This crossing point on the Dearborn River had been used for many years by the local Indian tribes, primarily the Blackfeet. Prior to the bridge's construction this location was known as the Ponderay Crossing. The river was named for United States Secretary of War Henry Dearborn by Lewis and Clark in 1805. The area was left largely unexplored by Europeans for the next 50 years or so. The bridge was rehabilitated in 2003 by the Montana Department of Transportation, with Sletten Construction of Great Falls, Montana as the lead contractor, and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 18, 2003.