Editing Huntley, Montana (section)

==History==
[[File:GeorgeSmithHuntleyMontana-Haynes1881.jpg|thumb|left|upright|George N. Smith and family at the Yellowstone River, Huntley, Montana, 1881]]
This settlement in arid [[Crow Indian Reservation|Crow Indian]] country was named for S.O. Huntley, a partner in the [[stagecoach]] firm of Clark & Huntley. It was located at the [[head of navigation]] on the Yellowstone River. The first steamboat, the packet ''Josephine'', arrived June 6, 1875, but river trade was infrequent. A [[United States Postal Service|U.S. post office]] was established in March 1878. The 1880 Census found only 37 people living in Huntley.

Surveying for a railroad led to the so-called "[[Baker Battle]]" between Sioux Indians and Army engineers in 1872. The [[Northern Pacific Railroad]] arrived in 1882, connecting the town to the new city of [[Billings, Montana|Billings]]. Three years later the town called "Huntley Station" had two stores, a hotel, and a blacksmith. German immigrants were prominent among the new settlers, who established [[Lutheran]] and German [[Methodist]] churches.

In 1905 the [[United States Bureau of Reclamation]] began an irrigation project, called the [[Huntley Project]], on lands that had been part of the [[Crow Indian Reservation]] until 1904. The town of Huntley was incorporated into the project along with the new railroad towns of [[Ballantine, Montana|Ballantine]], [[Worden, Montana|Worden]], and [[Pompeys Pillar, Montana|Pompey's Pillar]], all founded in 1907.<ref name="mhs">{{cite web |title=Huntley |url=http://mtplacenames.org/ |website=Montana Place Names Companion |publisher=Montana Historical Society |access-date=5 April 2021}}</ref>

During the Yellowstone Flood of 1937, the damage to Huntley was more extensive, percentage-wise, than in any other community in the region. Much of the original town of Huntley was destroyed and significant portions of the land it occupied was claimed or compromised by the Yellowstone River. The flood damage included washing away the suspension bridge that allowed adjacent Highway 312 to cross the river. After the flood, the site of the town was relocated from the north side of the river to the higher elevation on the south bank.