Fort Owen State Park is one of the smallest in Montana, being located in what amounts to a corral on an active cattle ranch, Fort Owen Ranch. The site of the original St. Mary's Mission, this was the first non native settlement in the state of Montana, later giving rise to the town of Stevensville, Montana's first town. Montana's oldest continuously occupied settlement, Fort Owen was the site of the first sawmill, flour mill, cattle herd, irrigation and public school in Montana.
It is the park's location on an active ranch which is giving both the ranch owner and the parks department headaches, primarily the result of the thoughtlessness or ignorance of visitors to the park. Though it is well posted that the park is surrounded by private property, and the boundary of the park is clearly stated, people still choose to wander about on the ranch, even driving in the nearby hayfield. The Missoulian recently published an article addressing the situation, excerpts from which are reproduced below.
Fort Owen State Park faces challenging time
PERRY BACKUS | Oct 21, 2016
...The Capp family has lived on the ranch since 1972.
The site was originally given to a local historical society back in the 1920s or ’30s. When that organization decided it could no longer manage the site, it turned the land over to the state parks system in 1956.
The historical significance of Fort Owen is widely recognized.
The first mission built by the Jesuits that came to the Bitterroot Valley in the 1841 was constructed nearby. When the Jesuits left for a time, they sold the property to Mayor John Owen in 1850.
It’s a place of many firsts for Montana. Owen built the first sawmill, first gristmill and had the first cattle herd. The first bill of the Montana Legislature dealt with Fort Owen.
Today, there’s not much left above ground from those early times.
The adobe back wall of the barracks is all of the original set of buildings that remain on the site. The barracks has been reconstructed and several other historical buildings have been moved onto the site along with interpretive signs.
State parks officials estimate that about 3,000 people visit the park every year. They say those numbers have been on the downward trend for some time.
The chief challenge of managing the site is its proximity to the Capp ranch. People have to use the ranch’s main road to access the park. Once they arrive, there is barely room for two cars to park.
For Capp, too many of the people who do come to visit the publicly owned historical site don’t respect the fact that it’s surrounded by private property.
This week, members of the state parks board and several folks from the Stevensville community met at the park to learn more from Capp and start a discussion on what might be done. The board held its monthly meeting Thursday in Hamilton.
Almost on cue, as the group gathered in a circle to talk, a family stopped by to visit the historical site. After the family finished walking through the barracks, they wandered through a gate and onto Capp’s property to go look at a horse in a nearby corral.
“That’s what I’m talking about,” Capp said.
From The Missoulian