Existing comment:
Fort Union on the Upper Missouri River:
The Louisiana Purchase placed a large segment of the North American continent under the control of the United States. The young nation faced the challenge of settling and maintaining control over the area, while man sought to exploit its natural resources.
By 1825, large numbers of frontiersmen working for fur companies had journeyed into the Upper Missouri territory to trap and trade for furs. The relationship between trappers, traders, and the native tribes became tense and sometimes violent. The United States Army was unable to keep pace with the rapid expansion of the fur trade. The large fur companies realized that they would have to provide for their own protection.
The American Fur Company, headquartered in St. Louis, attempted to control the Upper Missouri. In 1828, John Jacob Astor, the company's owner, ordered a fort to be built on the north bank of the Missouri River, five miles west of the Yellowstone River. The site became a major center for commerce between the traders and the surrounding Indian tribes. Called Fort Union, it was an impenetrable stockade of cottonwood logs with two 30-foot tall stone bastions. Supplies and barter goods brought upriver from St. Louis were exchanged for furs. For over forty years, Fort Union was the most important trading post in the Upper Missouri region. |