The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1926-06-17
SCHOOL BOY
FINDS SITE OF
FORT M'KENZIE
Great Quantities of Charcoal
Indicate Location of
Burned Buildings

Fort Benton, Mont, June 1.-THE
exact spot has been found where
Fort Mckenzie was burned so years
ago. The discovery Of the location
recently was made by a keen eyed
school boy whose only previous tram
/. ing had been hunting for lost golf
balls on the green's of the Fort Ben
ton Links.
: II is an interesting story, for the
finding of the site saves the day by
relieving the embarrassment Of the
Fort Benton Commercial Club, which
organization now can 60 ahead and
make definite arrangements for its
program in connec-
ton with the visit July 18th Of
special train bearing the Columbia
River Historical Expedition. This
party will stop off at Fl. Benton
that day to participate in a cere-
mony, on the site of FIT. Mckenzie
while en- route to Astoria and other
Pacific Northwest historic points on
monument dedcating tour.
Never Knew Just Where
Everybody knew old Fl. Mckenzie
used to stand somewhere" just
above the mouth of the Marias River.
but there never before seemed to be
any particular reason to locate the
spot definitely. However, when the
Fl. Benton Commercial Club was set
agog over the preparations for the
big doings" on the occasion OF the
coming of distinguished body Of
nationai historians, the members be-
gan serh scaIag their neads aAu ask
lag !, themselves Just where It was.
They dug up every vesJlge OF his
ta4-c da,a they could find but ali
this made the location Of TT Nc
a.enzse very vague, indeed. i ne old
est settler who MIGHT remember was
in' nis grave. Buried way down in
one historical writing ut sad" he
TORT was above the mouth OF The
Malias. no distance being given. An
other account said II was about SIX
: miles above the mouth Of the ManaS.
A third made II five miles bel." the
InrconJene narrow neck OF land
between the Teton and Missouri Rlv-
cts and Just below cluster Of small
islands.
All historic writings available,
however, agreed the fort stood on
the left bank Of the Missouri river.
pieclng various bits of this kind Of
Indefinite information the Historical
.,ite-Searcning" committee, consisting
of j. 4. phelan, Grover G. Schmidt
and Frank Leli, which was accom-
panied by two school boys, Tom
Sharp and Grover c. Schmidt, Jr.,
concluded the fort must have been
upon the former Rowe which later
became known as the Murray Bot
tom, seven miles above the mouth Of
the Marias.
To this River bottom the three men
and two boys went in their quest of
the time-hidden ruins Of the early
day fort and trading post.
when it is remembered that
eighty years have elapsed since the
abandonment and burning Of the
. fort, we could not expect to find
much in the way of remains" said
Grover Schmidt, ST., in relating the
story Of his rather unusual search
! ing expedition. "But our search
luckily was almost Immediately re-
warded, for on examining inequali-
ties barely noticeable on the surface
Of the ground, which were discover
ed by the sharp eyes Of the boy. Tom
Sharp, at point near the river, we
4 SuOu w OuI tASiSii
= that we, then were standing on what
remained Of Fort Mckenzie.
Stones and Debris Remain
ono surface indication Of the fort
remains, save little squat mounds Of
stone and debris. We assumed that
the stones were used by the builders
!. of Fort Mckenzie for fireplaces and
that each pile Of stone represented
building. There are no less thar
:. eight of these piles in an orderly
array around a 200 foot square.
Is sour spades soon began TIC turr
2 up evidence Of the location of al
Indian trading post. We found one
foot Of sand and dirt had driftet
over the remains Of the fort. Under
this covering were found beads
= ranging in size from bird shot t
small marbles. They were Of variou.
: bright colors with blue predominant
: ing. Other objects brought to ligh
were broken pieces of clay pipes
:. lead musket balls, iron nails, human
tooth, a bone knife handle, ant
6 broken pieces of blue pottery, posi-
y bly, Delft ware, all Of which objects
were Of trader origin. Articles o
Z. Indian origin found included hid
8 scrapers, bone needles, ivory bead
and an ivory tool or ornament tina
Z none Of our party could identify
:. This latter article was found b.
Phelan among the stones Of fire
(. place, and it is not difficult to imag
inc that one of the white men o
= the fort had bargained it from al
Z. Indian and placed his valued troph
on the mantel of the fireplace an
g amid the confusion of the abandon
ment Of the fort it had been over
looked and left behind. The articl
: was flat symmetrical piece of bon
or ivory six inches long, about one
:. half inch wide at the middle an
!. tapering toward the ends and with
uniform depth of about one-twelft
!. of an inch. The face of it was Gov
4 cred with marks arranged in geomet
+ rical order.
{. at will not be inappropriate to re
: tell here the circumstances attend
i ing the abandonment Of this posi-
z Since its establishment in 1888 b.
the American Fur Company, it ha
{ been a thriving point. Under the 81
!. pervision of Major Culbertson, friend
" relations had been cultivated an
Z maintained with the Indians, but i
I the year 1912, there was placed j
], temporary charge of the post one /
A. Chardon, an able but unscrupu
lous man. Among the rough charac
! ters Of his day he was in class b
Z himself. In the winter of 1842-3
negro belonging to Chardon to whor
I he was greatly attached, was kille
by one Of the Indians. Chardon'
. evil nature called for vengeance, an
with one Alexander Harvey, des
I perado of the worst type, q genera
1 massacre waS planned. The pla
was to have the cannon of the Bias
1 zion loaded with fnusket halls train