History
Fort Maginnis was established in 1880, 4 1/2 miles east of Maiden, Montana Territory, (now a ghost town) by companies of the 3rd Infantry Regiment (United States) under the command of Captain Daingerfield Parker. The fort was named for Martin Maginnis, Major of the 11th Minnesota Infantry during the Civil War, and the then U.S. Representative from Montana Territory's At-large district. Elements of the 1st United States Cavalry Regiment garrisoned the post beginning in 1881. Maginnis was abandoned on July 20, 1890 and the buildings were sold to the public. [2]
In 1879, Granville Stuart and his friend Samuel T. Hauser along with Helena banker Andrew J. Davis established the Davis, Hauser and Stuart (DHS) cattle company. Stuart was the general manager and established the ranch headquarters of the DHS on Ford Creek but downstream a few miles from Fort Maginnis. [3] [4] Although surrounded by open range, the ranch was located close to the fort which provided both protection from a limited Indian threat but a ready market for cattle. [5] However this proximity to Fort Maginnis proved to be a major problem as the army claimed rights to all the hay land surrounding the fort, including that of the DHS ranch. The dispute went on for several years before the army finally returned control of the hay land to the DHS in May 1882. [4]
In 1885, Lieutenant Colonel James W. Forsyth of the 1st Cavalry served as the fort's commander. Five years later he would command the 7th Cavalry at the Wounded Knee Massacre. In 1890, at the end of the Indian Wars, Fort Maginnis was abandoned.
George Armstrong Custer was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars.
Lewistown is a city in and the county seat of Fergus County, Montana, United States. The population was 5,952 at the 2020 census. Lewistown is located in the geographic center of the state, southeast of Great Falls and northwest of Billings. First planned in 1882, it was the site of an 1880s gold rush, and served as an important railway destination, supplying surrounding communities with bricks via rail.
Deer Lodge is a city in and the county seat of Powell County, Montana, United States. The population was 2,938 at the 2020 census.
The Tongue River is a tributary of the Yellowstone River, approximately 265 mi (426 km) long, in the U.S. states of Wyoming and Montana. The Tongue rises in Wyoming in the Big Horn Mountains, flows generally northeast through northern Wyoming and southeastern Montana, and empties into the Yellowstone River at Miles City, Montana. Most of the course of the river is through the beautiful and varied landscapes of eastern Montana, including the Tongue River Canyon, the Tongue River breaks, the pine hills of southern Montana, and the buttes and grasslands that were formerly the home of vast migratory herds of American bison.
The Judith River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately 124 mi (200 km) long, running through central Montana in the United States. It rises in the Little Belt Mountains and flows northeast past Utica and Hobson. It is joined by Dry Wolf Creek in northern Fergus County, and itself joins the Missouri in the White Cliffs Area approximately 18 mi (29 km) northwest of Winifred.
The Judith Mountains are located in central Montana in the Central Montana Alkalic Province in Fergus County, just to the northeast of Lewistown, Montana.
Camp Poplar River was established during the Indian wars in the Department of Dakota by U.S. Army to maintain order, keep non-agency Indians away, and help capture the Indians who disturbed the peace and would not conform to reservation boundaries of the Fort Peck Agency, which in 1878, was relocated to its present-day location in Poplar because the original agency was located on a flood plain, suffering floods each spring. The post was located one-half mile north of the then called, Poplar River Agency, or 2 miles north of the Missouri River on the south bank of the Poplar River and normally consisted of only two companies of infantry. This tiny post has disappeared except for the fact that the town of Poplar, Montana, on the site, bears the same name.
Fort McKinney (1877–1894) was a military post located in North Eastern Wyoming, near the Powder River.
The historic town of Rocky Point was on the south side of the Missouri River in Fergus County, Montana, in the Missouri Breaks. Rocky Point was located at a natural ford on the Missouri River.
The history of vigilante justice and the Montana Vigilantes began in 1863 in what was at the time a remote part of eastern Idaho Territory. Vigilante activities continued, although somewhat sporadically, through the Montana Territorial period until the territory became the state of Montana on November 8, 1889. Vigilantism arose because territorial law enforcement and the courts had very little power in the remote mining camps during the territorial period.
Granville Stuart was a pioneer, gold prospector, businessman, civic leader, vigilante, author, cattleman and diplomat who played a prominent role in the early history of Montana Territory and the state of Montana. Widely known as "Mr. Montana", Granville's life spanned the formative years of Montana from territorial times through the first 30 years of statehood. His journals and writings have provided Montana and western historians unique insights into life in the Northern Rockies during the second half the 19th century.
This is a Timeline of pre-statehood Montana history comprising substantial events in the history of the area that would become the State of Montana prior to November 8, 1889. This area existed as Montana Territory from May 28, 1864, until November 8, 1889, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Montana.
Fort Howes was a civilian redoubt established in 1897 in what was then Custer County, Montana, United States in response to the murder of a sheepherder. Today the site is within Custer National Forest and is occupied by a Bureau of Land Management Fire Station.
The Mizpah Creek incidents, were a series of incidents that occurred from April 5 – June 8, 1879, between United States soldiers and civilians, and eight Northern Cheyennes, that resulted in the death of one U.S. soldier, and the capture of the eight Cheyenne, three of whom committed suicide in prison at Miles City, Montana Territory. The incidents occurred near Mizpah Creek, a tributary of the Powder River, in Montana Territory.
Cat Creek is an unincorporated community in eastern Petroleum County, Montana, United States.
The Montana Stockgrowers Association (MSGA) is a non-profit membership organization that works on behalf of Montana cattle ranchers.
Big Spring Creek is a tributary of the Judith River in Fergus County, Montana near Lewistown, Montana. The creek originates from a first magnitude artesian spring approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) south of Lewistown and flows north, northwest for 30 miles (48 km) to its confluence with the Judith River. The spring is the one of the largest in the world flowing at approximately 50,000 to 64,000 US gallons per minute out of the Madison-Limestone formation in the foothills of the Big Snowy Mountains. The creek flows through and under the town of Lewistown. For three blocks spanning Main Street, the creek runs underneath the town in a man-made channel that was created as the town was built over the creek. The spring provides Lewistown's water supply, which requires no treatment for use by consumers.
Fort Sedgwick, also known as Post at Julesburg, Camp Rankin, and Fort Rankin was a U.S. military post from 1864 to 1871, in Sedgwick County, Colorado. There is a historical marker for the former post. The town was named for Fort Sedgwick, which was named after John Sedgwick, who was a major general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
The Abraham and Mary Walton Hogeland House, at 620 W. Montana St. in Lewistown, Montana, was built in c. 1900. It has also been known as the Frank and OlaMay Hogeland House. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.
