Cross Ranch Headquarters

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.

From the record

“Cross Ranch Headquarters is a historic ranch located east of Montana Highway 59 roughly 26 miles (42 km) south of Broadus, Montana, USA. Rancher Spencer Fullerton Baird Biddle built the headquarters in 1893, one year after purchasing the ranch.”
Wikipedia article Cross Ranch Headquarters, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 2 National Register listings published here for Powder River County · listed in 1996 · category: Building.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

Address. E of MT 59, roughly 26 mi. S of Broadus, Broadus, 59314
When was it listed? February 1996
Category. building
Census division. East Powder River
National Register reference number. 96000118 - 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

4 since 1999

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 4 fires within 5 miles of Cross Ranch Headquarters between 1999 and 2018, burning about 96 acres in total. 3 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	3
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
28 July 2018	Natural	3.0 acres	Miles City Field Office	THOMPSON
24 July 1999	Natural	75 acres	Miles City Field Office	BEAR SKULL
20 July 2016	Natural	17 acres	Eastern Land Office	MONUMENT PEAK
30 June 2017	Equipment and vehicle use	under an acre	Eastern Land Office	WILD BILL

Every fire recorded in Powder River County

Storms near this property

60 of 151 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Broadus, the town this property stands in, in 151 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 101 hail, 31 thunderstorm wind, 9 flash flood, 4 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
August 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Broadus	$500,000	Thunderstorm winds blew off section of County Courthouse roof. Damages estimated in excess of $100,000.
June 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Broadus	$50,000	no account filed
August 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Broadus	$5,000	Eight to ten inch limbs blown over power lines causing power outage.
August 1993	Hail	Broadus	$5,000	no account filed
July 2025	Hail	Broadus	-	Quarter size hail reported.
July 2025	Hail	Broadus	-	Hail up to 1.5 inches in diameter reported.
July 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Broadus	-	Mesonet station mtm32 at 2.4 E Broadus.
August 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Broadus	-	Tree limbs 2 inches in diameter were snapped.
June 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Broadus	-	Tree limbs were down, as well as power outages across Broadus.
June 2015	Hail	Broadus	-	Baseball size hail which resulted in a spotters car window breaking was reported.
July 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Broadus	-	The public reported a tree down due to the strong thunderstorm winds.
September 2015	Hail	Broadus	-	There were numerous reports of hail 1.5-2.0 in diameter in Broadus.
May 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Broadus	-	A wind gust of 70 mph was estimated just west/northwest of Broadus.
August 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Broadus	-	A wind gust estimated at 60 mph was reported in Broadus.
June 2010	Hail	Broadus	-	Some tree branches were broken.
June 2010	Flash Flood	Broadus	-	Local law enforcement reported three roads closed in the Broadus area due to high running water. The water depth was estimated at over two feet. The Sheriff also reported area rivers and streams were running very high.
June 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Broadus	-	An estimated wind gust of 60 mph was reported 14 miles east of Broadus.
August 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Broadus	-	Winds 28 miles southwest of Broadus gusted to 59 mph.
September 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Broadus	-	Winds gusted to 70 mph in Broadus. There were several reports of large tree branches blocking the road in a trailer park, along with siding being blown off a trailer. One city dumpster was moved by the wind. In addition, miscellaneous damage was also reported to a house that was located one mile from the trailer park.
July 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Broadus	-	Roof blown off shed.
June 2005	Hail	Broadus	-	Mostly half inch diameter hail, but a few as large as golf balls
June 2005	Flash Flood	Broadus	-	Very heavy rain in an hour led to many flooded fields, and water running across roads in a few places. Four miles north, Broadus reported 1.25 inches of rain within an hour. There were other reports of 1.5 to 2 inches of rain in the southern part of Powder River County.
