BILLINGS - This year marks Yellowstone County's 125th birthday. To find out a little about the 125 past years, KULR looked to the director of the county museum. The building of the museum itself happens to be more a part of the past here than you might think.

The year was 1883 and residents in a portion of Custer County decided they wanted to be their own entity. "One of the first things the county commissioners did was order the Sheriff to get ball and chains, and leg irons, handcuffs, to handle the prisoners with," says current County Commissioner John Ostlund. One of the biggest issues the citizens struggled with, was how expensive it was to transport prisoners all the way to Miles City, where the Custer County Prison was housed. So by becoming their own county, they could create their own prison.

The issues have changed with the times. Now County Commissioner John Ostlund says the biggest issue they deal with is growth management. Yellowstone County has exploded to close to 150 thousand people. "Even as the city grows it really only takes 5 minutes to be out in the hills, we're not so huge," says museum Director Chas Weldon. And the history still surrounds us. In fact, a cabin belonging to and built by one of the first county commissioners Paul Mccormick, houses the Yellowstone County Museum today. It used to sit across from the site of the present YMCA building.

Weldon relates the story of how the cabin made it to its present site. "In 1953 an oil company moved to Billings that later became Mobile. They brought property and tore down his mansion, and they were were going to to tear down cabin when Peter Yeagan Junior and Paul Mccormick Junior and Judge Ben Harwood said don't do it, save it for the county museum. And they said, okay, you have 30 days to move it." With some quick thinking, they salvaged the building. And many others are still working hard to preserve the county's history today.

The county was actually created January 26th of 1883, but the residents are celebrating the anniversary all year.