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The Commemorative Quarter for Montana





Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

We have a couple of goals for our Gazetteer:

  • That it be a tool which helps us with planning our trips.
  • We're trying to shape our Gazetteer as a tool to help us understand the community in which our ancestors lived, the community that was part of their daily lives.
  • On our trips, we try to visit those places where our ancestors left their footprints.

By learning about Big Sky (and the surrounding area) during the time that our ancestors lived, we hope to have a better understanding of both their community and its relationship to their lifes. We hope that this tool helps to give us an insight into their world.

As we add data and organize our Gazetteer to help with our family research, we will be adding to this our Genealogical Helper for Big Sky. While we don't have information that is specific to any given person or family, we intend to expand our understanding about where and how people lived.

Neighboring Counties ...

When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties.

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.

So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties instead of the county in which they lived:  their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the east contained birth and death records; the county to the north contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.

Big Sky is primarily located in Gallatin County. A portion of Big Sky extends into Madison County.

To see how the shape of Montana's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Gallatin County: Fremont (ID), Broadwater, Jefferson, Madison, Meagher, Park, Park (WY) & Teton (WY).

Below are the counties that are near Big Sky. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Big Sky:

  • Gallatin County     (The home county of Big Sky)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Big Sky, with the one closest to Big Sky listed first.
    • Big Sky Meadow Village
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Sky Meadow Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Sky Meadow Village
      • Big Sky Meadow Village is located in Gallatin County
    • Big Sky Canyon Village
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Gallatin Gateway
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Four Corners
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Corners
      • Four Corners is located in Gallatin County
    • Arnold
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnold
      • Arnold is located in Gallatin County
  • Madison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Big Sky, with the one closest to Big Sky listed first.
    • Big Sky Mountain Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Sky Mountain Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Sky Mountain Village
      • Big Sky Mountain Village is located in Madison County
    • Cameron
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Ennis
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ennis have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ennis
      • Ennis is located in Madison County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,042 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ennis <2>
    • McAllister
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Norris
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Virginia City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia City
      • Virginia City is located in Madison County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 225 people
      • Former names for Virginia City:
      • Varina
      • Verina
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Virginia City <2>
    • Central City ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Central City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central City
      • Central City is located in Madison County
    • Nevada City ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Big Sky, see our County-by-County Page for Big Sky.

Newspapers Published in Big Sky ...

An ongoing effort between the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has resulted in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).

To share their results, the partnership has created the Chronicling America website. The goal of this partnership is to assemble a database about the current and historic newspapers of the United States. This includes a growing collection of scanned images from selected papers. All of it available to the public on their website.

Using information that we've taken from the Chronicling America website, we've identified 13 newspapers that have been published in the area around Big Sky.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Big Sky, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Big Sky.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful websites offer the information directly or else point to where you can find it. Their information is open to everyone.

To help you get started, the following links will take you to the pages that are relevant to Big Sky:

Cemeteries Near Big Sky ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Big Sky.

This is a new section and is likely to have errors. If you find an error, such as a missing cemetery or we have the wrong name, please let us know. If you know of them, we would also appreciate learning about previous or alternate names.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Big Sky covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Big Sky, with the one closest to Big Sky listed first.

  • Soldiers Chapel Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Soldiers Chapel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Soldiers Chapel Cemetery
  • Bear Creek Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Edens Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Edens Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Edens Cemetery
  • Evans Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Ennis Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ennis Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ennis Cemetery
  • Madison Valley Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Madison Valley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Madison Valley Cemetery
  • McAllister Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • The McAllister Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Meadow Creek Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McAllister Cemetery
  • Gallatin Gateway Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gallatin Gateway Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gallatin Gateway Cemetery
  • Red Bluff Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Black Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Black Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Black Cemetery
  • Hills Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hills Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hills Cemetery
  • Little Holland Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Little Holland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Little Holland Cemetery
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Virginia City Cemetery
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Virginia City Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Virginia City Cemetery
    • Boothill Cemetery
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Boothill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Boothill Cemetery
    • Emigrant Cemetery
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Emigrant Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Emigrant Cemetery

Nearby Communities in 1895 ...

We've built the following list with information that came from an Atlas published by Rand McNally in 1895. The Atlas had details such as the population of the community (which appears to have come from the 1890 Census) and whether there was a post office and/or railroad service available. We also indicate if the community no longer exists and is now historic.<4>

While we didn't find Big Sky in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Big Sky.

These communities are listed based on their distance from Big Sky, with the one closest to Big Sky listed first.

  • Cameron
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Ennis
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ennis have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ennis
    • Ennis is located in Madison County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,042 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ennis <2>
  • Red Bluff
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Red Bluff have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Bluff
    • Red Bluff is located in Madison County
  • Sphinx
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sphinx have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sphinx
    • Sphinx is located in Park County
  • Dailey ‑ Historic
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dailey have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dailey
    • Dailey is located in Park County
  • Norris
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Virginia City
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia City
    • Virginia City is located in Madison County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 225 people
    • Former names for Virginia City:
    • Varina
    • Verina
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Virginia City <2>

We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Big Sky. See our List of 1890's Communities around Big Sky.

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Big Sky. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Gallatin County: www.co.gallatin.mt.us/

The official website for State of Montana: https://mt.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Big Sky) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Big Sky. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.2847, Longitude: -111.3683       In this case, the coordinates for Big Sky have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Big Sky, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024