The opening of the Crow Indian Reservation to homesteaders brought settlers to the area who founded Absarokee in 1893, and School District #52 was created to serve the new town. By 1903, a log cabin with a potbelly stove served the town’s first children, and in 1910 the nearby two-room Sandstone School was built for elementary students. As Absarokee grew, it soon needed a high school, and although its high school district was the smallest in the state, residents showed high hopes and determination by holding dances, bazaars, and bake sales to raise funds. A $20,000 bond issue was established, and with cobbles gathered from nearby fields and riverbeds, donated land, and volunteer labor, the school was built. W. R. Plew, an engineer at Montana State University at Bozeman who promoted appropriate designs in rural schools, is credited with the plans. Finished in 1921, the school was fully accredited with three full-time teachers, and the first five students graduated in the spring of 1922. Pupils came from as far away as Limestone and Nye, 45 miles distant, boarding with local families during the winter months. An outstanding example of a simple school built with locally available materials, the building remained in use as a high school until 1990, and most of its original woodwork and fixtures remain intact. Together with the Sandstone School, it stands as a landmark example of the importance of public education to rural communities and of Absarokee’s commitment to its children.