Montana Historical Society
Archives
RS 34_RS 496
Montana State
Engineer
Montana State Engineer records
1865-1964
1.75 linear feet
This collection is a subgroup
(Predecessor Office) of the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation records,
RS 496. Please see the primary finding aid for more Montana Department of
Natural Resources and Conservation records. Records of the Montana State Engineer
include general correspondence (1921-1923), outgoing correspondence (1939-1942, 1951-1964),
and subject files (1865-1920) on water rights. Additionally, there are organizational charts
and job descriptions, biennial reports (1906-1964), a report on the water supply of the
Chapman Irrigation District (Oct. 1923), and miscellaneous articles (1964, undated).
18:6-5
English
The Montana State Engineer's Office was created in 1903 to assist, under the Carey Land
Act, in the formation of irrigation districts and to survey the state's water resources. The
Engineer served ex officio as secretary to the Carey Land Act Board, and later to the State
Water Conservation Board. He also served on numerous water-related state boards, and was
Montana's representative to inter-state water agencies, such as the Columbia River Basin
Commission, the Yellowstone River Compact, and the Missouri Basin Inter-Agency Committee.
Among his duties were the review of water projects proposed by the United States Bureau of
Reclamation and Corps of Engineers, measurement of streams in cooperation with the United
States Geological Survey, the conducting of the Water Resources Survey, and administration
of the state's Ground-Water Code. Among the State Engineers were John W. Wade (1903-1911),
A.W. Mahon (1911-1920), C.S. Heidel (1920-1927), John S. James (1928-1937), Fred E. Buck
(1941-1963), and E.V. Darlington (1963-1965). The State Engineer's Office was abolished in
1965 and the duties transferred to the State Water Conservation Board.
Records include general correspondence (1921, 1923), outgoing correspondence (1939-1942,
1951-1964), and subject files (1865-1920) on water rights, filed by county and including
lists of water right filings and decrees with related correspondence. In addition there are
organizational charts and job descriptions; biennial reports (1906, 1910, 1918, 1920, 1964);
a report (1910) of State Hydrographer C.S. Heidel; a report on the water supply of the
Chapman Irrigation District (Oct. 1923); and several articles (1962, 1964, undated) about
the work of the State Engineer and also concerning irrigation in Montana. [Formerly part of
the Carey Land Act Board Records, former RS 32]
Please see the primary finding aid for more Montana Department of
Natural Resources and Conservation records.
The collection is arranged by series.
Collection open for research
Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of the Montana Historical
Society. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collection.
In some cases permission for use may require additional authorization from the copyright
owners. For more information contact an archivist.
In 2024, the various collections of the Montana Department of Natural Resources and
Conservation were integrated under one collection identifier, RS 496, in order to help
facilitate access, reduce redundancy in the MTHS catalog, and to follow best archival
practices.
Collections from Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation's various
Divisions and Bureaus that were previously treated as separate entities are now integrated
into this collection, RS 496. Rather than reprocessing over 300
linear feet of DNRC materials, MTHS staff decided to keep the past arrangement of those
collections/finding aids, and provide access to them via links through the central finding
aid. This decision has allowed the MTHS archival staff to maintain intellectual control over
the collection, while removing the need to reprocess it. It also keeps State Agency finding
aids at manageable sizes. Please read the scope and content note carefully to determine if
this subgroup/sub-subgroup pertains to your research needs.
Item description and date. Collection Title. Collection Number. Box and Folder numbers.
Montana Historical Society Library & Archives, Helena, Montana.
Acquisition information is available upon request.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the Montana Historical Society
Archives catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places
should search under these terms.
Irrigation--Montana
Irrigation districts--Montana
Water resources--Montana
Water conservation--Montana
Flathead River (B.C. and Mont.)
Agriculture
Irrigation
Montana
Detailed Description of the Collection
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection
General Correspondence
1 / 1
Kalispell Chamber of Commerce (re proposed Flathead
River dams)
1921
1 / 2
North Dakota Assistant State Engineer George E. Baker
(re proposed Missouri River Compact)
1923
Outgoing Correspondence
1 / 3-5
Miscellaneous
1939-1942
1 / 6-9
Miscellaneous
1951-1952
1 / 10-12
Miscellaneous
1953 December - 1954 September
1 / 13-14
Miscellaneous
1955 September - 1956
November
2 / 1-2
Miscellaneous
1962
2 / 3-4
Miscellaneous
1964
Financial Records
2 / 5
Balances and claims
1952-1954
2 / 6
Comparative Stream gaging Program budget
justification
1965
Minutes
2 / 7
Meeting of Montana representatives to Columbia
Interstate Compact Commission
1962 May
Organization
2 / 8
Organizational charts, lists of employees,
description of duties
1952-1964
Reports
2 / 9
Biennial reports [map, 1910, of proposed Racetrack
Creek power plant in map case]
1906-1932, 1964
2 / 10
Report of State Hydrographer C.S. Heidel
1910
2 / 11
Report on the water supply of the Chapman Irrigation
District
1923
Speeches and Writings
2 / 12
"Montana water rights and water problems," by Fred E.
