In the Hellgate Treaty negotiations (1855), Xwetxxcln (Plenty Horses or chief Victor) and the Selíš people rebuffed efforts of US officials to get them to abandon the choice lands of their ancestral Bitterroot Valley. After Xwetxxcln died, settlers successfully lobbied President Grant to declare the Flathead Reservation "better adapted to the wants of the Flathead tribe" in 1872. Congress sent future President Garfield to arrange for the removal of the Selíš. Stmxé Owoxqeys (Claw of Small Grizzly or Chief Chariot) said the Bitterroot was where the bones of his ancestors were buried, and he would not leave, but his "x" mark was forged onto the Garfield agreement. More whites moved illegally onto Selíš lands, and pressures intensified with construction of the Missoula & Bitter Root Valley Railroad in 1888. In November 1889, faced with the worsening condition for his people, Stmxé Owoxqeys finally agreed to leave. The Selíš therefore planted no crops, but Congress delayed funding for removal for two years, pushing many people to the brink of starvation. Finally, in October 1891, General Henry Carrington and troops from Fort Missoula roughly pushed the tribe on the sad march north to the Reservation. The Government reneged on the promised aid for relocation, but the Selíš nevertheless managed to rebuild their lives in the Jocko Valley.

Erected by Montana Department of Transportation.

From time immemorial, the Bitterroot Valley has been a central part of the aboriginal territory of the Salish people. Although the tribe is now based on the Flathead Indian Reservation north of Missoula, the Bitterroot remains a place of great importance to them. Salish place names offer a powerful way of understanding the tribal relationship to the land. Some place names describe the physical features of a place, or the resources that were abundant there. Others refer back to the stories of Coyote and the creation of the world at the beginning of human time. These ancient names testify to the sustainable tribal presence in the landscape reaching back thousands of years.

Erected by Montana Department of Transportation.

Calvin and Magdalene Cook came to Montana from Kansas in 1880 and settled near Stevensville. Like many early settlers, the Cooks’ intent was to farm. After more than a decade of farming, however, business opportunities in Stevensville beckoned and the family moved to town. In 1894, Calvin opened a transfer business, and in 1899 the Cooks became owners and managers of the Stevensville Hotel. Calvin added merchandising to his list of interests as partner in the Stevensville Trading Company. In 1910, the Cooks made plans to build a new home that would reflect their hard-earned success. Local architect Warren Roscoe Rodgers drew the plans for this beautiful residence, which provides a model example of the transition from Queen Anne to Classical Revival styles. Asymmetry of the roof line, ornate porch railings, and a two-story front bay reveal lingering Queen Anne elements fashionable in the late 1800s. A simple floor plan, classical Tuscan columns, and projecting portico reflect the emerging Revival style. Rodgers’ skillful use of concrete block, visible throughout Stevensville, is evident in the home’s decorative concrete block foundation. The residence passed to daughter Cora and husband John Emerson in 1930. It has since remained in the Cook family, a well-preserved, lasting tribute to these early settlers who put down roots in Montana.

Erected by Montana Historical Society.

The DeNayer House is a fine example of transitional Queen Anne/Colonial Revival style architecture. The combination hipped and gabled roof and irregular floorplan are characteristic of the Queen Anne style while corner pilasters and clapboard siding clearly reveal transitional Colonial Revival style elements. In February of 1899, Dr. J. B. “Doc” DeNayer returned to Stevensville with his family to reopen his water-powered sawmill on the west side of the Bitterroot River. DeNayer’s wife, Julia, purchased these lots in 1899 and hired G. L. Martin, a local contractor, to build this residence. Construction began the following spring and the DeNayers moved into their fine new home in August, 1900. Two years later the DeNayers built a second residence just north of their home. In 1907, Mrs. DeNayer exchanged these properties for a business building owned by H. F. Hooper and planned to open a restaurant. The property changed hands several times until 1918, when Dr. William P. Reynolds bought the home. Reynolds and his wife, Winifred, were both medical doctors whose commendatory reputations were based, not only upon medical skills, but also upon their benevolent care, “…serving anyone, any time, and they were never overly concerned about a patient’s ability to pay.” The home remained in the Reynolds family until 1950. Over the years the residence suffered insensitive alterations, including removal of the original porch, removal of the bay window area on the first floor, and replacement of the wood shake roof with heavy asphalt shingles. Major restoration conducted during the early 1990s returned this marvelous home to its former place of honor on Main Street.

