Priest Butte and its companion Rattlesnake Butte to the west are local landmarks three miles southeast of Choteau along U.S. Highway 89. Visible from 40 miles away, the buttes, or detached table land, have a long history with the community. Native Americans, and later, pioneers, used the buttes as an invaluable guide in their travels through this section and it served as one of the best lookout stations in the neighborhood. Priest Butte got its name from a nearby early Jesuit mission that was established to serve the Blackfeet tribe in 1859-1860. Settlers in 1893 opened the first stone quarry in the area on Priest Butte. That year, contractors blasted out rock and carted it to Choteau where they built the first county court house and jail. The courthouse burned down in 1897.