WEATHERVANE

ca. 1854

1995.46.01

Somewhat worse for wear, this sheet iron weathervane once topped the cupola of the blockhouse at Fort Benton, the uppermost fur trade post on the Missouri River. The company blacksmith likely crafted it about 1854. It outlasted the cupola on which it sat to become a symbol of Montana's early frontier. It can be seen in Granville Stuart's 1866 sketch of Fort Benton and, although battered by sharp shooters who used the weathervane for target practice, it served as a sign that "civilization" was encroaching. In 1995 the Montana Historical Society acquired the weathervane from Greg Chastain of Georgia, who traced its provenance back to a former agent at the fort, Julius Falk.