The Bozeman Trail, from the beginning to the end of its relatively short history, was a scene of almost constant turmoil. In the eyes of the Sioux, especially the followers of Chief Red Cloud and their Cheyenne allies, the trail violated the Treaty of Fort Laramie. The Treaty had promised undisturbed hunting grounds to the Sioux and the trail traversed some of their most prized country. These warriors immediately saw to it that any white man on the Bozeman Trail was fair game.

Only large, well-armed wagon trains could realistically hope to reach the gold fields unscathed. A lone traveler or a party few in number had a good chance of meeting disaster at the hands of Red Cloud’s warriors. Therefore, pressure was exerted on the federal government to protect the people moving over the Bozeman Trail. As a result, even though the U.S. Army had shrunk to only a shadow of the military machine of Civil War days, a regiment of infantry was ordered to garrison five forts along the Bozeman Trail. One of these posts, Fort C.F. Smith, overlooked the Bighorn River at the Bozeman Trail.

Captain Kinney selected a site that sat high on a strategic bluff. Strategic vistas were not the only reason for this selection. A good stand of pine could be found in Lime Kiln Creek a short distance away. Water for the livestock and the soldiers was nearby in the Bighorn River and adjacent springs. Food for the livestock could be harvested 2.5 miles away, in a large natural meadow in the valley below. The Bozeman Trail passed along the southwest wall of the garrison, crossing the Bighorn River at the ferry, only 400 yards from the fort. In August 1866 work was started on Fort C.F. Smith by fatigue parties and extra duty men on Captain Kinney’s battalion. The construction and fortification of the fort continued throughout the year and finally ceased in the late winter of 1867. 

Many different people entered the adobe walls of Fort C.F. Smith. From August of 1866 until the summer of 1868, Fort C.F. Smith was garrisoned by soldiers of the 18^th Infantry, which later became the 27^th Infantry. The command of the fort changed hands several times and with one of these command changes, in the summer of 1867, came the first women and children to live within the fort’s perimeter. A Crow by the name of Iron Bull was the mailman and his knowledge of the land, and of the Sioux, greatly improved the mail service. The Crow people were friendly towards the occupants of the fort, often trading goods and bringing news from the other settlements in the area. They also brought warnings of impending attacks by the Sioux and Cheyenne. 

During the fort’s brief existence, twenty-six men and one woman died violently.  Several of those deaths arose from combat with hostile Indians, most of the casualties occurring during the Hayfield Fight on August 1, 1867. Also, the Bighorn River claimed its share of lives when unsuspecting individuals were swept away by raging waters. Mrs. Julia Roach (Doyle) has the distinct honor of being the only murder victim at the fort, a murder which went unpunished.

Constantly harassed by Red Cloud’s warriors, life at Fort C.F. Smith was a combination of tension and monotony. The military post was 300 hostile miles from the nearest settlement. Loneliness, disease, and mental breakdowns were the lot of the military and civilians who manned this remote outpost.

Fort C.F. Smith was the first of three forts to be abandoned. The Crow people, who had come to depend on the military post for safety and trade goods, gathered to bid these men goodbye. On July 29, 1868, with no martial band to thrill the heart, the members of the U.S. Army and their dependents, who had participated in the short life of Fort C.F. Smith, tuned south on the trail home. 

Today, all that remains of the Fort C.F. Smith is a marker that can be seen from the road. The site of Fort C.F. Smith is located on private property.