The United States Range Livestock Experiment Station was founded in 1924 by an act of Congress which transferred the Fort Keogh Military Reservation from the War Department to the United States Department of Agriculture. This act made possible experimental work in cooperation with the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station. The station comprises approximately 56,800 acres of land in an area nearly 10 miles square. The reservation is bounded on the east by Tongue River. In the Yellowstone River flat, approximately 1,000 acres are under irrigation. The remainder of the station is rough, broken "badlands," typical of much of the range in eastern Montana. The entire area is fenced and cross-fenced into 52 pastures ranging in size from 30 to nearly 4,000 acres. The facilities allow separate breeding pastures and enough large pastures for spring, summer, fall, and winter range.