Fort Ellis

Lt. Colonel Eugene M. Baker and group of army officers at Fort Ellis, Montana Territory 1871. "Left to right: Frank C. Grugan, 1st Lt. 2nd Cavalry; Lewis Thompson, Capt. 2nd Cavalry; George H. Wright, 2nd Lt., 7th Infantry; Gustavus C. Doane, 2nd Lt. 2nd Cavalry; Lewis Cass Forsyth, Capt., acting Quartermaster, A.B. Campbell, Asst. Surgeon; Dr.R.M. Whitewood Contract Physician; Sam T. Hamilton, 1st Lt. 2nd Cavalry; Col. Eugene M. Baker in command of post Dec. 1, 1869 - Oct. 15, 1872; Edward Ball, Capt. 2nd Cavalry; Lovell H. Jerome, 2nd Lt. 2nd Cavalry (rear); George L. Tyler, Capt. 2nd Cavalry; Edward J. McClerand, 2nd Lt. 2nd Cavalry; Charles B. Schofield, 2nd Lt., 2nd Cavalry.

Fort Ellis
Gallatin County, east of Bozeman, Montana
Fort Ellis, July 1871
Type	Fort
Built	August 27, 1867
Built by	U.S. Army
Construction materials	Logs
Demolished	August 2, 1886 (decommissioned)
Current condition	No Remnants
Garrison	U.S. Army 2nd Cavalry
Events	Marias Massacre Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition Great Sioux War of 1876-77

Fort Ellis was an early United States Army outpost established August 27, 1867 to the eastern side of present-day Bozeman, Montana. The fort was established to protect and support settlers moving into the Gallatin Valley. The post was named for Civil War Colonel Augustus van Horne Ellis who was killed in action in 1863 at the Battle of Gettysburg. Five companies of the 2nd Cavalry were garrisoned at the post, in addition to infantry companies. Nearby Fort Elizabeth Meagher which was established in the spring of 1867 on Rocky Creek was abandoned when Fort Ellis was built.

Fort Ellis was an important post during the prominent Indian conflicts of the 19th century as well as a base of operations for exploring the region now known as Yellowstone National Park. In January 1870 Major Eugene M. Baker led a group of Cavalry forces to track down the leaders of the Piegan tribe which culminated in the Marias Massacre on the Marias River in Montana. In April 1876 General John Gibbon departed Fort Ellis with 400 infantry and cavalry as the "Montana Column" during the summer campaign of the Great Sioux War of 1876-77. Troops from Fort Ellis also participated in the Nez Perce War of 1877.

The fort provided military escorts for a number of prominent expeditions into Yellowstone. In 1870, Lieutenant Gustavus C. Doane and five cavalrymen escorted Henry Washburn and eight other civilians from Helena, Montana on the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition. Doane would also accompany expeditions in 1871 and 1875, as well as an ill-fated expedition of the Snake River in 1876.

The fort had an ambivalent relationship with the nearest civilian town of Bozeman, located 3 miles to the west of the fort. On 11 December 1867 and again 14 December 1867, soldiers of the 13th US Infantry destroyed buildings in and around the town that were found to be selling alcohol to the soldiers. Through the post's history, the settlers of Bozeman enjoyed the federal money brought to the city by contracts and payroll, but often acted nefariously as they competed amongst themselves for those dollars

Commanding officers

• 1867 - 1869 Captain R. S. LaMotte
• 1869 - 1870 Colonel A. G. Brackett
• 1870 - 1873 Major E. M. Baker
• 1873 - 1876 Major N. B. Sweitzer
• 1876 - 1877 Captain D. W. Benham
• 1877 - 1880 Major J. S. Brisbin
• 1880 - 1881 Lieutenant Colonel A. J. Alexander
• 1881 - 1884 Major D. S. Gordon
• 1884 - 1887 Major G. G. Hunt

Decommissioning

Since the post was located on prime agricultural land, many settlers in Bozeman petitioned to have the post closed. Documents indicate that the post would likely have remained active for several more years but since Gen. Sherman struggled to find posts to close for fiscal reasons in the face of strong political pressure, he seized the opportunity to close the post. The post was decommissioned on August 2, 1886 (S.O. No. 73, Headquarters Department of Dakota, Fort Snelling, Minnesota) and was abandoned by the Army by the end of August 1886. After decommissioning, the parade ground was used for sometime by the Montana Militia. As of August, 1924 many of the fort's buildings remained intact, including a two-story house that was the Commanding Officer's quarters. That building today has been renovated and is occupied by the Agricultural Experimental Station operated by Montana State University.

Further reading

• Bonney, Orrin H. (1970). Battle Drums and Geysers-The Life And Journals Of Lt. Gustavus Cheyney Doane, Soldier And Explorer Of The Yellowstone And Snake River Regions. Chicago: Swallow Press. 
• Rust, Thomas. Settlers, Soldiers and Scoundrels - Economic Tension in a Frontier Military Town. Military History of the West vol. 30 no. 2 (2001) pp. 117-138. 
• Rust, Thomas (2004). Fort Ellis: A Documentary History. Gallatin County Historical Society. ISBN 1-59247-742-9. 
• Smith, Phyllis (1996). Bozeman and the Gallatin Valley. A History. Helena, MT: Falcon Press Publishers. ISBN 1560445408. 
• "Fort Ellis and Gustavus C. Doane Collection, 1865-1930". Montana State University. http://www.lib.montana.edu/collect/spcoll/findaid/0851.html. Retrieved 4 January 2009. 
• Scott, Kim Allen (2007). Yellowstone Denied-The Life of Gustavus Cheyney Doane. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 9780806138008. 
• Siebel, Dennis (1996). Fort Ellis, Montana Territory (1867-1886) - The Fort that Guarded Bozeman. Bozeman, Montana: Gallatin County Historical Association. 

See also

• List of military installations in Montana

External links

Media related to Fort Ellis at Wikimedia Commons