Fort Union Trading Post Historic Structures Report (Part II) Historical Data Section

Maximilian (1833) listed the 50-60 horses, some mules, cattle, swine, and goats that he found at the fort. The horses were taken out on the prairie during the day but driven back into the fort at night for safety. Although the prince said that most of the horses spent the night in the open air, he also mentioned stables within the walls.

Larpenteur, in his 1835 diary, mentioned having to tear down part of the stables in order to erect the new store rooms. This suggests they were located on the east side of the fort. Later that fall he said that the carpenter was building new stables under the galleries, but he did not locate them any more specifically. He mentioned too rafters being hewn for them and, on October 16, noted stabled horses.

Denig, in 1843, helps a little, "Several houses. . . are also built on the west and south sides. . . [including] ten stables, in all 117 ft. long, and 10 ft. wide, with space enough to quarter fifty horses." He went on to note that "the space behind the warehouse between that and the pickets, being free from buildings, affords a good horse yard, and some shelter to the horses in bad weather."

Twenty years later, Larpenteur (1864) wrote, "Recovered the Stables with earth that is a portion of them those where we put in the Companies horses in." None of the sketches shows structures that could be readily identified as stables.