Outpost on the Missouri

Upper Missouri tribes had a traditional trade system in place for centuries. Plains tribes traveled throughout the area of the confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers in search of buffalo, elk, and other animals that provided them with subsistence. This area was traditionally Assiniboine (uh-SIN-uh-boin), but other tribes made contact in the area too. The Assiniboine, Blackfeet, Crow, Cree, Ojibway, Hidatsa, and Mandan traded buffalo robes, meat, corn, beans, squash, and other materials that belonged in their world. As Euro-Americans came into their area, trade for European goods attracted their interest. Fort Union Trading Post was established to meet this growing demand.

Interaction between the white traders and tribes during trade sessions was very ceremonial in nature. Sharing gifts, smoking traditional pipes, and speeches were all done according to tribal custom. Tribal chiefs and leading warriors negotiated with traders to obtain the best possible trade goods for their people. Buffalo robes, beaver pelts, and other furs were traded in exchange for guns, pots, beads, knives, blankets, cloth, and other items of value to the tribes.

The exchange of buffalo robes and furs for trade goods cemented a complementary relationship between fur traders and Indian tribes centered at Fort Union. In the trade exchange, each culture brought something of value to the other. The goods the tribes received allowed them to dominate their environment more effectively. Traders were able to sell the robes and furs to a growing population back East and to European fur markets.

Economic exchanges between the traders and tribes soon became social. Intermarriage, adoption, and participation in tribal ceremonies became an active part of the white trader's existence. Traders married Indian women for companionship, to cement business transactions, and because no white women lived on the upper Missouri. By the 1850s many second-generation fur trade employees were of mixed-blood (Métis) descent.

In these trade exchanges, each culture felt it was superior to the other. Traders were comfortable in their superior technology. Indians thought whites valued robes and furs too highly and believed that they (not the whites) easily got the best of the exchange.

In a broad sense, the fur trade on the upper Missouri represented a snapshot in time: a time when there was a balance between the two cultures. The traders did not try to restrict the Indian way of life and force them onto reservations. Instead, traders sought to take advantage of what Indian people were doing already—producing brain-tanned buffalo robes and furs for their own use. This snapshot lasted for 60 years on the upper Missouri, from the return of Lewis and Clark in 1806 to the end of the Civil War in 1865. For 39 years, 1828-1867, Fort Union dominated the fur trade. The balance between cultures shifted when vast numbers of whites began moving west during the Civil War, forcing the traders out of business and eventually restricting the tribes to reservations.

AMERICAN FUR COMPANY
The American Fur Company (AFC) was an international business established by John Jacob Astor in 1808. Astor aggressively sought access to the western fur trade based in St. Louis. By 1827 he merged with his two toughest rivals, Bernard Pratte and Company and the Columbia Fur Company, to control the fur trade on the upper Missouri River. In 1834 Astor sold his business to the Pratte-Chouteau partnership, which later became Pierre Chouteau, Jr., and Co.

RIVER TRANSPORTATION
The Missouri River was the water highway connecting Fort Union and St. Louis, a distance of 1,800 miles. Labor-intensive keelboats, once the principal craft, conveyed trade goods upriver and furs downriver. A keelboat took over six months to travel the distance—an entire boating season. The idea of using steamboats to cut costs and resupply its forts is credited to Kenneth McKenzie. In June 1832 the Yellow Stone was the first steamboat to reach Fort Union. The fort remained the terminus of navigation on the Missouri for the next 27 years, until 1859.

BUFFALO, BEAVER, AND BLANKETS
Nine buffalo robes equaled one gun. At the peak of the buffalo robe trade in 1851, the American Fur Company received over 100,000 robes. Trade goods included blankets, cloth, pots, cups, knives, beads, and other items useful o the tribes. Furs included buffalo, beaver, fox, otter, and others. Trade items revolutionized the lives of Indians (for better or worse), making them active partners in the fur trade.

