$10,000 reward offered in Sleeping Buffalo case

The owners of the Sleeping Buffalo Hot Springs Resort in Saco, Mont., are offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those guilty of recent efforts to sabotage the resort’s historic hot water well.

Dennis Simpson, who along with his wife, Michelle (a Whitewater High School graduate from 1991) bought the Sleeping Buffalo in 2014 and following months of work restoring the resort to its prior glory, reopened on Christmas day that year.

This past Monday morning, Simpson made a plea to the people of Phillips County to help the Sleeping Buffalo figure out who caused recent damage to the hot water well at the resort on two occasions in the last three weeks.

“We consider the Sleeping Buffalo a county asset,” Simpson said, “so we are really seeking the help of the people in the county to figure out who is doing this. We consider ourselves lucky enough to be the caretakers of the hot spring and we really want to take it back to its original glory. We need help finding the parties who are responsible for this destruction.”

Simpson said the first occurrence of tampering with the well occurred the night of Thursday, November 9th and the second time it happened was on the night of Tuesday, November 21. Simpson didn't want to talk too much about the type of destruction that took place on the two occasions but stressed that the damage was both extensive and dangerous.

“Whoever did this, shut it off to where it could cause extensive damage underground ,” Simpson said. “This is a very serious deal. It is damaged to the point now where I don’t know if I can make it through the winter without getting it redone.”

Simpson said that he believes that the person who is guilty of the destruction is perpetrating the vandalism at the instruction of someone else.

"If that person steps up and admits they did it and lets us know who was behind this, I will make sure that they don't get in trouble," he said. "We want the person who had this done to be held accountable."

People wishing to provide information to help find the culprits of the Sleeping Buffalo hot water well vandalism are encouraged to call Simpson at 406-581-1387 or the Phillips County Sheriff’s Office at 654-2350.

“We want to continue to clean up the mess that has plagued the property for years," Simpson said. "The support of the people on the Hi-line has been tremendous but there are always those very few who want to stop progress at any cost we will not be defeated here. We are not going to play games. If anyone causes any damage out there, we are going to fight back and prosecute to the full extent of the law.”

The Sleeping Buffalo once again is seeing people come from all over to stay in the new cabins or to just come for the day to swim.

“We have hundreds of people out here swimming and enjoying the hot springs every week,” Simpson said. “I hope people will step up and help us figure out who is causing this destruction so we can continue to move forward with this wonderful place.”