Fort C. F. Smith (Fort Smith, Montana, Montana)
Fort Smith, Montana · Montana · Red Cloud's War
History & Significance
Established by order of Col. Henry B. Carrington on August 12, 1866, Fort C. F. Smith served as one of three military posts protecting the Bozeman Trail against the Oglala Lakota and other tribes who regarded the trail as a violation of the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie. The fort featured a 125-foot square stockade made of adobe and wood with bastions, initially garrisoned by two companies of the 18th Infantry, though the 1867 complement grew to 400 men of the 27th Infantry.
On August 1, 1867, at the Hayfield Fight near the fort, 21 soldiers and nine civilians armed with breech-loading Springfield rifles held off several hundred Native American attackers. The fort was abandoned on July 29, 1868, pursuant to the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, and was torched by Sioux warriors shortly after evacuation. Today, adobe foundations remain as low earthen mounds, with a stone monument placed in the 1930s marking the parade ground and a wooden sign indicating the Bozeman Trail.
Key Facts
Map
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🧳 Visiting
What you’ll see when you visit:
- Low earthen mounds marking the 1866 military post
- Commemorative stone monument documenting Bozeman Trail conflicts
- Powder River valley setting and Crow Indian Reservation landscape
- Historical site of Red Cloud's War confrontations with Oglala Lakota
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_C._F._Smith_(Fort_Smith,_Montana)
- https://www.nps.gov/bica/learn/historyculture/fort-cf-smith-part-1-the-establishment.htm
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Cloud's_War
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayfield_Fight
- https://www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/red-clouds-war
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bozeman_Trail
- https://grokipedia.com/page/fort_c_f_smith_fort_smith_montana