This is an alphabetically arranged list of trading posts or forts in present-day Montana from 1807 to the end of the fur trading era in the state.
History The North West Company fur trader Francois-Antoine Larocque travelled parts of the eastern present-day Montana in 1805, and the following explorations of the Lewis and Clark Expedition opened the area further for commerce. The first fur trading post built in the future state was Fort Raymond at the confluence of Yellowstone River and Bighorn River, where it carried out trade with the Crow Nation from 1807 to around 1813. Soon after the establishment of Fort Raymond, trail-blazers from the fur companies found way to the heart of the country of every Native Nation in the territory. Decade by decade, at number of smaller and bigger posts established by different trading companies from both Canada and the United States dotted the banks of the major rivers winding their way through the plains and mountain valleys. The biggest forts stayed active year after year, while others lasted a season and were destroyed by wind and weather or burned by Native Americans. Some of the ruins and old places of bargain are now recognized as historic sites by the United States or Montana.
List Name Other namesLocation County Company Active Main customers RemarksBig Horn Post#2Montana Historic Preservation Plan (1975). Vol. II. Montana Historic Sites Compendium. Helena. Confluence of the Bighorn and the YellowstoneTreasureRocky Mountain Fur Company 1824– ? The CrowBrazeau Houses Braseau's Houses Extreme lower Yellowstone Richland 1828– ? Fort Alexander North side of the Yellowstone, six miles west of Forsyth Rosebud American Fur Company 1842–1850Hoxie, Frederich E. (1995): Parading Through History. The Making of the Crow Nation in America, 1805–1935. Cambridge. The Crow Fort Andrew At the Missouri, 30 miles east of James Kipp Recreation Area Phillips American Fur Company 1862– ? Inundated Fort Benton (#1) At the confluence of the Bighorn and the Yellowstone Treasure Missouri Fur Company 1821– 1824? The Crow Fort Benton Fort Lewis, Fort Clay At the Upper Missouri, city of Fort Benton Chouteau American Fur Company1846–1864 The Blackfeet National Historic LandmarkFort Campbell Near the city of Fort Benton Chouteau Harvey, Primeau & Co. 1846–1861 Fort Cass At the confluence of the Bighorn and the Yellowstone Treasure American Fur Company 1832–1838 The Crow Fort Chardon Fort F. A. Chardon At the confluence of the Judith and the Missouri Chouteau 1843– ? Fort Charles At the Missouri, right east of Oswego Valley 1861– ? Fort Connah Near Post Creek Lake Hudson's Bay Company 1845–1871 Fort Cotton At the upper Missouri, 10 miles southwest of Fort Benton Chouteau Union Fur Company 1843– ? (short-lived) Fort Dauphin At the Missouri, south of Nashua Valley Louis Dauphin 1860– ? Fort Galpin At the Missouri, near the city of Fort Peck Valley LaBarge, Harkness and Company 1862–1864 Fort Hawley At the Missouri, 30 miles east of James Kipp Recreation Area Phillips Northwest Fur Company 1866– ? InundatedFort Jackson At the Missouri, near Poplar Roosevelt American Fur Company 1833– ? (short-lived) Fort Kipp At the Missouri, near the city of Fort Kipp Roosevelt 1860-1860 Burned by Native AmericansFort LaBarge At the Missouri, near the city of Fort Benton Chouteau LaBarge, Harkness and Company 1862– ? Fort Lewis At the Missouri, west of the city of Fort Benton Chouteau American Fur Company ? – 1847 Dismantled and rebuilt as part of Fort BentonFort McKenzie Fort Brulé At the Missouri, east of the city of Fort Benton Chouteau American Fur Company 1832–1843 The Blackfeet Burned by Native AmericansFort Owen Bitterroot Valley, east of Stevensville Ravalli Major John Owen 1850–1872 The Bitterroot Salish Now a state parkFort Piegan At the confluence of the Marias and the Missouri Chouteau 1831–1832 The Blackfeet Burned by Native AmericansFort Poplar At the Missouri, near Poplar Roosevelt A Charles Larpenteur post 1861– ? Fort Raymond Fort Remon, Fort Lisa, Fort Manuel Lisa, Big Horn Post At the confluence of the Yellowstone and the Bighorn Treasure Missouri Fur CompanyWood, Raymond W. and Thomas D. Thiessen (1987): Early Fur Trade on the Northern Plains. Norman and London. 1807–1813(?) The Crow Fort Sarpy I On the north side of the Yellowstone, 10 miles east of Forsyth Rosebud American Fur Company 1850–1856McDonnell, Anne (Ed.): The Fort Sarpy Journal, 1855–1856. Contributions to the Historical Society of Montana. Volume Ten. 1940. The Crow Fort Sarpy II At the Yellowstone, 10 miles east of the mouth of the Bighorn Treasure American Fur Company 1857– c. 1860 The Crow Fort Stewart At the Missouri, near the City of Fort Kipp Roosevelt Frost, Todd and Company 1854–1860 Burned by Native AmericansFort Union At the Missouri, right east of the Montana – North Dakota border Right east of Roosevelt American Fur Company 1828–1867Fox, Gregory L. (1988): A Late Nineteenth Century Village of a Band of Dissident Hidatsa: The Garden Coulee Site (32WI18). Lincoln. The Assiniboine and Cree National Park Service AreaFort Van Buren Fort Tulloch, Fort Tullock and Tulloch's FortChittenden, Hiram Martin (1954): The American Fur Trade. Vol. II. Stanford. At the Yellowstone, 10 miles east of Forsyth Rosebud American Fur Company 1835–1842 The Crow Fox, Livingston and Company Post At the confluence of the Little Bighorn and the Bighorn Big Horn Fox, Livingston and Company 1843– ? The Crow (Only has a trading post of this name here)Henry's Fort Three Forks Post A mile east of Three Forks Gallatin Missouri Fur Company 1810– ? Howse's Post Howse House North of Kalispell Flathead Hudson's Bay Company 1810– ? The Pend d'Oreilles and Salish Kootenai Post I At Kootenai River, near Libby Lincoln North West Fur Company 1808– ? The tribes at the upper Columbia Kootenai Post IIThe Montana Historic Preservation Plan (1970). Helena. Near Libby Dam Lincoln 1811– ? Salish House I Saleesh House, Flathead Post Near Thompson Falls Sanders North West Fur Company 1809– ? Salish House II Ten miles east of Thompson Falls Sanders Hudson's Bay Company 1824– ?
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