While two sections of the hotel, the northeast apartment wing and the southeast wing with private dining room and main kitchen, were built in 1882 as the Madison House, the main section was built in 1910 as the
Sacajawea Hotel. The Madison House was initially in "Old Town" Three Forks, a mile downstream on the Missouri River. John Q. Adams, purchasing agent for the Milwaukee Railroad, purchased it and had it moved to its present site. After splitting it into two sections Adams built the hotel around it.
The design of the main hotel was by an architect with a name very familiar to Montana historians, Fred Fielding Wilsson, the most prolific Bozeman based architect of the twentieth century. His vision was of a somewhat Revival, somewhat Colonial exterior with a bungalow arts and crafts interior. The result is a somewhat formal exterior as viewed at the entrance, with a less formal, more inviting, interior. Though the hotel remains open today, it nearly succumbed to the economic ups and downs endured by Three Forks, being shuttered in 2001 and remaining closed until being bought by a third generation Montana family in 2009. The building then underwent its most major renovation to date and was reopened in time for its 100th anniversary.
With 29 luxury rooms, the hotel has won acclaim for both its accommodations and its food, as found in
Pompey’s Grill, named for the son of Sacajawea.
When the hotel reopened for a second and, hopefully, final time in April of 2010, it was a newsworthy event as the locals had grown fond of the Sacajawea, or The Sac, as it has come to be known locally. One news item which covered the event is excerpted below.
Century-old showpiece hotel
reopens in Three Forks
By Andy Malby, editor Apr 30, 2010
Anchoring the north end of Three Forks' Main Street as it has for 100 years, the Sacajawea Hotel has a new lease on life following an extensive renovation at the hands of new owners.
The hotel reopened earlier this month after being closed since Halloween for remodeling that restored the property to -- or perhaps beyond -- its original glory.
The estimated $2 million revamp included everything from a new exterior paint job to extensive refinishing of interior wood, all new furnishings and carpets and an all-new restaurant space, complete with an all-new menu and chef.
"Chef Matt" Israel is a Bigfork native who worked in a couple of the Flathead's finer restaurants before being lured away by the Sac's new owners, Hope and Dean Folkvord of Wheat Montana fame. The restaurant he heads is called Pompey's Grill, named for Sacajawea's infant son, who accompanied the Corps of Discovery on their westward journey, which arrived in the Three Forks area in the summer of 1805.
Serving dinner seven days a week, the restaurant rivals any good Montana steak house in the area, with a menu heavy on steaks and prices ranging from $17 to double that.
The new owners also returned the bar to the basement, its home for decades before it was moved upstairs in the 1990s. The basement venue is more conducive to a "saloon-type atmosphere," where customers needn't worry about tracking in a little mud on their boots, [General Manager Doug] Fisher said.
Extensive renovation of the hotel's 31 sleeping rooms actually reduced that number to 29, mainly because some of the rooms were too small to really be comfortable, he said.
From the Belgrade News