DescriptionIn 1828, John Jacob Astor’s American Fur Company established the Fort Union trading post near the confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers. In 1837, a disastrous outbreak of smallpox spread to the tribes trading there. At the end of the Civil War, the privately owned post hosted military troops engaged in combat against Red Cloud’s armed resistance to the Bozeman Trail during 1866–67. In 1867, the U.S. Army bought the post and dismantled it to build nearby Fort Buford. The Fort Union Trading Post NHS has an extensive rebuilt fort and a museum. Although it is in North Dakota, the original post may have been in Montana. Location: Montana–North Dakota state lineOther Name(s)Fort Union Trading Post National Historic SiteContributing InstitutionMontana Historical Society Library and ArchivesGeolocation[1] Elevation1912 ft.
