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Indian Tribes of the Upper
Missouri
Lewis and
Clark did not meet all of the tribes resident to the Upper Missouri. At
the time of their visit (1804-1806), the area west of the Yellowstone
River was inhabited by Blackfeet, Assiniboine, Gros Ventre (Atsina),
Crow, Plains Cree and Plains Ojibiway.
Homesteading
Most of the Missouri River bottom was homesteaded during the early part
of the 20th century or left federal ownership through the Stockraising
or Desert Land Acts. The area contains the remains of several early
agricultural developments on both public and private lands. On public
land, the Ervin, Hagadone, Middleton and Nelson homesteads have standing
structures that are eligible for the National Register of Historic
Places and are within the UMNWSR. The Wartzenluft, Woods and Gilmore
homesteads are within the Missouri Breaks.
Woodhawk
Piles
These wood piles are remnants of the "woodhawk era"
when woodhawks cut wood and left it on the river banks for steamboat
captains to purchase and then use for fuel for their steamboats. These
old piles are found on Woodhawk Bottom.
Treaty
Sites/Peace Councils
The buffalo of the eastern Montana plains were a staple for not only the
Plains Indians, but for many tribes living in the mountains to the west
who would make annual buffalo hunting trips to the Missouri River Basin.
The majority of the Blackfeet regarded this region as their own preserve
and frequently attacked the mountain tribes, whom they regarded as
intruders. In 1846, Fathers Pierre Jean DeSmet and Nicolas Point were
able to help negotiate a treaty council near the mouth of the Judith
River between most of the tribes of the region to end this hostility.
The
Judith Landing area was also the site of a treaty council between Isaac
Stevens, Governor of Washington Territory, and representatives of most
of the major Indian tribes in the region in 1855. By the terms of the
treaty, known as the Lame Bull Treaty, the land to the north of the
Missouri from the Bears Paw Mountains to the Continental Divide and to
the south between the Musselshell and the mouth of the Milk River would
be the home of the Blackfeet nation. The U.S. government would be
allowed to build roads, military posts and telegraph lines within
Blackfeet territory and to navigate the river in return for annual
annuities. Immediately following the Lewis and Clark Expedition, fur
traders, primarily based out of St. Louis, began working their way up
the Missouri to secure furs, either through trapping or through trade
with the Indians. In addition, two Canadian-based British companies had
established a fur trade in the northern Great Plains and northern Rocky
Mountains. However, it took some time for trading posts to be
established in the area because the Indians, primarily the Blackfeet,
kept the area in peril.
Fur Trade and Forts
In
1831, Ft Piegan was established at the mouth of the Marias. Fort
McKenzie was established in 1832, and operated until 1843. Alexander
Philip Maximilian, Prince of Wied-Neuwied, a noted German scientist and
explorer, visited Fort McKenzie for several months in 1833, while he
studied the local Indians and collected plant and and animal specimens.
He was accompanied by Karl Bodmer, an artist who sketched and made
paintings of the Indians and scenes in the surrounding countryside.
Bodmer's artwork provides a priceless record of the time and illustrates
how little the scene along the wild and scenic river has changed.
When
hostilities with the Blackfeet were renewed in 1844, a fur trader named
Chardon withdrew from Fort McKenzie and established a short-lived post,
Fort Chardon, opposite the mouth of the Judith River. This lasted one
season when another party was sent from Fort Union to recover the
Blackfeet trade and established a new post about three miles upriver
from present-day Fort Benton.
In
1847, Fort Clay was established and was soon renamed Fort Benton. This
fort became the most important trading center in what was to become
Montana and was the head of the navigation on the Missouri River.
Camp
Cooke, the first military outpost in Montana, was established at the
mouth of the Judith River in 1866. After being reinforced by 100
soldiers in 1867, Camp Cooke had a strength of approximately 400 men.
However, once the fort was constructed, the men had little to do. Except
for the months of May, June and July, steamboat traffic was virtually
nonexistent. The fort was abandoned in 1870.
Kid Curry Hide-out
Because
of the inaccessibility and remoteness of the Breaks, many settlers with
questionable backgrounds were attracted to them. Among those was Harvey
Logan, alias Kid Curry. Kid Curry was Montana's contribution to the era
of bank robberies and train hold-ups. Curry was allied with Butch
Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
White
Rocks Historic District
Collection
of natural features and cultural sites encompassing the White Rocks
region of the Missouri.
Judith
Landing Historic District
The
Judith Landing area was also the site of a treaty council between Isaac
Stevens, Governor of Washington Territory, and representatives of most
of the major Indian tribes in the region in 1855. By the terms of the
treaty, known as the Lame Bull Treaty, the land to the north of the
Missouri from the Bears Paw Mountains to the Continental Divide and to
the south between the Musselshell and the mouth of the Milk River would
be the home of the Blackfeet nation. The U.S. government would be
allowed to build roads, military posts and telegraph lines within
Blackfeet territory and to navigate the river in return for annual
annuities.
Dauphine Rapids Historic
District
This
was a dangerous stretch of the Missouri River for steamboats, and was
often mentioned in historic accounts.
Cow
Island Trail
This early trail was part of the transportation network which supplied
the Montana gold fields in the 1860s and 1870s. Steamboats moved freight
up the Missouri River to the head of navigation at Fort Benton and bull
trains distributed the goods. The Cow Island Trail was used to freight
supplies from Cow Island to Fort Benton when the river was too low for
boats to reach Fort Benton.
Stafford
and Virgelle Ferries
Only
three ferries remain in operation on the Upper Missouri, though there
were around two dozen in past years. Two of the remaining three ferries
are within the monument. The Stafford Ferry (known as McClelland Ferry
on north bank) began as a private ferry in 1915 and was replaced by a
county ferry in 1939. The Virgelle Ferry started in 1913. Both are cable
ferries run by a diesel tractor motor.
PN
Ranch
Fort Benton entrepreneur, T.C. Power established a store at the mouth of
Judith River in the early 1880s around which a small community grew. The
area later became the headquarters of the PN Grazing Association. The
stone store building (1884) and early 20th century ranch house are among
the several historic features at this site.
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