Our History
The history of the Sweet Grass County area dates back to years when the Crow, Cheyenne, Blackfoot, and raiding Sioux all claimed the area as hunting grounds. William Clark and his party were the first white men definitely known to have been in the present area of Sweet Grass County.
Clark followed the Yellowstone River back to rendezvous with Meriwether Lewis on their journey exploring the west in 1806. 'Rivers Across' in Clark’s journal refers to the spot on the Yellowstone River just below Big Timber where, directly across from one another, the Boulder River and Big Timber Creek empty into the Yellowstone.
James Stewart followed the Clark expedition with his party in 1863, by the Bozeman and Bridger trains in 1864, and by surveying parties of railroad engineers under the protection of troops.
The Bozeman Trail crossed the county taking miners to gold fields farther west. Horatio N. Gage, the first settler in the region, located at the mouth of Duck Creek in 1873. He was followed soon after by Al and Waborn Harrison, who drove cattle and horses to lower Sweet Grass Creek, and established a ranch.
From 1873 to 1882, a few scattered settlers established homes within the area of the present county. Parts of Sweet Grass County were part of the Crow Indian reservation until about 1880. The advent of the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1882 brought settlers in larger numbers, and by 1892 the area was enjoying considerable prosperity.
Lewis and Clark in Sweet Grass County - July 1806
On the journey home, Captain Lewis and Captain Clark split up at “Travelers Rest” near Lolo, MT. Lewis headed toward the northern part of Montana, while Clark took Sacagawea, 20 men and 50 horses through the Bitterroot Valley toward the Yellowstone River Valley. By the middle of July, Clark was traveling east on the North side of the Yellowstone.
His experiences along the river include observations of the many plants and wildlife in the area. He also noted in his journal a place where two rivers flowed into the Yellowstone almost directly across from each other. “Rivers Across” is Big Timber Creek from the north and the Boulder River from the south. To visit the area mentioned go to the Otter Creek fishing access just 2 miles north of Big Timber.
Census
1900: 243,329
1910: 376,053
1920: 548,889
1960: 694,409
2000: 902,195
Timeline
1806: Captain William Clark of the Lewis and Clark expedition arrived in mid July at a point where the mouths of Big Timber Creek and the Boulder River enter the Yellowstone from opposite sides and named this location "Rivers Across".**
1860's:
*Mining rushes
*Montana near-wilderness frontier
*Mining dominated western Montana
*Heavy ethnic-Irish, Catholic, Democrat
*Agriculture/ranching dominated eastern Montana
*Railroads "passed through" but shipped livestock and goods as well as providing employment
*Montana had largest sheep population in America - 6 million - and wool shipped to mills far away
*As the Copper company in Butte engaged in devious deeds to become Anaconda and its twin Montana Power Co. along with owning all but one Montana daily newspaper. Montana was the oft-sited example of a state overwhelmingly dominated by a single corporation - D elaware with DuPont was the only rival for this distinction
1867: Captain Le Mott met the Crow Indians on Little Timber Creek near present site of Big Timber to disburse annuities. Shortly after, the first Crow Agency was established at Mission Creek, 25 miles west of Big Timber.**
1882: Railroad came through the region. Station made at little settlement around a sawmill at the junction of the Boulder River and the Yellowstone. It was called Dornix, Greek word meaning "large smooth stones".
1883: Town of Dornix moved to higher ground. Name changed to Big Timber later by the railroad company officials in St. Paul.**
1889: Montana Constitutional Convention - did not include equal suffrage for men and women.
