Fort Maginnis Historical Marker
N 47° 03.733 W 109° 06.850
12T E 643203 N 5213804
Ever so popular red sign found on the side of a highway to explain the historical importance of the area you are traveling in. This one notes the existence of an old fort, and the introduction of cattle in the area near Grass Ridge, Montana.
Waymark Code: WM93AQ
Location: Montana, United States
Date Posted: 06/21/2010
Views: 7
The text of the sign is as follows:
Established in 1880, Fort Maginnis was located about 8 miles north of here. This country was great buffalo range before that time, but cattlemen were bringing in stock from the western valleys and cowboys trailed Texas longhorns in from the southeast. There wasn't room for both cattle and buffalo, so the latter had to go. Soldiers protected from being mistaken for buffalo by hungry Indians, encouraged settlement of the Judith Basin west of here and patrolled the Carroll Road to keep supplies rolling between Carrol (near the mouth of the Musselshell River) and Helena. By 1890 the post was no longer needed, the threatening Indians having been relegated to reservations, and the fort was abandoned with civilian blessings.
There were also quite a number of palefaced parties who were handy with a branding iron and prone to make errors as to ownership of their neighbors cattle. Such careless souls were known as "rustlers." Sometimes the cattlemen called on those pariahs with a posse and intimated that they were unpopular with a hangman's noose. Usually such a visitation cured a rustler or two permanently.
Describe the area and history:
This area of Montana still has a number of cattle ranches in the area including a Registered Red Angus ranch, as well as other species of other livestock. The Judith mountains are visible from this sign (located just behind this sign actually) and a smaller sign just to the west of this marker points them out.
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Visit Instructions:
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