VOLUME 49 NEWSLETTER SPRING 2020 Fort Maginnis. Cavalry troops on parade grounds, 1886. Photo: W. H. CULVER Fort Maginnis (1880 - 1890) was the fifth army post to be established in Montana following Custer’s wipe out in 1876, and the ‘Indian scare’ that followed. For complete story, see page four. Montana Ghost Town The Prez Sez BRAD O’GROSKY Quarterly The Montana Ghost Town Quarterly is “Nothing is more constant than change.” I don’t know who first said published four times a year by the it, but it certainly is true today as how our world has changed. It makes me Montana Ghost Town Preservation Society, P.O. Box 1861, Bozeman, Montana 59771. think of 1893 when the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890 was repealed. e-mail: [email protected] mining towns in Montana went from boom to bust overnight. But it gave us www.mtghosttown.org Copyright © 2020 all rights reserved. many ghost towns. On a personnel note, my Grandfather died of the Spanish flu when my Dad was a year and a half. Dee and I have had to cancel our Founded in 1970, the Montana Ghost Town Preservation Society is a 501c3 non-profit cruise on the Nile so I’m sure it has affected everyone, but avoiding crowds organization dedicated to educating the public to gives one a chance to visit the many ghost towns. the benefits of preserving the historic buildings, sites, and artifacts that make up the living While you have time on your hands, please consider running the history of Montana. Opinions expressed in the bylined articles are convention for 2021. We have proposed White Sulphur Springs to be the the authors’ and do not necessarily represent base, with Castle, Lennup, Ringling and other sites to be included. This the views of the M. G. T. P. S. year’s convention in Kalispell is just around the corner and hopefully won’t SPRING 2020 be affected by the virus. Stay tuned for any changes which will be in the next newsletter. President: Brad O’Grosky Vice President: Mark Hufstetler We are always looking for preservation projects, so let us know if Secretary / Treasurer: Connie Griffin Website Administrator: Cindy Shearer you have any ideas. We are in contact with the owner of the general store Facebook Administrator: Darian Halden in Maudlow to consider assisting in its preservation. Maudlow was a railroad Grants Administrator; Cindy Shearer Projects: Don Black town for the electric railroad that ran from Harlowton to Idaho through Sixteen Membership: Connie Griffin Mile Canyon. In 1925, an earthquake blocked the tracks for many days Newsletter Editor: Terry Halden 2020 Convention: Steindorf Family requiring temporary tracks to be built around the tremendous rock fall. Director: Aimee Haran Immediate Past President: Terry Halden We hope you enjoy this great newsletter that Terry has created. Stay well, enjoy the ghost towns and let us know if you can help with convention 2021. BRAD AS I SEE IT from the RAMROD’s CHAIR As we all sit at home in quarantine, I figured I should get this newsletter out a little early and take advantage of a captive audience while I can. In this issue, you will find the lead story from Jerry Hanley, about why and where Fort Maginnis was established. It will be followed in subsequent editions with ALL the known archival photos of the fort, along with detailed captions supplied by Jerry, to conclude with the reasons for closing the fort and what happened to all the buildings etc. Since the confluence of the Musselshell and Missouri rivers crops up a lot in early Montana history I’ve included a newspaper article from the Harlem, MT ‘Enterprise’ (November30, 1916) detailing the history of the attempts to establish a town there. Finally on page 9 you will find the exciting preliminary schedule for the upcoming ’20 convention in Kalispell. The Steindorf family (who ran the successful convention in Polson, ten years ago) have done a tremendous job in putting this together, and I urge you to attend what is shaping up to be ‘good one’. TERRY New Members Membership Chairperson Connie reports the following New Members have joined our Association since the last newsletter. Please make them welcome. Dale Carlson, Dillon, MT Ted & Bev Murray Lewistown, MT John & Linda Story Belgrade, MT 2 M.G.T.P.S. Board Meeting more installed in the spring of 2020. January 25th 2020 There are no updates on the IM Store. President Brad O’Grosky called the meeting to order at The Nixon Bridge near Manhattan, MT cannot be 1:00 p.m. Board Members attending were Terry Halden, saved. Don Black, Cindy Shearer, Mark Hufstetler and Connie Griffin New Business: Mark motioned to accept the October 19, 2020 Board For the 2020 Convention in Kalispell, the Steindorf’s Meeting Minutes. Terry seconded the motion, the motion have reserved a block of rooms at the