Fort MacLeod
The I. G. Baker Company, financial agent for the Canadian government and paymaster for the Mounties, headquartered its commercial activities in southern Alberta at the fort. Along the western branch of the Old Fort Trail, Fort MacLeod was the command post of the NWMP until 1878 when it headquarters transferred to Fort Walsh. By 1883 the primitive original post had outlived it usefulness. A larger, more modern fort, built on higher ground three miles to the west, replace the original post in 1884 as the town of Fort Macleod grew nearby. The fort closed in 1922.
Fort Battleford
The fort aided in the search for Mistahimmaskwa (Chief Big Bear) and was also the site of Pitikwahanapiwiyin's (Chief Poundmaker) arrest.
Both were chiefs of the Plains Cree Tribe. Subsequently in November of 1885, the largest mass hanging in Canadian history occurred within the fort's stockade with the execution of eight First Nations men for prior murders.
Fort Battleford reduce its forces and closed in 1924. During its occupation, Fort Battleford was the northernmost extension of the eastern branch along the Old Forts Trail.
The fort aided in the search for Mistahimmaskwa (Chief Big Bear) and was also the site of Pitikwahanapiwiyin's (Chief Poundmaker) arrest. Both were chiefs of the Plains Cree Tribe. Subsequently in November of 1885, the largest mass hanging in Canadian history occurred within the fort's stockade with the execution of eight First Nations men for prior murders. Fort Battleford reduce its forces and closed in 1924. During its occupation, Fort Battleford was the northernmost extension of the eastern branch along the Old Fort area.
Fort Walsh and Fort Assinniboine.
Midway between Fort Benton on the Missouri River in Montana and Fort Walsh in the Cypress Hills of present-day Saskatchewan in Canada, the trading post complex at Fort Assinniboine was both a supply destination and stopping point. Freight wagons and Metis Red River carts kept the trail to Fort Assinniboine well trodden. The advent of the railroad ushered in a new era and homesteading brought new significance to the northern route. By 1911, Fort Assinniboine was obsolete.
Fort Brisebois
F" Troop of the NWMP thundered across the Bow River in 1875 on the mission to curtail the whiskey trade. The established Fort Brisebois, the second NWMP post, at the forks of the Bow and Elbow Rivers. As with Fort MacLeod, Fort Benton's I.G. Baker Company constructed the fort. Pine logs set upright side-by-side in three foot trenches formed the walls and poles covered in earth served as roofs. Living conditions at Fort Brisebois, renamed Fort Calgary in 1876 were very primitive.
Fort Whoop-Up
Their first stop was Fort Whoop-Up. When the purchase price for the fort was too high, the Mounties established a post by renting one of the buildings from the American traders. Fort Whoop-Up was the first stop along the western branch of the Old Forts Trail from Fort Benton until the railroad supplanted river traffic in the mid-1880's. The NWMP remained at the fort until 1892, even after fire destroyed their rented building in 1888. By 1915 only piles of stones and depressions, where fireplaces and cellars once had been remained at the site.
The U.S. Government established Montana's largest military post in 1879 following Custer's defeat at the Little Bighorn and the capture of the Nez Perce under Chief Joseph at the Bear Paw Battlefield at Snake Creek. Fort Assinniboine was the most important military post in the Northwest because of its strategic location at the conjunction of major Indian trails.
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