Hi-Line Living: Fort Assinniboine - Living History

Several miles south of Havre, near the edge of the Bear Paw Mountains, sits Fort Assinniboine.

At its heyday in the late 1800s, there were more than 100 buildings that housed up to 800 troops. It was the largest fort of its kind in the West.

Time has taken its toll on the buildings, but more than 10 remain standing today, including most of the central part of the fort. That's more than any other fort in the West.

History buffs and tourism experts have long looked at the fort as a gold mine.

"This is where Havre began," said Lynda Taplin, the longtime secretary-treasurer of the Fort Assinniboine Preservation Association, the group that operates the fort that is on land owned by Montana State University's Northern Agricultural Research Center.

Taplin, a retired banker and devoted history buff, has been responsible for obtaining grants to keep the fort afloat over the years. She was successful in obtaining money to repair buildings as they fell into disrepair and to make improvements so people visiting the fort today can get a better impression of what life was like for the soldiers who labored there more than a century ago.

She credits Gary Wilson, the longtime association president, with convincing her to sign up as a volunteer. Wilson knew the fort like the back of his hand and could rattle off every fact about the fort. He was writing a book on the fort and had written many articles for magazines and newspapers around the county.

But Wilson's death brought the fort to a crossroads, said Ron Vandenboom, who succeeded Wilson as association president.

The remaining people active in FAPA could pick up the mantle and keep the fort alive or they could slowly let it fade away.

They didn't take long to make a decision. The fort was an important part of north-central Montana history. It had to be maintained.

The association is being reinvigorated. The board is seeking new members, especially younger people.

"We realize that many of us are in the same position as Gary," Vandenboom said, adding that many of the volunteers are up in years.

Many new people - and many younger people - have signed up for membership and paid their $25 dues, Taplin said.

This is important during May, Taplin said, which is National Preservation Month.

The board is also preparing for Living History Day, Saturday, June 4.

Tours, food, music and all kinds of special activities will be held all day at the fort as well as the H. Earl Clack Memorial Museum, Havre Beneath the Streets and the Wahpka Chu'gn Buffalo Jump.

The board is converting the fort's library/post office into a visitors' center where people can go and learn about the fort and its history. And for the first time, the association has access to the old jail where criminals, especially deserters, were imprisoned.

Vandeboom said visitors love seeing the jail, especially the couple of cells that remain.

"Kids love to get in the cells," he said.

Vandenboom said men were kept in the cells for a variety of reasons, sometimes drunkenness or alcohol-related incidents.

But mostly, he said, people were jailed for being absent without leave.

Soldiers found very little to do in their spare time at the fort in the middle of what was then the barren plains, he said. Depression often set in, and soldiers often opted to head home. They were often rounded up and returned to the fort.