The Museum of the Upper Missouri displays the history of Fort Benton, Montana, from its ancient American Indian heritage, through the Corps of Discovery with Lewis and Clark, the fur trade on the upper Missouri River which resulted in the establishment of Fort Benton, and the steamboat trade which made the community into a thriving port. Shown below are photographs of some of the museum’s displays.
Just outside the museum is a three-inch ordinance rifle which was brought to Fort Benton sometime after the Civil War.
Shown above is a model of the mountain steamboat Far West. With a shallow draft it was able to navigate the shallow upper Missouri. The poles on the bow would be driven into sandbars to help the vessel hop over these obstacles. With steamboats such as this, Fort Benton became a thriving port.
The most famous dog in Fort Benton was Shep who met the train every day for more than two years waiting for his master to return. His master’s body had been shipped east for burial.
Shown above is a Charlie Russell bronze. Russell was one of Montana’s premier artists.
On June 30, 1872, William Wesley Van Orsdel, a 24-year-old Methodist evangelist arrived in Fort Benton on the steamboat Far West. Shown above is a diorama depicting Brother Van preaching to an enthusiastic group at a local drinking establishment.
A formal attempt at law and order began in Fort Benton when Bill Bensel (who had left Helena after a killing and a run-in with the Chinese) became the night marshal. After a rash of rolled drunks a Vigilance Committee was formed to help the marshal. One of the Committee members then discovered that the marshal himself was the culprit. The next morning the Committee informed the marshal that they knew who was guilty and asked him if he had a rope to hang him. Hensel replied: “No, but I can get one pretty quick.” When he returned to the Committee he asked: “Where is the SOB?” “Right here” came the reply as one of the Committee members grabbed him by the shoulder. They took him down to the gallows on Block 25, hung him with his own rope, and let the body dangle for a couple of days. This began the curse of Block 25 and a series of misfortunes took place here.
Fort Benton is in Montana and on the Missouri River, thus there must be some discussion of the Corps of Discovery under the leadership of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. The Corps spent about 10 days in the Fort Benton area.
Prostitution was a valuable and important business in most western towns. Shown above is the display about Fort Benton’s two madams.
Indians:
Shown below are some of the Indian artifacts which are on display in the museum.