Search Our Web Site



Advanced Search

Please Note:
If you are looking for a Montana business or service, click on the MT Web Directory button above (this will take you to a index page for the Directory) or click on the Search by Name button above (this will take you to a search page for the Directory).


Fort Maginnis

A view from 1939:

FORT MAGINNIS, (4,265 alt.), the fort named for Maj. Martin Maginnis, Territorial delegate to Congress, was established in July 1880 by Capt. Dangerfield Park to protect settlers and stockmen from Indian attacks. It was built on the hay pasture of a ranch, laid out that summer by Granville Stuart. Stuart found it more trouble than protection. When cattle and horses were stolen by Indians, the soldiers, through ignorance, indolence, or official delay, often made their recovery impossible and allowed the thieves to go unpunished. Other ranchers shared Stuart's disgust, and in 1890 the fort was abandoned; ranchers and Lewistown citizens later carried off the buildings.

Source: Montana: A State Guide Book; Compiled and Written by the Federal Writers' Project of the Work Projects Administration for the State of Montana; September, 1939.