List of fur trading posts in Montana

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File:Map with site of Forts Kipp and Stewart in Montana.png

File:Fort Campbell in 1865. A trading post in Montana.jpg

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==

The North West Company fur trader Francois-Antoine Larocque travelled parts of the eastern present-day Montana in 1805,{{rp|156–220}} and the following explorations of the Lewis and Clark Expedition opened the area further for commerce.{{rp|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.{{rp|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.

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List

class="wikitable sortable"

!style=text-align:left | Name !!|Other names!!|Location !!| County !!| Company !!| Active !!| Main customers !!| Remarks

Big Horn Post#2[https://archive.org/stream/montanahistoricp1975mont/montanahistoricp1975mont_djvu.txt Montana Historic Preservation Plan (1975)]. Vol. II. Montana Historic Sites Compendium. Helena.{{rp|127}}Confluence of the Bighorn and the YellowstoneTreasureRocky Mountain Fur Company1824– ?The Crow
Brazeau Houses{{rp|110}}Braseau's HousesExtreme lower YellowstoneRichland1828– ?
Fort Alexander{{rp|114}}North side of the Yellowstone, six miles west of ForsythRosebudAmerican Fur Company1842–1850Hoxie, Frederich E. (1995): Parading Through History. The Making of the Crow Nation in America, 1805–1935. Cambridge.{{rp|67}}The Crow
Fort Andrew{{rp|98}}At the Missouri, 30 miles east of James Kipp Recreation AreaPhillipsAmerican Fur Company1862– ?Inundated
Fort Benton (#1){{rp|127}}At the confluence of the Bighorn and the YellowstoneTreasureMissouri Fur Company1821– 1824? {{rp|68}}The Crow
Fort Benton{{rp|35}}Fort Lewis, Fort ClayAt the Upper Missouri, city of Fort BentonChouteauAmerican Fur Company1846–1864The BlackfeetNational Historic Landmark
Fort Campbell{{rp|36}}Near the city of Fort BentonChouteauHarvey, Primeau & Co.1846–1861
Fort Cass{{rp|127}}At the confluence of the Bighorn and the YellowstoneTreasureAmerican Fur Company1832–1838{{rp|68}}The Crow
Fort Chardon{{rp|46}}Fort F. A. ChardonAt the confluence of the Judith and the MissouriChouteau1843– ?
Fort Charles{{rp|129}}At the Missouri, right east of OswegoValley1861– ?
Fort Connah{{rp|72}}Near Post CreekLakeHudson's Bay Company1845–1871
Fort Cotton{{rp|36}}At the upper Missouri, 10 miles southwest of Fort BentonChouteauUnion Fur Company1843– ? (short-lived)
Fort Dauphin{{rp|129}}At the Missouri, south of NashuaValleyLouis Dauphin1860– ?
Fort Galpin{{rp|129}}At the Missouri, near the city of Fort PeckValleyLaBarge, Harkness and Company1862–1864
Fort Hawley{{rp|98}}At the Missouri, 30 miles east of James Kipp Recreation AreaPhillipsNorthwest Fur Company1866– ?Inundated
Fort Jackson{{rp|111}}At the Missouri, near PoplarRooseveltAmerican Fur Company1833– ? (short-lived)
Fort Kipp{{rp|98}}At the Missouri, near the city of Fort KippRoosevelt1860-1860Burned by Native Americans
Fort LaBarge{{rp|36}}At the Missouri, near the city of Fort BentonChouteauLaBarge, Harkness and Company1862– ?
Fort Lewis{{rp|36}}At the Missouri, west of the city of Fort BentonChouteauAmerican Fur Company? – 1847Dismantled and rebuilt as part of Fort Benton
Fort McKenzie{{rp|36}}Fort Brulé{{rp|962}}At the Missouri, east of the city of Fort BentonChouteauAmerican Fur Company1832–1843The BlackfeetBurned by Native Americans{{rp|962}}
Fort Owen{{rp|107}}Bitterroot Valley, east of StevensvilleRavalliMajor John Owen1850–1872The Bitterroot SalishNow a state park
Fort Piegan{{rp|37}}At the confluence of the Marias and the MissouriChouteau1831–1832The BlackfeetBurned by Native Americans{{rp|961}}
Fort Poplar{{rp|111}}At the Missouri, near PoplarRooseveltA Charles Larpenteur post1861– ?
Fort Raymond{{rp|127}}Fort Remon, Fort Lisa, Fort Manuel Lisa, Big Horn PostAt the confluence of the Yellowstone and the BighornTreasureMissouri Fur CompanyWood, Raymond W. and Thomas D. Thiessen (1987): Early Fur Trade on the Northern Plains. Norman and London.{{rp|31}}1807–1813(?){{rp|68}}The Crow
Fort Sarpy I{{rp|114}}On the north side of the Yellowstone, 10 miles east of ForsythRosebudAmerican Fur Company1850–1856McDonnell, Anne (Ed.): The Fort Sarpy Journal, 1855–1856. Contributions to the Historical Society of Montana. Volume Ten. 1940.The Crow
Fort Sarpy II{{rp|127}}At the Yellowstone, 10 miles east of the mouth of the BighornTreasureAmerican Fur Company1857– c. 1860{{rp|67–68}}The Crow
Fort Stewart{{rp|111}}At the Missouri, near the City of Fort KippRooseveltFrost, Todd and Company1854–1860Burned by Native Americans
Fort Union{{rp|111}}At the Missouri, right east of the Montana – North Dakota borderRight east of RooseveltAmerican Fur Company1828–1867Fox, Gregory L. (1988): A Late Nineteenth Century Village of a Band of Dissident Hidatsa: The Garden Coulee Site (32WI18). Lincoln.{{rp|15}}The Assiniboine and CreeNational Park Service Area
Fort Van Buren{{rp|114}}Fort Tulloch, Fort Tullock and Tulloch's FortChittenden, Hiram Martin (1954): The American Fur Trade. Vol. II. Stanford.{{rp|965}}At the Yellowstone, 10 miles east of ForsythRosebudAmerican Fur Company1835–1842{{rp|68}}The Crow
Fox, Livingston and Company Post{{rp|19}}At the confluence of the Little Bighorn and the Bighorn{{rp|965}}Big HornFox, Livingston and Company1843– ?The Crow(Only {{rp|19}} has a trading post of this name here)
Henry's Fort{{rp|57}}Three Forks PostA mile east of Three ForksGallatinMissouri Fur Company1810– ?
Howse's Post{{rp|52}}Howse HouseNorth of KalispellFlatheadHudson's Bay Company1810– ?The Pend d'Oreilles and Salish
Kootenai Post I{{rp|80}}At Kootenai River, near LibbyLincolnNorth West Fur Company1808– ?The tribes at the upper Columbia
Kootenai Post IIThe Montana Historic Preservation Plan (1970). Helena.{{rp|49}}Near Libby DamLincoln1811– ?
Salish House I{{rp|117}}Saleesh House, Flathead PostNear Thompson FallsSandersNorth West Fur Company{{rp|49}}1809– ?
Salish House II{{rp|117}}Ten miles east of Thompson FallsSandersHudson's Bay Company1824– ?

Map

File:Map with many of the fur trading posts in Montana from 1807 to the early 1870s (approximately).png as described in the first treaties between the Native American tribes in the area and the United States]]

References

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