Fort Benton (1): Difference between revisions
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==Current Status== | ==Current Status== | ||
The recreated fort features two blockhouses, the Bourgeois Quarters, kitchen, barn, Trade Warehouse, Blacksmith and Carpenter shop, Engage's Quarters, a kitchen all surrounded by an adobe wall. | The recreated fort features two blockhouses, the Bourgeois Quarters, kitchen, barn, Trade Warehouse, Blacksmith and Carpenter shop, Engage's Quarters ruins, a kitchen all surrounded by an adobe wall. | ||
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Revision as of 20:31, 29 September 2013
Fort Benton (1) (1845-1881) - Established first as Fort Lewis (2), an American Fur Company fur trading post in 1845. It was moved in 1846 and rebuilt in 1850. Renamed Fort Benton 25 Dec 1850 after Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri. Abandoned 31 May 1881.
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Fort Benton (1) History
The original Fort Lewis (2) was located on the south bank of the Missouri River just west of Fort Benton opposite Pablois Island. This fort was torn down and moved to the site of Fort Benton in 1846 although it retained the Fort Lewis (2) name until 1850.
Fort Benton was over 150 feet square exclusive of the 20-foot square two story bastions. Portholes in the bastion walls for both cannon and riflemen commanded a shooting range on all four sides of the fort. An adobe wall fourteen feet high connected all the buildings and enclosed the square.
The fort was purchased by the U.S. Government and first garrisoned on 11 Oct 1869. Fort Benton was located at the head of steam navigation on the Missouri River and was used to receive and forward freight to Fort Shaw and Fort Ellis. The post was abandoned by the U.S. Army 31 May 1881 and transferred to the Department of the Interior 5 Jan 1883.
Current Status
The recreated fort features two blockhouses, the Bourgeois Quarters, kitchen, barn, Trade Warehouse, Blacksmith and Carpenter shop, Engage's Quarters ruins, a kitchen all surrounded by an adobe wall.
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Location: Fort Benton, Chouteau County, Montana Maps & Images Lat: 47.82131 Long: -110.66361 |
Sources:
- Hart, Herbert M., Tour Guide to Old Western Forts, Pruett Publishing Co., Boulder CO, 1980, ISBN 0-87108-568-2, page 68-69
- Frazer, Robert W., Forts of the West, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman OK, 1965, ISBN 0-8061-1250-6, page 79
- 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 468
Links:
Visited: 26 Sep 2013
Fort Benton (1) Picture Gallery
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Click on the picture to see a larger version. Contribute additional pictures - the more the better! |