1890: November 12 - Big Timber Pioneer, the first newspaper issue in Big Timber, Montana was published. **
1891: Big Timber National Bank started with capital of $50,000. **
1892: Big Timber telephone system was started. **
1895: Big Timber had the largest wool market in the United States. More than five million pounds were shipped in one year. The greatest single shipment of wool was in 1892 was 96,000 pounds, hauled into town by 72 oxen and a string of wagons. **
1895: March 5 - Sweet Grass County formed from parts of Park, Yellowstone and Meagher counties. Name was taken from the creek of fragrant grasses nearby. First courthouse built in 1897 for $10,000. **
1895: Alberta Bair was born (died 1993) 70 miles west of Big Timber in Wheatland County near Martinsdale in the Bair home, now a museum. Her father, Charles Bair, at one time was one of the largest sheep ranchers in the world with 300,000 head of sheep on the range. With the fortune she inherited, she endowed clinics, hospitals, museums, colleges, symphonies and theatres in Montana.
1900: 14.5% of all Montana women worked for wages. 8.5% of all employed workers were women, contrasted with 1995 when 56% of state's women were employed and these women were 46.8% of the Montana workforce.
1901: First woolen mill in Montana built at end of McLeod Street in Big Timber, Montana. Fine woolen blankets were made and sold. **
1902: Town of Big timber was incorporated. **
1904: First graduating class at Sweet Grass County High School.
1908: High winds spread cinders over the city, which ignited the rubbish, and the entire district was ablaze, burning a strip through the whole town causing a loss of over $400,000. **
1909: Enlarged Homestead Act, doubling homestead sizes to 320 from 160 acres. CMS&P RR built new railway and began massive campaign to advertise the region and the other 3 RR, GN, NP, BN followed suit. Last great American land rush witnessed. "Honyockers" was slang given to them by the stockmen. This boosted 1920 census greatly! There were 25 million acres and 114,620 homesteads. Montana was the most homesteaded state in the Union.
1910: Women won the vote in 1914 with the assistance of Jeanette Rankin, University of Montana graduate. Sent to Congress in 1917 as the first woman to serve in Congress. She was a staunch pacifist who was the lone dissenter to vote against declaring war with Japan in 1941. Notable: She spurred the government to enforce the 8-hour day for female federal workers; first federal measure to provide funding for instruction in maternal and infant care and hygiene because of the high infant mortality, especially in the west. In 1911 Jeanette Rankin could speak in the Montana Legislature only by a special invitation.
1919-1922: saw the end of the WWI, deep drought, and high commodity prices collapsed, thus postwar depression. Thousands of Pioneers left Montana, over 200 banks failed, farms and ranches lost 1/2 the valuation of their lands. Montana was the only state to lose population in the 1920's. It was a major turning point in its history as it was stricken by agriculture depression and saddled by the Anaconda Corporation. Then the Great Depression made matters worse.
1931: State income tax began.
1933:FDR New Deal of direct federal intervention changed the economy and government in Montana forever as it was the most heavily subsidized state per capita in the US as it had few people and lots of land. The New Deal brought relief and recovery but did not end the depression.
1936-1940: The Fort Peck dam was built and completed - greatest earth filled dam in the nation and was featured on the first LIFE magazine cover built with New Deal funds as were many Montana school, airports and dams.
1939-1945: WWII, much rainfall, higher commodity prices brought good times to agriculture, lumber and mines and oil wells.
1945-1970: Montana depended heavily on agriculture and cattle. Montana ranked midway among the top 10 states in beef and wheat output. Mounting production created surplus and low prices - farm units grew bigger and numbers of people living on them dwindled. Oil and gas industrial boomed. Production, refining and pipelines and tourism became major business.
1960: 50.2 percent of populace were "urban”, changing from rural majority.
1970's and 80's: Agriculture (wheat sale to Soviet) and energy (Arabian oil embargos) were big. In 1981 petroleum production reached 1.45 billion. Montana holds 13% of American coal reserves in shallow seams. Environmentalists became active. 30% coal severance tax for future generations was passed.
1983: Montana went bust again.
Sources:
Montana Century 100 Years in Pictures and Words - Edited by Michael P. Malone
** Additional Information taken from The Story of Big Timber in Pioneer Memories II
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