Kenneth McKenzie 1797-1861
"King of the Upper Missouri." McKenzie, a former Canadian North West Fur Company trader, joined John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company in 1827 to manage the newly established Upper Missouri Outfit. He directed construction of Fort Union in 1828. In 1832 he negotiated construction of Fort McKenzie in Blackfeet country and Fort Cass in Crow country on the Yellowstone.

Stu-mick-o-sucks (Buffalo Backs Fat) 1780s-unknown
A Blood chief among the Blackfeet, he was about 50 years old when painted at Fort Union by George Catlin in 1832. He survived the 1837 smallpox epidemic and signed the 1855 Blackfeet Treaty establishing reservation boundaries for their tribe.

Ah-jon-jon (Transparent and Bright) ca.1800-1835
This leading Assiniboine war chief traveled to the eastern United States in 1832. For three years after his return, he boasted of his experiences and the large white populations. Disbelieving his stories, a tribal member murdered him in 1835.

Alexander Culbertson 1809-1879
Culbertson followed McKenzie as bourgeois of Fort Union in 1837. He also served as bourgeois of Fort McKenzie and built Fort Benton in Blackfeet country. Culbertson's marriage to Natawistacha helped cement the ties of the American Fur Company to the Blackfeet nation. More than any other Fort Union bourgeois, Culbertson came to empathize with his Indian trade partners.

Natawistacha (Medicine Snake Woman) ca.1825-1893
Daughter of a Blackfeet (Blood band) chief, she married trader Alexander Culbertson. Their marriage benefited tribes and traders during negotiations. She provided language interpretation that ensured trust and a good working relationship.

Thachik'anawinyan (Deer Little Woman) 1817-1879
This daughter of the Assiniboine Chief Iron Arrow Point (Rock band) married trader Edwin Denig about 1837. They were married for 21 years (until Denig's death) and had three children. Their marriage secured trade with the Assiniboine.

Edwin Thompson Denig 1812-1858
Edwin Denig worked as a clerk at Fort Pierre as early as 1833 and served as bourgeois at Fort Union, 1848-1856. He gives us the best written description of the structures at Fort Union. Denig was a capable manager, able to control the varied group of men working for him. An amateur ethnologist, Denig left extensive accounts of the Assiniboine and other upper Missouri tribes.

Tatanka-Iyotanka (Sitting Bull) 1831-1890
Sioux chief (famed for defeating the 7th Cavalry at the Little Bighorn) led resistance to army presence at Fort Buford. Returning from Canada, he surrendered at Fort Buford in 1881.

Brig. Gen. Alfred Sully 1821-1879
After the Sioux uprisings. Sully led an army response in battles at Whitestone Hill (1863) and Killdeer Mountain (1864). While at Fort Union, Sully selected the site for Fort Buford.

"I wished to remain above ground in order to see and hear my children all the time."

—Funeral request of Wah-he-muzza (Iron Arrow Point), Assiniboine chief

The Indians at Fort Union

The Assiniboine people, one of about nine plains tribes who traded at Fort Union, considered this area their homeland. From the beginning to end of the fur trade here, the Assiniboine presence was a reminder that Fort Union had been built on their land.

Assiniboine trade was important to Fort Union, but the fort attracted other tribes too. Crow, as well as their close kinsman the Hidatsa, were frequent visitors. Cree and Ojibwa bands arrived from the north. Blackfeet traveled about 600 miles to trade here. Other groups like the Mandan, Gros Ventre, and Sioux were infrequent visitors. Contact with these tribes ensured a working relationship with traders that lasted close to 40 years.

End of an Era

The acquisition of horses and guns through trade brought a flowering of the Plains Indian culture that lasted from about 1750 to the early 1880s. Horses provided mobility. Guns enabled tribes to hunt more efficiently. These factors—increased mobility and greater access to meat and hides—allowed Indians better ability to take more animals for their own use and to trade with whites.

