Fort Benton

The county seat of Chouteau County, Montana, is the historic town of Fort Benton, which is located in the state's north-central region. Army Major Alexander Culbertson founded it in 1846, initially using it as a Missouri River outpost for the American Fur Trading Company. Fort Benton had developed into something of a boomtown by the year 1850 as more and more cattlemen and prospectors settled there or stopped by to get supplies. When the railroads arrived in the area, which is at the southern edge of the Hi-Line region, the significance and allure of the complex—which was by no means strictly a fort and more of a trading hub—began to wane.

A growing amount of tourism as well as agriculture and ranching are now the two main economic drivers in Fort Benton. Fort Benton has a fantastic downtown that is both scenic and brimming with history, and the ruins of the old fort are preserved as a national historic landmark in the museum complex along the riverfront. Fort Benton, unlike many other prairie towns in Montana, is also becoming more well-known for its outdoor activities. The Missouri River flows through an incredibly wild region known as the Missouri Breaks in a vast area to the east of the city.

Fort Benton is succeeding in capturing larger portions of Montana's tourist industry thanks to a combination of increased awareness of the recreational opportunities in this area and recently rekindled interest in Lewis & Clark. The town is about a 40-minute drive from Great Falls and appears to work quite well as a preferred major "jumping off point" for anyone looking to fish in and around the Missouri River through the Missouri Breaks region.