The name Sunburst was suggested by William George Davis, who noted that the sun, as it rose, burst over the Sweet Grass hills and shone down into the valley where the little town begun.

Sunburst is situated eight miles south of the Canadian border along I-15, positioned at 48.87 degrees North of the equator and 111.90 degrees west of the prime meridian to be exact. This location puts Sunburst in the northern portion of Toole County.  Sunburst is 157 miles away from the State Capital in Helena (as the crow flies).  Rolling plains and the scenic Sweet Grass Hills overlook this calm farming community.  Approximately 437 citizens call Sunburst home. Though small, Sunburst supports several local businesses, and is a comfortable community that is full of friendly, supportive people. 

According to the Northern Telephone Coop. Phone Book, "The Sweet Grass Hills in the northern part of the Liberty County are really mountains and unique in that they are the highest isolated peaks in the United States.  Rising to nearly 7,000 ft. these mountains are volcanic in origin and are believed to be millions of years old.
           The history of the hills is colorful and exciting.  Lewis and Clark saw them and recorded them as "the broken hills" which they first saw from the Missouri and then the Marias River.  Later trappers and prospectors came to hills and there was a short gold rush.  These hills were a Blackfoot Indian Reservation  and soldiers were assigned to the area in 1888.  A military camp was located on the south side of East Butte.
            Indians and Trappers used the hills as a lookout for game and trouble.  Teepee rings may be found in several locations along with pishkun or buffalo jumps.
            Charles M. Russell, the famous Montana cowboy painter, knew these hills well and did quite a lot of his painting here.  Russell had a partnership in a ranch located on Kicking Horse Creek in West Butte.
            The prospecting days left an old gold ghost town in Gold or Middle Butte.  There were thousands of people there at one time, but the days of extensive gold panning are gone.  There have been many reports of fabulous deposits of many minerals, such as gold, silver, copper and lead and also coal, but none have been verified accurately or extensively enough to arrant development."
 

Sunburst was at one time a booming oil town.  It boasted a movie theater, two banks, three hotels, two lumber yards, a hardware store, three service stations, five grain companies, a hospital, and an attorney's office. Sunburst was also one of the largest oil refineries.  After  the refinery was closed in 1961, most of Sunburst’s business evaporated with the departing oil workers. However, the rich history of the refinery was not forgotten. In fact, North Toole County High’s team name is The Refiners. Named after the oil field wildcatters, the Jr. High basketball team is still called the Wildcats.

            Although the oil boom has past, Sunburst remains strong from thriving agriculture and the Sweet Grass port of entry.  The main crops grown in this area are wheat and barley.  The federal government is constructing a new 25 million dollar port of entry in Sweet Grass, which is only eight miles away.  This new facility has brought many new job opportunities to the area for incoming families. Also a very strong school system has kept teachers and students in the area.

           Currently, the Mayor of Sunburst is Gary Iverson (937-3613) and the sheriff of North Toole County is Donna Matoon (434-2584).