Big Sandy in Chouteau County, Montana — The American West (Mountains)

Fort Walsh Trail

Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, August 14, 2019

1. Fort Walsh Trail Marker

Inscription. Another wagon road headed northeast from Fort Bento to the Cypress Hills and Medicine Hat, Alberta. It passed through Big Sandy, on north near Havre and into the Cypress Hills. In 1873 Fort Benton whiskey traders massacred Indians in the Cypress Hills. As a result, the Northwest Mounted Police were organized in 1874 to bring law and order to the Northern Plains. The next year the Mounties built Fort Walsh in the hills along the road. Some supplies that came up the trail were destined for Sitting Bull and his Sioux refugees from 1877 to 1881.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Roads & Vehicles.

Location. 48° 10.783′ N, 110° 6.655′ W. Marker is in Big Sandy, Montana, in Chouteau County. It is at the intersection of Broadway (U.S. 87) and McNamara Avenue, on the left when traveling north on Broadway. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 79346 US Highway 87, Big Sandy MT 59520, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Central Montana, in Missouri River Country,

and specifically in Russell

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Country. It is also in the American Mountain West

and in the Lewis & Clark Corridor.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once Rupert’s Land

and also the Louisiana Purchase.

Other nearby markers. At least 7 other markers are within 13 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Big Sandy (here, next to this marker); Judith Landing (here, next to this marker); Cow Island Trail (here, next to this marker); An Island on the Plains (within shouting distance of this marker); Coal Banks Landing (approx. 11.7 miles away); Virgelle Mercantile (approx. 13 miles away); Virgelle State Bank (approx. 13.1 miles away).

More about this marker. The marker is located at the kiosk at the intersection of US Hwy 87 and McNamara Avenue.

Also see . . . Cypress Hills Massacre. The Canadian Encyclopedia website entry:
The hills were hard to reach from Hudson's Bay Company posts on the Red and Saskatchewan Rivers, but were infiltrated eventually by traders from the Missouri River town of Fort Benton, Montana. The traders'
Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, August 14, 2019

2. Fort Walsh Trail Marker
presence by 1870, with great amounts of illegal whisky, underlined the weakness of Canadian authority west of Winnipeg. (Submitted on November 13, 2019, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.)

Big Sandy Kiosk image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, August 14, 2019

3. Big Sandy Kiosk

Credits. This page was last revised on June 23, 2026. It was originally submitted on November 13, 2019, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 531 times since then and 26 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on November 13, 2019, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.