Editing Fairfield, Montana (section)

==History==
Fairfield began as a station on the Milwaukee Railroad.<ref name="Cheney">{{cite book |last1=Cheney |first1=Roberta Carkeek |title=Names on the Face of Montana |date=1984 |publisher=Mountain Press Publishing Company |location=Missoula, Montana |isbn=0-87842-150-5 |page=86 |edition=8th printing}}</ref>

Even though the federal government opened Montana to [[Homestead Acts|homesteading]] in 1862, this area was not initially settled.<ref name="dpla">{{cite web |title=Homestead Acts |url=https://dp.la/exhibitions/industries-settled-montana/early-settlement/homestead-act |website=Digital Public Library of America |access-date=August 25, 2023}}</ref> Given Montana's vast and dry landscape, irrigation was necessary. In 1902 irrigation projects began, which did lead to increased grain production.<ref name="mhs">{{cite web |title=Fairfield |url=http://mtplacenames.org/ |website=Montana Place Names Companion |publisher=Montana Historical Society |access-date=April 2, 2021}}</ref> Then in 1903 the Bureau of Reclamation conducted a survey of the area.<ref name="nps">{{cite web |title=Montana:Gibson Dam |url=https://www.nps.gov/articles/montana-gibson-dam.htm |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=August 25, 2023}}</ref> The potential of the Sun River Valley was deemed so great it was promoted as “the greatest farming country under the dome of Heaven.”<ref name="nps" /> In 1909 homestead size was increased from 160 acres to 320 acres. This change began drawing many more settlers to Montana.<ref name="dpla" />

By 1920, three dams and an extensive system of canals were created.<ref name="nps" /> The [[Gibson Dam]] and reservoir were completed in 1929.<ref name="mhs" /> Today, Greenfield Irrigation District delivers water from Gibson Dam to approximately 83,000 acres surrounding this community.

Initially the name "Freeze-out Bench" was applied to the area. With irrigation the area produces abundant crops. "Greenfield Bench" and Fairfield now describe the hay and grain fields in the Sun River Valley.<ref name="Cheney" />