Fort Union, which operated from 1828 – 1867, was the most important trading post of John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company. Although the construction resembled a military fort it was a private business built specifically to trade with the Assiniboine, Plains Cree, Blackfeet, Plains Chippewa, Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikiara tribes who exchanged buffalo hides, beaver pelts, and other furs for manufactured goods such as cloth, guns and ammunition, clothing, pipes, and beads.
By the 1860s settlers had begun moving into the area and fur bearing animals were becoming scarce. In response to clashes between Native Americans and settlers the US government bought Fort Union, dismantled it, and built Fort Buford, three miles east of the trading post.
The trading post has been partly reconstructed to include the palisade walls, the bourgeois house, the clerk's office, the Indian trade house, and a few outbuildings. The museum exhibits in the house cover the history of the fort very well plus the rangers and staff are available to answer questions.
Nothing about the fort is very accessible. The ground surface is either rough, lumpy grass or loose gravel. The ramp to the porch of the house does not meet the ground evenly and the ramp at the entrance door is very steep. The entrance to access the clerk's office and the Indian trade house has a high step. A video of the the clerk's office and the Indian trade house is available at the house/visitor center. The Bodmer Overlook trail and the trail to the Missouri River are not accessible.
RV/bus parking spaces are located in the first parking lot. Continue on the road to the smaller lot if you have a car or a very short RV. A 1/3 mile paved walkway goes from the first lot to the trading post. It has an uphill grade so visitors with mobility issues may wish to be dropped off at the smaller lot. Contact a ranger to get a golf cart ride (not wheelchair accessible) from this lot to the fort.
Fort 48.00021, -104.04501
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