Montana Historical Society
Archives
RS 116_RS 501
Montana. Irrigation
Commission
Montana Irrigation Commission records
1919-1929
2.5 linear ft
This collection is a subgroup
(Predecessor Agency) of the Montana Public Service Commission records, RS 501. The
Board of Railroad Commissioners, predecessor agency to the PSC, served ex-officio as the
Montana Irrigation Commission from 1919 until it was abolished in 1929. Please see the
primary finding aid for more Montana Public Service
Commission records. These Montana Irrigation Commission records consist
predominantly of subject files (1919-1929) for irrigation districts around the state.
28:2-7
English
In 1913, the Board of Railroad Commissioners was made ex officio the newly created Montana
Public Service Commission. In 1919, the Board also was made ex officio the Montana
Irrigation Commission and the Montana Trade Commission. The Irrigation Commission assisted
in organizing and management of irrigation districts around the state. It also had
jurisdiction over the sale of water, water rights, and the contracting of water for
irrigation. The Montana Irrigation Commission was abolished in 1929.
This collection consists predominantly of subject files (1919-1929) for irrigation
districts around the state. The files include correspondence, petitions, legal documents,
court papers, reports, and maps concerning the founding of the districts, plans for their
developments, reports on their feasibility, and engineering reports. There are also project
histories, arranged by district number; and project surveys arranged by county.
The collection is arranged by series.
This collection is open for research.
Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of the Montana Historical
Society Library & Archives. The Library & Archives 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 Public Service Commission were integrated
under one collection identifier, RS 501, in order to help facilitate access, reduce
redundancy in the Montana Historical Society Library & Archives catalog, and to follow
best archival practices.
Collections from Montana Public Service Commission's various Divisions and Predecessor
Agencies that were previously treated as separate entities are now integrated into this collection, RS 501. Rather than reprocessing over 80 linear feet
of PSC materials, MTHS staff decided to keep the past arrangement of those
collections/finding aids and provide access to them via links in the primary 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 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.
Montana. Board of Railroad
Commissioners
Montana. Public Service Commission
Montana. Irrigation Commission
Irrigation--Montana
Irrigation districts--Montana
Montana--Politics and
government
Montana
Water and Water
Rights
Detailed Description of the Collection
Reports
1 / 1
Project histories: Irrigation Districts
#1-20
1919-1922
1 / 2
Survey of irrigation projects in Montana:
statewide
1920
1 / 3-5
Survey of irrigation projects in Montana: by county,
Beaverhead - Yellowstone (includes maps, county descriptions, etc.)
1920
Subject Files
1 / 6-7
Brackett Creek Irrigation District (Park County):
correspondence, petition, maps, engineering data, etc. (maps in Oversize
folder)
1919-1922
1 / 8
Brockway Irrigation District (McCone County):
correspondence, petition, maps, etc. (maps in Oversize folder)
1919-1927
1 / 9
Brockway-Ash Creek Irrigation District (McCone
County): correspondence, report, etc.
1920-1922
1 / 10-11
Chapman Irrigation District (Carbon and Yellowstone
Counties): correspondence, maps, report, computations, etc.; (includes 1910 report on
White Horse Ditch; maps in Oversize folder)
1922-1927
1 / 12
Cooper's Lake Irrigation District (Granite County):
correspondence
1919-1929
1 / 13
Crow Creek Irrigation District (Broadwater County):
correspondence, reports, maps (maps in Oversize folder)
1919-1923
1 / 14-16
DeSmet Irrigation District (Missoula County):
correspondence, reports, maps, court papers (maps in Oversize folder)
1919-1923
1 / 17-21
East Bench Irrigation District (Beaverhead County):
correspondence, reports, maps, court papers (maps in Oversize folder)
1919-1927
1 / 17-21
East Bench Irrigation District (Beaverhead County):
correspondence, reports, maps, court papers (maps in Oversize folder)
1919-1927
1 / 22-23
Fish Creek Irrigation District (Golden Valley and
Wheatland Counties): correspondence, petition, reports, maps (maps in Oversize folder)
1919-1927
1 / 24
Frenchtown Valley Irrigation District (Missoula
County): correspondence, maps (maps in Oversize folder)
1919-1927
1 / 25
Glendive-Fallon Irrigation District (Dawson and Fallon
Counties): correspondence, petition, maps (maps in Oversize folder)
1919-1931
1 / 26-29
Harlowton-Durand Irrigation District (Wheatland
County): correspondence, agreement, reports, petition
1920-1930
2 / 1-2
Harlowton-Durand Irrigation District (Wheatland
County): reports, specifications
1923-1924
2 / 3
Meadow Farm Irrigation District (Gallatin County):
petition, correspondence, maps (maps in Oversize folder)
1920-1922
2 / 4
Nine Mile Prairie Irrigation District (Missoula
County): correspondence
1919-1922
2 / 5-11
Red Lodge-Rosebud Irrigation District (Carbon County):
correspondence, petition, court papers, contracts, maps, reports (maps in Oversize
folder)
1919-1925
2 / 14-19
Trout Creek Basin Irrigation District (Granite
County): correspondence, petition, maps, reports, specifications (maps in Oversize
folder)
1920-1925
2 / 20-26
Upper Glendive-Fallon Irrigation District (Dawson and
Prairie Counties): correspondence, petition, minutes, contracts, maps, reports,
specifications (maps in Oversize folder)
1920-1925
3 / 1-6
Valley View Irrigation District (Broadwater County):
correspondence, petition, court papers, contracts, maps, reports (maps in Oversize
folder)
1919-1925
3 / 7-9
Whitetail Irrigation District (Jefferson County):
engineering data, maps, reports (maps in Oversize folder)
1922
3 / 10-11
Wood's Gulch Irrigation District (Meagher County):
correspondence, petition, engineering data, maps, reports (maps in Oversize folder)
1920-1927