Fort Mountain (Square Butte)

Photo: Creative Commons.

Standing about 1,000 feet above the surrounding plains, Fort Mountain was noticed by the men of the Corps on July 15, 1805. They estimated they were about 10 miles from the prominent feature.

According to Captain Lewis, “…this mountain has a singular appearance it is situated in a level plain, it's sides stand nearly at right angles with each other and are each about a mile in extent. the top appears to be a level plain and from the eminence on which I was yesterday I could see that it was covered with a similar cost of grass with the plain on which it stands. the surface appears also to possess a tolerable fertile mole [mold] of 2 feet thick, and is to all appearance inaccessible. from it's figure we gave it the name of fort mountain.”

Standing at 4,728 feet in elevation, Fort Mountain is today one of 11 buttes named Square Butte, in Montana. It’s approximately 25 miles west of Great Falls.