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w w w . d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m
ing. In 1899, Lambert's Landing got a post office, named
for David Polson who had been ranching in the area since
1884. Is it naive of me to ask how two non-Native men
established businesses in an area that had been set aside,
or reserved, for Native people? The Flathead Reservation
was opened to non-Native settlement only in 1910.
In any event, the town of Polson grew rapidly, and by
1920, the US Census counted 1,132 residents in the town.
That number has only grown since, and the 2020 Census
showed 5,148 residents. With the creation of Lake Coun-
ty in 1923, Polson vied with nearby Ronan to be named
County Seat, and with roughly twice the population, Pol-
son won. It has remained the County Seat ever since.
While Polson is not home to the Confederated Salish &
Kootenai Tribal Complex, many tribal offices have a pres-
ence in the town. These include Tribal Health, Natural Re-
sources (Fish, Wildlife, Recreation and Conservation), and
S&K Gaming which runs three casinos on the Reservation,
including the Kwat'aq'nuk Resort and Casino in the cen-
ter of town on the shore of Flathead Lake. (Kwat'aq'nuk
is the Kootenai name for Polson.) On April 9th, 2025, S&K
Gaming broke ground for a new casino, 400 Horses Casi-
no, on the north edge of Polson.When 400 Horses Casino
opens, the tribe will have four casinos along US 93, the
aforementioned Kwat'aq'nuk, 400 Horses both in Polson,
Big Arm Resort and Casino ten miles north of Polson on
the shores of Flathead Lake's Big Arm Bay, and Grey Wolf
Peak Casino, north of Missoula at Evaro.
But if gambling is not your thing, there are plenty of oth-
er ways to spend your time (and money) in Polson. The
online business site Yelp list 67 venues in town. Not all
are restaurants or coffee shops, but an amazing number
of those businesses (55) do show up, especially when you
consider the size of the town. I guess that's why, whenever
I drive through Polson, I see a place to eat on every block.
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