Fort Assinniboine (Mont.)

Fort Assinniboine was established by the U.S. Army during the summer of 1879 in Hill County near present day Havre, Mont. A huge complex of brick buildings, Assinniboine was easily the largest post in Montana Territory, and while its original mission included control of the Indian tribes who crossed the Canadian border, the fort became obsolete within a few years of its construction. During the early 1880s, soldiers at Assinniboine were called on to monitor the movements of Sitting Bull's band of Sioux and to continually escort Crees and other Canadian Indians back across the border.

Fort Assinniboine was established by the United States Army during the summer of 1879 in Hill County near present day Havre, Montana. A huge complex of brick buildings, Assinniboine was easily the largest post in Montana Territory, and while its original mission included control of the Indian tribes who crossed the Canadian border, the fort became obsolete within a few years of its construction. During the early 1880s, soldiers at Assinniboine were called on to monitor the movements of Sitting Bull's band of Sioux and to continually escort Crees and other Canadian Indians back across the border. On August 23, 1879, a New Jersey fisherman named Louden Minugh enlisted in the United States Army at New York City. The twenty-two year old Minugh was assigned to Company C, Eighteenth Infantry and posted to Fort Assiniboine that fall. He remained at the post for his entire enlistment term, mustering out as a sergeant with an "excellent character" rating on August 22, 1884. Minugh later became a rancher and storekeeper in Harlem, Montana. Sometime before or after the closure of the post, Minugh came into possession of the 1881 telegrams from Fort Assinniboine and eventually they came to his granddaughter, Jeanne Minugh Irving.