In January, the Sacajawea Hotel changed hands for the first time in 17 years. Eight months later, almost everything a Three Forks local would recognize at 5 N. Main St. is still there. The same staff work in the same two restaurants on a similar weekend schedule. The first new thing the new owners have added is on Saturday, October 10, when the hotel holds its first Oktoberfest with beer from Bridger Brewing.
That makes this a good month to look at the Sac's calendar closely. The new event sits on top of a weekly routine that had already been running, so understanding the routine tells you how to plan around the new event.
What the sale changed and what it kept
The buyer is Starry Night Lodging and RV, a Montana hospitality company owned by the Sheckleton family of Bozeman. Its release announcing the purchase is dated January 30, 2026. The company already runs hotels and RV parks in Bozeman, Ennis, Livingston, Gardiner and Butte. The Sacajawea gives it a property in Three Forks too. The Three Forks Voice ran the sale announcement on February 3.
The Folkvord family had owned the hotel for 17 years. Dean Folkvord told the Belgrade News the family sold so they could focus on a new project in Bigfork, where they had just bought 13 cottages and were renovating them. The Belgrade News described the full two-acre property in its sale report. It includes the 36-room hotel, Pompey's Grill, the Sacajawea Bar, seven cottages with kitchenettes and fireplaces, and a 2,500-square-foot tent for weddings and other events.
Eric Sheckleton met with the hotel staff the week the sale was announced. He then told the Belgrade News:
"We didn't lose a single staff member in the transition, which is a wonderful thing."
The company's release made the same commitment, saying all existing staff would stay with the hotel. Folkvord said the new owners were "eager to get involved in the day-to-day management of the property and to assimilate into the Three Forks community."
Not much has changed since then, at least on the surface. Starry Night's own property guide still lists Pompey's Grill and the lower-level Sac Bar by those names, and still describes the Sac Bar as serving casual pub food with live music on weekends. We could not find any public announcement of a renovation, a closure or a menu overhaul. Everything visible from Main Street suggests the new owners are adding to what was already working.
October 10 is the first new thing
The new addition has a date. The hotel's calendar lists "OctoberFest w/ Bridger Brewing & Sacajawea Hotel" for Saturday, October 10, from noon to 5 p.m. BoZone posted the event on October 2 under the name "Inaugural Oktoberfest." Its listing promises Bridger Brewing beer, food, live music and "fun Oktoberfest games." Because it is billed as inaugural, October 10 is the first time the Sac has held one.
The two listings don't agree on who is playing. BoZone names Dirt Creek Ford as the Oktoberfest band. The hotel's own calendar shows Watson Mills playing 5 to 8 p.m. that same Saturday, starting as the Oktoberfest window closes. Read together, the listings point to an afternoon festival that runs into an evening set. The schedule could still change this week, so check the hotel's calendar before you go.
Some details aren't public yet. Neither listing gives an admission price or names the beers or food. BoZone lists the venue as the Sacajawea Bar at 5 N. Main, but neither listing says whether the event stays inside the bar or uses the event tent or another part of the two-acre property. If you're bringing kids or a group, call the hotel before Saturday.
The brewery partner is a local one. Bridger Brewing has run a Pub + Grill and brewing facility at 75 Vigilante Way since July 26, 2022, when it opened its Three Forks location. Both Bridger Brewing and the Sacajawea Hotel were also on the participant list for this year's Ladies Night Fall Walk downtown on October 1. For a first event under new ownership, the Sac teamed up with a business that already has a place in Three Forks.
The rest of October follows a weekly pattern
Outside of October 10, the October calendar follows a pattern. Most Fridays have a 5 to 8 p.m. live set. Two Saturday nights have karaoke from 9 to 11 p.m., and two Saturdays, October 10 and October 24, have a 5 to 8 p.m. performer.
- Friday, October 9: Larry Myer, 5 to 8 p.m.
- Saturday, October 10: Inaugural Oktoberfest, noon to 5 p.m., then Watson Mills, 5 to 8 p.m.
- Friday, October 16: Edwin Johnson, 5 to 8 p.m.
- Saturday, October 17: Sunrise Karaoke, 9 to 11 p.m.
- Friday, October 23: Neil Filo Beddow, 5 to 8 p.m.
- Saturday, October 24: Steven Stephen, 5 to 8 p.m.
- Friday, October 30: Maggie Hickman, 5 to 8 p.m.
- Saturday, October 31: Sunrise Karaoke, 9 to 11 p.m.
The 5 to 8 p.m. sets line up with dinner service, so a Friday set and a meal fit in the same evening. Which room you eat in depends on the night. These are the hours the hotel's own pages list now:
| Pompey's Grill | Sac Bar | |
|---|---|---|
| Days open | Wednesday through Sunday | Seven days |
| Food service | 4:30 to 9 p.m. | Mon to Fri 4 to 9 p.m.; Sat and Sun noon to 9 p.m. |
| On the current menu | Pork chop porterhouse, elk burger, bison short rib bourguignon, prime-grade ribeye | Wings, poutine, the Sac Burger, the Porky, prime rib wrap |
The weekend noon start at the Sac Bar matters on October 10. The bar's kitchen is already open when Oktoberfest begins, so food runs through the whole event. On Monday and Tuesday nights, Pompey's is closed and the Sac Bar is the dining option in the building. Bridger's Three Forks pub is also closed on Tuesdays. On Tuesday nights, that makes the Sac Bar the only one of these three kitchens serving. Bridger's Three Forks menu is built around grilled beef, chicken, pork and lamb plates, so it covers different ground than either room at the hotel.
The hotel's menu and hours pages show no update date and say nothing about winter hours. Call ahead as the season turns, especially for a Monday or Tuesday plan.
After Halloween, the calendar goes quiet
The fall schedule drops off after October 31. As of this week, the hotel's calendar shows one November listing: Clint Anderson on Friday, November 20, from 5 to 8 p.m. That could fill in as the month gets closer, since the calendar links to a fuller event directory. For now, October holds most of the planned fall programming. That includes the first Oktoberfest the hotel has held, along with four Friday sets, two Saturday evening sets and two karaoke nights in a single month.
For a 1910 building that was put together from parts of the Old Town Hotel and has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1980, a quiet first year with new owners fits its history. Under Starry Night, the restaurant names and the staff have stayed the same, and Dean Folkvord's "one of the greatest places you can sit and watch small-town Montana" porch faces the same stretch of Main Street. The one clear sign of what the new owners plan to add is Saturday, October 10, from noon to 5 p.m.
Main Street landmarks like the Sac shape how a small town feels day to day, and they're part of what we follow closely as Three Forks changes. If you have questions about historic properties, downtown Three Forks, or how places like this one hold up over the decades, Carissa Maus (Paulson) knows this area well and has the construction background to talk through old buildings. Schedule a free consultation, and maybe we'll see you on the porch on the 10th.
