Columbus and Stillwater County

Stillwater County’s history is anything but still. In 1875, the trading post and stage stop of Stillwater at the confluence of the Yellowstone and Stillwater Rivers enticed trade with the Crow Indians
based nearby at their second Crow Agency. The Northern Pacific Railroad built a station here in 1882, renaming it Columbus in 1894. Columbus soon became an important shipping center for early cattle and sheep ranchers, as well as a starting point for many homesteaders who staked claims in the fertile valleys. Agriculture was a key component in the formation and settling of the communities Park City, Reed Point, Absarokee, and Fishtail. The nearby Beartooth Mountains beckoned miners with ore and eventually supplied the nation with chromium during World War II. A major engineering accomplishment was completed in the mid-1920s with the construction of the power plant and dam at nearby Mystic Lake.