Cooke City, Montana

The town has a friendly, welcome atmosphere. The pace is slow. The Cooke City Mt summer population is made up of young folks from all over the country who descend on this small mountain town to provide services to the tourists. If you've worked in Cooke, we'd like to hear from you. . Guestbook.

Mary Margaret Curl A story written by a young girl who moved to Cooke City, Montana in 1899 at the age of 9 months. A beautiful story honoring Cooke City founder Horn Miller. Courtesy of the Bruce Laine Family. click here

GuestBook. If you have lived or worked in Cooke City, Montana, you just might see a listing from an old friend!

NEW. Me and LD. Short stories about the Cooke City area with "the names changed to protect the guilty" Fictionalized stories of real happenings collected over the years. Click here

Labor Day 2006 Tragedy strikes Cooke City. Two local men killed donating time to the community. More

Winter is the season the snow machine crowd loves to see. Making reservations early would be the wise thing to do! . The Cooke City Exxon is ready with the products you need to maintain and enhance your travel experience, The Cooke City Exxon can provide the maintenance your vehicle needs while on the road.- including an oil change! Tire repair and wrecker service available too.Visit their site today and start planning your vacation visit !

Snowmachine Sales Service Rentals click

Snow conditions and Information click

Dog Turd Peak? A little history on landmarks Pilot and Index Peaks Click Here	Forest Service Campgrounds around Cooke City Here
Bill and Betty Sommers selected Citizens of the year 2007! Joan Humiston selected Citizen of the Year 2006. A Great Choice!.	A great site for Beartooth Pass history near Cooke City Montana Here

Some interesting photos of early snowmobile experiences in Cooke City courtesy of Bob Dorf Photos

Until 1882, the town and the land around it were within the Crow Reservation. Following numerous skirmishes between the Crow and gold miners the reservation boundry was moved east. Prospectors often accompanied soldiers through Indian lands looking for gold. Gold was found in the early 1870's. The area became known as the New World Mining district. The town was known as Shoo-fly until 1880 when it became known as Cooke City, MT named after a mining investor named Jay Cooke Jr. Cooke promised to use his considerable influence to bring the railroad through the top of Yellowstone Park from Gardiner. This single move would have made the mining much more profitable in the Cooke area. Congress soon put an end to the possibility and unfortunately, Cooke ran into financial difficulty and lost his bonded mining claims.

The F.J. Williams Gallery is located in the oldest house in Cooke City. In fact, the home is older than Yellowstone Park (est 1872). The house was built over 140 years ago as a rest stop in what is now Yellowstone. The home was pulled to Cooke city on skids along the Bannock Trail by a team of 12 horses. The home is as interesting as the primitive art and the antiques Birdie Williams now displays. Jack and Birdie lived in the home beginning in 1949. When Jack became ill, Birdie had a modern addition built on the east side so that she could take care of him better. Read more

B-4 Ranch for Boys

Vic Heyliger, Michigan Hockey Coach, and Professional Hockey player Moved his Boy's Ranch to the Cooke City area in 1951 Learn More

Notable Residents

Bill Sommers Believing in Cooke City for 60+.years.

Horn Miller Co Founder of Cooke City

John and Zona Curl Early residents of Cooke.City MT.and owners of The Curl House

Joe and Nellie Israel. Summer residents since.1952

Jack and Birdie Williams "As Seen on CNN"

Nick Babiluk Cooke City's Union 76

Ruth and Gene Wade Ruth's Obituary.with.Cooke City history and photos of Gene's sawmill

Hermit Tommy Garrison Interesting and mysterious.Cooke City Resident

Ed Weydt .Delivered Gas to Cooke City for 50 years

John and Neva Green. Owned and operated Shaws Lodge

Olive Nordquist Owned and operated Nordquist Cabins and Lodge

Read about Cooke City Mines and the New World Mining District

Just a few miles from Cooke City MT these beautiful elk ran alongside the car for a thousand feet.

The day before this photo was taken (06/04/02) I witnessed a collision between a yearling Moose and a pickup truck. Vehicle/wildlife collisions are a reality and can dramatically change vacation plans. Be on the alert for wildlife.

Landscape Photography . . . Images from the Beartooth-Absaroka Mountains of Montana and adjacent areas of Wyoming and northeastern Yellowstone Park. Fine Art Ilfochrome and Archival Pigment Prints made from his original 35mm and 6x7cm film transparencies by award winning photographer Carter E. Gowl. At the Blain Gallery in Cooke City and other fine art galleries in the region as well as in other U.S. cities.

Visit www.gowlphoto.com

Oops, gotta watch your speed!! Pedestrians, Dogs, Bears, Buffalo and Moose have the right of way. Cooke City law enforcement is in position 24 hours a day, but deals out justice with common sense and understanding. Please drive courteously!

Cooke City Store. A short History compiled by Ralph Glidden. Serigraph of Store by Dick Bratton of Polson MT

Nordquist Cabins A true early day Yellowstone Motor Lodge. By the early 1960's this landmark was showing disrepair.

Ma Perkins Cafe. Millions of meals were served over the years in this grand little cafe.

Home Comfort Cafe. Menu from 1945. Built in the 1930's and still going today as the Beartooth Cafe

The Cooke City Chamber of Commerce is a very good source of information for visitors. New public restrooms

Cooke City/Silver Gate Chamber of Commerce, . . . . . Box 1071 . . . . . Cooke City, MT 59020 (406) 838-2495

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In Closing.........

"Here, within the shadows of the mountains they loved and lived among, rest a few of the rugged pioneers, who discovered in 1870 the mineral wealth these mountains held. they established Cooke City and the New World Mining District even before the country to the west became Yellowstone National Park. They lived and died for the dream these mountains had given them. And, as if in tribute, from this earth they so loved, the Wild-Forget-Me-Nots blossom every Spring"

More Cemetery Photos and info

A Guestbook Listing of those who have reported in, and some great email. Email to us!

Thanks for Stopping By!

These pages maintained in Memory of Ann Baranko, Sam Brady, Betty Bischoff, Nick Babiluk and Jack williams

Copyright 2005/2006 Michael J. Kay
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or utilized in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by an information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the author