For centuries, various Indian tribes traveled through the area around Ovando along Cokalahiskit, the River of the Trail of the Buffalo, now called the Big Blackfoot River. Ranchers and loggers began arriving in the 1870s and 1880s, and in 1884 the first schoolhouse was built. By the early 20th century, Ovando had two general stores, five saloons, two blacksmith shops, a church, a hotel, a drugstore, a barbershop, a bank, and Forest Service headquarters, while a stage line and telephone company linked it to Helmville and Drummond and made it a distribution center for the surrounding 75 miles. Hopes for growth centered on the expected Blackfoot Railroad, but the railroad was never built, and a devastating fire in 1919 destroyed much of the town's commercial heart; the Forest Service headquarters also moved, drought hurt farms and ranches, and logging declined. Even so, many pioneer ranches remained into the fifth generation, and Ovando continued to serve about 300 people and function as a center for outdoor recreation. Ovando Hoyt, born in Massachusetts in 1844, came to Montana Territory in 1865, settled in the Blackfoot Valley before 1882, ranched there, and opened a general store in 1890. When settlers sought a post office in 1882, they asked him to write to the U.S. Postmaster; although they proposed the name Sadiesville, postal authorities in Washington D.C. chose the unique name Ovando and appointed Hoyt the first postmaster, a role he held for 16 years. He left in 1903 for Ellenburg, Washington, where he died and was buried, and his log home that housed the first post office still stands at the west end of town. George Monture, a Metis trapper, trader, prospector, interpreter, and guide, worked for the Hudson Bay Company, the U.S. Army, and early pioneers, and gained renown after negotiating the release of Major Owen and his men in 1858. Though little is known of his activities in the Blackfoot Valley, early settlers considered him a friend, while conflicting stories about his dealings with Indian and white settlers shaped a contradictory reputation. In the fall of 1877, at an Indian camp on the North Fork of the Blackfoot River, an argument led to his death, with some accounts saying it involved trading whiskey and ammunition and others saying he refused illegal trade. His mutilated body was later recovered by pioneer friends and buried in a secret location; a stone monument erected in 1920 stands about four miles east of Ovando at the site of his death, Monture Creek bears his name, and his grave site remains unknown. A cross-cut from a Douglas fir that grew east of the museum showed about 520 years of growth, with each ring marking one year from its sprouting in 1483 until it was cut down in 2001 because of disease, preserving a timeline that linked the tree's life to events in Ovando, the Blackfoot Valley, Montana, and the nation.