Fort Connah holds opening
This organic tepee, a few yards from the restored Fort, compliments the Mission Mountains, providing a simple organic charm to the scene.
Fort Connah’s opening this weekend marked a special occasion, as the oldest building in Montana has been reconstructed to resemble its 1846 glory.
The post is located six miles north of St. Ignatius. The post’s main trading was in furs and it was an important link between the forts on the east and west of the Rocky Mountains, according to a brochure by the Fort Connah Restoration Society.
Neil McArthur began the post for the Hudson’s Bay Company. The post’s main products included dried buffalo meat, pemmican, buffalo fat and raw-hide cords.
The post closed in 1871 at the demand of the federal government after the northern boundary of the country was established.
At the interest of a few citizens in maintaining a piece of the Rocky Mountain era, efforts for a reproduction began.
The FCRS has used original drawings, early photographs and infrared photographs to complete the reconstruction of the original building. Plans for an interpretive center, public parking and guided tours are also in the works.
“The scale of the development is large and is the result of much work on the part of Mission Valley residents,” the brochure reads.
Hundreds turned out to visit the fort last weekend. Period dress, and outdoors accessories were on display.
Lake County residents Bob and Mo Rost sold their authentic native replicas at the event. Mo’s intricate beading marks the time in the 1850s when trading had hit a peak.
Bob showcased his burden basket, which took second place in the Art Conference of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium in Missoula this year. A dancing stick with a medicine wheel also caught many glances as passerby’s made their way to the fort.
Bob Kelley, AKA “Skinner,” helped the fearless shoot flint lock replicas. He showed learners how to load a rifle using the aid of a cloth and stick, and where to put the bullets.
“The mountain men brought these out west,” Skinner said, “but they soon switched to cap locks.”
While playing a shooting game called “tie breaker,” Skinner informed the curious about the history of rifles.
Historians, architects and archaeologists have been and will continue to be consulted to determine the future of the site’s development.