Jan. 31, 1876The deadline came and went for Sioux hunters in the Yellowstone and Powder River country to return to their reservations in South Dakota.
The secretary of Interior, upon orders from President Ulysses Grant, had sent word of the deadline to government agents in South Dakota and Fort Peck on Dec. 3. Some Indians never heard the ultimatum. Others chose to ignore it. Many were simply too far away to make the journey of hundreds of miles in the dead of winter.
The crisis led to the Battle of the Little Big Horn in June, when George Armstrong Custer's 7th Calvary was wiped out.
Jan. 28, 1887
The worst blizzard of the infamous winter of 1886-87 struck the northern plains.
Between six and 11 inches of snow were reported in central Montana, and the mercury plummeted to 40 below in some places. Driving winds piled snow in drifts of eight feet or more, and the stage from Choteau to Fort Shaw was reported lost.
"A relief party of four is searching for it," a Fort Shaw correspondent reported.
A series of raging blizzards and intense cold snaps had paralyzed the state since the previous November. Temperatures remained in the 40 below range for more than a week in early January.
The latest storm lasted three days, eased, then hit with renewed force. The Northern Pacific Railroad paid out a reported $400,000 in January to keep its road open, but its trains were still arriving several hours late as engineers didn't dare to run fast for fear of broken rails.
By the time a warming Chinook wind finally arrived in late February, as many as 360,000 cattle on Montana's overcrowded ranges were dead - a 55 percent loss. For those cattle businesses that survived, it meant the end of the open-range era. Fenced pastures, smaller herds and more hay cultivation were among the results of the disastrous winter.
Jan. 27, 1892
With six Indian reservations organized and two major railroad lines established, the U.S. Army moved to refocus its presence in Montana.
Bills endorsed by generals John Schofield and Nelson Miles were introduced in the Senate and House to appropriate $300,000 to establish a military post in Helena.
"It is keeping with War Department policy to abolish small outlying posts and concentrate on the troops," said Secretary of War Stephen Elkins.
In May, both branches passed a trimmed-down bill, authorizing $100,000. President Benjamin Harrison signed it on May 19.
Originally called Fort Harrison, it was pointed out that there was a fort named after the current president in Indiana. In 1906 it was officially changed to Fort William Henry Harrison, in honor of the ninth president. That one died of pneumonia in 1841, 31 days into office.
Fort Harrison was an active Army post until 1913. Today it's home to the Veterans Administration hospital and serves as primary centers for the U.S. Army Reserve and U.S. Navy Reserve, as well as the Montana National Guard.
Reporter Kim Briggeman can be contacted at 523-5266 or at kbriggeman@missoulian.com.
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