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S U M M E R 2 0 2 3
Creek (Bannack), the rush was on—and they came by the thou-
sands. Would-be miners crowded onto the steamboats, came up
the Missouri River to Fort Benton and then ventured overland to
the gold camps of western Montana.
All of a sudden, there were millions to be made from the gold
boom. In response, mercantiles, bars, gambling houses and broth-
els sprung up along the levee on the flats near the fort to feed
on the new traffic. With miners arriving in the spring then leav-
ing in the winter, the Front Street establishments got two shots
at making sure men left Fort Benton a little "lighter" than they
arrived. Supplies destined for the gold fields flowed upstream on
the new steamboat fleet and stacked on the levee. Some accounts
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ARLEE • BOZEMAN • BUTTE • ENNIS • GREAT FALLS • HELENA • KALISPELL • LIVINGSTON
MISSOULA • PHILLIPSBURG • PLAINS • POLSON • SHERIDAN • THREE FORKS
John Mix Stanley sketch
of Fort Benton, 1853