Erected by Montana Historical Society.

The Stevensville Baptist congregation first organized as the Etna Baptist Church of Christ at the nearby Etna schoolhouse in 1882. In 1884, the growing membership purchased land in Stevensville and hired talented Missoula architect Thomas W. Longstaff to draw the plans for a church. The building, completed in 1886 at a cost of $2,904.39, is an excellent example of architect Longstaff’s adaptation of the Stick Style. Clapboard siding with decorative vertical, horizontal, and diagonal accents characterize this style, uncommon in Montana. The angles created through external ornamentation are intended to mimic the building’s structural skeleton. The classical symmetry of the floor plan and window placement, lavish Queen Anne style details including fish-scale shingling and beautiful stained glass, and the stick ornamentation blend to produce a statement of surprising elegance for a modest rural church. By 1887, all building expenses had been paid and the congregation had bought an organ. The church included Sunday school and baptismal services in the Bitterroot River. The bell, purchased by the membership from Sears Roebuck for eight dollars, was installed in the square bell tower in 1901. This architectural landmark, important for its association with one of Montana’s most respected architects, is equally significant for its long service as the religious and social center of the local Baptist community.

Erected by Montana Historical Society.

The First State Bank Building was built on the site of the first Ravalli County Courthouse.

It is a well-preserved example of the classical-revival commercial style of early 20th century architecture.

The First State Bank significantly contributed to the prosperity of the local farming community.

Organized at the time of growth, the First State Bank building is an enduring symbol of long-term community stability.

Erected by Stevensville Main Street Association.

Fort Owen’s log and adobe walls witnessed dramatic changes as the Bitterroot Valley emerged from remote wilderness to settled agricultural community. The Jesuit fathers who had established St. Mary’s Mission nearby in 1841 closed their doors in 1850, and trader John Owen purchased the property. Owen operated and expanded St. Mary’s mills, cultivated the fields, enlarged the fort, and kept a well-stocked trade room, thereby transforming the mission compound into a vibrant trading post complex. A man of many talents, Owen also served as agent to the Flathead Nation from 1856 to 1862, and for a time the fort was agency headquarters. Owen and his Shoshone wife, Nancy, created a refined and comfortable haven in the vast timberland, extending gracious hospitality to Indians, traders, trappers, missionaries, settlers, and travelers. With the 1860s came gold-seekers and a fresh clientele, but the newly completed Mullan Road by-passed For Owen and trading dwindled. Upon Nancy’s death in 1868, Owen’s mental health deteriorated. In 1872, Fort Owen was sold at sheriff’s sale to Washington J. McCormick, who operated the fort’s mills until 1889. In 1937, the Fort Owen site was donated to the State of Montana, and the donors sponsored stabilization and partial reconstruction of its sole remaining building, the East Barracks. Archaeological investigations initiated in 1957 by the University of Montana continued through 1980, exposing the fort’s walls and foundations. Since 1971, the Stevensville Historical Society has been instrumental in interpretive reconstruction, continued stabilization, and maintenance of this noteworthy site.

Erected by Montana Historical Society.

When the Gleason Building was built on the southeast corner of Main and 2nd Street, a furniture store was an opportune investment.

The Gleason Furniture Company occupied the first floor of this building.

Later in the 1920s, the upper floor served as a hotel and the lower floor was split into two areas, to house the Gleason Cash & Carry store and the town's public library.

Erected by Stevensville Main Street Association.

The Henry Buck/Stevensville Trading Co. was constructed in response to the rapid influx of people putting down roots in the Bitterroot Valley during the homestead and apple boom eras.

Large general merchandise stores were in great demand at this time.

This building thrived into the mid-1920s. It evolved into the Framer's Cooperative Store and later into a series of department stores.

Erected by Stevensville Main Street Association.

The is one of the first and oldest brick buildings in town.

In 1893 the Hunter Building was used as a saloon. Due to the Temperance movement in the early 1900s the saloon's license was revoked.

