The Whoop-up Trail
During the 18060's and 18070's supplies and trade goods that came up the Missouri River from St. Louis were transferred at Fort Benton from steamboat to wagon freight for inland distribution. In 1868 a freight trail was open from Ft. Benton to Fort McLeod, a military post in Canada located West of Lethbridge. Traders, who eagerly swapped firewater for furs, soon found themselves in need of protection from their patrons who sometimes felt they hadn't been given a square deal. This encouraged the building of "whiskey forts" or trading posts along the trail. The exact origin of the name "Whoop-up" is lost, but one old-timer told this story: "When Johnny LaMotte, one of the traders, returned to (Fort) Benton from across the border, he was asked 'how's business?' Aw, they're just whoopin' 'er up! was the reply."
The Whoop-up Trail was the precursor in reverse of Alberta-Montana rum running channels of the noble experiment era. Though its prime traffic furthered the trading of headaches for hides it did gain a modicum of respectability by becoming a supply route for a few legitimate wares consigned to Old Fort McLeod. The trail ran near here.