Listed record inventories
Selected holdings and indexes for Chouteau County, checked against the repository descriptions linked below. Date spans may contain gaps; an index is not a complete set of original records.
Newspapers
- Daily River Press (Benton, Mont.)1882-1920
- Fort Benton Review (Fort Benton, Mont.)1890-189?
- Little Rockies Miner (Zortman, Mont.)1907-19??
- The Bear Paw Mountaineer (Big Sandy, Mont.)1911-1921
- The Benton Daily Record (Fort Benton, Mont.)1881-1884
- The Benton Record (Benton, M.T. [Mont.])1875-1879
- The Benton Weekly Record (Benton, Mont.)1880-1885
- The Benton Weekly Record (Benton, Montana)1880-1885
- The Big Sandy Sentinel (Big Sandy, Mont.)1914-191?
- The Chouteau County Independent (Fort Benton, Mont.)1910-1925
- The Geraldine Review (Geraldine, Mont.)1913-1963
- The Loma Ledger (Loma, Mont.)1913-1916
- The Montague Herald (Montague, Mont.)1917-192?
- The Mountaineer (Big Sandy, Mont.)1921-Current
- The River Press (Fort Benton, Mont.)1880-Current
- The River Press (Fort Benton, Montana)1880-Current
- The Square Butte Tribune (Square Butte, Mont.)1915-1922
See the repository's descriptions and search options
Repository access note: Selected newspaper titles cataloged by the Library of Congress with explicit county geography. Priority is given to titles beginning by 1950; up to five later titles are included where no earlier dated title is listed for that county. Dates describe publication history, not the issues available at a library. Multiple format records with the same title, place and dates are grouped. The catalog may describe paper, microfilm or online resources. Open ends and the word Current reflect the catalog description; confirm present availability and exact holdings with the libraries listed on the linked record.
Sources: the catalogs and repository descriptions linked on the entries above. Selected inventories do not establish complete coverage of every record type or online access to original documents. Read the repository access note for source dates and limitations.
Where to find the records
- Chouteau County official website
Hours, addresses and phone numbers for the county clerk and recorder, the clerk of the district court and the Montana Historical Society, and any online record search the county offers.
- The county clerk and recorder
Deeds and other land records, and registered births and deaths.
- The clerk of the district court
Marriage licenses, probate (wills and estates), divorces and naturalizations.
- The Montana Historical Society
In Helena: county records, state records and newspapers.
- Montana Historical Society Research Centerfree
The state's historical society library and archives in Helena: county and state records, newspapers and photographs.
- FamilySearch Catalogfree
Search by place for "Montana, Chouteau" to find filmed and digitized records, many viewable free online with a FamilySearch account.
Offices change their hours and access rules; call before you visit.
Boundaries and parent counties
Formed from: Land not yet in any county
Later formed partly from Chouteau County: Blaine County, Cascade County, Hill County, Judith Basin County, Lewis and Clark County, Liberty County, Pondera County, Teton County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1864, search the parent county. The Atlas of Historical County Boundaries shows each boundary change.
Research tip
Montana began statewide registration of births and deaths in 1907. Before 1864 its land was part of Idaho, Dakota, Washington and other territories.