Fort Benton 2

               Maps                                                    Photos

Other Names:  Lewis 3

Dates used: 1846  1881

Location of Fort: Fort Benton, MT

Use: Trading

GPS  N:  47.49.0

         W:  110-39.7

First established as Fort Lewis in 1846 by the American Fur Company on the west bank of the Missouri River near the mouth of the Marias River.  It was rebuilt in 1850 and named Fort Benton in honor of Senator Benton of Missouri.  The fort was located at the head of steamboat navigation and the site is now River Front Park.  All that remain of the first permanent white settlement in Montana is a blockhouse and adobe wall.

For more information see:

American Forts Network (internet)

Encyclopedia of Historic Forts

Forts of the West

Custer's Luck

March of the Montana Column

www.fortbenton.com/fbrestore/index.htm

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