Alexander Culbertson.
Alexander Culbertson built Fort Sarpy in 1850 for the American Fur Company to replace Fort Alexander. It was named after John B. Sarpy, a company partner; however, some preferred to call it by the older post’s name, Fort Alexander, or even combine the names into Fort Alexander-Sarpy. Situated on the North bank of the Yellowstone River, about five miles below the mouth of the Rosebud Creek, it was first operated by Robert Meldrum, an experienced trader and an authority on the Crow tribe’s language and customs. Meldrum, who was married to a Crow woman, was known to the Indians as “Round Iron.” Once Meldrum was settled at Fort Sarpy, Culbertson moved on to rebuild Fort Benton in Blackfeet country. The post was approximately 100 feet square and surrounded by 15-foot-high pickets. It was abandoned and burned in May 1855. The trading post was sometimes also referred to as Meldrum’s Post. It was located about 15 miles East of Forsyth, Montana.
A second fort, Fort Sarpy, was established in 1857. Alexander Culbertson also established the last post built to trade with the Crow Indians for the American Fur Company. It sat on the Yellowstone River about 25 miles below the mouth of the Big Horn River, near present-day Sanders, Montana. The 100-foot-square stockade, surrounded by a palisade of 15-foot-high cottonwood logs, was also called Fort Kipp. It was abandoned in 1860.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated October 2026.
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