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Record Type
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Area of Coverage
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Links and Off-line Record Details
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Record Type & Linkage
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Yellowstone County (YGF) Bozeman Trail Records
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Military Reports
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After the initial trail from Fort
Laramie to the Big Horn
River (Platte Road) and on to Virginia City was established in 1864, the government
took steps to create a safe haven for the emigrants traveling through that
area. Numerous reports from Dodge, Wheaton,
Connor, Pope, Price, Sanborn, Barnes, Stagg, Moonlight, Halleck, Curtis,
and Fisk are included.
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This later became the Bozeman
Military Road, and although it was very short
lived, the Military had a great deal to do regarding its foundation. File
records contain the commander’s
reports about the road, and President Lincoln’s decree of March 18,
1865.
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Bozeman Military Trail
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Jim Bridger was directed by Col. Carrington to establish the Military
Wagon Road across the region (called the Bozeman
Trail) that would provide access to the gold fields of western Montana and a third fort (Fort
Fisher) to be constructed on the
Clark’s Fork or Yellowstone
River. After Sawyer
failed to construct the Montana
Road, that road transferred to the Bozeman
Trail created by General Pope’s orders.
Note: Bridger was in the Pryor area prior to 1831.
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James Sawyers’ route was followed until they reached the East Pryor
Creek crossing. From there they traveled northwest, essentially paralleling
the current BIA Route 19, with deviations to avoid hills and gullies.
The Twin
Monuments (South Hills) are located on the juncture of the Bozeman
& Bridger Trails. A dedication
to Vernon Drake is provided, along with numerous pictures of the monuments.
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Sawyer’s Trail
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Sawyers’ route passed through the Pryor Gap on East Pryor Creek for
about two-three miles then crosses Hay Creek. The other wagon trains
apparently missed this route, and crossed Pryor Creek (called Pryor Gap by
the writers) by passing straight across the creek. This cutoff brought them
about two miles north of Sawyers’ 1866 trail.
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Mileage & locations reported by the diaries from
Sawyer, Fox and Land of Gold are tabulated for cross-referencing and to
establish the most probable location of the wagon trains as they passed
through the Pryor
Mountains’ foothill
areas. Listing used to support the trail locations.
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Sawyers Expedition
June 13, 1865 [Notes for the route through the Yellowstone Regions. [18
to 26 September Journey] used to locate the trails on old topo maps.
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Extracted & tabulated from Journey to the Land of Gold,
Susan Doyle’s emigrant diary extractions. Part 1 of 2. [Note: The
Congressional Route was established in February 1864.]
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Sawyers Expedition June 13, 1865 [Notes
for the route through the Yellowstone Regions, 18 to 26 September Journey]
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Extracted & tabulated from Journey to the Land of Gold,
Susan Doyle’s emigrant diary extractions. Part 2 of 2.
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Hurlbut Wagon Train
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At Richard’s Bridge the Allen
Hurlbut’s train departed the Platte
River and headed
north, along the trail, or closely to, the one created by
Jim Bridger in 1859. The Hurlbut’s wagon train initially preceded John
Bozeman’s wagon train, but was soon passed as most of his train members
wanted to prospect for gold
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. On July 25th, Abram Voorhees captained the remaining
members, after Hurlbut and some prospectors left the train.
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John Bozeman Train
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John
Bozeman was camped on the Platte
River in Wyoming
at Richard’s Bridge for at least two weeks, trying to collect enough people
for his wagon train to Virginia City. In
1891 John T. Smith wrote about his activities on the train. This is the
only reported record.
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He was planning on using the route he located earlier while on horseback
in 1863, and again tried to trail with a wagon train some months earlier,
but was turned back by Indians. He failed to follow his original route, but
set the stage for future travelers.
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Wagon Roads
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The Wagon Roads in the
south Hills identified by the
members of the wagon teams that used the 1866 Sawyers’ route appear to
follow very closely to the old “Bozeman Trail” identified on the 1878-1903
survey topographical maps.
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. The portion of the route passing through “Pryor Gap”, as reported by them
appears to be a one-mile section of trail going in a southwest-northeast
direction.