In the 1840s emigrants from the East accelerated the reduction of buffalo (long before hide hunters nearly exterminated the herds after the Civil War). The advance of pioneers starting in the 1860s spelled the end of the Plains Indian buffalo hunting culture. Initially, pressure of white encroachment from Minnesota, coupled with the discovery of gold in Montana, brought Indian uprisings. As a result, the federal government sent army troops to police the Plains Indians. Finally, the expansion of transcontinental railroads brought more settlers to the upper Missouri country, eventually extinguishing the Plains Indian resistance.

Chronology of human activity in the Upper Missouri region

1000-1800
Although of different tribes and languages. Plains Indians come together to trade food, products, and ideas.

1805 Meriwether Lewis and William Clark explore the junction of the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers en route to the Pacific.

1828
John Jacob Astor's American Fur Co. founds Fort Union; Kenneth McKenzie oversees its construction, is its first bourgeois.

1832
Steamboat Yellow Stone reaches Fort Union. Entrepreneur and trader Pierre Chouteau, Jr., and artist George Catlin on board.

1834
Astor retires from fur trade. Pratte, Chouteau, and Co. buys the Western Department of the American Fur Company.

1837
Smallpox epidemic on the upper Missouri River kills thousands of Indians.

1851
Northern Plains Indians and U.S. government sign first Treaty of Fort Laramie, establishing a brief period of peace.

1856
Another smallpox epidemic kills Indians on the Upper Missouri. Sioux make the first of several raids against Fort Union.

1862-1863
Sioux uprising spills out onto Dakota plains. Gold discovered in Idaho and Montana sparks rush of prospectors.

1864
Company I, 30th Wisconsin arrives at fort to guard supplies for Brig. Gen. Alfred Sully during his campaign against Sioux.

1865
Pierre Chouteau, Jr., and Co. sells Fort Union to the Northwestern Fur Company.

1867
U.S. government buys Fort Union; dismantles it to expand Fort Buford; site included in Fort Buford Military Reservation.

From the top of the hills we saw a grand panorama of a most extensive wilderness, with Fort Union beneath its and far away, as well as the Yellowstone River, River, and the lake across the river. The hills across the Missouri appeared quite low, and we could see the high prairie beyond forming the background.

—John James Audubon, 1843

FAMOUS GUESTS

Fort Union attracted more renowned people than any other fur trading post.

1830
World-traveler Prince Paul, Duke of Wurttemberg, visits the fort.

1832
Artist George Catlin arrives at Fort Union on the steamboat Yellow Stone.

1833
Prince Maximilian of Wied and artist Karl Bodmer visit the fort.

1840
Missionary Father Pierre DeSmet pays his first of many visits to the fort.

1843
John James Audubon begins his extensive study of area mammals.

1844
Jim Bridger and a party of trappers overwinter at Fort Union.

1847
Irish-born John Palliser—geographer, explorer, and author—visits as a tourist.

1851
Rudolph Friederich Kurz, working as a fort clerk, keeps a detailed journal.

1853
Fort Union hosts Isaac I. Stevens and his party of railroad surveyors.

1853
Artist John Mix Stanley takes the first daguerreotype photos of the post.

1856
Western explorer G.K. Warren and geologist F.V. Hayden visit the fort.

GEORGE CATLIN 1796-1872
In 1832 George Catlin was the first American artist to travel up the Missouri River by steamboat. During Catlin's 86-day journey to the Upper Missouri he completed 135 oil paintings of prominent Indian leaders and village life, a tremendous output for so short a time.

PRINCE MAXIMILIAN OF WIED 1782-1867
Prince Maximilian, German explorer and naturalist, toured America from 1832 to 1834. In early 1833 Maximilian and Karl Bodmer traveled to Fort Union, where they spent the winter. Maximilian's studies of plants, animals, and the Mandan and Hidatsa remain a primary resource today.

KARL BODMER 1809-1893
A Swiss painter of the American West, Bodmer accompanied Maximilian on the Missouri River expedition. Maximilian hired Bodmer to record images of the Indian tribes they encountered along he way. Bodmer's artist he finest pictorial record of Indian life in the early 1800s.

