Montana Meandering: Historic Fort Missoula
By John Turner, 341st Missile Wing Public Affairs
/ Published July 08, 2015
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A World War II-era howitzer is displayed in front of the Rocky Mountain Museum of Military History at Fort Missoula, Mont., July 7, 2015. The museum promotes the commemoration and study of the U.S. armed services, from the Frontier Period to the War on Terrorism. Displays include uniforms, weapons, photographs and scale models. (U.S. Air Force photo/John Turner)
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A salute gun stands outside the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula, Mont., July 7, 2015. The breech-loading gun was used from 1883-1942 for reveille and retreat ceremonies. The Historical Museum’s main building was built for the Army in 1911 as a quartermaster’s warehouse and currently has displays telling the history of the fort and Missoula County. (U.S. Air Force photo/John Turner)
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Medical items are displayed in the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula, Mont., July 7, 2015. The museum tells the history of both the fort and Missoula County. (U.S. Air Force photo/John Turner)
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A mannequin portraying a 25th Infantry Regiment Bicycle Corps rider is displayed in the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula, Mont., July 2, 2015. In 1897, a squad of soldiers rode 1,900 miles from the fort to St. Louis, Mo., with rifles and field equipment to test the effectiveness of the bicycle for military transportation. (U.S. Air Force photo/John Turner)
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Items carved by Italian sailors while detained at Fort Missoula, Mont., during World War II are displayed at Missoula County’s Historical Museum July 7, 2015. Fort Missoula was transferred to the Department of Naturalization and Immigration in 1941 for use as an Alien Detention Center during the war. The camp housed 1,200 Italian, 650 Japanese and 23 German civilian internees during the war. (U.S. Air Force photo/John Turner)
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Visitors can imagine they are the engineer of a steam locomotive pulling up to the Drummond Depot and Grant Creek school house. Missoula County’s Historical Museum owns 32 acres at Fort Missoula, Mont., and displays historic buildings from the region. (U.S. Air Force photo/John Turner)
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Mission Revival-style concrete buildings were built at Fort Missoula, Mont., after 1904 to modernize the post as a regimental headquarters. The company officers’ quarters are among seven residential buildings built in 1910 that were collectively known as Officers’ Row. Various agencies now use the quarters, hospital, post exchange and other buildings from this period as offices. (U.S. Air Force photo/John Turner)
MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. --
Established by the Army in 1877 to protect settlers in the Bitterroot Valley, Fort Missoula is one of Montana's first permanent military posts.
It has been home to an experimental unit of bicycle-mounted infantrymen in 1896; the state headquarters for the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression; and a detention center for thousands of Italian, Japanese and German alien civilians during World War II.
Only portions of the old fort's grounds are still used by the Army today. Most of what remains is open to the public. Former Army facilities are now repurposed as two museums, a heritage hall and office space for a variety of agencies.
Visitors can tour Missoula County's Historical Museum located at 3400 Captain Rawn Way to learn how Fort Missoula evolved alongside the city. Displays inside the red-bricked building interpret the military and civilian roles of the fort through the last 138 years, but also describe commerce, technology, medicine, transportation, religion and social life in western Montana since 1865. The museum is family-friendly and open year-round. Admission cost and seasonal hours can be found at http://www.fortmissoulamuseum.org/visit.php or by calling 406-728-3476.
The county owns 32 acres on which the main museum is located, and historic buildings placed there after 1975 help preserve the region's history. Visitors can browse Hell Gate's 1863 St. Michael's Church, step into Drummond's 1910 railroad station, climb Sliderock's 1933 forest fire lookout tower, and peer into Grant Creek's 1907 one-room schoolhouse. A steam locomotive, sawmill and trolley barn are among other displays available to explore. An original wooden internment barrack will open to the public Aug. 1 to tell the story of Fort Missoula's role as an Alien Detention Center from 1941-1944.
Across the way, near the Historical Museum but located on National Guard property, is the privately-operated Rocky Mountain Museum of Military History.
RMMMH is in building T-310, a white, wood-planked hall flanked by a World War II-era M7 self-propelled howitzer and a UH-1H "Huey" attack helicopter flown in Vietnam. The building itself, and adjacent structures, date back to the 1930s when Fort Missoula was the command center for dozens of CCC work camps throughout the state. Volunteers restored the facility in 2000 to make it usable as a museum.
Inside is a loving--and somewhat eclectic--tribute to American servicemen and women of all branches. Uniforms, weapons, scale models and story boards help illustrate distinct periods of U.S. military history from the Civil War and frontier period through the war on terrorism. RMMMH is child-friendly and stocks toys in its gift shop. Admission to the museum is free but suggested donations are posted. For more information including operating hours and exhibits, visit http://www.fortmissoula.org/ or call 406-549-5346.
A tour of the fort isn't complete without a scenic walk or drive through Officers' Row. During the 1910s, concrete Mission Revival-style buildings were added to modernize the fort and save it from Congress' chopping block. The expansion's seemingly exorbitant cost at the time gave the fort a new nickname: "The million dollar post." Today, the former officers' quarters, post exchange and hospital are used as office space. Shade trees and manicured lawns along the route provide a picturesque diversion as well as a glimpse into the military's past.
To visit Fort Missoula, follow I-90 to Missoula, Montana, and take Exit 101 to Reserve Street. A right turn onto South Avenue will take you past Fort Missoula Park to a marked intersection directing to the Historical Museum and Heritage Hall. The old post cemetery is midway between the intersection and the fort.