Simms, Montana

Congress passed the Reclamation Act and it was signed into law by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1902. In 1906, the Sun River Irrigation Project was begun as part of the "process" of reclamation. Simms was built on 160 acres in a low spot surrounded by buttes and benches in the Sun River Valley about 30 miles west of Great Falls and 35 miles south of Chouteau near the northwest corner of Cascade County. This was an area just east of Simms Creek that farmers (and government agents) thought might be good for the growing of hay and grains. Prior to that, the area had been cattle country (and still is to a lesser extent).

The first non-Alaskan dog musher to win the famous Iditarod Dog Sled Race (in Alaska) was from Simms (Doug Swindley back in 1995). Simms is famous among outdoorsmen for the high quality of the local fishing and hunting. Simms is also in the news in Montana these days because of the state's expanding population of grizzly bears...