After this time it went through a series of businesses from a dressmaking shop to a barber ship then a carriage painting shop and upholstering establishment. It was also a general merchandise store and briefly a harness shop.

Erected by Stevensville Main Street Association.

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows building was built during the period of optimism and growth in Stevensville.

The IOOF Hall played a significant humanitarian and social roll in the community.

The upper level was used for their lodge meetings and the lower level housed a popular stage theater in the 1920s.

The brick work and the details exhibit the fine craftsmanship common to the time period.

Erected by Stevensville Main Street Association.

The Porter & Buck Building thrived as a grocery store until 1922.

Porter and Buck Brothers served the growing population settling in the Bitterroot Valley.

Beautiful glass tiles accent the transom and give it an artistic flair.

The tiles are original to the 1910 construction and were manufactured by the American 3-way Prism Company of Chicago.

Erected by Stevensville Main Street Association.

Established in 1841 by Pierre DeSmet, S.J., in response to requests for Black Robes by four separate delegations sent by Flathead and Nez Perce tribes to St. Louis. Fr. DeSmet and his party erected Montana's first church immediately west on the bank of the Bitter Root River. They planted the first garden and harvested the first wheat and oats, practiced first irrigation, bred first livestock, taught first classes and organized the first musical band. St. Mary's was the site of the first flour and lumber mills.

Fr. Ravalli, Montana's beloved priest-physician-artist-sculptor-architect, for whom this county is named, was assigned to St.Mary's during 1845-1850 and 1866 until his death in 1884. He rests in the cemetery west of the chapel.

St. Mary's ceased to be an Indian mission in 1891, when the Flathead-Salish were forced to remove to a reservation. The chapel served as a church for settlers until 1954, when a new church was built and the mission became a historic site.

Jesuit priests and lay brothers founded St. Mary’s Mission—the first mission in the Northwest—near this site in 1841. The Jesuits closed the mission in 1850, returning in 1866. For the next quarter century, they helped the Salish adapt from hunting to farming as the buffalo disappeared. The priests helped support and advocate for the Salish people and provided medical services and spiritual guidance to both Indians and whites. When the U.S. government forced the impoverished Salish to leave their beloved Bitterroot Valley for the Flathead Reservation in 1891, St. Mary’s closed. An influx of homesteaders prompted the creation of St. Mary’s Parish in 1910, and the old mission church reopened. In 1911, the Salish returned to St. Mary’s to celebrate their Bitterroot heritage, a tradition they still maintain. The historic district includes the 1866 church and pharmacy, designed by the multi-talented Father Anthony Ravalli. Ravalli, also the architect of Idaho’s famed Cataldo Mission, employed log building techniques, ingeniously adapting European ecclesiastical architecture to the remote frontier. Chief Victor’s log home and the Indian burial ground recall the Salish presence. Adjacent is St. Mary’s Cemetery and Father Ravalli’s final resting place. Two gnarled apple trees provide living evidence of the Jesuits’ agriculture. The new St. Mary’s, built in 1954 with donations from Montana and beyond, represents an unprecedented preservation effort to save the endangered mission church from deterioration through constant use. Today, St. Mary’s churches—old and new—define the historic complex as a place of significance to both Indian and white communities.

Erected by Montana Historical Society.

The Thorton Building is associated with Dr. W.T, Thorton, a well-known physician in western Montana who started the Thorton Hospital on Main and 3rd Street.

This fireproof structure was originally built as a doctor's office.

Since then it has had several uses from a bakery and restaurant to a meat market and then a tailor shop.

Erected by Stevensville Main Street Association.

In 1850, Major John Owen established this trading post on the original site of St. Mary's Mission. It was the first permanent white settlement in Montana, and welcomed Indian, trappers, gold seekers and settlers.

By the late 1860s, major travel routes had by-passed Fort Owen for more straegically (sic) situated trading posts near present-day Missoula. In 1871, Major Owen sold the fort and thereafter its walls and structures slowly deteriorated.

Enjoy you visit to Fort Owen. Pease leave nothing but footprints and take nothing with you but photographs and memories.

Erected by Montana State Parks.