BlockFrom the record
One of 8 National Register listings published here for Blaine County · listed in 1970 · category: Site.
Sources: the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service
Chief Joseph Battleground of the Bear's Paw
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.
The listing
- Address. About 15 mi. S of Chinook, T 30N R 19E, Sections 1 and 12, Chinook, 59523
- When was it listed? October 1970
- Category. site
- Census division. Chinook
- National Register reference number. 70000355 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.
Fires near this property
2 since 2018Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 2 fires within 5 miles of Chief Joseph Battleground of the Bear's Paw between 2018 and 2020, burning about 1 acre in total. 1 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 | 1 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 August 2020 | Natural | under an acre | Hill County | FDH-MTLG24-234 |
| 9 July 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Northeastern Land Office | not named |
Storms near this property
60 since 1995Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Chinook, the town this property stands in, in 60 storm reports between 1995 and 2024: 36 thunderstorm wind, 16 hail, 5 flood, 2 tornado. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2023 | Flood | Chinook | $1,000,000 | Significant flooding occurred along the Milk River across Blaine County. The Rocky Boy SNOTEL station which is the main Milk River basin station peaked later than normal and had over 3.5 times the snow water equivalent that it normally would on April 6 (10.7 of snow water equivalent versus a normal of 3.0). When this thick snowpack melted, virtually the entire Milk River system flooded in a matter of days, as a result. The Milk River near Harlem crested at 23.80 feet on April 12, which as of this entry was the seventh highest river level recorded at this site. Roughly 4,000 aces of irrigation land was flooded. Chinook water plant was surrounded by water. Several roads and homes were impacted. |
| July 2023 | Hail | Chinook | $1,000,000 | Several photos submitted on social media of large hail in Chinook. Insurance company reported at least 11 vehicle hail damage claims and 5 homeowners claims. Number of claims likely increased since preliminary reports. |
| July 2002 | Tornado (F1) | Chinook | $50,000 | A severe thunderstorm moved across southern Blaine County during the late afternoon hours on the 8th. This storm produced golf ball sized hail, and wind gusts in excess of 100 mph. A tornado developed shortly after 1600 MST. This tornado was short lived, but it did do some crop damage, along with damage to 3 residences. Several barns were destroyed and a few other structures lost roofs. One vehicle suffered major damage. |
| March 1997 | Flood | Chinook | $25,000 | no account filed |
| June 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chinook | $500 | no account filed |
| July 2024 | Hail | Chinook | - | Trained spotter measured 0.11 inches of rain with the thunderstorm. |
| September 2024 | Flood | Chinook | - | Broadcast media reported minor flooding at the Blaine county fairgrounds. Standing water upwards of 6 inches in spots was reported. |
| July 2023 | Hail | Chinook | - | Photos submitted of hail being measured with a ruler as well as being compared to coins. |
| July 2023 | Hail | Chinook | - | Blaine County Deputy EM reported golf ball size hail at their property. |
| July 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chinook | - | AWOS station KS71 (Chinnok Airport) measured 60 mph wind gust. |
| June 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chinook | - | Spotter reports at least on tree down partially blocking a road south of Chinook. |
| June 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chinook | - | Wind gust measured 54 kts. |
| June 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chinook | - | Measured wind gust of 50 kts at awos station ks71 Chinook Apt. |
| April 2018 | Flood | Chinook | - | Chouteau and Blaine County DES (Disaster and Emergency Services) conducted helicopter flyover and reported floodwaters surrounding Chinook. This flooding continued until receding around April 30th. The floodwaters never entered downtown Chinook since roadways acted like levees. |
| September 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chinook | - | Wind gust of 59 mph along with brief heavy rain. Rainfall of 0.30. |
| June 2016 | Hail | Chinook | - | A thunderstorm dropped 1 inch hail at Chinook. |
| June 2016 | Hail | Chinook | - | A thunderstorm dropped 1 inch diameter hail at Chinook. |
| July 2014 | Hail | Chinook | - | Hail, measuring .88 inches (nickel sized), was reported. |
| June 2012 | Hail | Chinook | - | Tennis ball sized hail, measuring 2.5 inches, was reported 10 miles S of Chinook. Damage to vehicle windshields was also reported. |
| July 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chinook | - | Thunderstorm outflow winds produced wind gusts to 57KT (65MPH) 11 miles S of Chinook. |
| July 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chinook | - | Thunderstorm outflow winds produced wind gusts to 62KT (71MPH) 11 miles S of Chinook. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chinook | - | A thunderstorm produced a wind gust to 70 mph at Chinook 10S. |
| July 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chinook | - | A thunderstorm produced a wind gust to 60 mph at Chinook 1WSW. A possible funnel cloud was also reported. |
| June 2008 | Hail | Chinook | - | A severe thunderstorm produced 1.75 inch diameter hail at Chinook 15S. |
| June 2008 | Hail | Chinook | - | A severe thunderstorm produced .75 inch diameter hail at Chinook 9SSE. |
| July 2008 | Hail | Chinook | - | A severe thunderstorm dropped 2 inch diameter hail at Chinook 7SE. |
| July 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chinook | - | A severe thunderstorm produced a wind gust to 72 mph at Chinook 11S. |
| August 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chinook | - | A severe thunderstorm produced a wind gust to 60 mph at Chinook 7NE. |
| July 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chinook | - | A severe thunderstorm produced a wind gust to 60 mph at Chinook 11S. |
| July 2007 | Hail | Chinook | - | A severe thunderstorm dropped 1 inch diameter hail at Chinook 11S. The storm also produced .55 inches of rain. |
| July 2007 | Hail | Chinook | - | A severe thunderstorm dropped .75 inch diameter hail at Chinook 5NW. |
| June 1995 | Hail | Chinook | - | Golf ball-size hail damaged cars at car dealerships in Chinook. Total damage was estimated at upwards of $1 million. |
| June 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chinook | - | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chinook | - | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Heavy Rain | Chinook | - | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chinook | - | no account filed |
| July 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chinook | - | no account filed |
| August 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chinook | - | no account filed |
| August 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chinook | - | no account filed |
| July 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chinook | - | no account filed |
| July 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chinook | - | no account filed |
| August 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chinook | - | no account filed |
| August 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chinook | - | no account filed |
| June 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chinook | - | no account filed |
| June 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chinook | - | no account filed |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chinook | - | no account filed |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chinook | - | no account filed |
| July 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chinook | - | no account filed |
| July 2000 | Hail | Chinook | - | no account filed |
| June 2000 | Hail | Chinook | - | no account filed |
| September 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chinook | - | no account filed |
| August 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chinook | - | no account filed |
| June 1999 | Tornado (F0) | Chinook | - | no account filed |
| July 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chinook | - | no account filed |
| July 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chinook | - | no account filed |
| July 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chinook | - | no account filed |
| April 1996 | Flood | Chinook | - | no account filed |
| June 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chinook | - | no account filed |
| August 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chinook | - | no account filed |
| August 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chinook | - | no account filed |
Map coverage status
No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.
Sources for this property
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 70000355 in Record Group 79. |
| Blaine County | All 8 listed properties in this county. |
Provenance
- Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
- Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
- How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
- 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.
- 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.