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Twin Monuments Dedication
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Dedication of Vernon Drake’s contribution to
the restoration of the Twin monuments.
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Has extensive collection of photographs. These are located at the
junction of the Bridger & Bozeman trails.
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Bridger Trail
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Jin
Bridger’s route through the Pryors. Also depicted is the Bozeman
Military Trail,
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Copied from the 1867 & 68 Survey General’s Map of Montana
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Monument Trail & Twin Monuments
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The Twin
Monuments marked a collection point for freighters, who hauled wool to
the railroad in Billings
in wagons drawn by horses or mules. In 1900 the Burlington Railroad was
being built through Pryor Gap. In 1866-68 McAdow and Story freighted food
supplies to Fort C. F. Smith along this route.
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The lone monuments, located on the Bridger Trail (Bozeman Military Trail
section) near where a microwave tower is located today served as a landmark
for Red Eye Smith's Roadhouse, which catered to the paychecks and whims of
railroad laborers.
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The Monument
Trail, e.g. Portions are noted as the McCormick trail, is currently
non-existent, as farming has removed the route; or where portions are still
visible, the route is closed to travel. A PowerPoint
presentation is available of the six-mile route section from Pryor Creek to
the top of South Hills (5.5 meg.)
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It would appear that soon after the new boundary for the Crow Indian
Reservation was established, identification of this trail’s existence
became evident from the surveyor’s field notes.
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McAdow & Story Supply Route
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Nelson Story had taken the John Bozeman Trail
to Gallatin Valley in 1866, driving with him
some 2,000 head of Long Horn cattle [accounts of the actual number vary
from 500 to 3,000]. Perry McAdow, a miller and farmer from Missouri, arrived in Montana
in 1861, and by 1864 Perry was in Gallatin Valley.
He operated a gristmill and a sawmill, which he later sold. Details
of the routes and its creation are noted, including a PowerPoint
presentation of Monument Trail.
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Both men left in the fall of 1867 to seek a government contract for
supplying food to the soldiers at Fort CF Smith, on the Big Horn
River. [Nelson was
29, Perry 31] They left the fort on October 13th with a contract
to supply them with vegetables and chopped wheat. They traveled over a
portion of the Bozeman Military Trail created by Jim Bridger & the
military that goes from Silesia,
across the South Hills area, into the Pryor valley area and onto the fort.
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Meeteetse Trail
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The Mee-Tee-Tse
Trail
(Section from Absarokee to Wyoming
Border)
On this trek we will visit the
St. Olaf’s Lutheran Church, Crow Agency on Rosebud Creek, Tolman Cemetery,
Chance Cemetery, and Chance, MT.
[Maps and driving directions
included]
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This section of the trail is one of the few locations where it is not
closed to free public access. Parts of the trail exceeds 12% road climbing
grades, and 4-wheel drive is a necessary ingredient.
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Twin
Monuments Trails
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There were two rock-cairns
(Monuments) set on the north edge of the South Hills’ rim rock areas overlooking
Monument Creek in Section 5, Township 4 South, and Range 25 East. They are
called “Twin Monuments”, and several pictures have been displayed in the
Billings Gazette over a span of about 80 years.
[Maps and driving directions included]
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William Doss first homesteaded
this land in the early 1900’s, and city records indicate he arrived here
between 1915 and 1916. He received his Land Patent on December 5, 1921. His brother Samuel homesteaded on the
property to the east. They are
located directly on the mid section line extension of T3 S, R25 E, Section
32; approximately 160 feet south of the Township boundary line.
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Weatherman Draw Trails
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Directions to Golden, Weatherman
Draw, Bean and Wade
[Maps and driving directions included]
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Listed are burials and other area
facts.
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Wagon Roads
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Early pioneers and fortune seekers traveling
into the area for settlement (or just passing through) created trails that have
been presented by most genealogical researchers in generalized verbal or
visual form. These renditions vary from publication to publication, and
soon it becomes difficult to understand where these settlers traveled.
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This small section describes precisely where the major trails and
wagon roads used by the white man were actually located. The lands
surrounding the Clark’s Fork Bottom (Yellowstone County – Crow Indian
Reservation) are mainly rugged vertical sandstone bluffs rising about 500
feet above the Yellowstone River’s stream bed.
