Welcome to Chouteau County, Montana! How can we serve you today?

HOURS OF OPERATION:
Monday–Friday, 8 AM – 5 PM
(Closed for all major holidays).

About Chouteau County

Chouteau County is located in north central Montana, about 100 miles south of the Canadian border. Established in 1865, it is one of the original nine counties of the Montana Territory. The county was named for fur traders Augusta and Pierre Chouteau, founders of the trading post at Historic Old Fort Benton, from which the county seat of Fort Benton grew.

Fort Benton was once an important Missouri River steamboat port known as the “Head of Navigation,” where fur traders, gold seekers, and settlers arrived in the early days of Montana. Today, the county’s population centers include Fort Benton, Big Sandy, and Geraldine, along with smaller communities such as Loma, Carter, Floweree, Highwood, Shonkin, and Square Butte.

Once the largest county in the Montana Territory, Chouteau County was gradually divided to form several other Montana counties. Today it covers 3,936 square miles of rolling plains, river valleys, and mountain ranges, including parts of the Bear’s Paw Mountains, Highwood Mountains, and the Missouri River corridor.

  • Population: ~5,700

  • County Seat: Fort Benton

  • Established: 1865

  • Area: 3,936 sq. miles

Demographics

  • Major Rivers: Missouri, Marias, Teton

  • Communities: Fort Benton, Big Sandy, Geraldine, Highwood, Loma, Carter, Floweree, Shonkin, and Square Butte

  • Tribal Lands: Rocky Boy’s Reservation (Chippewa Cree Tribe)

  • Mountains: Bear’s Paw Mountains, Highwood Mountains

Courthouse History

Chouteau County was one of the nine original counties created on February 2, 1865. In the early years, law and order were sometimes loosely observed. In 1872, when the county jail burned, all the peace officers were reportedly in Canada trading whiskey to the Indians.

Taxes were first assessed in 1873 in the amount of $1,172.55. The original courthouse, located a block away on Main Street, burned on January 5, 1883. Construction of the current courthouse began soon after. Originally estimated at $12,000, the cost eventually rose to $50,000. Gus Senieur was awarded the construction bid for $43,300, and the building was designed by architects Kees and Fisk of Minneapolis.

The last brick was laid on July 4, 1884, and county offices moved into the building that September. Additions have been made to the rear of the building over the years, but the historic structure remains largely intact. The courthouse is now the second oldest courthouse in Montana still in use. Recent upgrades included energy-efficient windows designed to match the original historic windows.