Fort Parker (Springdale, Montana (near Livingston), Montana)
Springdale, Montana (near Livingston) · Montana · Indian Wars
History & Significance
The Fort Laramie Indian Treaty of 1868 stipulated that the redefined Crow Reserve would have a new "centerpoint" or agency for the Crow. Fort E. S. Parker was built in the fall of 1869, southwest of present-day Springdale, Montana.
The fort was built as a centerpoint for distributing Crow annuities and to encourage the Crow to take up farming. The agency burned down on October 30, 1872, and was quickly replaced by buildings made of adobe, since timber was becoming scarce.
Built in 1869, Fort Parker was a resting point for major expeditions into the Yellowstone Park area, including the Langford-Washburn Expedition and the Hayden Survey. Between 1868 and 1875, the site served as a place where settlers and Indians traded goods and services, where the U.S. government sought (and failed) to convert the Crow Tribe to farming and other Anglo ways, and where many frontiersmen married Indians and adopted their ways.
Fort Parker was abandoned in 1875, even though the Crow and locals from Bozeman and the Gallatin Valley opposed the move east. The site retains the extant remains of the agency building's foundations and adjacent stone construction known as 'Kennelly's Castle,' constructed after the fort was abandoned.
Key Facts
Map
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🧳 Visiting
What you’ll see when you visit:
- Square-hewn log ruins on a bluff overlooking the Yellowstone River
- First Crow Indian Agency (1869-1875) established under Fort Laramie Treaty
- Site of early federal-Crow relations and annuity distribution center
- Remnants of defensive structure against inter-tribal raids
- Adobe replacement buildings after 1872 fire
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Parker
- https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=193330
- https://fortparkerhistory.org/the-history-of-fort-parker/
- https://montanahistoriclandscape.com/tag/fort-parker-montana/
- https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/73696
- https://www.legendsofamerica.com/fort-parker-montana/