Big Timber

Travel Montana

Big Timber Directory Listings

A view from 1939:

BIG TIMBER, (4,072 alt., 1,224 pop) seat of Sweet Grass County, was named for the creek that rises in the Crazy Mountains and flows into the Yellowstone opposite the town. Little remains of the timber, chiefly large cottonwoods, that at the time of settlement grew in the Yellowstone Valley near the old stage station at the mouth of Big Timber Creek. The point was called Rivers Across by Lieutenant Clark, because not only Big Timber Creek but Boulder River flow into the Yellowstone here.

Almost dormant in winter, Big Timber bustles in summer, its wide streets thronged with tourist cars, for it is the center of one of the principal recreational regions in the State. Montana's first dude ranch was started at the base of the Crazy Mountains about 1911.

The abundance of sweet-scented grasses and flowering plants in the valley spurred the development of livestock ranches and made honey production profitable. In the 1890's Big Timber was one of the largest wool-shipping centers in the United States. From the vast ranges that extend northward, ox teams brought load after huge load to town. In 1901, Montana's first woolen mill was established here in a stone building that stands on McLeod St.

In early Big Timber, as in other frontier towns, justice was informal but effective. A character remembered only as the Bad Swede, a chronic disturber of the peace, was once sentenced to spend three days in jail. The nearest jail was at Bozeman. As the sheriff had no desire to ride 60 miles with his cantankerous prisoner, he lowered him into a 30-foot prospect hole. Bad Swede, it is said, emerged from this form of "solitary" a changed man.

The Fish Hatchery (open),produces annually more than 3,500,000 fingerlings—native, rainbow, and Loch Leven trout, and silver salmon.

Source: Montana: A State Guide Book; Compiled and Written by the Federal Writers' Project of the Work Projects Administration for the State of Montana; September, 1939.