Junction with US 2 to Fort Buford State Park, 9.5 m.
Unmarked graveled road 8.5 m., unimproved road 1 m.
No accommodations.
The remains of Fort Buford, at the end of this route, evoke memories of the once feared Indian chieftains Sitting Bull, Gall, and Joseph, and of the notable military leaders Gen. Hugh E. Scott and Gen. William H. Hazen.
The route, an unmarked gravel road, branches S. from US 2 (see Tour 6) 17 m. W. of Williston. At 8 m. is BUFORD (1,950 alt., 52 pop.), a little village named for the old fort. At 8.5 m. is the junction with an unimproved road; L. here.
On the SITE OF FORT BUFORD, 9 m., a stone powder house and the regimental headquarters buildings still stand; the military cemetery is to the S.
In 1828 John Jacob Astor's American Fur Co. built its principal post on the upper Missouri, Fort Union, 3 m. up the Missouri from the mouth of the Yellowstone, a few hundred yards E. of the present Montana Line. For almost 40 years Fort Union was the most important trading post in the Dakotas. Unfortunately, the traders at the post were more interested in getting furs cheaply than in preserving the morale of the Indians of the region. Whiskey, although prohibited, flowed freely. Quarrels between the Indians and the white men were frequent. Conditions were so bad in 1864 when Gen. Alfred Sully made a visit to the post following his campaign against the Sioux (see Tour 8 and Side Tour 8D), that he recommended Government control of the trading posts if peace were ever to be made with the Indians. Upon his recommendation, therefore, Fort Buford was established in June 1866 opposite the mouth of the Yellowstone. Fort Union was dismantled and its materials were brought here for use in building the new post.
Because of its strategic position, the new fort, named for Gen. John Buford, who distinguished himself at Gettysburg, commanded the water routes to the Northwest, and for more than 25 years was one of the country's vital Army posts. The fort was garrisoned partly by ex-Confederate soldiers, prisoners of war who had been paroled on oath that they would not again bear arms against the Union and on agreement to enlist for service in the outposts of the West. It played an active part in the settlement of the Indian troubles, and in establishing the Indians upon the reservations.
When Chief Joseph and his Nez Perce followers from Oregon finally surrendered in the Bear Paw Mountains of Montana in 1877 after leading their pursuers a merry 2,000-mile chase through the Rockies for more than a year, he was brought to Fort Buford before being placed on a reservation in Washington. Sitting Bull and his band of Sioux, after their flight into Canada in a vain attempt to avoid confinement on the reservation, also came to Fort Buford in 1881, and it was before the regimental headquarters building, the southernmost of the group now standing, that the chief surrendered. Gall had preceded him by a few months, also coming to Fort Buford to give himself up.