Three Forks, Gallatin County, Montana

Three Forks, Montana
—  City  —
Three Forks and the Tobacco Root Mountains
Location of Three Forks, Montana
Coordinates:
Country United States
State Montana
County Gallatin
Government
 • Type Montana Incorporated City, Elected Mayor and City Council
 • Mayor Gene L. Townsend
Area
 • Total 1.3 sq mi (3.4 km2)
 • Land 1.3 sq mi (3.3 km2)
 • Water 0.0 sq mi (0.1 km2)
Elevation 4,075 ft (1,242 m)
Population (2000)
 • Total 1,728
 • Density 1,360.7/sq mi (525.4/km2)
Time zone Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
 • Summer (DST) MDT (UTC-6)
ZIP code 59752
Area code(s) 406
FIPS code 30-73975
GNIS feature ID 0777603
Website http://www.threeforksmontana.us

Three Forks is a city in Gallatin County, Montana, United States and is located within the watershed valley system of both the Missouri and Mississippi rivers drainage basins — and is historically considered the birthplace or start of the Missouri River. The population was 1,728 at the 2000 census. The city of Three Forks is named so because it lies geographically near the point, in nearby Missouri Headwaters State Park, where the Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin Rivers converge to form the Missouri River — at once barely, and still traditionally called the longest River in North America. Three Forks is part of the 'Bozeman Micropolitan Statistical Area'.

Contents

History

The three rivers, west to east, were named by Meriwether Lewis in late July 1805 for President Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State James Madison, and Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin which was in the times the genesis of a mild controversy and eventually spawned a modern day geographical controversy — in both cases regarding length comparisons between the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. Today the two confluences are incorporated inside Missouri Headwaters State Park, which is also a U.S. National Historic Landmark.

The Lewis and Clark Expedition visited the site on 28 July 1805. Meriwether Lewis in his journal entry wrote:

Both Capt. C. and myself corresponded in opinon with rispect[sic] to the impropriety of calling either of these [three] streams the Missouri and accordingly agreed to name them after the President of the United States and the Secretaries of the Treasury and state.

One consequence of their decision to designate, map and name the Jefferson — the largest — as a separate tributary river, is that today the Mississippi river can arguably be called longer than the Missouri river[1] because extensive re-channelization of the streambed for hydroelectric power projects has shortened the river while the Mississippi Delta has grown lengthening the rival river.

Honored in Three Forks, the Indian woman Sacagawea is best known as the interpreter and guide for the Lewis and Clark Expedition. In 1800, she was captured by the Mennetaree tribe near the present site of Three Forks. She later returned to this area with Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery. A statue of Sacagawea now sits in a park off Main Street.

The Three Forks school mascot is the Wolves.

Geography

Three Forks is located at (45.891334, -111.551532)[2].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.3 square miles (3.4 km²), of which, 1.3 square miles (3.3 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (3.05%) is water.

Climate

Photo gallery

Demographics

As of the census[3] of 2000, there were 1,728 people, 686 households, and 469 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,360.7 people per square mile (525.3/km²). There were 726 housing units at an average density of 571.7 per square mile (220.7/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.57% White, 1.10% Native American, 0.17% Asian, 0.23% Pacific Islander, 0.35% from other races, and 0.58% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.33% of the population.

There were 686 households out of which 35.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.3% were married couples living together, 5.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.5% were non-families. 26.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 3.08.

In the city the population was spread out with 28.4% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 28.9% from 25 to 44, 21.8% from 45 to 64, and 15.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 102.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $34,212, and the median income for a family was $39,938. Males had a median income of $30,086 versus $19,196 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,362. About 5.5% of families and 7.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.6% of those under age 18 and 6.7% of those age 65 or over.

Government

The City of Three Forks is a Mayor–council government form of government in which the City Council is chaired by an elected Mayor. These two entities form the legislative and executive branches of the government. There are six elected City Council members.[4]

Community

In recent years Three Forks has increased in size exponentially due to the booming economy of the nearby city of Bozeman. Many major subdivisions such as Rolling Glenn Subdivision are expected to increase the city's population threefold putting a burden on area schools, and law enforcement.

Area attractions such as Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park have made Three Forks and the surrounding area a hub for tourism. Being at the cross-roads of Interstate 90 and U.S. Route 287, Three Forks is a stopping point for many travelers.

Also adding to the prosperity of Three Forks are flourishing businesses.

Three Forks is proud to be home of former PGA legends Jim and Sean Rochford.

References

  1. ^ Jefferson River
  2. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2011-04-23. 
  3. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
  4. ^ "Three Forks City Government". City of Three Forks. http://www.threeforksmontana.us/city/council.asp. Retrieved 2011-01-19. 

External links