The Smith River Valley

The board names Camp Baker without the man it honored. The post took the name of Major Eugene M. Baker of the 2nd Cavalry in November 1869, and on January 23, 1870 he led the attack on Heavy Runner's Pikuni camp on the Marias. It was later renamed Fort Logan, for a captain killed at the Big Hole. Baker's name outlived the post downstream: the state bought the Camp Baker Fishing Access Site in 1968, the only public put-in for the 59 miles to Eden Bridge on the one Montana river where floating needs a permit.

What the plaque says

The Smith River Valley The mountains to the west are the Big Belts, and those to the east the Castle Mountains. The gulches draining the west slope of the Big Belts were fam- ous in the '60s and '70s for their gold placer diggings. Montana Bar in Confederate Gulch was called the "richest acre of ground in the world." The Castle Mountains are also well known for their quartz mines. Fort Logan, first established as Camp Baker in Nov- ember, 1869, as a military outpost to protect the mining camps and ranches to the west from possible attack by Indians, was located towards the north end of the valley. The White Sulphur Springs, typical of the many thermal springs in Montana, were discovered in 1866 by Jas. Scott Brewer. Analysis of the water is said to be almost iden- tical with that at the famous spa, Baden Baden, Germany.

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• The Carroll Trail — 21 mi