JOHN JAMES AUDUBON 1785-1851
In 1843 famed artist and ornithologist John James Audubon arrived at Fort Union on the steamboat Omega to conduct field work for a new book, The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America (four-legged mammals). He spent two months at Fort Union collecting information on native mammals.

RUDOLPH FRIEDERICH KURZ 1818-1871
Swiss artist Rudolph F. Kurz spent seven months at the fort as a company clerk. In his spare time he sketched the bourgeois house, bastions, buildings, traders, and Indians. His extensive drawings of the fort in 1851 guided the accuracy of the reconstruction.

JOHN MIX STANLEY 1814-1872
John Mix Stanley spent 10 years on the frontier, chronicling his travels and painting portraits of Indians. Stanley was one of the first to capture the landscape and Indians with a daguerreotype camera. Tragically hundreds of his works were lost in fires, including one at the Smithsonian in 1865.

A craftsman or workman receives $250 a year; a workman's assistant is never paid more than $120; a hunter receives $400, together with the hides and horns of the animals he kills; an interpreter without other employment, which is seldom, gets $500. Clerks and traders who have mastered (Indian languages)... may demand from $800 to $1,000 without interest. All employees are furnished board and lodging free of charge.

—Rudolph F. Kurz, clerk at Fort Union 1851-52

People and Business within the Fort's Walls

Fort Union trading post was a busy place. In its heyday (1830s-1850s) the fort employed up to 100 people, many of whom were married to Indian women and had families. The man in charge of the post was called the bourgeois. Starting with founder Kenneth McKenzie, Fort Union witnessed a succession of prominent bourgeois, including Alexander Culbertson and Edwin Denig.

Clerks—critical members of the fort's staff—maintained inventories of trade goods, furs, and hides. Clerks also kept track of the fort's tools, equipment, animals, and food. Traders conducted the trade negotiations, both at the post and in the Indian camps. Interpreters had to know several Indian languages, as well as English and French.

Hunters, often of mixed blood (a cultural blend of French-Canadian and tribal people called Métis) supplied tables with fresh buffalo, elk, and deer meat. Craftsmen—carpenters, masons, and blacksmiths—were essential in constructing and maintaining the fort and its equipment and tools. The tinner made trade goods like cups and plates, rings, bracelets, and kettles. Herders cared for the horses and cattle. Engagés—unskilled laborers and workers' assistants—loaded and unloaded boats, hauled timber and stone, baled furs, cut ice from the river, guarded horses, and staffed the mackinaw boats.

Charles Larpenteur 1807-1872
In 1834 Charles Larpenteur took a one-year job as a clerk at Fort Union for "$250 and a complete suit of clothes." He stayed on, serving at upper Missouri posts from 1833 to 1872 (mostly at Fort Union). Among his contributions were his written journals. In vivid detail Larpenteur described life at the fort—from the mundane (eating and drinking) to business (Indians and traders) to murder. His diary gives us the most complete account of life at Fort Union.

Exploring the Fort Today

Fort Union Trading Post was the most important fur trading post on the upper Missouri River for 39 years (1828 to 1867)—longer than any other post on the frontier. Fort Union is renowned as a center of peaceful economic and social exchange between Plains Indian and white cultures. In 1966 Congress designated Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site to commemorate its rich history and significant role in the development of the American West.

The fort that you see today is a full-scale reconstruction built on the exact locations of the original structures. Not all buildings have been rebuilt, and those are indicated by timber outlines. You are invited to tour the fort on your own. The tour notes briefly explain their functions.

Main and Inner Gates, Strong Room Main entrance to the trading post. Area between the outer and inner gates formed an open-air strong room. This permitted access to the trade house while it controlled entry to the courtyard.

Indian Trade House, East Side Reception and trade rooms. Traders and Indians conducted business in the large reception room. The smaller room held trade items. (Replica items are for sale. Ask for details in the trade house.)

