Otter is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in southwestern Powder River County,

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

, United States, in the

Custer National Forest Custer National Forest is located primarily in the south central part of the U.S. state of Montana but also has separate sections in northwestern South Dakota. With a total area of , the forest comprises over 10 separate sections. While in the we ...

. It lies along local roads southwest of the town of Broadus, the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

of Powder River County. Its elevation is 3,484 feet (1,062 m). Although Otter is unincorporated, it has a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

, with the ZIP code of 59062.

Climate

According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Otter has a

semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of se ...

, abbreviated "BSk" on climate maps.

History

The Community of Otter was named for Otter Creek. The town post office (opened in 1895) is located within a mile of its head. Otter Creek was named by fur traders and trappers in the early days of Montana's history. In 1897, area cattle rancher Levi Howes established the civilian redoubt Fort Howes in response to an anticipated attack by the Northern Cheyenne. In 1900, a sheep raid led by future Wyoming Governor and US Senator John B. Kendrick resulted in over 2,000 sheep being killed. Kendrick's participation in the raid was unconfirmed until 1974.

References

Unincorporated communities in Powder River County, Montana Unincorporated communities in Montana {{PowderRiverCountyMT-geo-stub

Climate

History

See also

References