Gold
Settlement on a large scale didn't begin in Western Montana until gold was discovered. The bustling towns of Bannack and Virginia City sprang up and attracted thousands of fortune-seekers to the area. Although gold was also discovered just downstream from Ennis, near Norris, the land that would later become Sun West Ranch wasn't part of the boom, instead being an area that attracted ranchers and farmers to provide food to the gold camps.

Ranching
Agriculture has been the mainstay of the upper Madison Valley ever since the gold-rush days. The little communities of McAllister, Cameron and Jefferson were established near the turn of the century, and farming and ranching developed near here.

The land that would become Sun West Ranch was homesteaded by the Shelton family in the 1800's, who set up a cattle ranching operation. Their original home still overlooks the Madison River from a high bench on the property.

At Sun West Ranch, you'll walk in the footsteps of people who have chosen many of these same sites throughout history for the same reasons we choose them today: for privacy, majestic views, abundance of wildlife and fish, and a sense of coming home.