Would you consider the easternmost counties part of the Upper Midwest? (Sidney: homes, gated)

[callmemaybe]

Do towns like Glasgow, Glendive, Scobey, Sidney and Plentywood have an Upper Midwest feel to them, like more in line with Minnesota than with Washington state? The far east of Montana is closer to the Great Lakes than it is to the Pacific.

I've heard that the towns in Montana's NE corner have Scandinavian influenced accents and eat lutefisk and such, and also farming predominates over ranching in many areas.

[happiness is]

No, they are not part of the upper Midwest, they are in the Great Plains, but yes, there is a Scandinavian immigration history.
There were cattle drives that brought livestock up from Texas to Montana, so there is a ranching history and cowboy culture, also.

Here is a map of the Great Plains.
http://greatplainsfoodways.com/about...at-plains-map/

[MTSilvertip]

The culture of Eastern Montana is much more Cattle/Shee and Ranching as a lot of the area cannot be farmed without irrigation, and water is at a premium in the eastern end of the state.

There are a lot of Scandinavians in the area, but a lot of Germanic decendents as well,

Most of the farming done there are either dryland wheat/grains, or irrigated corn, but the big money crop is sugar beets.
It is a very dry area, so you won't find large hog farms or dairies as the climate is too harsh and the feedstocks required are not produced en masse like they are in the midwest.
You won't find turkey or chicken farms like those in the midwest either.

You will find feed lots for beef cattle though.

Due to the harshness of the environment and limited population, the communities are very close knit, but are very different from the upper midwest.
You are more likely to find a pitchfork steak fondue and bbq than an event that celebrates Scandinavian heritage.

The eastern end of the state is sparcely populated so ranches or farms may be several miles apart unlike the more densely populated areas of the upper midwest like Minnesota or Wisconsin.

There are few trees in Eastern Montana, so no timber industry really exists there. Most of the trees you will find are cottonwood, box elder and juniper with a few places where you will find ponderosa pine, but the lack of water means very little marketable lumber, more for firewood.
There aren't the alder thickets that the midwest sells for pulp or the pine that makes up the timber industry much of the northern midwest was built on.

I would be hard pressed to find similarities between those areas and Eastern Montana, and very few similarities with Washington state either.
It is a unique area all it's own with it's own history, customs and people.
About the closest thing to Scandinavian heritage you will find are Sons of Norway club chapters, and the occasional Leftsa plate at potlucks.

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Originally Posted by MTSilvertip

About the closest thing to Scandinavian heritage you will find are Sons of Norway club chapters, and the occasional Leftsa plate at potlucks.

What, no Glögg?

[happiness is]

This is quoted from a 4th grade student study guide written by the Montana state Historical Society:
------
"Montana’s largest immigration occurred
during the homestead boom around the
1900s. Good homesteading land in the
Midwest had already been claimed. Nice
weather with a lot of rainfall from 1909-
1916 and good markets convinced many that
this pattern was normal and predictable (but
it wasn’t). They encouraged Europeans,
especially Germans and Scandinavians, to
migrate. Motivated partly by making money,
the railroads wanted to sell some of their
land and have traffic, goods, and produce to
carry, but were also motivated in part by the
ideal of the family farm as the backbone of
American society.

Recent Immigrants
Large-scale immigration ended in about
1920, with the end of the homestead boom,
but the state has continued to attract foreign
immigrants. Beginning in the 1920s (due to
the result of the Mexican Revolution), many
people from Mexico came in increasing
numbers to work in the sugar beet fields in
eastern Montana. During the later part of
the nineteenth-century, German-speaking
Hutterites emigrated from Europe seeking
religious freedom. The first colony was
established in 1911." end quote

[MTSilvertip]

Originally Posted by Clark Fork Fantast

What, no Glögg?

LOL!!

More likely to get a bourbon and ditch

[NDak15]

I think eastern Montana seems more like the Midwest than western Montana does. It just has more of that "feel" to it.

[historyfan]

A good gauge is how large the Lutheran community is in an area. Many Eastern MT counties' inhabitants share heritage with people in the Dakotas. There was also migration from Canadian Hutterite colonies to Northeastern Montana counties principally grain farmers.
The later run of homesteaders early 1900s came West after being enticed by the railroad campaigns to encourage settlement along their lines.
The region you mentioned "callmemaybe" was one of last in Montana to become tame. It was common for rustlers and other lawbreakers to live or hole up there. Those counties today have more in common with the provinces bordering them.
The differences between Eastern Montana counties make it hard to lump them together.

[callmemaybe]

Originally Posted by historyfan

A good gauge is how large the Lutheran community is in an area. Many Eastern MT counties' inhabitants share heritage with people in the Dakotas. There was also migration from Canadian Hutterite colonies to Northeastern Montana counties principally grain farmers.

Would you say somewhere like Fraser has a Canadian character to it and stronger ties to Regina than to anywhere else?

[historyfan]

No. Frazer is on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation so its inhabitants would share ethnicity and culture with other communities' residents on that reservation.