Fort Benton High School - Pioneer Yearbook (Fort Benton, MT)

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bteamvr J0.Sf l1lllflP at Fort Benton Lmef' Fort Benton Levee in 1873

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700119 HIRT BHNTUN Old MISSOUTI can you tell me'J As the xounger waters pass Sllent as the old fort yonder Now a grrm and crumblxng mass Tell me of ILS brave defenders Of ILS traders trappers braves Man the loopholes with its heroes Rouse the warrlors from the1r graves Let the mcense of some battle Hover oer thls sllent tomb And the war whoop shrrlly soundmg Mlngle wlth the cannons boom Though ILS glory has departed And ILS crumbl1ng walls decav Hrstory throws a halo round 1t That shall never fade away Thomas Murray Spencer Mr Spencer a salesman travellmg through Fort Benton and lmpressed by 1f,S h1StOI'Y has glorxfxed It wlth hrs poems He adds thxs trlbute 1n prose Wmdmg along the mountamslde on the Great Northern one gets a splendld new of Fort Benton nestled beneath the hllls that surround lt a veritable oasls ln the desert that spreads from Great Falls to Haxre green and texdant lawns around flne homes majestlc trees llmng the banks of the MISSOUFI and stretchlng from the mam street almost to the fot on the other slde Thls town contalns more refmement hos pltalltx and money to the square 1nch than an5 other town of 1I,S s1ze ln Montana The old fort has hlstorrc lnterest Orlglnallv ll guarded the treasures of the traders of the Nolrthwest as 1t was the head of nauvatxon Volumes could be written of the mcldents and battles that took place around old Benton when soldlers ol the regular army held The blockhouse remaxns to mark the spot where the fort once stood It has been restored through the efforts of the Daughters of the Ame rcan Revolutlon who hate buxlt a park around xt At the tlme that I wrote the xerses Old Fort Benton lt was goxng fast lnto decay Old man Green who owned the Grand Hotel property Sald to me Spencer I wlsh you would go down to the old fort and wrlte a poem about It The younger generatlon dont care a damn about It but we old tlmers do Thls poem was wrltten ln ten mlnutes after breakfast next mormng In my w1ll I have dlrected that my body be cremated and the ashes placed m a su1table urn to be burled undo the fort or ln a nxche and lf pOSS1bl9 that the poem be engraved on a brass plate that those who vlslt the place ln the vears to come may know the reverence that Thomas Murray Spencer felt for xt Because as Spencer 1mpl1es and others state Fort Benton IS hrsto lcally known as the blrthplace of Montana Fort Benton w1th the a1d of other Montana c1t1es under the leadershlp of the KIWZHIS Clubs 1S ponsorlng a regatta from St L0u1s to Fort Benton to commemorate the navrgatxon of flfty or more years ago between the two c1t1es So far f1ve c1t1es have entered cru1se s Along wlth the regatta men are promls mg to grow beards and whlskers or be fmed Ill Kangaroo Court Indxans wlll stage dances and ceremonies and women wlll dress Ill old fashloned costumes to pfrovlde a proper background for the occas1on The regatta promlse to be a gala affa1r a fxttxng memorlal to the ploneer nauffatlon h1St0I'X and a trlbute to the men and women who fought and bu11t old Fo t Benton ,4 J V' -I v .v a . I A n . - - V - ,' - v . . ' ' E' , . V . . . V. . . . . A V V. . . - . . . , , . 4 , ., . the Indians in check. I-' ' v ' Y V I V. I ' U . . 1 ' . - ,' V ' ' . r . . . . M Y A.. Y ' v' ' ' ' . , :. ' . ' . ' I mi I v' , . ' ' 1 ' ' ' 1+ . ' . ' . . V V V. V . - V . . . V . 5 . V . , D ' r .

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