Powder River County, Montana

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Powder River County is a county in the U.S. state of Montana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,694.<ref name="QF">Template:Cite web</ref> Its county seat is Broadus.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

History

Powder River County's area was probably first entered by Europeans when French trappers worked its streams in the early 1800s. In 1865 the federal government sent soldiers (Powder River Expedition) to the Powder River country to combat Native Americans from the Cheyenne, Lakota Sioux, and Arapaho tribes. September 1865 saw several skirmishes (Powder River Battles) near present-day Broadus.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> On March 17, 1876, the Battle of Powder River occurred in the south-central part of the county, about Template:Convert southwest of Broadus.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Powderville was the area's first established settlement; it began operating on November 1, 1878, as the Powder River Telegraph Station on a line connecting Fort Keogh to Deadwood, South Dakota.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> On April 5, 1879, the Mizpah Creek Incidents began near the Powderville telegraph station.

Custer County was organized in early 1877, consisting of most of SE Montana Territory. In February 1900, the Broadus Post Office opened. In October 1918 the first edition of the area's first newspaper<ref>The Broadus Independent, now called Powder River Examiner.</ref> appeared. On March 17, 1919, Powder River County was formed from southern Custer County. In a 1920 election, Broadus was chosen as the county seat.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert (0.02%) is water.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Major highways

Transit

Powder River County Transit provides demand-response services throughout the county.

Adjacent counties

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National protected area

Custer National Forest (part)

Demographics

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2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 1,694 people living in the county.Template:Citation needed

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 1,743 people, 755 households, and 505 families in the county. The population density was Template:Convert. There were 1,022 housing units at an average density of Template:Convert. The racial makeup of the county was 95.0% white, 1.5% American Indian, 0.2% Asian, 0.1% black or African American, 1.1% from other races, and 2.1% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.4% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 34.6% were German, 31.0% were American, 15.1% were English, 14.0% were Irish, and 8.6% were Norwegian.

Of the 755 households, 26.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.1% were married couples living together, 5.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 33.1% were non-families, and 28.3% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.76. The median age was 49.3 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $37,685 and the median income for a family was $50,156. Males had a median income of $27,721 versus $26,250 for females. The per capita income for the county was $21,543. About 11.6% of families and 14.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.7% of those under age 18 and 11.7% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Communities

Town

Broadus (county seat)

Census-designated place

Biddle

Unincorporated communities