Indian Trade House, West Side Office and meeting room. Clerks and traders kept ledgers, inventories, and business records here. Sometimes the bourgeois met here with important chiefs.

Bourgeois House, Visitor Center Home of bourgeois (field agent) and chief clerk. By 1851 a smaller building was enlarged into this two-story house with a porch. The bourgeois, clerks, traders, and skilled laborers ate in a central dining room. Cooks prepared meals in a kitchen behind the house.

Bell Tower The bell announced daily events: the opening and closing of gates and the call to meals.

Palisade Walls Width (east to west): 240 feet; length (north to south): 220 feet. The 18-foot-high palisade provided security.

Northeast Bastion Designed for defense. Portholes for cannon and small arms allowed defenders to cover the outside walls. The bastions were seldom, if ever, used to defend the fort.

Southwest Bastion Designed for defense (like northeast bastion). George Catlin used it as a studio in 1832.

Storage Range Shops and store rooms (not rebuilt). Location of employees' retail store and storage rooms for trade goods, meat, and furs.

Dwelling Range Housing for families and employees (not rebuilt). Six rooms were joined by three back-to-back fireplaces.

Ice House Building and underground cellar (not rebuilt). River ice stored in the cellar lasted until August and helped preserve food.

Blacksmith Shop Building contained a forge for producing and repairing iron products (tools, hardware, firearms). The park has an operable forge, without the wooden housing.

Powder Magazine Stone building (not rebuilt) housed gunpowder, lead, and bullet molds.

Small Sheds Temporary structures used for workshops and storage (most not rebuilt). Many were under the walkway of the walls.

Flag Pole In 1851 the 30-star American flag atop the 63-foot pole was a welcome sight for arriving travelers.

OUTSIDE THE WALLS

Painting Atop the Gate The painting, thought to be based on an illustration by Jean Moncravie (a fort employee in 1830s and 1840s), depicts Indians and traders meeting in a friendly exchange.

Buffalo Robe Press Up to 10 robes were pressed into compact bundles, each bundle weighing about 100 pounds.

Bodmer Overlook Trail (Across Mont. 327)
This one-mile trail climbs to the point north of the fort where, in 1833, Karl Bodmer sketched images of Fort Union, Assiniboine Indians, and the confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers. The trail passes the site of the former town of Mondak (named because it straddled the Montana and North Dakota border). The parking area and trailhead are on the north side of the highway, beyond the unlocked gate.

Trail Tips • Wildfires are a danger! Smoking is prohibited. • Close all gates behind you. • Stay on the trail. Respect privately owned property. • Be cautious if you encounter cattle. • Do not disturb plants or animals. Please help us protect the park for you and for future generations.

Planning Your Visit

(click for larger map)

Visitor Center The visitor center in the Bourgeois House has information, exhibits, a bookstore, and restrooms. You may purchase an authentic buffalo robe and reproduction trade goods—blankets and cloth, tools and cutlery, jewelry, tin ware, and more. The visitor center is open daily, except winter holidays: Thanksgiving, December 25, January 1, and Martin Luther King and Presidents' days. Seasonal hours vary.

Getting Here and Time Zones Fort Union Trading Post is on the North Dakota/Montana border, 25 miles southwest of Williston, N.D. and 24 miles north of Sidney, Mont. But keep an eye on your clock! The fort is in the central time zone (North Dakota), and the parking lot is in the mountain time zone (Montana). The park operates on central time.

Activities Living history programs, ranger-led tours, and special events are offered seasonally. Visit our website to find out about programs and summer events, www.nps.gov/fous

Accessibility The visitor center, exhibits, and restrooms are accessible for persons with disabilities. Contact the park for details. Transportation is available from the parking lot; request it by calling on the parking lot phone (summers only).

