Fort Ellis was a military post established by the United States Army near Bozeman, Montana Territory, in 1867. The post was named for Colonel Augustus van Horne Ellis, who had been killed at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in 1863. Established to protect settlers in the Gallatin Valley from a perceived Indian threat, the fort housed troops from a number of different regiments prior to its deactivation in 1886. Among the cavalry units stationed at Fort Ellis was the Second United States Cavalry, portions of which were led by Major Eugene M. Baker and participated in the Marias Massacre in 1870. Soldiers from Fort Ellis joined the "Montana Column" under Colonel John Gibbon, participating in the Great Sioux War of 1876-1877, and were the first to view the aftermath of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. In 1877, Fort Ellis troops were also involved in stopping the Flight of the Nez Perce. Among the officers from the Second Cavalry was Lieutenant Gustavus C. Doane, who became known for his exploration of Yellowstone National Park.
Gustavus Cheyney Doane was born in Galesburg, Illinois, on May 20, 1840, and grew up in California. He graduated from the University of the Pacific at Santa Clara in 1861, and afterwards enlisted in the "California Hundred," a federal volunteer unit absorbed by the Second Massachusetts Volunteer Cavalry. Doane had attained the rank of sergeant by 1864 when he resigned to accept a commission as lieutenant with the first regiment, Mississippi Marine Brigade. After the war Doane lived for a time in Yazoo City, Mississippi where he was appointed mayor by the Reconstruction authorities in 1867. In 1868 he applied for a commission with the army and was appointed second lieutenant in the Second U.S. Cavalry. He served with the regiment for the next 24 years, attaining the rank of captain in 1884. During his postwar career Doane was stationed at a variety of frontier posts in Montana, California, and Arizona, including Fort Ellis, Fort Custer, Fort Keogh, Fort Maginnis, the Presidio, and Fort Bowie. He participated in the Sioux war of 1876, the Nez Pearce War of 1877, and the Apache campaign of 1886. Doane gained a great deal of fame as an explorer, participating in the 1870 Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition in present-day Yellowstone National Park, as well as a survey of the Judith Basin area in 1874, a trip down the Snake River in 1876-77, and the Howgate polar expedition in Greenland in 1880. Towards the end of his life, Doane attempted unsuccessfully to gain the superintendency of Yellowstone National Park and to influence widespread Army acceptance for his invention, the Doane Centennial Tent. He married twice, to Amelia Link in 1866 and to Mary Lee Hunter in 1878. Neither union resulted in offspring. Gustavus Cheyney Doane died on May 5, 1892.
The collection contains papers collected by the Museum of the Rockies and Archives and Special Collections at Montana State University Library pertaining to both Fort Ellis, Montana Territory, and Lieutenant Gustavus C. Doane. Materials related to Doane comprise Doane's complete handwritten report of the 1880 Howgate polar expedition to Greenland as well as Second Cavalry quartermaster and ordnance returns signed by Doane and Lieutenant E.J. McClernand at several Army posts, including Fort Ellis and Fort Maginnis, Montana Territory, and the Presido, San Francisco, California.
Materials related to Fort Ellis and more general military matters include a prescription book from Dr. John H. Kuhle while stationed at Fort Ellis in 1876 and military returns from the First Battalion Mississippi Marine Brigade dated 1865 to 1867. There are also printed materials pertaining to military matters, including an 1890 Army register of personnel, regulations related to firearms and target practice, and an annual report of the Army Mutual Aid Association. Grand Army of the Republic materials are from the George H. Thomas Post No. 2, Department of California, and include a roster, by-Laws, roll of deceased members, and publications. There is also an typescript by Gene F. Payne tracing disposition of Fort Ellis after the 1886 closure and its subsequent use as an experiment station.
This collection is open for research.
Military records and personal papers pertaining to Fort Ellis, Montana Territory, and Lieutenant Gustavus C. Doane, Second United States Cavalry, were transferred to Special Collections by the Museum of the Rockies (MOR) in the summer of 1970. How the materials were acquired by the Museum of the Rockies is largely unknown. However, the prescription book of Dr. John H. Kuhle is noted as "found in an old building," presumably at Fort Ellis, by Steve Skaar in 1962.
The Fort Ellis experiment station essay was donated to the MSU Library by Gene F. Payne in June 1983.
This collection was processed 2009 February 16.
While updating description for standards compliance in 2026, it was determined that speeches, correspondence, and and a scrapbook related to Mary Doane, found added to this collection from a subsequent (unnumbered) transfer from the Museum of the Rockies and not yet described, were better suited to incorporation into the Mary Hunter Doane Papers (Collection 0292). Both collections have been updated to reflect this change.
[Creator Name], [Date of Creation], [Brief Description of Object], Folder [#], Box [#], [Collection Name], [Collection #], Montana State University (MSU) Library, Bozeman, MT
Original Howgate report has fragile pagination; researchers must use the photocopies or digital surrogate.
Preliminary report by Gustavus C. Doane, March 16, 1881, recording the scientific and geographical exploration of Greenland. Handwritten, with original supporting manuscripts attached.
Contents: Ch 1 (pp. 1-11): order for the expedition Ch 2 (pp. 12-27): departure of the expedition Ch 3 (pp. 28-60):personnel, arrival, the natives, animal life (complicated by official affidavits glued and paged on the verso) Ch 4 (pp. 61-94): outfitting the expedition, description of the island, withdrawal by sail in the absence of coal authorized by H.W. Howgate Ch 5 (pp. 95-159): report on the conduct of the expedition and the findings, prepared by G.C. Doane, . Appendix C: to Doane from David S. Snively, Ft. Ellis, MT, Jan. 21, 1881.
File contains materials for the George H. Thomas Post No. 2, Dept. of California, Grand Army of the Republic: Battle Ballads by Fred Emerson Brooks and roster, by-Laws, and roll of deceased members.
File contains 10th Annual Report Army Mutual Aid Association, decisions and orders affecting target practice and the small-arms firing regulations. Includes board enclosures for materials not in the collection; retained due to annotations on the boards.