Jordan

History

Jordan was settled in 1896. The founder, Arthur Jordan, had hunted the area and decided to settle with his family in 1896 along the banks of the Big Dry Creek. A post office was opened in Jordan on July 11, 1899. Afterward, a town began building around the post office. There were saloons, rooming houses, livery stables, blacksmiths, and stores. In the later part of the 1910s, the homestead boom hit Garfield County, which was then actually part of Dawson County to the east. By 1919, the citizens reached a consensus to form a county of their own, therefore establishing Garfield County. Jordan was finally chosen as the county seat, by popular vote. The Great Northern Railroad had proposed a route starting from Lewiston, MT eastbound through Winnett, MT and Jordan, MT, and connecting to their line at Richey, MT. Grading had been completed between Lewiston, MT and Winnett, MT but no track was laid. [https://content.libraries.wsu.edu/digital/collection/maps/id/363/] Jordan was incorporated as a town in 1951. On March 25, 1996, an 81-day-long standoff between an anti-government gang known as the Montana Freemen and federal officers began near Jordan.

Geography

Montana Highway 59 and Montana Highway 200 intersect just south of town. Fort Peck Lake is nearby. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all land. Jordan experiences a semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk) with long, freezing although exceedingly variable, and dry winters alongside hot, wetter summers. The town is noted for its extreme weather: on December 15, 2009, the low was . Jordan ranks 10th in the U.S. in temperature range, from its lowest at , to its highest at , a range of , and within February alone the range is . An illustration of the extreme year-to-year winter climate variability can be seen in February 1936 averaging , whereas February 1954 averaged , or a whopping warmer.

Most-observed species

• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  46
• Western Meadowlark

  Sturnella neglecta Audubon, 1844 · Aves
  45
• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  41
• Lark Bunting

  Calamospiza melanocorys Stejneger, 1885 · Aves
  39
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  39
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  36
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  34
• Horned Lark

  Eremophila alpestris (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  33

Most recent

• M 2.5 — 2015-07-15
  48 km E of Zortman, Montana
• M 2.8 — 2013-05-21
  32 km NE of Melstone, Montana