General Information
A Brief History of Beaverhead County
from Names on the Faces of Montana
by Roberta Carkeek Cheney
Copyright 1983 Revised 1984
6th printing, January 1996
Beaverhead County, in the Southwestern corner of the state, was organized as one of the original territorial counties on February 2, 1865. It was named for the rock which Sacajawea pointed out to Lewis and Clark explaining that her people had called it that because it resembled a beaver's head [see photo above]. It was one of the smallest of the original counties, but is now the largest. Beaverhead County maintained its original area throughout all the county dividing and the only change in its borders was made by an annexation of a part of Madison County in 1911. It contains Montana's oldest town, Bannack City, where a post office was established in November 1863. Dillon is the county seat.
Henry Plummer
You can read an excerpt from Bannack, Cradle of Montana By F. Lee Graves, which discusses Henry Plummer, one of Bannack's most colorful characters. Mr. F. Lee Graves has very generously allowed us to transcribe and place information from his book that pertains to Henry Plummer on this website. We would like to thank Mr. Graves for this wonderful book about Bannack and for granting us permission to use parts of his book for all to read. Enjoy!
MTGenWeb Photo Archive
A great collection of photos, images of letters etc. including many Beaverhead County photos.
Geography
Surrounding Counties
Montana Genweb County referral page
- Ravalli County— Hamilton
- Granite County— Philipsburg
- Deer Lodge County— Anaconda
- Silver Bow County— Butte
- Madison County— Virginia City
Idaho Genweb County referral page
- Clark County— Dubois, Idaho
- Fremont County— Saint Anthony, Idaho
- Lemhi County— Salmon, Idaho
More Geography
- Schools in Beaverhead County.
- Mines in Beaverhead County.
- Satellite maps of Montana, and one from 1895.
- Maps of Montana showing different features like rivers, etc.
Genealogical Resources
Public Query Forum
There is a free RootsWeb discussion list devoted to genealogy and history. It is categorized by geography, from the world level down to Beaverhead county. You can read others' queries and messages, search them, leave your own queries or responses, etc. Responses are purely dependant on public response— nobody is designated to answer queries or questions posted on the list. To join the list via e-mail in list mode or digest mode type subscribe and nothing else in the body of the email.
Genealogical Society
The BeaverHead Hunters Genealogical Society provides research including both off and on-line index searches (marriages, obituaries, and census records), as well as more in-depth research.
Other Sources of Information
- Checklist of Local Records to consider, including the type of records available from various sources with contact information.
- WorldGenWeb |
USGenWeb |
MTGenWeb Projects
(at MTGenWeb, see Archives and Photo Archive, which have county specific links) - Montana Death Index on-line browsable by decade increments, one surname first letter at a time.
- Lima Historical Society (email)
PO Box 2
Lima, MT 59739
Phone (406) 276-3394
Connie Strang director - Beaverhead County Museum (email)
15 S. Montana
Dillon, MT 59725 - Dillon City Library
- Beaverhead County Courthouse
2 S. Pacific
Dillon, MT 59725
Non Genealogy Related
- Local news, sports, weather and general info
- Beaverhead.com
- University of Montana—Western (previously Western Montana College)
- Chamber of Commerce
P.O. Box 425
Dillon, MT 59725-0042
406-683-5511
