Fort Union Trading Post Historic Structures Report (Part II) Historical Data Section

Still other structures are mentioned in Fort Union's records. These have not been given numbers for several reasons: Some, like the "arsenal," are believed to have been in reality different names for buildings already discussed. Some are so vaguely mentioned that there is doubt of their location and/or existence, such as the "saw pits." Others, like the main gardens, were too far from the fort to be actually a part of it. However, they are important, or have potential importance, to Fort Union's history and are therefore included here.

Fur Press -- In addition to the fur press Denig described as being in the store range, Fort Union had a quite large, wooden press erected outside the fort, between it and the river. The first appearance of this press was in Sprague's 1843 sketches of the post. It again appears, quite clearly, in Hays' 1860 drawings.

Arsenal -- Catlin, in 1832, made two references to the arsenal. On both occasions, visiting Indians were required to leave their weapons in it. No other reference to the arsenal, as such, exists. The only structures known to have contained stores of weapons were the two stone bastions. Perhaps it was one of these to which Catlin referred.

Liquor Shop -- Larpenteur, in his autobiography, referred to a fight in the liquor shop at Christmas, 1858. Perhaps he was referring to the retail store for whites in the stores range.

Saw Pits -- Undoubtedly, like charcoal kilns, there were several saw pits at Fort Union over the years. The only specific reference to them is Larpenteur's 1835 diary, wherein he said a new one was being made over on the south bank of the Missouri river.

Gardens -- During Maximilian's visit in 1833, the summer was too dry to get a garden to grow. However, 1835 was a wet year, and Fort Union's garden of every kind of vegetable prospered. So good was this season that the fort planted several gardens: one in the coulee about one-half mile east of the fort (today called Garden Coulee); one on the south bank of the Missouri (corn, melon, squash, etc.); radishes and "tongue grass" in the distillery house yard; and, if not that year then later, inside the fence around the flag staff. In 1843, Denig noted still another garden site adjacent to the corral, or "old fort," east of the post. One of the gardens, probably the one in the coulee, was considered to be the main one. Larpenteur made several references to the garden-walk and to fencing around the garden. This fencing appears to have been only to keep out animals. There are several references to both Indians and competing traders stealing from the garden. On one occasion, the rails from the fencing were hauled back to the fort because the Indians were burning them for fuel.

As late as the arrival of trouble with the Sioux, in the 1860's, references to a garden appear in the records. All in all, it should be considered as a fairly successful undertaking.

Due to the problem of prairie fires, hay was not always plentiful in the vicinity of the fort. Just a mile or two above it was a piece of bottom land that produced excellent yields of hay in good years, such as 1843 when Audubon was at the fort. At other times, carters had to haul hay as far as 10 miles, from a large bottom farther down the Missouri, such as Kurz described in 1852.

Chantier (Boat yard. etc) -- When Fort Union was founded, there were three excellent stands of timber suitable both for constructing the fort and for boat-building: above and below, on the north side, each only 2-300 yards from the fort; and across the Missouri on the south bank. The principal trees were cottonwood, ash, and elm. Undoubtedly, such activities as boat-building moved from time to time, but it would seem that most of such construction took place right at the fort (Harris, 1843), the suitable timber being rafted down from above, rather than hauled up from below. Boller described in 1863, that the wooded points above the fort "had been nearly all cut away for fuel and building materials," while the point below was still heavily wooded.

The woods across the river were depicted by several artists, particularly Catlin and Bodmer.

Boat Landing -- All the evidence points to the fort's not having a dock or quay on the Missouri river. The reason for this was that the river then, and still, changed its course frequently, now passing immediately under the bluff at the fort, later swinging to the south and throwing up a sandbar between itself and the fort. In Maximilian's time, the river was only 60 feet from the fort (1833). But when Audubon arrived (1843), he and his companions had to make a fair walk to reach the fort while their belongings were carried on a cart Larpenteur (1864) noted in his diary, "It Seems that the main Channel is about coming on this side." Later he complained, "Commenced to unload boats, obliged to make half loads to cross over the bar in front of the fort. Nearly all the visiting artists showed the river as running close to the front of the fort, especially Wimar (1858) who showed a steamboat tied up directly in front.

Although there was no dock, Larpenteur's diary did mention, "imployed two men in planting four seader [sic] posts on the river bank to fasten the Boats." Besides the steamboats each summer, the fort maintained a ferry with which to cross the river. No description of this boat has been found except that it was large enough to transport a cart and mule, and alternatively described as a keel boat, ferry flat, and the flat boat.

Quarry -- This quarry, the source of rock for constructing the powder magazine, was far enough distant to discourage Audubon from visiting it because he did not get away from the fort early enough. We have no idea of which direction it was from the post. The carters had a bridge built across a ravine that ran between the quarry and the fort. This could possibly be Garden Coulee. It is likely that traces of this quarry could still be identified today.

Miscellaneous: Several miscellaneous details have been accumulated from the vast body of material on Fort Union. These, each in its own way, may add a little to the structural history of the fur-trading post:

Wyeth, 1833: "The fort is of usual construction. . . and is better furnished inside than any British fort I have seen."

McKenzie, 1833: "The tin Smith arrived here Nov. 29. He is a good workman. I shall find him a most useful artisan."

Hamilton, 1834: "Will you procure. . . 60 or 100 feet of rod iron for lightning rod."

Hamilton, 1835: "The fort was quite a Lake for a month."

Larpenteur, 1835: "Imployed four men at making shingles.

Larpenteur, 1835: "John Prill raking the chips off the bank on front of the Fort into the river." and "Employed three men in making steps to go down to the river."

Kurz, 1851: "Tools. . . are scattered everywhere--in the saddle room, in the meat house, in the storeroom, in outhouses, bastions, on the floor--axes are. . . under the beds." (This is the only reference found to outhouses. )

Harkness, 1862: "The fort is on a good site, but fast going to decay."

Gregory, Bruguier, & Geowey (1866-67): "We paid $100 for one and $10 for the other log house and made some improvements on them. Pease by permission of Wilkinson tore down the houses & used the logs as fire wood." (These three men were independent traders. Pease was the bourgeois of Fort Union. Wilkinson was the Indian agent. )

Larpenteur, 1865: "Employed. . . the Carpenter at making a plank way from the kitchen to the main house."

Larpenteur, 1865: (Army had left; Larpenteur temporarily responsible for the Army's supplies) "Fenced in between the mens houses and the pickets, to prevent going to the baggage. Made and put up a door and hung it, between the Indians house and the gabled end of the mens house, way to the black smith shop. So the baggage is intirely locked up." In fact, Larpenteur effectively fenced off the southwest corner of the fort.

Hoffman, 1866: "We made two large lanterns out of glazed window sash The candles were made by moulding them in a piece of 2-1/2 inch pipe. We put them outside at the opposite corners from the bastion and kept them burning dark nights." (Because of the Sioux.)

Matthews, 1869: In 1867, the North Western Fur Company "tore down Fort Union, although the buildings were still in good condition. A part of the material was sold to the government and used in the building of Fort Buford, and a part retained by the company and used in the building of their new warehouses," near Fort Buford.

Thus came to an end "the principal and handsomest trading-post on the Missouri River." (Denig, 1843). It had a long history, a history of derring-do and enterprise; a history of violence and intellectual pursuits; a history of white man's culture firmly establishing its roots in the land of the Indian and the buffalo.