Ubet (also written U-Bet or U-bet) was a stage stop settlement in Fergus County,

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 ...

(but what is now

Judith Basin County Judith Basin County is a county in the U.S. state of Montana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,023. Its county seat is the town of Stanford. History Judith Basin County was formed of area taken from western Fergus and eastern Casc ...

), United States. It is approximately west of Garneill, which was reputedly the best-known stagecoach station in the

Montana Territory The Territory of Montana was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 26, 1864, until November 8, 1889, when it was admitted as the 41st state in the Union as the state of Montana. Original boundaries ...

History

Ubet was founded in 1880 on the Ft. Benton– Billings stagecoach route by

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(and former

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Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hung ...

) A. R. Barrows (who with his family was among the first permanent white settlers of the Judith Basin). The name supposedly came from Barrows' response to a challenge for a name for the settlement's proposed post office: "You bet!" At one time, it included not only a two-story log hotel, but a stagecoach barn, post office, icehouse, saloon,

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

shop, and a

stable A stable is a building in which working animals are kept, especially horses or oxen. The building is usually divided into stalls, and may include storage for equipment and feed. Styles There are many different types of stables in use tod ...

. At one time, there were less than ten fixed human habitations between Ubet and Billings, making the respite there (including Mrs. Barrows' cooking) particularly treasured. Clientele included Liver-Eating Johnson and local cowboy Charlie Russell, who would become the first well-known "cowboy artist". After the advent of railroads in the area, the stage stop became less vital, and the settlement seems to have withered away (although the railroad stops at both Garneill and Judith Gap were initially named "Ubet" as well). In 1934, Barrows' son John (by then an attorney in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

) published a boyhood memoir titled, ''Ubet'' (1934; reprinted in 1990 as ''Ubet: A Greenhorn in Old Montana'') which was reviewed in the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' as "dramatic and colorful." As of the 1939 ''Montana: A State Guide Book'' by the

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, only one or two log buildings remained, used in the earlier 1930s by sheepherders. There is a Ubet Cemetery located on the Ubet Ranch (also called Ubet-Garneill Cemetery) still extant at longitude 46°44′50″ N latitude 109°46′33″W 46.747178.Location for Ubet Cemetery
at

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on Mar ...

Geonames

References

1880 establishments in Montana Territory Geography of Judith Basin County, Montana Ghost towns in Montana {{JudithBasinCountyMT-geo-stub