Fort Parker, Montana
Fort Parker, Montana, also known as the Crow Agency, was established as a result of the 1868 treaty with the Crow Indians.
Located a few miles below the great bend of the Yellowstone River, it was named for E.S. Parker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs. The area was intended to be a refuge for the Crow Indians from their enemies — the Sioux, Cheyenne, and Blackfeet. The government encouraged the Crow to adopt an agricultural lifestyle with little success.
When the government began to reduce the size of the Crow Reservation in 1875, the Crow Agency was moved to a location on the Stillwater River, near the town of Absarokee, ostensibly to remove itself from the whiskey peddlers at Bensons Landing. At that time, the fort was abandoned. Several years later, in May 1883, the agency was moved farther east to its present location, south of Hardin, Montana. No buildings remain at the site located about ten miles to the east of present-day Livingston, Montana near Interstate 90.
By Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated February 2022.
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