June 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Broadus	-	Several reports of large trees downed or uprooted in Broadus from high winds with a thunderstorm. One tree fell on the front door of a home. No official wind gust measurements were available.
June 2005	Flash Flood	Broadus	-	Highway 59 closed due to a creek flowing over the road. One vehicle washed off the roadway.
June 2005	Funnel Cloud	Broadus	-	Funnel cloud in the Crane Acres area of Broadus. It extended at least half way to the ground, but it did not touch down. Several people in the Broadus area reported seeing the funnel cloud.
July 2005	Hail	Broadus	-	Hail lasted nearly 20 minutes. Hail combined with winds caused severe crop damage. Dollar amount unknown.
June 2003	Hail	Broadus	-	1.00 inch hail covering ground
June 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Broadus	-	Signs and small trees blown over
August 2002	Flash Flood	Broadus	-	Street flooding and small stream flooding
August 2002	Heavy Rain	Broadus	-	2.00 inches of heavy rain
August 2002	Heavy Rain	Broadus	-	1.80 inches of heavy rain
August 2002	Flash Flood	Broadus	-	Flooding of streets and some local businesses. 3 feet of water in nearby fields.
May 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Broadus	-	60 mph thunderstorm wind gust
May 2001	Hail	Broadus	-	0.75 hail reported by spotter
June 2001	Flash Flood	Broadus	-	Logs were floating across Otter Creek Road
June 2001	Flash Flood	Broadus	-	3-4 feet of water over highway 51 near Fort Howes
April 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Broadus	-	60 mph thunderstorm wind gust
June 2001	Hail	Broadus	-	Hail was 3-4 inches deep on the ground. Several windows broken.
July 2001	Flash Flood	Broadus	-	Water over Highway 212
July 2001	Hail	Broadus	-	Supercell thunderstorms (mainly large hail producers) developed across the eastern half of the NWS Billings County Warning Area around 3:30 pm on July 18th and continued until 9:30 pm. Baseball to softball size hail fell in Broadus, Montana. Numerous car windshields and house windows were smashed. In addition...vinyl siding was stripped from houses, metal roofs were severely dented...and many trees throughout town were stripped of their leaves. The Broadus Elementary and High Schools had approximately 60 to 70 windows broken. Several private business establishment had their outdoor signs broken. The Powder River Nursing Home also had all the windows on the west side of the building broken.
July 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Broadus	-	70 mph thunderstorm winds caused part of a roof to be removed. Nickel size hail covered the ground.
July 2001	Flash Flood	Broadus	-	Water was flowing over Highway 212
July 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Broadus	-	Wind damage with 70 mph wind gust.
July 2000	Tornado (F0)	Broadus	-	NWS post storm ground survey confirmed an F0 (winds 42-72 mph) tornado. Tornado damaged some trees. This was the same tornado that touched down 5 miles north of Epsie at 1804 MST.
July 2000	Tornado (F0)	Broadus	-	NWS post storm ground survey confirmed an F0 (winds 42-72 mph) tornado 5 miles north of Epsie, or about 10 miles northwest of Broadus. The tornado was on the ground for 1 minute. The path of the tornado was 1/2 mile long and 50 yards wide. The tornado remained over open range and caused no damage.
July 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Broadus	-	60 mph wind gust
July 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Broadus	-	RAWS station at Fort Howes recorded a wind gust of 65 mph.
July 1999	Hail	Broadus	-	Spotter report of dime size hail.
July 1999	Hail	Broadus	-	Spotter report of quarter size hail.
August 1999	Hail	Broadus	-	Spotter reports of quarter size hail in northern Powder River County.
June 1999	Hail	Broadus	-	Spotter report of dime size hail.
June 1999	Hail	Broadus	-	Spotter report of dime size hail.
June 1999	Hail	Broadus	-	Golf Ball size hail was reported at Home Creek Butte.
July 1999	Hail	Broadus	-	Spotter report of nickel size hail.
July 1999	Flood	Broadus	-	Street flooding occurred in Broadus when 1.32 inches of rain fell in 45 minutes.
May 2021	Hail	Broadus	-	no account filed
May 2021	Hail	Broadus	-	no account filed
July 2020	Hail	Broadus	-	no account filed
July 2020	Hail	Broadus	-	no account filed
July 2019	Hail	Broadus	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Powder River County

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 96000118 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia article	Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Powder River County	All 2 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.