STATEWIDE TRIBAL–COUNTY CROSSWALK

Statewide Tribal–County Crosswalk

Roosevelt County & the Fort Peck Reservation

Roosevelt County sits at the heart of the Fort Peck Reservation, where Assiniboine and Sioux (Dakota and Lakota) communities rebuilt homelands along the Missouri, Poplar, and Milk rivers after forced relocations in the late nineteenth century. These river systems shaped settlement patterns, subsistence, and cultural life, anchoring a landscape of cottonwood bottoms, coulees, and mixed-grass prairie.

The reservation era brought allotment, land loss, and jurisdictional fragmentation, but families maintained deep relationships with river corridors, prairie plant communities, and coulee hunting grounds. By the 1920s–1930s, ecological strain from drought, overgrazing, and erosion intersected with economic hardship and administrative neglect, setting the stage for intensive New Deal intervention.

New Deal programs—especially CCC-ID, WPA, PWA, SCS, and NYA—left a dense imprint on Roosevelt County: erosion-control structures, stock-water developments, roads, schools, and community buildings. These projects reshaped both the ecological and built environments and are central to understanding Fort Peck’s twentieth-century history. Future research should link specific project sites to Tribal oral histories, BIA records, and county-level WPA documentation.

Big Horn County, the Crow Nation, and Northern Cheyenne Borderlands

Big Horn County lies at the core of Apsáalooke (Crow) homelands and along the northern edge of Northern Cheyenne country. The Bighorn and Little Bighorn river valleys, together with surrounding plains and foothills, formed key hunting grounds, travel corridors, and diplomatic spaces long before reservation boundaries were imposed.

The late nineteenth century brought military campaigns, treaty violations, and the confinement of Crow and Northern Cheyenne communities to reservations. Allotment and non-Indigenous settlement further fragmented the land base, but families continued to rely on river corridors, foothill pastures, and remaining open rangelands for subsistence and seasonal work. Battlefield landscapes in the county also became sites of contested memory and interpretation.

During the New Deal era, Big Horn County saw significant CCC, CCC-ID, WPA, and SCS activity on and near the Crow Reservation: rangeland improvements, erosion-control projects, road construction, school upgrades, and community facilities. These projects intersected with Tribal efforts to protect land, rebuild economies, and assert sovereignty. Archival work linking county WPA files, BIA Billings records, and Crow and Northern Cheyenne oral histories will be crucial for a complete account.

Lake County and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes

Lake County encompasses much of the Flathead Reservation, homeland to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes—Séliš, Ql̓ispé (Pend d’Oreille), and Ktunaxa (Kootenai). Flathead Lake, the Mission Valley, and the Jocko and Flathead river systems form a tightly interwoven ecological and cultural landscape that has sustained Tribal communities for generations.

Federal policies, including allotment and the Flathead Irrigation Project, dramatically altered land tenure, water control, and ecological systems in the early twentieth century. Non-Indigenous settlement intensified, but Tribal families continued to maintain seasonal rounds, fisheries, plant-gathering sites, and ceremonial places across the valley and surrounding mountains.

New Deal programs brought extensive CCC-ID, WPA, PWA, and SCS work to Lake County: irrigation infrastructure, road and bridge improvements, school and community buildings, erosion-control projects, and reforestation. These interventions reshaped both the physical and political landscape, intersecting with IRA-era governance debates and Tribal efforts to protect water and land. Research that links CSKT archives, federal project files, and local oral histories will deepen the picture of how New Deal programs were adapted to Tribal priorities.

Blaine County and the Fort Belknap Indian Community

Blaine County includes a large portion of the Fort Belknap Reservation, homeland to the Aaniiih (Gros Ventre) and Nakoda (Assiniboine) peoples. The Milk River corridor, surrounding plains, and island mountain ranges formed a rich ecological mosaic of bison ranges, plant-gathering areas, and riverine camps long before reservation boundaries.

Allotment and non-Indigenous settlement fragmented the land base and constrained access to key ecological zones, but Aaniiih and Nakoda families maintained deep relationships with the Milk River, coulee systems, and remaining rangelands. By the 1920s–1930s, drought, erosion, and overgrazing compounded economic hardship, creating a crisis landscape that drew federal attention.

New Deal programs in Blaine County and Fort Belknap included CCC-ID conservation work, SCS rangeland and watershed projects, WPA infrastructure improvements, and youth training initiatives. These efforts reshaped land management and community infrastructure while also introducing new administrative frameworks. Future research should connect Fort Belknap THPO materials, BIA records, county WPA files, and Tribal oral histories to map specific project sites and their long-term impacts.

Glacier County and the Blackfeet Nation

Glacier County encompasses much of the Blackfeet Reservation, where mountain–prairie ecotones, river valleys, and foothill grasslands define core Blackfeet homelands. The eastern front of the Rocky Mountains, together with the Marias, Two Medicine, and Milk river systems, has long shaped Blackfeet subsistence, ceremony, and governance.

The creation of the reservation, the loss of lands to Glacier National Park and other federal designations, and the pressures of allotment and non-Indigenous settlement all reshaped Blackfeet access to traditional territories. Despite these disruptions, families maintained hunting, plant-gathering, and ceremonial practices across the remaining land base and in adjacent mountain and prairie zones.

During the New Deal era, Glacier County saw extensive CCC-ID, CCC, WPA, and SCS activity on and near the Blackfeet Reservation: reforestation, erosion control, road and trail construction, building projects, and rangeland work. These programs intersected with Blackfeet efforts to protect land, negotiate with federal agencies, and adapt to changing economic conditions. Archival work linking Blackfeet THPO records, NPS and BIA files, and county WPA documentation will be central to a full account.