Hail measuring 1.25 inches (half dollar sized) was reported. |
| May 2008 | Flood | Piper | - | Reports of 6 to 8 inches of water over Red Hill Road near Half Moon Canyon in Big Snowy Mountains. |
| May 2008 | Heavy Rain | Piper | - | Storm total of 6.95 inches of rain led to flooding in and around Half Moon Pass area of eastern Fergus County. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heath | 3.6 miles | 12 | |
| Skaggs (historical) | 4.7 miles | 13 | |
| Cheadle (historical) | 5.5 miles | 13 | |
| Forestgrove | 6.4 miles | 12 | |
| Box Springs (historical) | 7.8 miles | 13 | |
| Nelson (historical) | 8.2 miles | 13 | |
| Giltedge | 9.4 miles | 13 | |
| Ruby Gulch (historical) | 9.9 miles | 13 |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 775269. 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.