Hilton Garden passed. Inn in Kalispell for $79 (plus taxes) a night. The Hilton Garden Inn will be the main location for convention Treasurer’s Report: events. Paul Strong will be the Guest Speaker. He is From the Fiscal Year of July 1, 2019 to June 31, 2020 as the author of a book titled “Before Kalispell”. of January 25, 2020, M.G.T.P.S. had and Income of New Projects: $14,411.00 and Expenses of $9,818.89 for a Net Income of $4,592.11. The Cash Balances are Petty Cash $60.20; Mark will contact a group that is interested in restoring Checking Account $16,575.84; and Savings Account the Reese Creek Schoolhouse and is inquiring about $10,425.06. interest in restoring some buildings in Lennop. Membership: Cindy mentioned reprinting of a few past publications that are no longer being printed and can legally be Connie reported the M.G.T.P.S. has 231 members, 85 are copied and printed again. The history of Montana in not current with their dues. There were 21 new members the publications may be lost as they are scarce and in 2019 and 1 in January 2020. There will be reminder hard to find. The publications would be scanned and postcards sent out for members that have not renewed included on the website or print on demand through their dues. Amazon.com. Correspondence: Cindy is interested in replacing damaged and incorrect A note was sent to M.G.T.P.S. asking if the email historical signs around the Gallatin County. addresses of members were shared or sold. It was Terry is working towards starting Reflections vol. 2. suggested that “M.G.T.P.S. does not share without permission or sell the email addresses of members” be 2021 Convention: written in a newsletter. White Sulphur Springs has several places of interest Facebook and Webmaster: nearby including the ghost towns of Castle and Copperopolis. There is no chairperson for the 2021 Cindy said that it has been difficult transferring the convention. domain name of the M.G.T.P.S. website from Go Daddy to Square Space. She will be designing the new website Brad mentioned that M.G.T.P.S. has been without a and changing the web address to Vice President for a while. Terry motioned that Mark montanaghosttownpreservation.org. Hufstetler be the new Vice President. Cindy seconded the motion and the motion passed. Don motioned that Cindy moves forward toward making the new M.G.T.P.S. website for up to $300.00. Terry Terry motioned that the meeting be adjourned. Mark seconded the motion. The motion passed. seconded the motion. The motion passed. The meeting was adjourned at 2:10 p.m. The possibility of including older newsletter articles on the new website was mentioned. Respectfully Submitted Old Business: Connie Griffin The Morris State Bank in Pony, MT has had a window Secretary/Treasurer replaced this fall. The owner of the building is having 3 FORT MAGINNIS PART 1 – The establishment of the fort. By Jerry Hanley This is the first of a series of articles regarding central Montana’s, Fort Maginnis. More will appear in future newsletters along with all the available photos of the fort. This article presents an accounting of the background and players leading up to the location and designation of the fort. In the early 1870s Montana pioneers and politicians were pressing the government for protection from Indians and also desired the obvious economic and social benefits that would come with an increased military presence and forts. Areas where forts had been established were enjoying such benefits and increasing population. Remote areas, such as central Montana, suffered from Indian problems and slow growth due to a lack of military presence. (A small military presence temporarily did exist in central Montana in the mid- 1870s when the Carroll Trail was in operation.) In early 1876 settlers, politicians, and importantly, stock growing interests were pushing for a fort in the General Philip Sheridan Musselshell and Judith Basin areas. They were quick to point All Photos courtesy Author out that Fort Logan (earlier called Camp Baker) (1869 – 1880) General Philip Sheridan requested and got two forts near White Sulphur Springs had outlived its usefulness and built immediately in the Yellowstone drainage – Fort Keogh should be relocated to the afore mentioned areas. Naturally, (near present day Miles City) and Post # 5, that was renamed the population in the White Sulphur Springs area did not agree Fort Custer (at the confluence of the Little Big Horn and Big with that assessment. Horn rivers). The Flathead Indian nation was in the process of being moved north from the Stevensville (Fort Owen) area Martin Maginnis, Montana’s territorial delegate to and anticipating possible trouble, Fort Missoula was also Congress from 1873 to 1885, introduced a bill in February built in this 1877 phase.