Safety and Regulations For a safe and enjoyable visit please follow these precautions. • Weather here can change rapidly; be aware of current conditions before you arrive. Summers are hot, and winters cold. Plan ahead. Be prepared for wind, sun, and insects. • Pets are permitted in the courtyard and must be on a leash at all times. • Leave historic objects as they lie. All historic and natural features are protected by federal law. • Emergencies: Contact a ranger or call 911.

Beyond Fort Union

While in the area, you may wish to visit these sites that are important to the history of the American West.

Fort Buford State Historic Site A military post established in 1866 near the confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers. Sioux chief Sitting Bull surrendered here in 1881. Seasonal hours vary. Fee. Contact: www.state.nd.us/hist/buford/buford.htm.

Missouri-Yellowstone Confluence Interpretive Center; part of Fort Buford State Historic Site Information, exhibits, a film , museum store, trails, and views of the rivers. Summer hours daily; seasonal hours vary; closed holidays. Fee. Contact: www.state.nd.us/hist/lewisclark/attractions_mycic.html.

Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site Earthlodge, exhibits about Hidatsa and Mandan tribes who traded Knife River flint. Bookstore, trails. Open year-round, except Thanksgiving, December 25, and January 1. Contact: www.nps.gov/knri.

Three Affiliated Tribes Museum Exhibits, museum shop, and information about settlements of Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Indians. Open seasonally. Contact: www.lewisandclarktrail.com/section2/ndcities/newtown/museum.htm.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park Wildlife, badlands scenery, ranching history, camping, trails. Open daily. Visitor centers closed Thanksgiving, December 25, and January 1. Seasonal hours and facilities vary. Contact: www.nps.gov/thro.

Source: NPS Brochure (2012)

Establishment Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site — June 20, 1966

For More Information Please Visit The OFFICIAL NPS WEBSITE

The contents of brochures, site bulletins and trading cards (denoted with a colored caption) can be viewed by clicking on the cover. Most modern-day brochures, however, are cover only (denoted by a white caption) due to photograph copyrights. These items are historical in scope and are intended for educational purposes only; they are not meant as an aid for travel planning. The dates under each brochure do not reflect the complete range of years that a particular brochure was issued.

1970	1975	1979	1984
1986-1995		cover only 1999-2005		cover only 2007-2018
Fort Union's Artists Date Unknown		The Assiniboine Date Unknown		The Bourgeois at Fort Union Date Unknown
The Métis Date Unknown		River Transportation Date Unknown		Fort Union Social Life Date Unknown
Fort Union's Trade House Date Unknown		Native Women Date Unknown		Buffalo Hide Tipi Date Unknown
Date Unknown

A Revised History of Fort Floyd (W. Raymond Wood and Michael M. Casler, extract from North Dakota History, Vol. 80 No. 4, Winter 2015)

A Vegetation Management Plan for Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site NPS Natural Resource Report NPS/FOUS/NRR-2012/502 (Amy J. Symstad, April 2012)

Acoustic Monitoring Report, Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site NPS Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/NSNS/NRR-2016/1305 (Jacob R. Job, September 2016)

Animals of the Fort Union Trading Post and Vicinity: The Historic and Contemporary Animals Species Present (J.H. Lowe. Jr., undated)

Archeological Inventory of the Proposed Bodmer Trail Parking Area, Mondak Townsite, Roosevelt County, Montana (Scott Stadler, 2002)

Climate Change Trends for Planning at Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site, North Dakota (Patrick Gonzalez, December 18, 2012)

Confluences: A Historic Resource Study of Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site, North Dakota and Montana (Mark David Spence, 2020)

Cultural Affiliation Statement and Ethnographic Resource Assessment Study for Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site, Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site, and Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota Final Report (Maria Nieves Zedeño, Kacy Hollenback, Christopher Basaldú, Vania Fletcher and Samrat Miller, December 8, 2006)

Cultural Landscapes Inventory: Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site (2012)

Current and Historic Natural Resources of the Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site (Katherine M. Weist, James Lowe, E. Earl Willard and Paul B. Wilson, June 1980)

