Sula received its name after the first white child born in the area, Ursula Thompson. However, the area was more popularly referred to as Ross Hole. It was in this area that Alexander Ross of the Hudson Bay Company was trapped by a snowstorm in 1824 and named the place the 'Valley of Troubles, Ross Hole.'
Sula is located in southwestern area of Montana, on US Highway 93 south of Hamilton in the Bitterroot Valley.