Rocky Springs Segment of the Whoop-Up Trail | |
Nearest city | Kevin, Montana |
---|---|
Built | 1870 |
MPS | Whoop-Up Trail of Northcentral Montana MPS |
NRHP reference No. | 93000278 |
Added to NRHP | April 15, 1993 [1] |
The Rocky Springs Segment of the Whoop-Up Trail was the location of campsites for travellers along the Whoop-Up Trail between Fort Benton, Montana and Fort Hamilton, Alberta in the 19th century. In 1991, it was the best-preserved segment of the Whoop-Up Trail within Montana and it included rut tracks still visible and the surrounding landscape was mostly natural. The numerous small springs in the area were mostly dried up by 1991 "due to modern cultivation and resultant ground water changes". [2] : 30 It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993. [1]
A National Register study of the Whoop-Up Trail included "Diamond R. Brown's account of being caught in a tremendous snowstorm in 1871 at Rocky Springs":
The Whoop-Up Trail , extending from Fort Benton, Montana, to Fort Hamilton, Alberta, was, initially, a trade route between Montana and the southern region of now Alberta, then known as Rupert's Land, and controlled by a British fur trading company, the Hudson's Bay Company. In 1869, negotiations were taking place to transfer control to Canada. Several American traders took advantage of lack of policing in the area and set up trading posts. In addition to their usual trade goods such as guns, metal implements and blankets, they began supplying adulterated alcohol known as "firewater", to the Blackfeet, for buffalo robes, horses and anything else of value. Several posts were established and one of the earliest was Fort Hamilton, in 1869, which burnt down and was replaced by another in 1870, near Lethbridge, Alberta, which became known as Fort Whoop-Up. This trade continued until the arrival of the North-West Mounted Police, in October 1874, when it was considerably curtailed by their establishment of Fort Macleod. Whoop Up trail continued to be the main supply route from Fort Benton into the north for mostly legitimate goods. The arrival of the railways in the 1880s ended its usefulness. [3]
Fort Benton is a city in and the county seat of Chouteau County, Montana, United States. Established in 1846, Fort Benton is the oldest continuously occupied settlement in Montana. The city's waterfront area, the most important aspect of its 19th century growth, was designated the Fort Benton Historic District, a National Historic Landmark, in 1961.
Lethbridge is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 101,482 in its 2019 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian Rocky Mountains contribute to the city's warm summers, mild winters, and windy climate. Lethbridge lies southeast of Calgary on the Oldman River.
The Crowsnest Highway is an east-west highway in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada. It stretches 1,161 km (721 mi) across the southern portions of both provinces, from Hope, British Columbia to Medicine Hat, Alberta, providing the shortest highway connection between the Lower Mainland and southeast Alberta through the Canadian Rockies. Mostly two-lane, the highway was officially designated in 1932, mainly following a mid-19th-century gold rush trail originally traced out by an engineer named Edgar Dewdney. It takes its name from the Crowsnest Pass, the location at which the highway crosses the Continental Divide between British Columbia and Alberta.
The Cypress Hills Massacre occurred on June 1, 1873, near Battle Creek in the Cypress Hills region of Canada's North-West Territories. It involved a group of American bison hunters, American wolf hunters or "wolfers", American and Canadian whisky traders, Métis cargo haulers or "freighters", and a camp of Assiniboine people. Thirteen or more Assiniboine warriors and one wolfer died in the conflict. The Cypress Hills Massacre prompted the Canadian government to accelerate the recruitment and deployment of the newly formed North-West Mounted Police.
Fort Calgary was a North-West Mounted Police outpost at the confluence of the Bow and Elbow rivers in present day Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Initially named Fort Brisebois, after the outpost's first commander, the outpost was renamed Fort Calgary in June 1876.
Jeremiah “Jerry” Potts, , was an American - Canadian plainsman, buffalo hunter, horse trader, interpreter, and scout of Kainai (Blood) and Scots heritage.
