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Michael has a BA in History & American Studies and an MSc in American History from the University of Edinburgh. He comes from a proud military family and has spent most of his career as an educator in the Middle East and Asia. His passion is travel, and he seizes any opportunity to share his experiences in the most immersive way possible, whether at sea or on the land.

Part of our in-depth series exploring the Mountain Pacific Forts

Picture of Fort Benton Area

P.O. Box 879
Fort Benton, MT 59442
Phone: 406-622-3864
History

Established in 1864, Fort Benton is known as the "Birthplace of Montana." An American Fur Company trading post at first, it became the hub for trade and travel throughout the northwestern United States and Canada. Fifty steamboats a season would dock along its levee, bringing fur traders, gold seekers and settlers to the land of their dreams. Freight destined for isolated settlements would be loaded onto wagons and pulled by thousands of oxen along the trails of the northern plains.

Today, Fort Benton is recognized as a National Historic Landmark, because of the importance it played as the head of navigation on the Missouri River and the opening of the northwest and western Canada. Walk along the steamboat levee and the part of the town once known as ‘the bloodiest block in the west’. View the ruins of ‘Historic Fort Benton’ which is currently under archaeological study and in the process of being reconstructed. Explore the Museum of the Upper Missouri and the Museum of the Great Northern Plains.

Directions

Fort Benton can be found by traveling north on U.S. Highway 87 between Great Falls and Havre.

Activities

Historic
Sightseeing

Communities and Related Links
Great Falls Visitor Information
Fort Benton Web Site
Fort Benton Web Site

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Further reading

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