Distinctly Montana Magazine

34 D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G 2 0 2 6 with the beauty of the place he named the Judith River after his wife Julia. As with so many resource-rich areas of Montana, the Judith-Missouri conflu- ence became a shared area among tribes in the northwest, even though it lay firm- ly in Blackfeet territory. Council Island was the scene of a tribal council in 1846, where the Blackfeet negotiated a treaty with several tribes in the region to establish a peaceful coexis- tence. In 1855 came the Lame Bull Treaty at the same site, in- stigated by Isaac Stevens on behalf of the Northern Pacific Rail- road. This entailed establishing a common hunting ground for the Blackfeet, Nez Perce, Salish and Pend d'Oreille tribes, thus opening up land and clearing the way for the railroad to contin- ue its westward expansion. Colonial history takes over here, as settlers and gold seekers be- gan moving into the area after the Civil War. The Army estab- lished the territory's first military post, Camp Cooke, near the mouth of the Judith River in 1866. The intention was to protect steamships and overland travel to Fort Benton from Indi- an attacks, but the remote location made it difficult to maintain the camp. It was abandoned in 1870, and you can still see some rubble remains at the site if you're intrepid enough to reach it. An important development in Judith Landing's history grew out of the doomed outpost. Thomas C. Power had built a trading post near Camp Cooke to provide commerce for soldiers, and when the camp shut down he bought the buildings to expand his commercial foothold. He opened a post office and ran a shipping business for a short time, sending cattle, beaver pelts, buffalo hides and other goods to St. Lou- is. A large limestone and granite store/warehouse built in 1880 held his inventory of goods, and he did a fair bit of business with area ranchers and stockmen. By then the little community was known as Judith Landing. JUDITH LANDING JUDITH LANDING STATE PARK STATE PARK WILLIAM CLARK WAS SO TAKEN WITH THE BEAUTY OF THE PLACE he named Judith River after h wife Julia.

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