Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1938-03-05

More and better names for
creeks That seems to be one or
the primary needs for Helena's
vacatiOnists, fishermen and hunt
ers, according to q survey of the
names Of creeks appearing on maps
Of the Helena national forest. For,
confusing as IL may be, there are
IS streams within an hour or twO's
driving distance of Helena but
there are only IA names on the
And that means that several creeks
bear the same name. Whlch is most
confusing to the forest service and to
those who use the woods during the
summer.
For instance, if a person has date
TO go fishing on Beaver creek he might
90 TO his Beaver creek and the party
of the second part might go to others.
Yes. there are five streams bearing
that name within easy reach OF Helena.
one Beaver creek comes down the
east slope of the Elkhorn mountains
and flows into the Missouri river. An
other comes down the west slope OF the
Big Belts and flows into the Missouri.
There's another Beaver creek at the
head of Ten Mile, south OF Rimin1,
a fourth in the Lincoln valley flowing
into the Blackfoot river and fifth
coursing down the east slope OF the
Big Belts.
Which is all very confusing to the
person who has been told the fishing
is good in Beaver creek and plans TO
20 there this summer. He doesn't quite
know where to go.
There are more Beaver creeks around
Helena than anything else, probably
due to the fact that beavers inhablt
ali of them, but the Trout creeks aren't
far behind in popularity for there are
four of them.
Trout Creeks
Most widely known is the Trout
creek where the Boy Scout camp is
located. That one is on the west slope
Of the Big Belts near the York post
office but there's another Trout creek
southeast of Avon, one northwest OF
Elliston and another northwest OF Will
born. east of the continental divide.
And some people could fish In all OF
them for q week and not have enough
trout to fill basket.
The rest Of the creeks seem to run
In pairs and some of them aren't widely
known. There are two Three Mile
creeks, one north Of Avon and flowing
into the Blackfoot river and another
north of Helena and flowing into Lake
Helena. There's q Six Mile creek east
of Townsend and another north Of
Avon and one Antelope creek flows
down the east slope of the Big Belts
while another courses down the east
slope of the Elkhorns.
Elliston and Lincoln residents could
get into quite a mtxup over creeks.
There is one Dog creek south OF Avon
and another Dog creek east OF ElliSton
but that's nothing. Two Willow creeks
run through the Lincoln valley and
both empty into the Blackfoot river.
One Willow creek is southeast OF Linz
coin and the other is east of the va
cation metropolis. A third Willow
creek may be found on the east slope
Of the Big Belts flowing into the Mis-
Many Others
The Big Belts boast two Cottonwood
creeks, one on the north end Of that
range of mountains and one on the
east slope. There are two Falls creeks In
this area, one flowing down the Lin
coin valley into the Blackfoot and one
on the opposite side Of the divide
emptying into the Dearborn river.
There are even two Mcclellan creeks. |
The one generally known flows down
the east slope of the Elkhorns into the
Missouri but there Is another IN the |
Lincoln valley and flowing into the
Blackfoot.
Two Spring creeks flow into Whites
creek in the Big Belts and two Thomp-
son creeks are listed on the map. Both
are in the Big Belts, one flowing into
Avalanche creek and the other flowing
into the Smith river.
Butte creek is another twin, for one
Butte creek flows into Little Birch
creek on the east slope of the Big Belts
and the other flows into the north
fork Of Rock creek in the Big Belts.
Last but not least are two jackson
creeks, each of which flows into Prickly
Pear creek, two miles south Of Montana
city, but they flow in from opposite
directions.
1t is, some people think, about time
was being used IN this
.reek naming business. Suggestions
would be kindly received by the forest .
lervice.