Fort Union and Its Neighbors on the Upper Missouri: a chronological record of events (Frank B. Harper)

Fort Union: Its Role in the Upper Missouri Fur Trade (Ray H. Mattison, extract from North Dakota History, Vol. 29 Nos. 1-2, January-April 1962, ©State Historical Society of North Dakota)

Fort Union Technical Report (Judy Majewski, August 1982)

Foundation Document, Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site, Montana-North Dakota (June 2013)

Foundation Document Overview, Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site, Montana/North Dakota (September 2013)

Geologic Map of Fort Union Trading Post NHS, Montana-North Dakota (March 2014)

Geologic Resources Inventory Report, Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site NPS Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/GRD/NRR-2015/1004 (John P. Graham, August 2015)

Geophysical Investigations and Monitoring of Selected Areas Associated with the Dry Prairie Rural Water System Tie-In Construction Project at Fort Union Trading Post Midwest Archeological Center Technical Report Series No. 116 (Steven L. DeVore, 2008)

Historic Structures Report, Part II, Historical Data Section, Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site (Erwin N. Thompson, September 30, 1968)

Historic Furnishing Report: Indian Trade House and Strong Room, Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site, Williston, North Dakota (Andrew B. Chamberlain, 1993)

Impacts of Visitor Spending on the Local Economy: Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site, 2007 (Daniel J. Stynes, March 2009)

Long-Range Interpretive Plan, Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site (October 2010)

Material Culture Reports

Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site (32WI17), Material Culture Reports, Part I: A Critical Review of the Archeological Investigations (William J. Hunt, Jr., 1986)

Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site (32WI17), Material Culture Reports, Part II: Food Related Materials (William J. Hunt, Jr., 1986)

Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site (32WI17), Material Culture Reports, Part III: Personal and Recreational Materials (William J. Hunt, Jr., 1986)

Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site (32WI17) Material Culture Reports, Part IV: Firearms, Trapping, and Fishing Equipment (William J. Hunt, Jr., 1986)

Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site (32WI17), Material Culture Reports, Part V: Buttons As Closures, Buttons AS Decoration: a Nineteenth Century Example From Fort Union (William J. Hunt, Jr., 1986)

Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site (32WI17) Material Culture Reports, Part VI: Preliminary Analysis of Vertebrate Fauna from the 1968-1972 Excavations (Carole A. Angus and Carl R. Falk, 1986)

Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site (32WI17), Material Culture Reports, Part VII: Building Hardware, Construction Materials, Tools, and Fasteners (Steven De Vore, 1987)

Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site (32WI17) Material Culture Reports, Part VIII: Artifacts Associated with Transportation, Commerce and Industry and of Unidentified Function (Steven De Vore and William J. Hunt, Jr., 1996)

Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site (32WI17), Material Culture Reports, Part IX: Personal, Domestic, and Architectural Artifacts (Steven De Vore and William J. Hunt, Jr., 1993)

Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site (32WI17), Material Culture Reports, Part X: Native American Burials and Artifacts (Steven De Vore and William J. Hunt, Jr., 1994)

National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form

Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site (Mary Shivers Culpin, September 1, 1981)

Fort Union National Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings (Ray H. Mattison, October 5, 1951)

Natural Resource Condition Assessment, Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site NPS Natural Resource Report NPS/FOUS/NRR-2014/774 (Michael R. Komp, Eric Iverson, Andy J. Nadeau, Shannon Amberg, Lindsey Danielson, Lucas Danzinger, John Sopcak and Barry Drazkowski, February 2014)

Park Newspaper (Visitor Guide): 1990 • 2009 • 2011 • 2012 • 2014 • 2015 • 2016 • 2017 • 2018

Plant Community Composition and Structure Monitoring for Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site: 2011 Annual Report NPS Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/NGPN/NRTR-2012/528 (Isabel W. Ashton, Michael Prowatzke, Michael R. Bynum, Tim Shepherd, Stephen K. Wilson and Kara Paintner-Green, January 2012)

