Winifred

Near this site, where the Missouri and Judith Rivers join together, the United States Army built the first military post in Montana Territory on July 10, 1866. The post, under the operation of the 13th Infantry, continued to provide service to the area until the official closing of Camp Cooke on March 31, 1870. A number of soldiers died and were buried in the post cemetery. The bodies were never moved.

Erected by Montana Department of Transportation.

In 1866, the U.S. army established Camp Cooke on the west bank of the Judith River near its confluence with the Missouri near here to protect local settlers from Indian raids. Shortly thereafter, steamboat entrepreneur and trader T.C. Power built a small trading post near the camp to supply goods and services to the soldiers. Power named the post Fort Claggett in honor of his friend, William Claggett, one of Montana Territory's most respected politicians and capitalists.

After Camp Cooke closed in 1870, Power built a second Fort Claggett east of the Judith River about two miles from this marker. Strategically located near a river ford, the fort obtained supplies from steamboats plying the Missouri and shipped out beaver pelts, buffalo hides and cattle to the "States." By 1884, this segment of the Claggett Trail was heavily used by freighters, cowboys, businessmen, Indians and miners seeking their fortunes in the nearby Judith Mountains. In the mid-1880s, Power and Gilman Norris formed the Judith Mercantile and Cattle Company with its headquarters at Fort Claggett. At its peak in the late 1880s, Fort Claggett consisted of a store, hotel, saloon, warehouse, mail station, stables and sheep sheds. Although Fergus County has actively maintained portions of the Claggett Trail, this section exists unaltered and is representative of the late 19th century freighting roads.

Erected by Montana Department of Transportation.

Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark arrived at the mouth of the Judith River on May 29, 1805 and named it for Clark's sweetheart, Julia Hancock. Lewis described it as a "handsome river" and noted the recent evidence of Indian encampments there. The fur traders who followed on the heels of the Corps of Discovery were well acquainted with this area. Beginning in the 1860s, Missouri River steamboats en route to Fort Benton often tied up here to buy fuel from "woodhawks" who cut timber on the surrounding bluffs. In 1865, the U.S. Army established a fort called Camp Cook on the west bank of the Judith. It was one of the most remote military posts in Montana with access to it so difficult that even the "Indians moved away and left it alone." The army abandoned the post in 1869. In 1872, Fort Benton entrepreneur Thomas C. Power erected Fort Clagett near the month of the river. By 1885, it was the site of a bustling community that included a stone warehouse, saloon, hotel, stable, blacksmith shop, and store.

Erected by Montana Department of Transportation.