Lewis and Clark County, Montana Genealogy Records

Listed record inventories

Selected holdings and indexes for Lewis and Clark County, checked against the repository descriptions linked below. Date spans may contain gaps; an index is not a complete set of original records.

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

• Find Lewis and Clark County's official website

  We haven't checked this county's website yet, so this opens a web search. Look for an address ending in .gov, then find the county clerk and recorder, the clerk of the district court and the Montana Historical Society.

• 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, Lewis and Clark" 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: Choteau County (now Chouteau), Jefferson County

Check the parent counties for earlier records: Chouteau County, Jefferson County

Later formed partly from Lewis and Clark County: Cascade County

Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1865, search the parent county. The Atlas of Historical County Boundaries shows each boundary change.