Westby, Montana, is nestled in the extreme northeastern corner of the state. In its unique location on the combined border of Montana and North Dakota, you need only venture seven miles north to find your way to Canada. This area of the state is wheat and cattle county with gently rolling hills speckled with pumping oil wells.

Just under 200 people call this community home, once located three miles to the southeast in North Dakota. This setting was likely more appropriate as the Danish immigrants that homesteader there applied for a post office for “Westby” or west town (by meaning town in Danish). A few years later, when word was received that the rail line was going to be constructed a few miles north, the town pulled up stakes and relocated to the Montana/North Dakota state line. North Dakota was ‘dry’ at the time so most of the respectable business settled there and Montana got the saloons. The railroad would eventually choose the Montana location as the true town site because freight rates were higher there. That answers the most frequently asked question about the relationship between Westby’s name and its location.

Westby has been discovered by few as it is on the way to nowhere. If it is not your destination, you likely haven’t stumbled upon it, but for those lucky enough to have been informed about its treasures and made the trek, few have left disappointed. Bird watchers and bird hunters both flock to the area to enjoy their sport. Onstad Memorial Park provides ideal habitat for hundreds of different species of birds migrating through the area while other grassland birds and less common birds such as white pelicans and the endangered piping plover call the area around Westby home. Westby is in the middle of the Missouri coteau, a vast grassland of native prairie species. That combined with the Conservation Reserve Program have provided the area with prime game bird habitat. Every fall hunters arrive from all corners of the country to hunt grouse, partridges, ducks, and geese, but primarily pheasant.

Highway 5 winds in from the west and the county seat of Plentywood into Main Street. The isolation that the extreme winters can bring has helped ensure the life of the typical small town Main Street business, home to Westby. Aside from that, the healthy K-12 school system boasts a 100% graduation rate and a first rate technology department. The recent addition of a 100 car grain terminal facility has brought a boost to both the moral and the economy of the area.

Although this area has no mountains, or brooks, or streams, it is beautiful in its own right. Whether your eyes are beholding golden wheat fields stretching to the horizon or ice crystals dancing on a fresh blanket of snow, it is breathtaking. In our mind nothing depicts “The Big Sky Country” better than eastern Montana. I dare you. Make the trip. You will not be disappointed either.

So whether you are looking for a place to live where you can raise a family or a place to visit to engage in pheasant hunting then Westby, Montana is the place for you.

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