Fort Missoula
|
Fort Missoula Historic District
|
|
Barracks at Fort Missoula
|
|
 
|
|
| Location | Missoula, Montana, USA |
|---|---|
| Built | 1877 |
| Architect | Civilian Conservation Corps; Et al. |
| Architectural style | Mission/Spanish Revival |
| NRHP Reference # | |
| Added to NRHP | April 29, 1987 |
Fort Missoula was established by the United States Army in 1877 on land that is now part of the city of Missoula, Montana, to protect settlers in Western Montana from possible threats from the Native American Indians, such as the Nez Perce.
Beginning in 1888, the fort was home to the famous Buffalo Soldiers of the 25th Infantry Regiment (3rd Formation). While stationed at Fort Missoula, this unit tested the practicality of soldiers traveling by bicycles by conducting numerous training rides, with one ride all the way to St. Louis, Missouri. The Trans-America Bicycle Trail established in 1976 goes through Missoula, and covers some of the routes pedaled by the 25th Regiment.
During World War II, Fort Missoula housed a prison camp for Italian POWs, who called the area Bella Vista, and Japanese Americans arrested as "enemy aliens" after Pearl Harbor.
Fort Missoula was established as a permanent military post in 1877 and built in response to requests of local townspeople and settlers for protection in the event of conflict with western Montana Indian tribes. It was intended as a major outpost for the region; however, area residents also were quite aware of the payroll, contracts, and employment opportunities Fort Missoula would provide. Fort Missoula never had walls; rather, it was an "open fort," a design common for posts located west of the Mississippi. Open forts required troops to take the offensive and actively patrol the areas to which they were assigned.
Two companies of the 7th Infantry arrived June 25, 1877 to build a post for a single infantry company. Construction had barely begun when the Company Commander, Captain Charles Rawn, received orders to halt the advance of a group of non-treaty Nez Perce Indians. The Nez Perce, led by Chiefs Joseph, Looking Glass and others, simply went around the soldiers' hastily constructed earth and log barricade in Lolo Canyon (later called "Fort Fizzle") and escaped up the Bitterroot Valley.
...
Wikipedia