Sweet Grass - land of livestock knee-deep in good grass, sparkling clear water and air scented by sage and pine---became a county in 1895 and has been governed by elected commissioners since. The history of this 1,849 square mile area goes back many years before that to the Indian tribes who hunted the area. Crow, Cheyenne, Blackfoot, and raiding Sioux all claimed the area as hunting grounds.

William Clark came through the region in 1806 on his way back from the Pacific. “Rivers Across” in his journal refers to the spot on the Yellowstone just below Big Timber where, directly across from one another, the Boulder River and the Big Timber Creek empty into the Yellowstone. Clark named Big Timber Creek for the unusually large cottonwood trees growing by its mouth.

Sweet Grass County has the advantage of being one of the counties in Montana with a variety of land, making for varied recreational and business opportunities as well as making it a wonderful place to live.

We have mountains on three sides and the prairie to the east. Big Timber sits in the valley formed by the confluence of the Boulder River and the Yellowstone River. The Boulder River flows across 57 miles of Sweet Grass County; the West Boulder River 9 miles, the East Boulder River 13 miles, and the Yellowstone River flows 51 miles across the County. There are many more miles of small streams that also provide camping, fishing and recreation opportunities.

We are known for our magnificent scenery, and western culture. Both have been captured by Hollywood in movies filmed here, such as, “A River Runs Through it” and “The Horse Whisperer.”

The rifles seen in Tom Selleck’s movie “Quigley, Down Under” and, “Cross Fire Trail”, were manufactured by a local gunsmith. We have two gunsmiths in Big Timber, C Sharps Arms Co. and ShiIoh Rifle Manufacturing Co.

Sweet Grass County’s main industries are sheep and cattle ranching, mining and tourism. The StiIllwater Mine is mining platinum/palladium up the East Boulder. Pailadium is used in catalytic converters by the auto industry.

The population of Big Timber in the year 2000 was 1650 people. This is a 6% increase from the 1990 Census. The population of Sweet Grass County in 2000 was 3609 people, an increase of 14.4 % from the 1990 Census.

At one time Sweet Grass County had sixty-five school districts. Today we have five elementary schools (four of them rural schools) and one high school. A very old rural school, Sourdough School, was renovated and moved to the Crazy Mountain Museum, where it is on display.