Distinctly Montana Magazine

27 w w w. d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m feet. Needless to say, trade on the upper Missouri suffered a major setback. A few years later, in 1845, Culbertson returned to make peace with the Blackfeet. His apol- ogy for the massa- cre was accepted and trade resumed immediately. He constructed a fort three miles upstream of present-day Fort Benton. By 1847, he relocated the fort downstream to its final lo- cation which he later named "Fort Benton," after a Missouri senator, Thomas Hart Benton, who was in- strumental in smoothing some fi- nancial issues between the Amer- ican Fur Company and the federal government. Unlike the coming and going of the other, failed trading forts, this one stuck. In 1855 Washington Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens negotiated and signed a treaty with the Black- feet Nation at Fort Benton. This re- sulted in the first Blackfeet Agency being located there, meaning there was a regular flow of Blackfeet into Fort Benton. As with other settle- ments in the West, relations between the Indians and the whites were not always cordial and there were fre- quent confrontations, often with tragic consequences on both sides. The Agency was relocated in 1869. For over 15 years, Fort Benton was the premier trading post in Blackfeet Country. By the time the fort was built, however, the fur trade was already in decline, but the trade in buffalo robes was really taking off. Over the ensuing years, hundreds of thousands of buffalo robes flowed through Fort Benton and down the river. As for Culbert- son and his Black- foot wife, they "re- tired" in 1861 and left for Illinois with a nest egg of more than $400,000— just before the next big boom hit Fort Benton. While the buf- falo robe trade re- mained robust for many more years, keeping the keel- boat traffic up and down the river busy, big changes were on the horizon. Major events converged to seal Fort Benton's prominent role in the development of the Northwest. In 1860, John Mullan finished his famous road, which ran the 624 miles from Fort Benton to Fort Walla Walla. Ostensibly, the road was meant for military use, but was rarely used as such. However, it did provide easier access to the North- west than the more southern Or- egon Trail. Settlers headed to Or- egon and Washington Territories now came through Fort Benton on their way west. Also in that year the first steam- boats made it all the way to Fort Benton, first the Chippewa, and lat- er the Key West. At high water, Fort Benton marked the furthest steam- boats could make it up the Missou- ri, making it the furthest inland port in the country at about 2,400 miles from St. Louis and 3,500 miles from New Orleans. The stage was now set for Fort Benton's next chapter. At this time, Fort Benton consist- ed mainly of the trading post. No real development had taken place outside the fort. 1862 changed all that. With gold discoveries at Bene- tesee's Creek (now called Gold Creek) near Deer Lodge and, even more prominently, at Grasshopper FORT FORT BENTON BENTON Natawista, – Culbertson's wife FBR F O R T B E N T O N R E A L T Y L L C UNIQUE EQUESTRIAN RANCH // HAY FARM 67 acres located along Sun River Road about 1 mile W of Great Falls, MT, and along the Sun River for ¾ of a mile. This property features an elevated ranch-site area for buildings of about 6 acres with two very nice ranch homes having a view of the river valley. Also included are a new 72ft x 140ft indoor riding arena with 3 stalls, a hay barn and tack room, an outdoor round pen, a combination shop & hay barn, 8 run-in sheds with attached dry lots and a well with good potable water. The current use of the property consists of 51 acres of flood irrigated cropland for quality grass-hay production in small square bales of approximately 160 tons per year and 12 acres of grass for grazing. Additional uses for this property are horse riding, boarding, breeding, and training, all offering good potential income. The river frontage, with brush/trees along the bank, supports a popu- lation of pheasants, ducks, geese, and deer, plus there's fishing and floating on the Sun River. This unique property, with an incredible and convenient location just east of the Rocky Mountains, is proudly presented at $2.5 Mil. For more details, or to schedule a showing, contact: Eric Easterly at 406-621-0161 or Dennis Franz at 406-788-1163. Fort Benton Realty LLC Broker Mark Pyrak, 406-788-9280 For the Brochure, go to this link: www.fbrealty.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2-Lazy-C-Brochure-1C-A.pdf HORSE PROPERTY—ONE-OF-A-KIND! Almost 10 acres bordering a paved county road just two blocks from the city limits of Great Falls, MT along 40th Ave South. Includes 10 paddocks, barns, auto waterers, frost-free hydrants, renovated 1984 mobile home, and small historic cabin. Newer septic and drain field for construction of a new custom-built 6-bedroom home! 3 sides of property, and cross-fencing, are pipe-fence, and tall chain-link fence along 40th Ave S. Formally a racehorse stable for 50 years (training track has been removed). Joins Equine clinic-hospital property, close to Missouri River. Good horse boarding and training property, fantastic location! Broker-owned. Rea- sonably priced at $850,000.

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