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. Fort Benton was one of the most important early trading posts because it was built at the head of navigation on the Missouri River. Steamboat brought supplies up the river this far, but because of rapids could go no further. All cargo had to be unloaded here and taken by freightwagons to the gold camps at Helena and Virginia City and other places in western Montana. This post was the point of debarkation for thousands of tenderfeet anxious to reach the gold fields. Fort Benton's hotels, with their high ceilings, plush furniture, and glittering chandeliers were the last word in fashion in the 1870s and '80s. The first steamer to arrive at Fort Benton was the "Chippewa" in 1860. The peak year was 1867, when somewhere between 39 and 47 boats came in. When the Great Northern reached Helena in 1887 the steamboat days were over. The last boat came to Fort Benton in 1922, but the lucrative trade had long since gone to the railroads. (par 2-3 from Cheney's Names on the Face of Montana, Mountain Press Publishing Company) 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. Fort Benton is also the gateway for exploration of the Upper Missouri Wild and Scenic River.
