Columbus

By editor

Columbus, Stillwater County, Montana

In 1874, a fellow named Horace Countryman set up shop a few miles west of what would one day be called Columbus. He wasn’t planting corn or building churches, no sir. His enterprise was a trading post, and his chief merchandise was whiskey. This was no genteel tavern with a piano and polite conversation; it was a rough-and-ready outpost catering mostly to the Crow Indians, whose reservation then lay snugly on the south side of the Yellowstone River. Countryman’s had the advantage of location, situated near the river crossing and the buffalo trails, but the true wealth of the spot was in the thirsty mouths it served.

Two years after he built the post, Countryman’s place became known as Stillwater, serving as a stage station and a post office--he opened the latter in 1877. That post office was more than just a place to send letters; it was a symbol that this patch of Montana was staking a claim on civilization, or something like it. Stillwater was a name that suited the river and the slow-moving frontier life, but it was not the final word on this settlement.

Others saw the same opportunity Countryman had spotted, and in 1879, two enterprising businessmen, Mithoff and Kaufman, set up a trading post on the opposite bank of the Stillwater River’s mouth. They called it Eagle’s Nest, a name grander than the reality, which included a hotel, blacksmith shop, harness maker, and a telegraph station. The telegraph was the cutting edge of technology in those parts, linking this remote trading post to the wider world. Their whiskey, however, was a different story. It was so bad it earned the sobriquet "Sheep Dip," said to taste like insecticide. It was potent stuff, no doubt, and it probably made a man forget where he was, but it didn’t win any awards for flavor. Still, the post quickly outshone Countryman’s, attracting more business and more settlers.

Lieutenant James H. Bradley, who passed through Stillwater in the 1870s, had a way of cutting through the frontier hype. He wrote, “Our course led us past Countryman’s ranch, a couple of miles below the camp, the last occupied house on the Yellowstone. It is a trading establishment, whisky being the principal commodity and the customers being Crow Indians.” Bradley’s account is notable for its simplicity and truthfulness, avoiding the florid praise common in such reports.

Countryman, for his part, was no mere whiskey peddler. He became something of a local legend for his role in one of the most infamous events in Western history. After the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876, when General Custer and his men were wiped out by Native forces, Countryman rode nearly 200 miles to Helena to deliver the news. It was a ride that earned him respect, even from those who might have otherwise scorned the man who sold them poison in a bottle. The ride was so urgent and so fraught with danger that it became part of the lore of the region. As one local newspaper put it, “Countryman’s ride was a grim reminder that the West was a place where news traveled as fast and as perilously as the horses that carried it.”

By 1881, Countryman had moved his stage station and post office to the present site of Columbus, leaving the old Eagle’s Nest to fade into obscurity. Eagle’s Nest and its infamous whiskey soon disappeared, as the railroad’s arrival changed the dynamics of trade and settlement in the region.

The Northern Pacific Railway reached the area in 1882, bringing with it a flood of new settlers, goods, and opportunities. The arrival of the railroad transformed Stillwater from a mere stopping place on the river into a significant shipping and trade center. It was no longer just about whiskey and Indian trade but about cattle, grain, and sandstone--commodities destined for markets far beyond Montana’s borders.

The community’s name changed in 1894. The railroad and postal authorities, troubled by confusion with another Stillwater in Minnesota, renamed the town Columbus. The choice was somewhat arbitrary, but it reflected a common practice of the day: pick a name that was distinct and easy to remember. Columbus was a name already familiar to Americans, and it stuck.

The town’s growth was steady but not without its peculiarities. In 1899, a group of Montana businessmen founded the Montana Sandstone Company. They began quarrying the nearby cliffs to produce building stone, which became a valuable commodity in the expanding towns and cities of the West. The sandstone from Columbus found its way into many regional buildings, some of which still stand today.

Columbus also became the seat of Stillwater County in 1913, a recognition of its importance as a local hub. Government offices, schools, and banks sprouted up, and the town settled into a rhythm that would endure through the 20th century.

Throughout its early history, Columbus was shaped by the forces that molded so many Western towns: the lure of natural resources, the push of the railroad, the commerce of traders, and the complex--and often troubled--relationship with Native peoples. The Crow Reservation’s proximity was a constant reminder of the shifting boundaries and allegiances in this part of Montana.

The whiskey trade, often maligned, played a significant role in the town’s origin and economy, illustrating the complicated nature of frontier commerce. As one historian noted, the term “Sheep Dip” whiskey was more than a joke--it was a grim description of the quality and the impact of the liquor sold in these isolated outposts. It was a commodity that brought money, trouble, and a certain rough vitality to places like Columbus.

Horace Countryman himself evolved from a frontier trader into a respectable businessman. His contributions went beyond the sale of spirits; his 200-mile ride to Helena with news of the Little Bighorn battle positioned him as a figure of local heroism. His willingness to brave the wilds for the sake of urgent news shows a dimension of frontier life that was more than just commerce and conflict.

To understand Columbus is to understand the contradictions of the American West in the late 19th century: the interplay between opportunity and exploitation, between progress and hardship, and between myth and reality. The town’s development was less about grand designs and more about the practicalities of survival and profit in a harsh and changing landscape.

As Lieutenant Bradley observed, the last occupied house on the Yellowstone was a trading post where whiskey was king and the Crow Indians were the main customers. That was the starting point. From there, Columbus grew--sometimes by accident, sometimes by design--into a community that still carries the marks of those early days, when a bottle of “Sheep Dip” whiskey could mean the difference between a good day’s trade and a long night’s trouble.

See also

• Columbus at Columbus, Stillwater County
• Clark's Canoe Camp on the Yellowstone at Park City, Stillwater County
• [The Great Highway of the Northwest](/historic-markers/the-great-highway-of-the