Old Fort Benton Bridge

Before a bridge crossed the Missouri River at Fort Benton, a natural ford was used by bison and Native Americans to cross the river. During the early 1880s, a ferry began operation. The bridge at this site was completed in 1888 and remained in use until 1963. The Benton Bridge Company constructed it as a toll bridge—no federal subsidy, county or state money was involved—to encourage the city’s Judith Basin trade. Chouteau County eventually paid a token $9999 for the structure in 1896. For many years, a great 225-foot turn span stood ready to swing open for the steamboats that never came; finally in 1908 the O.K. steamed through. Neither survived long afterwards. The big span went down in a flood on June 6, 1908 and the O.K. burned on June 30 of that year.

When the span was rebuilt, the Corps of Engineers gave special permission for Fort Benton’s bridge to block steamboat navigation further up the Big Muddy. The cost of its replacement upriver was financed by a special county levy that matched federal funds; again no state money was involved.