Park County is what the rest of Montana would like to be. For it is here the Rocky Mountains give way to the plains that stretch to the horizon, blue-ribbon fishing streams turn and head to the Missouri River, and the Big Sky opens up.
In the late 1800s, these wide-open spaces brought settlers from the East to claim a piece of the frontier. Still others came in search of gold, while many more came to work on the Iron Horse that helped settle the West and provided the economic lifeblood of Livingston for more than 100 years.
The laborer, the rancher and the farmer all came to Park County, since it was here the Northern Pacific Railroad established its locomotive repair shops, and it was here land was plentiful and soil was rich.
Once the steel rail was laid across Montana, many more came through the county to see the splendors of the nation’s first national park — Yellowstone. Tourists came aboard the Northern Pacific’s North Coast Limited and changed trains in Livingston to board the Park Branch Line for the trip to Gardiner.
Park County is a product of the railroad. The Northern Pacific founded Livingston in 1882 and provided thousands of jobs. The branch line south to Yellowstone Park carried countless tourists throughout the years, and provided local residents transportation to and from their ranches. To the north, the Shields Branch Line helped create the towns of Wilsall and Clyde Park, and each year in the fall that same line carried the farmers’ wheat and livestock to market.
The landscape you see around you hasn’t changed much since those early days — the days before the Iron Horse, before William Clark and Sacajawea ventured through here on their return trip home — when the land belonged to the Plains Indians and buffalo and when grizzly bears, wolves and elk roamed freely across it.
Although life has changed here in the last 126 years, it seems some things haven’t changed at all. The snow-capped mountains are still breathtaking, the historic buildings on Main Street still evoke images of yesteryear, and Yellowstone’s natural features still draw scores of visitors.
As you enjoy your stay in Park County, we hope this visitor’s guide will provide you with some useful information about the area — past and present.
