Fort Rice, Fort Pease, Fort “Beans”

I recently posted about three types of frontier forts: fur forts, fighting forts and supply bases. Today I’ll add to that with an example of each type. They come with a bit of the soldiers’ humor.

A soldier’s life and duty at remote outposts was often drudging, boring and monotonous – at least when they weren’t fighting. Occasional humor helped break the monotony of their lives. In this case it made light of their diet, or rations, too.

First was Fort Rice. This was a military fort established in 1864. It was named for Civil War (Union) General James Clay Rice. Rice had died honorably in the battle at Spotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia. The fort named for him sat on the Missouri River in what was then Dakota Territory.

Fort Rice was established in order to protect steamboat traffic on the Missouri. It also served as a base for military operations against hostile Indian tribes, mainly the Sioux. These tribes were angered by previous military actions against various Sioux bands after a Sioux uprising in 1862. (President Lincoln had a lot of headaches in a lot of places as the War of Rebellion raged. He truly had to maintain tremendous focus and exert great leadership in order to preserve our nation.)

Several factors led to the 1862 uprising, but war-like actions and atrocities were committed by both sides. Sioux raids continued, leading to the building of Fort Rice.

Fort Rice was a military fort surrounded by a stockade. Initially it stood about 500 feet square, but it was later expanded to larger dimensions in order to hold more soldiers. Just as in the Civil War, more soldiers probably died there from disease than battle wounds. The fort remained in place only until 1878.

Fort Pease was a trade fort, with a stockade, or protective wall, roughly 200 feet (2/3 of a football field) square. It was built along the Yellowstone River in what was then Montana Territory in 1875. A trader named Fellows Pease led a group of 46 trappers and fellow-traders who hoped to trade with nearby peaceful Crow Indians. They also expected to profit from steamboats forging up the Yellowstone, and possibly from an army fort they thought would be built in the area. Together they built Fort Pease with trading in mind.

Fort Pease suffered relentless raids by Miniconjou Sioux through much of the winter in 1875 – 76. One of the traders finally trudged westward in a blizzard to Fort Ellis, the closest army fort. He asked for help, but when U.S. Cavalry troops came to the fort’s rescue, many of its occupants had already left. Major Brisbin, the officer in charge of the army’s relief expedition, required all who remained in Fort Pease or in the area to leave.

As U.S. troops moved down the Yellowstone River later that year (1876), they used the abandoned fort as a supply base. A year later the fort was completely abandoned. It is believed Sioux tribesmen then burned it to the ground.

In July of 1876, after Custer’s annihilation at the Little Bighorn, General Terry found the Yellowstone River becoming shallow. The army had used steamboats to haul horses, men and tons of supplies up the rivers to support their expeditions. After snows had mostly melted from surrounding mountains, however, much of the river became too shallow for steamboats. The army needed a new supply post downstream.

Not far downriver from Fort Pease, the army started a new supply base. With forts in the region named both Rice and Pease, the soldiers jokingly called the new post Fort Beans. (It was not actually an official name.)

When most of an army’s food must be supplied by steamboats, wagons or pack animals, it is important to use foods that are light, durable and easily preserved. (Remember, they had no refrigeration back then.) Dating back through prior wars, soldiers were often fed rice, dried peas, or dried beans.

The reason for this bland and repetitious diet might be obvious: it provides fuel (carbohydrates), and protein, and when dried out these foods are bulky but light. They swell when boiled, making them filling even if they’re not flavorful. They remained easy to preserve when dried. In short, they were a staple of most military diets.

Given this bland and monotonous diet, often accompanied by boring, monotonous duty, it is easy to see why soldiers needed humor. They used it in the name they gave the third of these three forts. It was just a “cantonment,” or supply base, but after Rice and Pease, the name “Fort Beans” seems fitting.

One final note: “desiccated,” or dehydrated, vegetables are referenced in Civil War writings. Apparently they failed to reach Fort Rice amidst that conflict. One of the diseases that plagued Fort Rice was Scurvy. It is an illness often caused by a poor diet. It results mainly from a lack of Vitamin C, which is commonly obtained through fruits and vegetables.