Distinctly Montana Magazine

104 D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A M A G A Z I N E • FA L L 2 0 2 6 titled "A Dispute Over Horses and Guns." The site and the signs remember the July 26, 1806 night when the Corps of Discovery and a group of Blackfeet camped together along the Two Med- icine River. During the night, the Blackfeet stole guns and tried to steal the expedition's horses. In the ensuing skirmish, two of the Blackfeet were killed, one by Meriwether Lewis himself. In the two year, four month Corps of Discovery journey, the expe- dition crossed eight thousand miles round-trip from St. Louis to the Pacific Coast. This was the only time that blood was shed and Natives died. The Two Medicine Fight Site is one of four Pondera County lo- cations on the National Register of Historic Places. Two others are in Conrad and one in Valier. The Valier School was built in 1911 and operated as the public school until 1952. The three-sto- ry stone building was most impressive in a town that to date has never had a population of over 710. Of the two "Historic Places" in Conrad, one is the City Hall on 4th Avenue SW. Built in 1913, it still serves as City Hall and is the oldest government building in the county. Froggie's Stopping Place on the Whoop Up Trail (don't ya love that name?) has a re- stricted address, but is in the vicinity of Conrad. In the past it has been known as Lucille and Midway Station. The site dates from 1870, the Whoop Up Trail itself from 1869. The Whoop Up Trail was a 200-mile trading route between Fort Benton, Montana, and various trading posts near today's Lethbridge, Alberta. In its ear- ly days, traders took alcohol north to trade for buffalo robes. In its later days, during prohibition, the alcohol flowed south. With today's highways, Conrad is roughly the midway point between the two ends of the trail, and while the trail is fading back into the grasslands, Conrad celebrates Whoop Up Days every June. Like many of their southern compatriots, Virginia brothers Wil- liam G. and Charles E. Conrad moved west after the Civil War. Their travels took them to St. Louis where they boarded a steam- boat bound for the end of the line—Fort Benton, Montana Terri- tory. Fort Benton was good to the brothers. In time, they owned a thriving mercantile business, a fleet of freight-hauling steam- boats operating between St. Louis and Fort Benton, and a lot of visitbutte.com (406) 723-3177 Best St. Patrick's Day Parade 2026 o f BEST M O N TA N A A S V O T E D B Y R E A D E R S O F T H E choice I S yours! D E M A N D T H E best! www.montanatitle.com info@montanatitle.com The Pondera County Courthouse in Conrad, county seat since 1919.

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