Dawson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Montana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,940. Its county seat is Glendive.

History

Dawson County was the tenth county organized in Montana Territory. It was created January 15, 1869, four and a half years after Montana Territory was organized. Before the formation of Dawson county, the area was the northern half of the original Big Horn County. Dawson takes its name from Major Andrew Dawson, manager of the Fort Benton Trading Post for the American Fur Company from 1856 to 1864.

Between 1910 and 1920 the population increased from 2,500 to 25,000.

Parts of Dawson County were taken to form Valley County in 1893, Richland County and part of Wibaux County in 1914, part of Prairie County in 1915, and Garfield County and part of McCone County in 1919.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.5%) is water.

Dawson County is located in the extreme eastern portion of Montana, about fifteen to twenty miles west of the Dakota line.

Major highways

  • 20px Interstate 94
  • 20px U.S. Highway 10 (Former)
  • 20px Montana Highway 16
  • 20px Montana Highway 200
  • 20px Montana Highway 200 (Alternate)
  • Montana Highway 254

In 1920, Dawson County was traversed by the National Parks Highway or Red Trail, the Black Trail, the Green Trail and the Blue Trail, all of which passed through Glendive.

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|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<br/>1790–1960, 1900–1990,<br/>1990–2000, 2010–2020

74.7% of residents lived in urban areas and 25.3% lived in rural areas.

The racial makeup of the county was 90.4% White, 0.5% Black or African American, 2.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% Asian, 1.1% from some other race, and 5.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 3.2% of the population.

There were 3,658 households in the county, of which 27.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 22.3% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 31.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

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Economy

Dawson County is known for its dryland grain, coal mines and gas and oil wells. There are 522 current farms and ranches, and 296 commercial businesses.

Lying in the heart of the western third of the Fort Union Formation, Dawson County is plentifully supplied with lignite coal. Local natural gas has supplied Glendive since at least 1920. Excellent clays for pottery and brick-making are also found in the county.