Parade Grounds

The original Fort Missoula was built of log and frame and was neither fortified nor enclosed. Its buildings were arranged around the first parade grounds, and although they no longer stand, their foundations remain visible around the area where early troops drilled. During reconstruction of the fort from 1904 to 1912, new officers’ housing was built facing southwest toward new parade grounds, which then became the center of the fort. Besides military drills, the parade grounds also served as a baseball diamond. As reconstruction neared completion in June 1911, Fort Missoula held an open house at which two special Northern Pacific trains brought visitors from the Bitterroot Valley and extra streetcars delivered crowds every 15 minutes. Guests viewed Eugene Ely’s Curtiss biplane on the parade grounds and inspected the newly reconstructed buildings, and later that day Ely took off in his flying machine in Missoula’s first aviation event.

Missoula, Montana · United States