VALIER, Montana Community Information

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  Grain Fields

  Photo courtesy: MTOT

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  Lake Frances

  Photo courtesy: Jan Sage

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  Valier Rock Formaitons

  Photo courtesy: MTOT

Valier was named for Peter Valier of LaCombre, Wisconsin, who supervised the building of the Montana Western Railroad. Valier is northwest of Conrad on the shores of Lake Frances, a reservoir now used for irrigation. The Montana Western, with a total length of 22.2 miles, connected Valier with the main line of the Great Northern. It was built in 1909. The Valier area was settled mainly by a group of Belgian immigrants; a trainload of them arrived in 1913. (from Cheney's Names on the Face of Montana, Mountain Press Publishing Company)

Valier offers great recreation opportunities at Lake Frances. At the junction of U.S. Highway 89 and MT Highway 44, 14 miles west of Valier, an interpretive marker details Lewis and Clark's confrontation with the Blackfeet Indians.

Lake Frances is a mountain-fed lake and as you gaze across Lake Frances you have a beautiful view of the Rocky Mountains. In the summer shore fishing and boat fishing for perch, pike and walleye are popular. The warm waters in the summer make boat skiing, jet skiing, swimming and wind surfing popular. In the winter ice fishing is popular as well as snowmobiling, and ice skating and tubing on the ice. There is a pavilion suitable for family reunions, dances, and wedding receptions.