Fort Maginnis was established during the

Indian wars The American Indian Wars, also known as the American Frontier Wars, and the Indian Wars, was a conflict initially fought by European colonial empires, the United States, and briefly the Confederate States of America and Republic of Texas agains ...

in the

Department of Dakota A subdivision of the Division of the Missouri, the Department of Dakota was established by the United States Army on August 11, 1866, to encompass all military activities and forts within Minnesota, Dakota Territory and Montana Territory. The Dep ...

by the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

. It was the last of five forts:

Keogh Keogh (usually pronounced ) is an Irish surname. It is a reduced Anglicized form of the Gaelic or , 'son of Eochaidh'. The personal name is in turn based upon the Gaelic word for horse (Old Irish ). People * Sir Alfred Keogh, British Arm ...

(1876),

Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point ...

(1877),

Missoula Missoula ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, Missoula County, Montana, United States. It is located along the Clark Fork River near its confluence with the Bitterroot River, Bitterroot and Blackfoot River (Montana), ...

(1877), Assinniboine (1879), and Maginnis (1880) - built following the defeat of Lieutenant Colonel

George A. Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point ...

by Native Americans at the

Battle of Little Bighorn The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Sioux, Northern C ...

in June, 1876.

History

Fort Maginnis was established in 1880, 4 1/2 miles east of Maiden, Montana Territory, (now a ghost town) by companies of the

3rd Infantry Regiment (United States) The 3rd Infantry Regiment is an infantry regiment of the United States Army. It currently has three active battalions, and is readily identified by its nickname, The Old Guard, as well as Escort to the President of the United States, President ...

under the command of Captain Daingerfield Parker. The fort was named for

Martin Maginnis Martin Maginnis (October 27, 1841 – March 27, 1919) was a nineteenth-century politician, soldier, publisher, editor and miner from Minnesota and the Montana Territory. Origins and early life Maginnis was born in 1841 on his family's farm ...

, Major of the 11th Minnesota Infantry during the Civil War, and the then U.S. Representative from Montana Territory's At-large district. Elements of the 1st United States Cavalry Regiment garrisoned the post beginning in 1881. Maginnis was abandoned on July 20, 1890 and the buildings were sold to the public. In 1879,

Granville Stuart Granville Stuart (August 27, 1834 – October 2, 1918) was an American pioneer, gold prospector, businessman, civic leader, vigilante, author, cattleman and diplomat who played a prominent role in the early history of Montana Territory and t ...

and his friend

Samuel T. Hauser Samuel Thomas Hauser (January 10, 1833 – November 10, 1914) was an American industrialist and banker who was active in the development of Montana Territory. He made his first fortune in silver mines and railroads, but he lost everything in the ...

along with Helena banker Andrew J. Davis established the ''Davis, Hauser and Stuart'' (DHS) cattle company. Stuart was the general manager and established the ranch headquarters of the DHS on Ford Creek but downstream a few miles from Fort Maginnis. Although surrounded by

open range In the Western United States and Canada, open range is rangeland where cattle roam freely regardless of land ownership. Where there are "open range" laws, those wanting to keep animals off their property must erect a fence to keep animals out; th ...

, the ranch was located close to the fort which provided both protection from a limited Indian threat but a ready market for cattle. However this proximity to Fort Maginnis proved to be a major problem as the army claimed rights to all the hay land surrounding the fort, including that of the DHS ranch. The dispute went on for several years before the army finally returned control of the hay land to the DHS in May 1882. In 1885, Lieutenant Colonel James W. Forsyth of the 1st Cavalry served as the fort's commander. Five years later he would command the 7th Cavalry at the

Wounded Knee Massacre The Wounded Knee Massacre, also known as the Battle of Wounded Knee, involved nearly three hundred Lakota people killed by soldiers of the United States Army. More than 250 people of the Lakota were killed and 51 wounded (4 men and 47 women a ...

. In 1890, at the end of the Indian Wars, Fort Maginnis was abandoned.

Fort McGinnis Cemetery

About a half mile in direct distance to the northwest from the center of the fort, and about three quarters of a mile from the fort along a faint two track road is the Fort McGinnis Cemetery. It is fenced off and appears as an indistinct rectangle on aerial photos. There are still grave markers on some of the graves, including those of non military personnel who were buried there. The cemetery, the road from the fort to the cemetery and the fort are all on land belonging to the State of Montana, and should be accessible to the public.

Epilogue

Some of its buildings were purchased, dismantled, and rebuilt in Lewistown; one is the

Abraham and Mary Walton Hogeland House The Abraham and Mary Walton Hogeland House, at 620 W. Montana St. in Lewistown, Montana, was built in c. 1900. It has also been known as the Frank and OlaMay Hogeland House. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. I ...

, which is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. Includes historic photos.

Visiting Fort McGinnis and Fort McGinnis Cemetery today

The site of the fort and its cemetery is little visited as it is in a remote area. The fort, its cemetery, the road from the fort to the cemetery are all on land belonging to the State of Montana,Montana Cadastral map, giving the ownership of parcels of land in Montana, on the internet at http://svc.mt.gov/msl/mtcadastral/ and are accessible to the public. The site of the fort is located about northeast of present-day

Lewistown, Montana Lewistown is a city in and the county seat of Fergus County, Montana, United States. The population was 5,952 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Lewistown is located in the geographic center of the state, southeast of Great Falls, Mo ...

in ranching country, on the west side of the Judith Mountains, along Ford Creek. Foundations and ruins remain. The foundations that remain are substantial enough so that they may be inter-related with a plan of the fort. The GPS coordinates of the site of the fort are 47.185544° -109.138554°. The GPS coordinates of the cemetery are 47.187923°-109.147631°. Public roads from Lewistown -- US Highway 87 to Gilt Edge Road to Black Butte Road to Fort Maginnis Rd, to Collar Gulch Road --will lead to a car ford over to the site of the fort across Ford Creek on State of Montana land, which creek crossing may or may not be in good shape, but from the creek crossing it is only a short walk of a few hundred yards onto the site of the fort.

Notes

{{Montana Montana Territory Maginnis 1880 establishments in Montana Territory

History

Fort McGinnis Cemetery

Epilogue

Visiting Fort McGinnis and Fort McGinnis Cemetery today

See also

Notes