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Report of Collins
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February 15, 1865, Lieutenant
Col. William 0. Collins, Eleventh Ohio
Cavalry, Commanding
Eastern Sub-District
of Nebraska.
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“Saturday, the 4th
instant, I was informed by telegraph that Mud Springs, a telegraph station
105 miles east of Fort
Laramie, was attacked
by Indians. There were at Mud Springs Station at that time nine soldiers
and five citizens, one of the latter connected with the telegraph company
and the others herding stock in the vicinity for Messrs. Creighton and Hoel
[Hod?].”
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February 18,
1865, Lieutenant
Col. William 0. Collins, Eleventh Ohio
Cavalry, Commanding
Eastern Sub-District
of Nebraska.
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I have time honor to
report that, in obedience to verbal instructions received from the general
commanding district, I moved from post to Fort Rankin,
Cob. Ter., on the 30th ultimo, arriving at the latter post on the night of
the 3d instant, about 4 a. in., hurriedly taking with me such troops as
were available for the march from the various posts of this sub-district, a
mounting in all to 300 men, all of whom had but lately returned from the
expedition under Brig. Gen. B.B. Mitchell toward the Republican River.
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Dill
Report
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SEPTEMBER
11—30,1864 - Expedition from Fort Rice, Dakota Territory, to relieve Captain Fisk’s
emigrant train under siege while traveling to Idaho Territory
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Report of Col.
Daniel J. Dill, Thirtieth Wisconsin Infantry.
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Trail Index Listing
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Each of the trail segments used to establish
early activities in the Yellowstone
County areas and on
the Crow Indian Reservation partially support one another, but specific
details can be more readily found by using this index.
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Maps and routing details are presented for the sectional areas between
the Big Horn and Clark’s Fork or Yellowstone
Rivers.
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Trail Trek
Index Listing
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Listing index of treks
that can be taken in the local area.
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Prepared by Dave
Dodge & the WebMaster, they include driving information, pictures and
maps.
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General Connor
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Explorations,
Bennet-Connor
Collection, MOA
Connor Collection, Keyapaha
Road, and Barlow
Trails
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Events
during the 1865’s; Indian attacks, Bozeman Trail, Belden’s
White Chief Collection, Sawyer’s
Expedition, Sixth
Regiment, Niobrara
Road created by Congress Feb 1864.
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General Sheridan 1867 Letter
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Submitted July 1, 1867 in reply to why he
permitted the military to construct a road into Montana.
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See
File:
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Indian Claims Commission Docket #74
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Sioux Tribes reiterate the treaties through
which they believed to have received land.
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Pages
233-255 describing additional findings of fact summarize all treaties
from the Indian Claims Commission July 19, 1978
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1851 Laramie Treaty
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Map
of Crow and Sioux land.
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Verified by Father DeSmet’s 1851 Map.
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1863-John Bozeman’s
Trail Map
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Passing east with John Jacobs and
his daughter.
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Map
of trek through county.
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1864-1866
John Bozeman Wagon Train Followers’ Map
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These wagons
passed through the approximate center of Powder River Valley, about 7-10 miles east of the Bozeman
Trail (eg., Road to Montana.
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The travelers crossed the Big
Horn River
about six miles north of Fort CF Smith’s location. Then over to “Yellow
Cliff” renamed Sacrifice Cliff later after 1882.
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1865-1900
Carrington Map of the Montana
Road
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Created by Col Carrington to
better explain Indian Operations in “The Indian Question”
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Map
has the latitude lines fore-shortened so that the trails would fit onto
a page. Accompanying the map are detailed descriptions of the route.
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1867 Bozeman Trail Marker
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Located at Emigrant Crossing, three of the
trail wagon trains crossed there. One-half mile south of Fort CF Smith.
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Discovered
in 1927 by Ken Roahen & George Osten, was under dirt from the
irrigation ditch.
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Congressional Funding for Sawyer’s
Expedition
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Created
for a road from the Missouri to Virginia City Feb 1864
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Funding
released in 1865. Sawyer failed to create the road, and the Bozeman
Trail became the Road to Montana.
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