Janeaux’s Post (2)

Janeaux’s Post (2) (1879-1882) - A fortified trading post established in 1879 in present-day Lewistown, Fergus County, Montana. Named Janeaux’s Post after Francis A. Janeaux a licensed Metis Indian trader. Abandoned in 1882. Also Known as Janeaux’s Fort (2) and Fort Turnay (2). The Janeaux name itself has multiple spellings not repeated here. History Francis A. Janeaux established a homestead claim in the fall of 1879 on Big Spring Creek, in what is today downtown Lewistown, Montana. Here Janeaux built a trading post enclosed in a 100' by 150' stockade with two bastions at opposing corners. There were also several log cabins inside the compound including one for his family and others for clerks and interpreters. The post traded buffalo robes, furs, meat, and pemmican with traveling bands of Missouri River Indians and with about 100 families of the Red River Metis. The 1880 census of the Judith Basin lists some 218 persons in the Judith Basin including gold miners, hunters, traders, and laborers. Janeaux and his competitor Alonzo S. Reed are both listed in the census. Reed had established a trading post and post office on his homestead claim and the two trading posts were but a half-mile apart. Alonzo S. Reed and his partner John J. Bowles had earlier (1874) established the Reed and Bowles Trading Post at the junction of Carroll Road and Big Spring Creek but they had a falling out and that post closed down in 1880. Reed moved his operations to his new homestead claim Reed's Fort. In 1882, Janeaux and his wife donated 40 acres to develop the town site of Lewistown. By 1882 the Janeaux Trading post had evolved into a store and in 1883 he sold his store. By 1884, a two-story hotel was built facing the store, and before long, the town of Lewistown surrounded the location of Janeaux's old trading post. Current Status The trading post was located at the corner of 3rd Ave. N. and West Broadway St. No remains and apparently no markers. {"selectable":false,"height":"-500","width":"-500"} Location: Lewistown, Fergus County, Montana. Maps & Images Lat: 47.066009 Long: -109.426752 Multi Maps from ACME Maps from Bing Maps from Google Elevation: 3,943' GPS Locations: 47.066009, -109.426752 Janeaux’s Post (2) See Also: Reed's Fort Reed and Bowles Trading Post Sources: Miller, Don C. and Cohen, Stan B., Military & Trading Posts of Montana, 1978, Pictorial Histories, Missoula, Montana, ISBN: 0-933126-00 X, 107 pages, Page 41 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 471. Links: North American Forts - Francis Janneau's Post Legends of America - Janeaux’s Post Fortification ID: MT0093 - Janeaux’s Post (2) MT0224 - Janeaux’s Fort (2) MT0222 - Fort Janeaux (2) MT0204 - Fort Turnay (2)]] Visited: 20 Jul 2022 Area