Huntley Project, Federal irrigation district in Yellowstone County, Montana
The Huntley Project is an irrigation district covering approximately 38,000 acres of farmland fed by water from the Yellowstone River. The land is organized through canals, ditches, and reservoirs that form a visible network across the fields.
The project was established in 1907 by the Bureau of Reclamation as a federal development to convert arid western land into productive farmland. It represented an early effort to engineer the landscape and make settlement possible in drier regions.
The farmland reflects the daily work of families who have shaped the landscape through generations of agriculture. You can observe how crops change with the seasons and how local communities mark time by harvests and growing cycles.
The area is accessible by driving through rural roads and field roads that reveal the irrigation infrastructure. Visiting during the growing season shows the system in action and gives you a sense of how water flows through the network.
The Anita Dam, built in 1937, became essential for storing water during dry years and preventing crop failures. Though modest in size, the dam reveals how dependent the agricultural system is on engineered water management.
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