From State of the Arts, the Montana Arts Council newsletter March/April 2014
That Beautiful Little Post: The Story of Fort Missoula By Gary Glynn
Published October 2013 by Big Elk Books and the Friends of the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula, Missoula, MT $24.95 softcover
Historian Gary Glynn tells the colorful story of the frontier military outpost at Fort Missoula in his new book, That Beautiful Little Post. The full-color, 144-page book features a complete account of the origins of the post in 1877, including the encounter between
two companies of the 7th Infantry and the Nez Perce at Fort Fizzle, the participation of the Fort Missoula garrison at the bloody battle of the Big Hole, and the subsequent construction of the fort by a battalion of the Third Infantry.
Ride along with the black soldiers of the 25th Infantry as they pedaled bicycles to St. Louis in 1897, and witness the renovation of the fort in the early 1900s as it became the “Million Dollar Post,” only to be abandoned by the Army shortly afterward. Reoccupied by the Fourth Infantry in 1921, the fort then became a regional headquarters of the Civilian Conservation Corps during the 1930s, as well as the Alien Detention Center where Italian and Japanese citizens were imprisoned from 1941 to 1944, and an Army Disciplinary Barracks at the end of World War II.
Although the military presence has now ended, Fort Missoula has been transformed into a treasured community asset and tourist attraction that is home to museums, parks, golf courses, public agencies and nonprofit groups.
“Compelling and fast-paced … the only comprehensive history of this unique and beautiful little post,” writes Dr. Robert M. Brown, director of the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula.
Glynn is the owner of Big Elk Books and the author of several nonfiction books on Montana history, including Montana’s Home Front During World War II, Historic Photos of Montana, and Remembering Montana.