Reed's Fort (2)

Reed's Fort (2) (1874-1888) - A private trading post established in 1874 in present-day Lewistown, Fergus County, Montana. Named Reed's Fort after "Major" Alonzo S. Reed the first proprietor and postmaster. Abandoned in 1888. Reed's Fort Building Commerated as the First Post-Office in Lewistown, Montana. History Established in present-day Lewistown, Montana in November 1874. Reed's Fort was a private trading post that was purchased and relocated from Fort Sherman (3) by "Major" Alonzo S. Reed. Reed was not known to have been an actual Army major. The relocated trading post building also became the town's first post office on 6 Jan 1881 and was known as Reed's Fort Post Office. The town was renamed Lewistown in 1883. Reed's Fort was located about 1.5 miles down Spring Creek from the site of Fort Sherman. The original trading post structure still survives, located in a city park below the mouth of Casino Creek. "Major" Alonzo S. Reed and his partner Mr. Bowles, purchased the Story and Hoffman trading post at Fort Sherman in 1874. it was then moved without the stockade about a mile and a half down Spring Creek and reestablished as a very active trading center during the latter part of the 1870s. In 1882 Reed's Fort was sold to Frank Day and Sergeant Holsmore who proposed to convert the place from a rendezvous for tough citizens into a quiet thrifty ranch. By 1888 the post structure was abandoned. Current Status Reed's Fort Post Office DAR Marker. The original structure survives and is located at 301 Casino Creek Dr, Lewistown. The surviving structure appears to differ from period pictures in that it now appears smaller and configured differently. {"selectable":false,"height":"-500","width":"-500"} Location: 301 Casino Creek Dr, Lewistown, Fergus County, Montana. Maps & Images Lat: 47.058488 Long: -109.424152 Multi Maps from ACME Maps from Bing Maps from Google Elevation: 2,937' GPS Locations: 47.058488, -109.424152 Reed's Fort (2) See Also: Fort Sherman (3) Sources: Miller, Don C. and Cohen, Stan B., Military & Trading Posts of Montana, 1978, Pictorial Histories, Missoula, Montana, ISBN: 0-933126-00 X, 107 pages Roberts, Robert B., Encyclopedia of Historic Forts: The Military, Pioneer, and Trading Posts of the United States, Macmillan, New York, 1988, 10th printing, ISBN 0-02-926880-X, page 476-477 USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Database Entry: 798996 Links: North American Forts - Reed's Fort WayMarking - Reed's Fort Legends of America - Reed's Fort NRHP-Reed's Fort Post Office Fortification ID: MT0166 - Reed's Fort (2) Visited: 14 Jul 2019