The cantonment had six crude log cabins from which Mullan and his men built a two hundred and thirty-five-foot long log bridge with four spans across the nearby Blackfoot River. The camp was located near a trading post established by Frank Worden and Christopher Higgins in 1860 that became known as Hell Gate. The bridge survived for only a couple of years before high water destroyed it. Many replacements bridges were built.
Mullan abandoned the cantonment on 23 May 1862 and departed for Fort Benton (1).
Current Status
Marker and statue located on Montana route MT-2000 at Exit 109 of Interstate 90 near Milltown.
Roberts, Robert B., Encyclopedia of Historic Forts: The Military, Pioneer, and Trading Posts of the United States, Macmillan, New York, 1988, 10th printing, ISBN 0-02-926880-X, page 479.
