Hutchins Bridge

Hutchins Bridge carries a long-used traveler’s route across the Madison River in southwestern Montana near Cameron, close to the West Fork’s mouth. Built in 1902 by Omaha engineer John W. Towle, it replaced earlier crossings that had succeeded a ford, making travel up the west branch of the Madison more reliable. The bridge is a pin-connected three-span Pratt through truss, with three identical 100-foot spans and a 16-foot roadway. It was important in the early road era of the northern Rockies, serving motorists bound toward Yellowstone on the Vigilante Trail and Grand Canyon to Banff routes before that Yellowstone route was bypassed in 1922.

Montana · United States