Native Americans were the first inhabitants of the state now known as Montana. They lived in the western mountains, along rivers and lakes, and in the Great Plains of eastern Montana. The first group of white explorers arrived with the Lewis and Clark Expedition of the early 1800s and were soon followed by trappers and Roman Catholic Missionaries. In the 1860s, the population grew with the influx of prospectors, hoping to strike it rich in the gold industry. Cattle ranches flourished in the western valleys as the railroad snaked its way across Big Sky Country. In 1889, Montana officially became a state and counties began being established.

Big Horn County was founded just over twenty years later, in 1913, on the southern border of the state. Like the nearby river and mountains, the county is named after the majestic bighorn sheep that call the Rocky Mountains home. Hardin was chosen as the county seat, a town named after a local cattleman. Homesteaders, ranchers, and farmers settled into the area, sharing parts of the county with two federally recognized Indian tribes, the Crow Nation and the Northern Cheyenne Nation.

Big Horn County is historically significant for several reasons. Perhaps most well-known is the Battle of Little Bighorn, where Lieutenant Colonel George Custer and the 7th Calvary was defeated by Sioux, Cheyenne, Dakota, and Arapaho Warriors in 1876 in what would become known as Custer’s Last Stand.

The scenic Bighorn, Pryor, and Wolf Mountain ranges are also part of the Big Horn County landscape. Today, the county is the sixth-largest in the state, with a population of 13,000 people living on over 3.2 million acres of land. Visitors may want to enjoy fishing one of the rivers that wind through the region or explore the spectacular Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area. The local industry includes farming and ranching, surface coal mining, and recreational endeavors. Throughout its history, Big Horn County is rich in culture and time-honored traditions and is a gem of the great state of Montana.