Fort Whoop-Up was the nickname given to a whisky trading post, originally Fort Hamilton, near what is now Lethbridge, Alberta. During the late 19th century, the post served as a centre for trading activities, including the illegal whisky trade. The sale of whisky was outlawed but, due to the lack of law enforcement in the region prior to 1874, many whisky traders had settled in the area and taken to charging unusually high prices for their goods.
Alberta Provincial Highway No. 3, commonly referred to as Highway 3 and officially named the Crowsnest Highway, is a 324-kilometre (201 mi) highway that traverses southern Alberta, Canada, running from the Crowsnest Pass through Lethbridge to the Trans-Canada Highway in Medicine Hat. Together with British Columbia Highway 3 which begins in Hope, it forms an interprovincial route that serves as an alternate to the Trans-Canada from the Lower Mainland to the Canadian Prairies.
Alberta Provincial Highway No. 4, commonly referred to as Highway 4, is a 103-kilometre (64 mi) highway in southern Alberta, Canada that connects Highway 3 in Lethbridge to Interstate 15 in Montana. The highway was designated in 1999 as the First Special Service Force Memorial Highway in honour of elite soldiers who travelled to Helena, Montana for training before World War II. The highway continues into the United States retaining that name.
Mullan Road was the first wagon road to cross the Rocky Mountains to the Inland of the Pacific Northwest. It was built by U.S. Army troops under the command of Lt. John Mullan, between the spring of 1859 and summer 1860. It led from Fort Benton, which at the time was in the Dakota Territory, then Idaho Territory from July 1863, and Montana Territory beginning in May 1864, and the navigational head of the Missouri River. The road connected to Fort Walla Walla, Washington Territory, near the Columbia River. The road previewed the route approximately followed of modern-day Interstate 15 and Interstate 90 through present-day Montana, Idaho, and Washington.
The modern history of Lethbridge extends to the mid-19th century, when the area was developed from drift mines opened by Nicholas Sheran in 1874, and the North Western Coal and Navigation Company in 1882. Prior to the development of drift mines in the area, Lethbridge, Alberta was known as Coal Banks, and was part of the territory of the Blackfoot Confederacy. The Confederacy was made up of the Kainai Nation, the Northern Peigan, the Southern Peigan (Blackfeet), and the Siksika Nation.
John J. Healy (1840–1908) was an Irish-American entrepreneur in the late 19th century, who also operated in Canada at various times. His pioneering business activities ranged from Montana to Alberta/BC, Canada and to Alaska/Yukon.
The Red Coat Trail is a 1,300-kilometre (810 mi) route that approximates the path taken in 1874 by the North-West Mounted Police in their March West from Fort Dufferin to Fort Whoop-Up.
The following is an alphabetical list of articles related to the U.S. state of Montana.
Froggie's Stopping Place on the Whoop-Up Trail, also known as Lucille and as Midway Station, is a site on the National Register of Historic Places located in Conrad, Montana. It has been used as a hotel and Post Office. It was added to the Register on April 15, 1993.
The Whoop-Up Trail, also known as the Macleod-Benton Trail was a wagon road that connected Fort Benton, Montana, to Fort Hamilton, Alberta.
The Sweetgrass–Coutts Border Crossing connects the town of Sweet Grass, Montana with the village of Coutts, Alberta, on the Canada–United States border. I-15 on the American side joins Alberta Highway 4 on the Canadian side. Similarly, BNSF Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) connect. A primary conduit for cross border trade estimated at CA$6 billion, it is the busiest crossing for both the province of Alberta and state of Montana, and among the busiest west of the Great Lakes.
The Fort Benton Historic District is a National Historic Landmark District encompassing the historic waterfront areas of Fort Benton, Montana. Founded as a fur trading post at the head of navigation of the Missouri River, it was prior the advent of the railroad one of the nation's largest inland ports, playing a pivotal role in the development of the American and Canadian West. The Front Street and waterfront area of the city preserves elements of this history. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961, although its boundaries were not formally determined until 2012.