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List of fur trading posts in Montana

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The site of Forts Kipp and Stewart near the Missouri
A sketch of Fort Campbell

This is an alphabetically arranged list of trading posts or forts in present-day Montana from 1807 to the end of the fur trading era in the state.

History

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The North West Company fur trader Francois-Antoine Larocque travelled parts of the eastern present-day Montana in 1805,[1]: 156–220  and the following explorations of the Lewis and Clark Expedition opened the area further for commerce.[1]: 28  The first fur trading post built in the future state was Fort Raymond at the confluence of Yellowstone River and Bighorn River, where it carried out trade with the Crow Nation from 1807 to around 1813.[2]: 68  Soon after the establishment of Fort Raymond, trail-blazers from the fur companies found way to the heart of the country of every Native Nation in the territory. Decade by decade, at number of smaller and bigger posts established by different trading companies from both Canada and the United States dotted the banks of the major rivers winding their way through the plains and mountain valleys. The biggest forts stayed active year after year, while others lasted a season and were destroyed by wind and weather or burned by Native Americans. Some of the ruins and old places of bargain are now recognized as historic sites by the United States or Montana.[3]

List

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Name Other names Location County Company Active Main customers Remarks
Big Horn Post#2[3]: 127  Confluence of the Bighorn and the Yellowstone Treasure Rocky Mountain Fur Company 1824– ? The Crow
Brazeau Houses[3]: 110  Braseau's Houses Extreme lower Yellowstone Richland 1828– ?
Fort Alexander[3]: 114  North side of the Yellowstone, six miles west of Forsyth Rosebud American Fur Company 1842–1850[2]: 67  The Crow
Fort Andrew[3]: 98  At the Missouri, 30 miles east of James Kipp Recreation Area Phillips American Fur Company 1862– ? Inundated
Fort Benton (#1)[3]: 127  At the confluence of the Bighorn and the Yellowstone Treasure Missouri Fur Company 1821– 1824? [2]: 68  The Crow
Fort Benton[3]: 35  Fort Lewis, Fort Clay At the Upper Missouri, city of Fort Benton Chouteau American Fur Company 1846–1864 The Blackfeet National Historic Landmark
Fort Campbell[3]: 36  Near the city of Fort Benton Chouteau Harvey, Primeau & Co. 1846–1861
Fort Cass[3]: 127  At the confluence of the Bighorn and the Yellowstone Treasure American Fur Company 1832–1838[2]: 68  The Crow
Fort Chardon[4]: 46  Fort F. A. Chardon At the confluence of the Judith and the Missouri Chouteau 1843– ?
Fort Charles[3]: 129  At the Missouri, right east of Oswego Valley 1861– ?
Fort Connah[3]: 72  Near Post Creek Lake Hudson's Bay Company 1845–1871
Fort Cotton[3]: 36  At the upper Missouri, 10 miles southwest of Fort Benton Chouteau Union Fur Company 1843–  ? (short-lived)
Fort Dauphin[3]: 129  At the Missouri, south of Nashua Valley Louis Dauphin 1860– ?
Fort Galpin[3]: 129  At the Missouri, near the city of Fort Peck Valley LaBarge, Harkness and Company 1862–1864
Fort Hawley[3]: 98  At the Missouri, 30 miles east of James Kipp Recreation Area Phillips Northwest Fur Company 1866– ? Inundated
Fort Jackson[3]: 111  At the Missouri, near Poplar Roosevelt American Fur Company 1833– ? (short-lived)
Fort Kipp[3]: 98  At the Missouri, near the city of Fort Kipp Roosevelt 1860-1860 Burned by Native Americans
Fort LaBarge[3]: 36  At the Missouri, near the city of Fort Benton Chouteau LaBarge, Harkness and Company 1862– ?
