From this point, the Bozeman Trail wound a long, twisting northwesterly route to the Montana goldfields. A portion of that difficult and dangerous road lay in view here. Also leaving the fort at this point was the telegraph line to Fort Reno, about 75 miles northwest. After the abandonment of that fort in 1868, the line ended here until it was extended to Fort McKinney, established in 1878, near the present town of Buffalo.