Historical Fort Missoula

Publications

Fort Missoula's Military Cyclists:

The Story of the 25th U.S. Infantry Bicycle Corps

Linda C. Bailey
Published by The Friends of the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula

Read Publication (PDF, 21 pages, 2.3MB)

Iron Bicycles & Buffalo Soldiers

The 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps

Words by Adam Hunt, Photos courtesy of Stan Cohen
Dirt Rag Magazine

Read Publication (PDF, 3 pages, 1MB)

Pedaling on the Periphery:

The African American Twenty-Fifth Infantry Bicycle Corps and the Roads of American Expansion

Alexandria V. Koelle

In the late 1890s, African American infantrymen stationed in Montana tested the bicycle for its military utility through a series of extended trips. Representations of the bicycle corps in photographs, newspapers and Army reports demonstrate the differences and similarities in race relations between the new western states and the East.

Read Publication (PDF, 22 pages, 1.8MB)

Steel Horses

The US Army's 1896-1897 Bicycle Corps

Terra Hangen
The Elks Magazine, March 2011

Read Publication (PDF, 7 pages, 3.6MB)

The Military History of Fort Missoula

Wallace J. Long

Read Publication (PDF, 15 pages, 1.5MB)

The Fort Missoula Rally - Newsletter

Newsletters are all PDFs viewable with Adobe Reader, which is a free download.

Most Recent Newsletter

The Fort Missoula Rally - Winter 2012 (Vol. 35 No. 1)

Previous Newsletters

Missoula History Minutes

TEMP

20. Railroads Come

The original route laid out by Isaac Stevens' survey in 1854 designated a railroad line located to the north of Missoula. Several citizens convinced the Northern Pacific Railroad to come through the city. C. P. Higgins, Washington A. McCormick, Frank Worden, and A. J. Urlin offered land to the railroad to construct the station, yards, and right-of-way; thereby insuring that Missoula would not face the fate of other towns bypassed by the railroad.

The first Northern Pacific passenger train entered Missoula from the west on July 6, 1883. The entire Northern Pacific line was completed August 7, 1883 at Gold Creek, Montana. The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad reached Missoula in 1908. The railroads brought new settlers and greater prosperity to the Missoula Valley.

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