Archives West Finding Aid

The papers consist of photocopied journal articles, transcripts of interviews, copies of published and unpublished papers, and newspaper articles on the history and physical descriptions of 19th century forts in Montana. Photocopies of the 1880 census and official government documents of the Department of the Army pertaining to Montana forts including: legal proceedings, medical records and letters sent to and from various forts to their departments, photocopied maps, plans and drawings of physical structures of forts of Montana. Posts described are Fort Assiniboine, Camp Baker (Fort Baker)/Fort Logan, Fort C.F. Smith, Fort Custer, Fort Ellis, Fort Keogh, Fort Maginnis, Fort Missoula and Fort Shaw. Copy photographs of the original forts and soldiers, hand-drawn maps, diagrams and plans are complimented by both original slides by Raymond A. Mentzer and Lawrence C. Heberle and copy slides of Camp Baker, Fort Logan, Fort Ida Thoroughman, Fort Howie and Fort Maginnis portraying surveys of the physical locations and remaining structures of these forts in the 1970s. The primary concentration of this research is the location, layouts and structural content of the original forts and their conditions at the time of the research; however there is also substantial information on the social and military experiences of the soldiers assigned to Montana forts during the active period of the 1860s -1890s including the era of the Indian Wars. Some original 1970 pamphlets and newspaper clippings are included, but most of the material is photocopied or transcribed. Correspondence about the disposition of the buildings at Fort Maginnis; photocopied bibliographies and inventories, and handwritten research notes by Raymond Mentzer are included.