Fort Buford State Historic Site

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Fort Buford State Historic Site is a historic site in North Dakota, at a recorded elevation of 581 m. Snake Butte stands 804 m to the north-northwest, 21 miles off. The nearest named place is Fort Union Trading Post, a historic site 2.0 miles away. 69 named places lie within 25 miles, 13 of them named summits.
The story
Fort Buford was a United States Army Post at the confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers in Dakota Territory, present day North Dakota, and the site of Sitting Bull's surrender in 1881.
Company C, 2nd Battalion, 13th Infantry, 3 officers, 80 enlisted men and 6 civilians commanded by Capt. (Brevet Lt. Col.) William G. Rankin, first established a camp on the site on June 15, 1866, with orders to build a post, the majority of which was built using adobe and cottonwood enclosed by a wooden stockade. The fort was named after the late Major General John Buford, a Union Army cavalry general during the American Civil War.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Wikidata Q13634816, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.
What the record says
- Elevation
- 581 m
How to reach it
69 named places within 25 miles
- State Trust: 4.7 mi
- State Trust: 4.9 mi
- BLM: 8.8 mi
- BLM: 11.1 mi
- BLM: 12.2 mi
- Sundheim Park: 8.8 mi
- Sharbano Park: 9.1 mi
- Snowden Bridge Historical Marker: 11.3 mi
- Fort Union Historical Marker: 13.9 mi
- Old Fort Gilbert Historical Marker: 14.5 mi
- Crow Fly High Hill: 10.3 mi
- Antelope Butte: 10.8 mi
- Bull Butte: 12.1 mi
- Ragged Butte: 18.7 mi
- Foreman Butte: 19.0 mi
- Java: 2.3 mi
- Mondak: 3.1 mi
- Charbonneau: 14.4 mi
- Lewis and Clark Trail Museum: 19.3 mi
- MonDak Heritage Center: 20.1 mi
- The Point: 18.6 mi
- GN 3059: 20.7 mi
Summits around it
The highest named summits within 25 miles of Fort Buford State Historic Site. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Snake Butte | NNW 338° | 804 m | 20.6 mi |
| Blue Hill | W 263° | 801 m | 19.5 mi |
| Bull Butte | N 357° | 785 m | 24.3 mi |
| Lone Butte | WSW 252° | 784 m | 22.7 mi |
| Three Buttes | W 279° | 765 m | 19.8 mi |
| Clay Butte | NNW 332° | 739 m | 22.5 mi |
| Ragged Butte | ESE 117° | 730 m | 18.7 mi |
| Antelope Butte | W 272° | 728 m | 10.8 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 07:00 | 18:28 | 19:09 |
| June solstice | 04:57 | 20:11 | 21:00 |
| September equinox | 06:43 | 18:15 | 18:56 |
| December solstice | 07:44 | 15:12 | 16:06 |
Local time (America/Denver).
Climate normals
Months averaging 50–80 °F: May–Sep.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg °F | 14 | 18 | 31 | 44 | 56 | 64 | 71 | 70 | 60 | 46 | 30 | 18 |
| Precip in | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 2.1 | 2.8 | 2.5 | 1.7 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.4 |
1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — Williston EXP Farm, 16 mi away.
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
National Register of Historic Places, reference 75001308OpenStreetMapWikipediaWikidataOpenStreetMap element way/500232208
Day trips start here
- Cartwright · 9 mi
- Alexander · 19 mi
- Sidney · 20 mi
Take the scenic way to Fort Buford State Historic Site.
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