Fort Buford and the Fort Union Trading Post

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We took a side trip out of Williston to visit a couple of historic sites just a few miles up the Missouri River from town.

Near the Montana border, the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers converge. Fort Buford was established in 1866 to guard and protect the strategic confluence of these rivers, both important transportation and trade routes of the early west. From this fort the army fought the Indians of the northern plains, and it was at Fort Buford, on July, 20, 1881, that the Sioux chief Sitting Bull surrendered, ending the great Sioux wars. Much of the fort has been restored, including the barracks and the commandant’s residence, which houses a museum depicting the life of soldiers in the middle to late nineteenth century.

In 1829, a couple of miles upriver from Fort Buford, John Jacob Astor, d/b/a the American Fur Company opened the Fort Union Trading Post. It was built with gleaming white walls and bright red roofs which were the trademark of the company, and it soon became the most important trading center in the upper Missouri region. Here Indians and trappers would bring furs ( bison and beaver were the most valuable) to trade for food and supplies. The items most in demand were guns, ammunition, beads, cloth, tobacco, alcohol, and almost any kind of metal hardware. It was illegal to sell alcohol to Indians unless it was for medicinal purposes, but it seemed that there were many with afflictions that would be helped by the spirits. It was not unusual for hundreds of Indians to camp outside the trading post walls, while their leaders were inside negotiating the terms of trade. The post has been meticulously restored, and is still stocked with furs and other trading goods of the period.

Our time in North Dakota is almost up. It has been great fun, but now we have to start getting ready to hit the road again.

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