Big Horn County, Montana Genealogy

United States Montana Big Horn County

Guide to Big Horn County, Montana ancestry, genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Description
Big Horn County, Montana was founded in 1864 and the county seat is Hardin. It is located in the southeastern area of the state. The county was named for the bighorn sheep in the Rocky Mountains.

County Courthouse
Big Horn County Courthouse 121 3rd Street West Hardin, MT 59034 Phone: 406.665.1506 Big Horn County website County Clerk has birth, death, naturalization and land records from 1913. Clerk District Court has marriage, divorce, probate and court records

Record Loss
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Boundary Changes
Parent County: created 13 January 1913 from Rosebud and Yellowstone County Seat: Hardin

Populated Places
The following are locations in the county from Wikipedia:

Indian Reservation The Crow Indian Reservation is primarily located in Big Horn County, with a smaller portion in Yellowstone County.

The Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation is about equally divided in land area between Big Horn County and Rosebud County.

Federal Census Records
Federal Censuses were taken for Montana starting in 1870. For links to Federal census indexes, see link, "Montana Census" above.

Land and Property Records
Online Land Records


 * Land Patent Search - index to federal patents and homesteads on the Bureau of Land Management website, some images available
 * 1796 - 1907 - U.S. General Land Office Records, 1796-1907 at Ancestry - index, info taken from Bureau of Land Management website
 * 1861 - 1936 - U.S. Homestead Records 1861-1936 at Ancestry.com - ($), index and images

Local Histories
Online County Histories
 * The Arikara Narrative of the Campaign Against the Hostile Dakotas, June, 1876. c1920. By Orin Grant Libby. North Dakota: Bismarck. Online at:  Hathitrust, Google Books,.


 * The Custer Battle: Brief Story of Indian Who Fought There; Combined with Three Poems by White Eagle. c1916. By Two Moons. N.p:n.p. Online at: FamilySearch Books Online,   Google Books, At various libraries (WorldCat).


 * Custer Battlefield National Monument, Montana. c1949. By Edward S. and Evelyn S. Luce. Washington D.C:U.S. Department of Interior. Online at:, Hathitrust, National Park Service.


 * Hokahey! A Good Day to Die!: The Indian Casualties of the Custer Fight. c1993. By Richard G. Hardorff. University of Nebraska Press: Lincoln and London. Online at: Google Books,,  University of Nebraska Press ($).


 * Trails and Tales, South of the Yellowstone: An Unrecorded History of the Area South of Billings and the Yellowstone River. c1983. By Trails and Tales Historical Committee. Billings, Montana: Trails and Tales Historical Committee.  Online at: FamilySearch Books Online,   Google Books, At various libraries (WorldCat).

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Interactive Formation Boundary Map of Montana - shows boundary changes for Montana Counties
 * Historical Maps and Atlases of Montana - maps and atlases of Montana

Military Records
Civil War World War I For further information see Montana Military Records.
 * 1890 at FamilySearch.— index
 * 1890 - 1918 Montana Military Enlistments at Montana Memory Project
 * 1917 - 1918 at FamilySearch — Index and images
 * Soldiers of the Great War from the State of Montana at USGenWeb.
 * Military Enlistments Montana World War I at Montana Memory Project

Newspapers
 Montana Newspapers Online Montana Newspaper Catalogs
 * GenealogyBank - ($), contains images of Montana newspapers
 * Newspaper Archive - ($), contains images of Montana newspapers
 * Chronicling America - contains images of some Montana newspapers; searching tips
 * Elephind - Free; search engine that retrieves newspaper images from other free newspaper websites
 * U.S. Newspaper Directory, 1690-Present on Chronicling America - contains a list of all known newspapers and the dates they cover; once you locate a newspaper name, contact the local library to see if they have copies of the newspaper



Obituaries

 * Obituary Daily Times - large obituary index from newspapers across the United States.

See also United States Obituaries for more about finding United States obituaries.

Other Records
Wiki Pages

Montana Vital Records

Probate Records

 * 1831 – 1952 Montana Wills and Probate Records 1831-1952 at Ancestry.com — index and images $

Birth

 * 1840 - 2004   at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1840 - 2004  Montana, County Births and Deaths, 1840-2004 at Ancestry ($) — index
 * Montana Department of Health Department of Health Birth and Death Records

Marriage

 * Montana Marriage Records
 * 1865 - 1950 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1865 - 1950 Montana, County Marriages, 1865-1950 at Ancestry ($) — index
 * 1889 - 1947 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1889 - 1947 Montana Select Marriages 1889-1947 at Ancestry ($) — index
 * Western States Marriage Index - Index, incomplete, list of counties included

Death

 * 1840 - 2004 — index and images
 * 1840 - 2004 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1840 - 2004 Montana, County Births and Deaths, 1840 - 2004 at Ancestry ($) — index
 * 1860 - 2007 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1868 - 2011 Montana, Death Index, 1868 - 2011 at Ancestry ($) — index
 * pre 1954 - 2002 Montana State Death Registry Index Pre 1954 & 1954 - 2002 at Montana State Genealogical Society — index
 * 1954 - 2011 Montana Death Records at findmypast ($) — index

Family History Centers

 * Hardin Montana Family History Center

Libraries

 * Montana State Public Library
 * Montana State University Library

Societies
Big Horn County Historical Society Ih 90 Hardin, Mt., 59034

Websites

 * USGenWeb Big Horn County, Montana project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county.
 * Genealogy-Big Horn County, Montana
 * Kindred Trails-Big Horn County, Montana
 * Big Horn County, Montana Family History Genealogy
 * - The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records