Selish-Ql'ispe Place Names Map

Old Condon Ranger Station Dwelling

The Gathering Place: Swan Valley’s Gordon Ranch

Highlights from The Gathering Place: Swan Valley’s Gordon Ranch

Read the MT Arts Council's book review!

​

John Stark, 1952
Snowshoeing to Glacier Slough
​Vern Guyer photo

Wineglass Mill
​Papke Collection

Visit Projects

Maki Cabin now at Swan Valley Museum! See Projects

Outfitting & Guiding Celebration Videos

Travelers can take a self-guided tour of the Swan Valley Museum, Swan River Tavern, Whalen Homestead Cabin, Smith Creek School replica and the portable sawmill on the Swan Valley museum grounds by downloading a free Next Exit HistoryTM app to access photos, audio, video and written descriptions. The self-guided tour is funded by a Preserve Missoula County History grant from the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula.

Upper Swan Valley Oral History Project audio transcripts online

Homesteader Family Trees

The Selish-Ql'ispe Culture Committee provided a Swan Valley Place Names Map for display in the Swan Valley Museum. The map features the Pend d'Oreille Indian names of the landmarks, as well as photos and descriptions of this region. Highlights from the dedication ceremony

2021 Event Dates
To be announced​

My first winter home
​Hollopeter Collection, USVHS Archives

Wranglers, Dudes and Homesteaders: Stories from Montana's Swan Valley Lodges
​Lindbergh Lake Lodge, Holland Lake Lodge and Gordon Ranch
30 minutes

Items below are available for purchase! See our Projects for details.

The Huck Book: Swan Valley's Berried Stories, History and Recipes

See Museum Updates

The Upper Swan Valley Historical Society (USVHS), established in 1988, is dedicated to the discovery, collection, preservation and interpretation of materials that will help establish and illustrate our local history.

The upper Swan Valley area is unique in that it still retains a plethora of evidence of its varied history. There still exist old Indian trails crisscrossing our mountains. Old trapper cabins and marten notched trees are still around on the landscape. This area was homesteaded and settled at a relatively late date, primarily from the mid-1910's and later, with many artifacts and buildings of that particular era still in existence. Early Forest Service ranger station buildings and cabins are still here. Springboard notched trees and sawmill sites from the early logging days are scattered around the valley.

Photo of Swan Peak by Steve Ellis

Preserving and Promoting the Cultural Heritage of the Swan Valley.

Museum

Swan Valley Museum Hours: 
Open by appointment

To schedule an appointment call

(406) 754-2745 or (406) 754-2238
​or Contact Us

Events

Projects

Crossing the Swan River, 1948
​Papke Collection

Our Current Newsletter