Plant Community Composition and Structure Monitoring for Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site: 2012 Annual Report NPS Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/NGPN/NRTR-2013/675 (Isabel W. Ashton, Michael Prowatzke and Stephen K. Wilson, January 2013)

Plant Community Composition and Structure Monitoring for Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site: 2013 Annual Report NPS Natural Resource Data Series NPS/NGPN/NRDS-2014/610 (Isabel W. Ashton and Michael Prowatzke, January 2014)

Plant Community Composition and Structure Monitoring for Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site: 2014 Annual Report NPS Natural Resource Data Series NPS/NGPN/NRDS-2015/770 (Michael Prowatzke and Stephen K. Wilson, March 2015)

Plant Community Composition and Structure Monitoring for Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site: 2010-2016 Summary Report NPS Natural Resource Report NPS/NGPN/NRR-2017/1406 (Isabel Ashton and Christopher Davis, March 2017)

Plant Community Composition and Structure Monitoring for Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site: 2017 Data Summary Report NPS Natural Resource Data Series NPS/NGPN/NRDS-2018/1145 (Stephane L. Rockwood, January 2018)

Plant Community Composition and Structure Monitoring for Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site: 2018 Data Summary Report NPS Natural Resource Data Series NPS/NGPN/NRDS-2019/1195 (Theresa L. Schaffner, January 2019)

Plant Community Composition and Structure Monitoring for Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site: 2019 Data Report NPS Natural Resource Data Series NPS/FOUS/NRDS-2019/1245 (Molly B. Davis, November 2019)

Plant Community Composition and Structure Monitoring Protocol for the Northern Great Plains I&M Network Version 1.01 NPS Natural Resource Report NPS/NGPN/NRR-2012/489 (Amy J. Symstad, Robert A. Gitzen, Cody L. Wienk, Michael R. Bynum, Daniel J. Swanson, Andy D. Thorstenson and Kara J. Paintner-Green, February 2012)

Resource Stewardship Strategy Summary, Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site, Montana-North Dakota (June 2019)

Six Upper Missouri River Fur Trading Post: Trends in Organization (Alicia Caporaso, extract from South Dakota History, Vol. 38 No. 4, Winter 2008, ©South Dakota State Historical Society)

State of the Park Report, Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site, North Dakota-Montana State of the Park Series No. 43 (2017)

Statement for Management — Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site: January 1985 • April 1989

The Geologic Story of the Great Plains USGS Bulletin 1493 (Donald E. Trimble, 1980, reprinted 1990)

The Upper Missouri Fur Trade: Its Methods of Operation (HTML edition) (Ray H. Mattison, reprinted from Nebraska History, Volume 42, Number 1, March, 1961; ©Nebraska State Historical Society)

White-Nose Syndrome Surveillance Across Northern Great Plains National Park Units: 2018 Interim Report (Ian Abernethy, August 2018)

Worked Bone Artifacts Recovered During Archeological Excavations ast Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site, 32WI17, North Dakota (J. Homer Thiel, 1998)

Visit Fort Union Trading Post

The following visual bibliography is just a sampling of the handbooks and books which have been published for this park. NPSHistory.com does not endorse these, but are merely presenting them for informational purposes only. As most are copyrighted, we are only able to provide the covers, and not contents, of these publications.

The Upper Missouri Fur Trade (Reprinted from Nebraska History, Volume 42, Number 1, March, 1961) (HTML edition)	cover only Fort Union Trading Post: Fur Trade Empire on the Upper Missouri Erwin N. Thompson 1986	cover only The Fur Trade in North Dakota Virginia L. Heidenreich, ed. 1990	cover only Reconstructing Fort Union John Matzko 2001
cover only Fort Union and the Upper Missouri Fur Trade Barton H. Barbour 2001	cover only Rudolf F. Kurz at Fort Union: Artist, Clerk, Chronicler Scott B. Eckberg 2002	cover only Fort Union Trading Post: Fur Trade Empire on the Upper Missouri Erwin N. Thompson 2003