Ravalli County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

in the southwestern part of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 44,174. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

. Ravalli County is part of a north–south mountain valley bordered by the

Sapphire Mountains The Sapphire Mountains are a range of mountains located in southwestern Montana in the northwestern United States. From a point near the Clark Fork River and the city of Missoula, they run in a southerly direction for a distance of approximate ...

on the East and the Bitterroot Mountains on the West. It is often referred to as the

Bitterroot Valley The Bitterroot Valley is located in southwestern Montana, along the Bitterroot River between the Bitterroot Range and Sapphire Mountains, in the Northwestern United States. Geography The valley extends approximately from Lost Trail Pass in I ...

, which is named for the

Bitterroot Bitterroot (''Lewisia rediviva'') is a small perennial herb in the family Montiaceae. Its specific epithet ("revived, reborn") refers to its ability to regenerate from dry and seemingly dead roots. The genus '' Lewisia'' was moved in 2009 from ...

Flower. The county is on the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

side of the

Continental Divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...

, which follows the Idaho-Montana border from

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

until Ravalli County. Here, it turns east into Montana, between Chief Joseph Pass and Lost Trail Pass, and follows the Ravalli County- Beaverhead County border.

History

Ravalli County was once home to the Bitterroot Salish tribe. The tribe was first encountered in 1805 by the

Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gro ...

, which noted their friendly nature. The

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

took an interest in creating a mission in the area, and in 1841 founded St. Mary's Mission, subsequently renamed as Fort Owen. In 1864, the settlement's current name, Stevensville, was adopted. In 1891, the Salish tribe was moved to the current

Flathead Reservation The Flathead Indian Reservation, located in western Montana on the Flathead River, is home to the Bitterroot Salish (tribe), Bitterroot Salish, Kootenai (tribe), Kootenai, and Pend d'Oreilles (tribe), Pend d'Oreilles tribes – also known as the ...

under the Treaty of Hellgate. In 1877,

Chief Joseph ''Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt'' (or ''hinmatóowyalahtq̓it'' in Americanist orthography; March 3, 1840 – September 21, 1904), popularly known as Chief Joseph, Young Joseph, or Joseph the Younger, was a leader of the wal-lam-wat-kain (Wallowa) ...

and his Wallowa band of

Nez Perce The Nez Perce (; autonym in Nez Perce language: , meaning 'we, the people') are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who still live on a fraction of the lands on the southeastern Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest. This region h ...

passed through Ravalli County in their attempt to escape confinement to a reservation; they were captured en route to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

just south of Havre. Ravalli County was created in 1893 by the Montana Legislature, carving off a portion of Missoula County. It was named after the Italian

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

priest Antony Ravalli, who came to the Bitterroot Valley in 1845.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the county has an area of , of which is land and (0.4%) is water.

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 93 * Montana Highway 38

Adjacent counties

* Missoula County - north * Granite County - northeast * Deer Lodge County - east * Beaverhead County - southeast * Lemhi County,

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

- south * Idaho County,

- west/Pacific Time Border

National protected areas

* Bitterroot National Forest (part) * Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge * Lolo National Forest (part)

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 44,174 people living in the county.

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 40,212 people, 16,933 households, and 11,380 families in the county. The population density was . There were 19,583 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 95.9% white, 0.9% American Indian, 0.5% Asian, 0.2% black or African American, 0.1% Pacific islander, 0.6% from other races, and 1.9% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 3.0% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 28.8% were German, 17.4% were English, 15.9% were Irish, 8.3% were American, 5.7% were

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

, and 5.5% were Norwegian. Of the 16,933 households, 26.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.5% were married couples living together, 7.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 32.8% were non-families, and 27.1% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.83. The median age was 46.0 years. The median income for a household in the county was $43,000 and the median income for a family was $53,004. Males had a median income of $42,065 versus $27,629 for females. The per capita income for the county was $23,908. About 9.6% of families and 15.0% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 23.5% of those under age 18 and 6.3% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Agriculture and timber form the bulk of Ravalli County economic activity. Marcus Daly, one of three

Butte In geomorphology, a butte ( ) is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and table (landform), tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from the French l ...

copper kings, funded logging operations in the Bitterroot Valley. The lumber was necessary for the Butte copper operation. Recently, more of Ravalli County's economy stems from tourism. The valley borders the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness and offers a wide variety of wildlife, including some of the few remaining

wolverine The wolverine ( , ; ''Gulo gulo''), also called the carcajou or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species, member of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscular carnivore and a solitary animal. The w ...

and

wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, includin ...

populations in the contiguous states. The Lost Trail Powder Mountain ski area is at Lost Trail Pass on the Idaho border on US-93.

Politics

Ravalli County voters have been reliably Republican, opting only one time for the Democratic Party candidate in national elections since 1940 (as of 2024).

Communities

City

Towns

* Darby * Pinesdale * Stevensville

Census-designated places

* Charlos Heights * Conner * Corvallis *

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

* Sula * Victor

Unincorporated communities

* Alta * Bell Crossing * Cinnibar Court * Como * Gorus * Grantsdale * Medicine Hot Springs''Medicine Hot Springs MT'' Google Maps (accessed January 5, 2019)
/ref> * Riverside

Education

K-12 school districts include:
Text list
/ref> * Corvallis K-12 Schools * Darby K-12 Schools * Florence-Carlton K-12 Schools * Hamilton K-12 Schools * Victor K-12 Schools High school districts include: * Stevensville High School District Elementary school districts include: * Lone Rock Elementary School District * Stevensville Elementary School District

Notable person

* Henry L. Myers, Ravalli County prosecuting attorney, U.S. Senator from Montana

References

External links

* {{authority control 1893 establishments in Montana Populated places established in 1893