Fort Lewis[3]: 36  At the Missouri, west of the city of Fort Benton Chouteau American Fur Company ? – 1847 Dismantled and rebuilt as part of Fort Benton
Fort McKenzie[3]: 36  Fort Brulé[5]: 962  At the Missouri, east of the city of Fort Benton Chouteau American Fur Company 1832–1843 The Blackfeet Burned by Native Americans[5]: 962 
Fort Owen[3]: 107  Bitterroot Valley, east of Stevensville Ravalli Major John Owen 1850–1872 The Bitterroot Salish Now a state park
Fort Piegan[3]: 37  At the confluence of the Marias and the Missouri Chouteau 1831–1832 The Blackfeet Burned by Native Americans[5]: 961 
Fort Poplar[3]: 111  At the Missouri, near Poplar Roosevelt A Charles Larpenteur post 1861– ?
Fort Raymond[3]: 127  Fort Remon, Fort Lisa, Fort Manuel Lisa, Big Horn Post At the confluence of the Yellowstone and the Bighorn Treasure Missouri Fur Company[1]: 31  1807–1813(?)[2]: 68  The Crow
Fort Sarpy I[3]: 114  On the north side of the Yellowstone, 10 miles east of Forsyth Rosebud American Fur Company 1850–1856[6] The Crow
Fort Sarpy II[3]: 127  At the Yellowstone, 10 miles east of the mouth of the Bighorn Treasure American Fur Company 1857– c. 1860[2]: 67–68  The Crow
Fort Stewart[3]: 111  At the Missouri, near the City of Fort Kipp Roosevelt Frost, Todd and Company 1854–1860 Burned by Native Americans
Fort Union[3]: 111  At the Missouri, right east of the Montana – North Dakota border Right east of Roosevelt American Fur Company 1828–1867[7]: 15  The Assiniboine and Cree National Park Service Area
Fort Van Buren[3]: 114  Fort Tulloch, Fort Tullock and Tulloch's Fort[5]: 965  At the Yellowstone, 10 miles east of Forsyth Rosebud American Fur Company 1835–1842[2]: 68  The Crow
Fox, Livingston and Company Post[3]: 19  At the confluence of the Little Bighorn and the Bighorn[5]: 965  Big Horn Fox, Livingston and Company 1843– ? The Crow (Only [3]: 19  has a trading post of this name here)
Henry's Fort[3]: 57  Three Forks Post A mile east of Three Forks Gallatin Missouri Fur Company 1810– ?
Howse's Post[3]: 52  Howse House North of Kalispell Flathead Hudson's Bay Company 1810– ? The Pend d'Oreilles and Salish
Kootenai Post I[3]: 80  At Kootenai River, near Libby Lincoln North West Fur Company 1808– ? The tribes at the upper Columbia
Kootenai Post II[4]: 49  Near Libby Dam Lincoln 1811– ?
Salish House I[3]: 117  Saleesh House, Flathead Post Near Thompson Falls Sanders North West Fur Company[4]: 49  1809– ?
Salish House II[3]: 117  Ten miles east of Thompson Falls Sanders Hudson's Bay Company 1824– ?

Map

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Map with many of the fur trading posts in Montana from 1807 to the early 1870s (map only approximately). The colours on the map show the different Indian territories as described in the first treaties between the Native American tribes in the area and the United States

References

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  1. ^ a b c Wood, Raymond W. and Thomas D. Thiessen (1987): Early Fur Trade on the Northern Plains. Norman and London.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Hoxie, Frederich E. (1995): Parading Through History. The Making of the Crow Nation in America, 1805–1935. Cambridge.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj Montana Historic Preservation Plan (1975). Vol. II. Montana Historic Sites Compendium. Helena.
  4. ^ a b c The Montana Historic Preservation Plan (1970). Helena.
  5. ^ a b c d e Chittenden, Hiram Martin (1954): The American Fur Trade. Vol. II. Stanford.
  6. ^ McDonnell, Anne (Ed.): The Fort Sarpy Journal, 1855–1856. Contributions to the Historical Society of Montana. Volume Ten. 1940.
  7. ^ Fox, Gregory L. (1988): A Late Nineteenth Century Village of a Band of Dissident Hidatsa: The Garden Coulee Site (32WI18). Lincoln.
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