Buck
1962
2 / 13
Speeches and reports by E.V. Darlington to Western
State Engineers Association and Missouri Basin Inter-Agency Committee
1964
2 / 14
"State Engineer--what's that?" by E.V. Darlington
1964
Subject Files
2 / 15
U.S. court decrees - Lewis and Clark County,
including case No. 668
1891-1907, undated
2 / 16
U.S. court decrees - Miscellaneous counties, notes re
case No. 655, 703, 950
undated
3 / 1
Water rights: miscellaneous lists of court decrees
1915
3 / 2
Water rights: notes of S.T. Harding re compilations
on the Yellowstone, Clark Fork and Missouri river drainages; and climatological data
1909-1911, undated
3 / 3-4
Water rights, Beaverhead County: correspondence and
lists of water right decrees
1865-1920
3 / 5
Water rights, Big Horn County: correspondence
1913-1919
3 / 6
Water rights, Blaine County: correspondence
1913-1919
3 / 7-9
Water rights, Broadwater County: correspondence; and
lists of water right filings and decrees
1897-1919
3 / 10
Water rights, Carbon County: Correspondence
1913-1919
3 / 11
Water rights, Carbon County: lists of water right
decrees and a copy of decree for Granite Ditch vs Wm. Anderson
1901-1913
3 / 12
Water rights, Carter County: correspondence
1919
3 / 13-14
Water rights, Cascade County: correspondence and
lists of water right decrees
1911-1919
3 / 15
Water rights, Chouteau County: correspondence; and
lists of water right filings and decrees
1889-1920
3 / 16
Water rights, Custer County: correspondence
1913-1919
3 / 17
Water rights, Dawson County: correspondence
1913-1919
3 / 18-19
Water rights, Deer Lodge County: correspondence and
lists of water right decrees
1904-1919
3 / 20
Water rights, Fallon County: correspondence
1919
3 / 21-22
Water rights, Fergus County: correspondence and lists
of water right decrees
1890-1919
3 / 23-24
Water rights, Flathead County: correspondence and
lists of water right filings
1906-1919
3 / 25-26
Water rights, Gallatin County: correspondence and
lists of water right decrees
1883-1919
3 / 27
Water rights, Garfield County: correspondence
1919
3 / 28
Water rights, Glacier County: correspondence
1919
3 / 29
Water rights, Granite County: correspondence and
lists of water right decrees
1894-1914
3 / 30
Water rights, Hill County: correspondence and lists
of water right filings
1913-1920
3 / 31-32
Water rights, Jefferson County: correspondence and
lists of water right decrees
1873-1919
3 / 33
Water rights, Lewis and Clark County: correspondence
and lists of water right decrees
1889-1913
3 / 34
Water rights, Lincoln County: correspondence
1913-1919
3 / 35-36
Water rights, Madison County: correspondence and
lists of water right decrees
1873-1919
3 / 37
Water rights, McCone County: correspondence and lists
of water right filings
1919
3 / 38-39
Water rights, Meagher County: correspondence and
lists of water right decrees
1890-1919
3 / 40
Water rights, Mineral County: correspondence
1919
3 / 41-42
Water rights, Missoula County: correspondence and
lists of water right decrees
1890-1919, undated
3 / 43
Water rights, Musselshell County: correspondence and
lists of water right filings and decrees
1912-1919
3 / 44-46
Water rights, Park County: correspondence and lists
of water right filings and decrees
1885-1919
3 / 47
Water rights, Phillips County: correspondence
1919-1920
3 / 48
Water rights, Pondera County: correspondence
1919
3 / 49
Water rights, Powder River County: correspondence and
water right filings
1918-1919
3 / 50
Water rights, Powell County: lists of water right
decrees
1890-1915
3 / 51-52
Water rights, Ravalli County: correspondence and
lists of water right filings and decrees
1896-1920, undated
3 / 53
Water rights, Richland County: correspondence
1918-1919
3 / 54
Water rights, Roosevelt County: correspondence
1919
3 / 55
Water rights, Rosebud County: correspondence
1913-1919
3 / 56
Water rights, Sanders County: correspondence; and
lists of water right filings and decrees
1913-1919
3 / 57
Water rights, Sheridan County: correspondence
1913-1919
3 / 58
Water rights, Silver Bow County: correspondence
1913-1919
3 / 59
Water rights, Stillwater County: correspondence
1913-1919
3 / 60-61
Water rights, Sweetgrass County: correspondence and
lists of water right decrees
1898-1919
3 / 62
Water rights, Teton County: correspondence; and lists
of water right filings and decrees
1907-1919
3 / 63
Water rights, Toole County: correspondence
1919
3 / 64
Water rights, Treasure County: correspondence
1919
3 / 65
Water rights, Valley County: correspondence and lists
of water right filings
1903, 1913-1919
3 / 66
Water rights, Wheatland County: correspondence and
lists of water right decrees
1913, 1919
3 / 67
Water rights, Wibaux County: correspondence
1918-1919
3 / 68
Water rights, Yellowstone County: correspondence and
lists of water right decrees
1892-1919
Miscellany
3 / 69
Abandonment or forfeiture of water rights: notes on
state cases
undated
3 / OVFD
"How It's Done: State Engineer's Office Water
Resources Survey": including the use of the Big Horn River as an example [MAP CASE]
undated
3 / 70
Montana water rights filings reported to State
Engineer
1962
3 / 71
Unidentified typed articles on Montana's irrigated
lands
undated
Clippings
3 / 72
Irrigation in Montana
1931, undated