State of Montana Newsroom
Fort Benton Crowned Montana's Best Place in Montana Madness Competition
Helena, MT — After more than 13,000 votes cast across four rounds of competition, Montanans have spoken: Fort Benton is the state's Best Place. The small town on the Missouri River, long known as the "Birthplace of Montana," claimed the championship of Montana Madness, the Montana Historical Society's March Madness-style bracket competition featuring 16 of the state's most significant historic sites.
Fort Benton defeated First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park in the championship round, capturing more than two-thirds of the final vote. The victory was hard-earned. Entering the bracket as the fourth seed, Fort Benton navigated a competitive field that included Going-to-the-Sun Road, Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park, and Bearcreek before reaching the final. The top four finishers were Fort Benton, First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park, Going-to-the-Sun Road, and Pictograph Cave State Park.
"Fort Benton sits at the beginning of Montana's story as a state. It's where the fur trade gave way to settlement, where the Missouri River carried the first steamboats into the territory, and where so much of what came after had its start,” said Martha Kohl, MTHS program manager for Outreach and Education. “Congratulations to Fort Benton for winning the championship."
Founded in 1846 as the fur trade shifted from beaver pelts to buffalo robes, Fort Benton served as a trading post, military fort, and center for the distribution of Indian annuities. It was also the head of navigation on the Missouri River — the point beyond which steamboats could not travel — with the first steamboat arriving in 1860. For two decades, nearly everything and everyone entering Montana passed through Fort Benton. Despite the arrival of railroads in the early 1880s which diminished the town's role as the territory's primary transportation hub, Fort Benton's remarkable story continued to be written. Its characters, its landscapes, and its place at the origin of Montana's story as a state continue to draw residents and visitors today.
The 16 competitors in Montana Madness were drawn from A History of Montana in 101 Places, the most recent book from MTHS Press. To learn more about Fort Benton and the other sites that competed in this year's bracket, the book is available through the Society's gift shop at shopmths.mt.gov.
For questions or more information, contact Martha Kohl at mkohl@mt.gov.