Montana Forts of the Old West

MONTANA LEGENDS

Montana Forts of the Old West

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Fort Assinniboine

Fort Belknap
Fort Benton

Fort Browning

Fort Campbell
Fort Claggett (Camp Cooke)
Fort Connah
Fort Custer
Fort Ellis
Fort Keogh
Fort Logan
Fort Maginnis

Fort McKinzie
Fort Missoula
Fort Owen

Fort Parker

Fort Peck

Fort Piegan
Fort Shaw
Fort C.F. Smith

Fort Assinniboine, photo courtesy Fort Assinniboine Preservation Asscoiation

Fort Assinniboine (1878-1911) - Following the Black Hills War, the fort, named after the the Assiniboine Indians, was established to ward of any further attacks from the Sioux and Nez Percé .

At the time of its construction, Fort Assinniboine was the most elaborate post in the United States, featuring over 100 buildings and designed to house ten companies of infantry and cavalry. The troops were charged with monitoring the activities of the region's many Indian groups, patrolling Montana's border with Canada, stopping bootleggers and gunrunners and protecting the state's settlers. In its heyday, nearly 750 officers, enlisted men, and civilians called Assinniboine home.

However, with the Indian threat subdued, the fort began to decline. In 1916, a portion of the fort was ceded to the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation (home of the Chippewa Cree tribe.) Later, more land was ceded to Hill County to create Beaver Creek Park, the largest county park in the United States. Unfortunately, most of the buildings at the Fort were razed.

Today, several buildings survive on an agricultural extension station associated with Montana State University. Those structures that are left are located six miles southwest of Havre, Montana on Highway 87.

Fort Belknap (1871-1886) - Beginning as a a trading post, then a station on the Great Northern Railroad, the post was named in honor of Robert L. Belknap. The fort's purpose was to serve as the Indian Agency for the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in the eastern half of Blaine County, which housed the Gros Ventre and Assiniboine Indians . It also served as a subagency for the River Crow Indians. Today, it is the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation located in Harlem, Montana.

Fort Benton (1846-1881) - Initially a non-military fort, the site was established as a trading post by Alexander Culbertson of the American Fur Company . In the beginning it contained only a few log buildings, however; Culbertson replaced them using bricks made of Missouri River clay in the fall of 1848. When it was complete, the fort included Culbertson's home, trader's quarters, a warehouse, blacksmith, trade store, kitchen and barn, surrounded by a 20 foot bastion.

Old Fort Benton, Montana

In the 1860's as the many gold rushes brought prospectors, traders and homesteaders flooding to the area, the fort did a brisk business. Convoys of freight wagons carried supplies to trade in Canada. However, by 1865, the fur trade had declined and the American Fur Company sold the property to the U.S. Military. By the time the troops finally occupied the site in 1869, it had already begun to deteriorate. Six years later, in 1875, the military abandoned the fort. A decade later, the fort had fallen into ruins.

By 1900 only the crumbling northeast bastion remained of fort. However, in 1908, the Daughters of the American Revolution rescued this last remaining structure, which continues to stand today. Over the years, a number of the other old buildings have been reconstructed including the Trade Store, the Warehouse, the Blacksmith and Carpenter's Shop, and the main "Sally Port" Gate.

More Information:

Historic Old Fort Benton

P.O. Box 262

Fort Benton, Montana 59442

Fort Browning (1868-1873) - Located at the junction of Peoples Creek and Milk River, 2 miles southwest of Dodson. Named for O.H. Browning, Secretary of the Interior, the fort served as the Indian Agency for the Assiniboine and Upper Sioux. It was abandoned in 1873 when the Assiniboine were moved to Fort Belknap and the Sioux to Fort Peck.

Fort Campbell (1847-1860) - Established by the St. Louis Fur Company, it was the first adobe fort in the area. Located just one mile from its rival, Fort Benton, it was established in direct competition with the American Fur Company. The fort was it was operated by Alexander Harvey, the most infamous of Indian traders on the Upper Missouri River, known to have been fearless, bold, vindictive and quarrelsome. Harvey died on July 20, 1854 while traveling on a trip down river to Fort William in a mackinaw boat and was buried at the fort. The Fort was sold to Chouteau and Company in 1860 and then later was occupied as a Jesuit monastery. The site is located in Fort Benton, Montana's
Historic District.

Fort Cass (1832-1835) – Also known as Tullochs Fort, the subpost of Fort Union, was established by Samuel Tulloch for the American Fur Company to trade with the Crow Indians. Named for Lewis Cass of Michigan, it was located three miles below the mouth of the Big Horn River on the east bank of the Yellowstone River. The fort was surrounded by cottonwood pickets with 2 bastions in the corners. In 1835 it was abandoned and replaced by Fort Van Buren. The site is located in Treasure County, Montana, but there are no remains.

Fort Clagget (1866-1870) - Established on July 11, 1866, the post, first called Camp Cooke, was located just upstream from the mouth of the Judith River. Built by the 13th regiment of Infantry under Major William Clinton, its purpose was to control the Blackfeet Indians. After being reinforced by 100 soldiers in 1867, the post had a strength of approximately 400 men. The post also served as a supply point for steamboat traffic, but this only occurred for three months out of the year. With little to do, the troops were moved to Fort Benton in 1869 and the post was abandoned in 1870. The fort, located at Judith landing in Chouteau County, Montana, has long since returned to the landscape

Fort Connah (1846-1872) - The southernmost post of the Hudson Bay Co., it was established in 1846 and named after the Scottish river, Connen. It was built by Angus McDonald and Neil McArthur, it consisted of three buildings. Angus McDonald ran the fort until 1864, when it was taken over by his son, Duncan. By 1871, the fur trade era had ended and the trading post closed the following year. Today, there is one remaining original building that continues to stand. Believed to be the oldest standing building in Montana, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Fort Connah Historic Site is located between St. Ignatius and Charlo, Montana on US Highway 93.

The only remaining building at Fort Connah, photo

courtesy Yellowstone Country

Fort Custer (1877-1898) - Established 1877 by U.S. Army to control the Crow Indians, the post was located on the high point between the Big Horn and Little Big Horn Rivers south of present-day Hardin, Montana. The post was named for General George A. Custer who died at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. By the time the fort was established, most of the hostile Indians in the vicinity had been confined to reservations, but the post supplied troops for some of the Plains campaigns, including the Bannock War in 1878 and an uprising at the Crow Agency in 1886. With the Indian threat subdued, the post closed on April 17, 1898 and the buildings were sold. Today nothing remains of the fort but a monument. It is located in Big Horn County, on an unimproved road, about 1 mile west of I-90 and 2 miles southeast of Hardin, Montana.

Fort Ellis (1867-1886) - Fort Ellis was tasked with watching over the miners and settlers in the Gallatin River Valley of western Montana and the nearby Bozeman, Bridger, and Flathead Passes. Figuring in the 1876-81 Sioux campaigns, it was the base at which Colonel John Gibbon, operating out of Fort Shaw, Montana, acquired additional troops in 1876 before proceeding eastward in the ill-fated operation that ended in the Custer disaster. Gibbon also led Fort Ellis troops in the Battle of the Big Hole, Montana. Today, the Montana State University's Fort Ellis Experiment Station occupies the site, but no buildings remain. A commemorative monument is located just off I-90 in Gallatin County, about 3 1/2 miles east of Bozeman.

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