Wisdom, Montana
11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1955 and the latest in 1997. It stands in the Big Hole Basin census division. It lies in ZIP code area 59761. It stands on Francis Creek. The Survey maps it on the Wisdom quadrangle. 104 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 6,050 feet above sea level.
On record in Wisdom
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 1 record
Big Hole National Battlefieldlisted 1966
Population over time
2 figuresWisdom grew from 98 to 104 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 | 98 | |
| 2020 | 104 | +6 (+6%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 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.
- 1955 USGS Dillon quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Dillon quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Dillon quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS Dillon quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS Wisdom quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1965 USGS Dillon quadrangle1:250000
- 1994 USGS Wisdom quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1997 USGS Wisdom quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
7 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 7 fires within 5 miles of Wisdom between 1996 and 2019, burning about 44 acres in total. 4 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 |
|---|---|
| Natural | 4 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 September 2013 | Natural | under an acre | Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest | PROPOSAL |
| 22 August 2005 | Natural | 3.0 acres | Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest | PROPOSAL ROCK |
| 14 August 1996 | Natural | 6.0 acres | Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest | PROPOSAL ROCK |
| 13 July 2001 | Natural | under an acre | Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest | STEEL CREEK |
| 25 April 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 35 acres | Central Land Office | DUMP FIRE |
| 1 December 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest | STEELE FOX |
| 24 October 1998 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest | BULL CREEK |
Mines and quarries near this place
5 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Wisdom: 3 past producers, 2 occurrences. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Gold, Gold, Silver, Copper, Lead, Zinc, Silver, Gold, Zinc, Silver, Lead, Copper. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clara Mine | Silver, Gold | Past Producer | Vein | |
| Clara Mine | Gold, Silver | Occurrence | ||
| Diadem Group | Gold, Silver, Copper, Lead, Zinc | Past Producer | Vein | |
| Diadem Group Mine | Gold, Zinc, Silver, Lead, Copper | Occurrence | ||
| Placer Creek Placer | Gold | Past Producer | Placer |
Storms near this place
10 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Wisdom in 10 storm reports between 1996 and 2020: 4 hail, 3 wildfire, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado. The reports record 18 injuries. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2000 | Wildfire | Wisdom | 6 hurt, $10,000 | Mussigbrod Complex fire - only partly in Beaverhead County, 84939 acres burned, lightning caused, continued from August. |
| July 2000 | Wildfire | Wisdom | 6 hurt, $10,000 | Mussingbrod Complex fire - only partly in Beaverhead County, 84939 acres burned, lightning caused, continued past July 31. |
| August 2000 | Wildfire | Wisdom | 6 hurt, $10,000 | Mussigbrod Complex fire - only partly in Beaverhead County, 84939 acres burned, lightning caused, continued past August 31. |
| June 2020 | Heavy Rain | Wisdom | - | Mesonet station Steele Creek raws slcm8. |
| August 2018 | Tornado (EF0) | Wisdom | - | Retired geologist observed a tornado on his property about 1-mile ESE of Wisdom. 50-lb. deck table was blown about 10 feet, a small greenhouse was leveled, and portions of fences were damaged. His personal weather station recorded a 78-mph peak gust at 16:38 MST. In addition, he estimated the tornado moved eastward at about 25 mph for about 3/4 mile. Thus, it is estimated that the tornado occurred between 16:38 and 16:40 MST. |
| July 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wisdom | - | Outflow winds produced a wind gust of 52KT (60MPH) as reported 5 miles E of Wisdom. |
| August 2009 | Hail | Wisdom | - | A severe thunderstorm dropped 1 inch diameter hail at Wisdom. |
| July 2002 | Hail | Wisdom | - | A severe thunderstorm produce 1.00 inch near Wisdom. |
| July 2002 | Hail | Wisdom | - | A severe thunderstorm produced 0.75 inch hail near Wisdom. |
| July 1996 | Hail | Wisdom | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moosehorn (historical) | 16.3 miles | 11 | |
| Jackson | 17.4 miles | 10 | |
| Gloss Place | 20.1 miles | 9 | |
| Elkhorn Hot Springs | 21.3 miles | 13 | |
| Maverick Mountain | 22.2 miles | 13 | |
| Coolidge (historical) | 23.7 miles | 13 | |
| Elkhorn | 23.7 miles | 13 | |
| Polaris | 24.5 miles | 12 |
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 Wisdom | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q960975 | 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 793432. 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.







