Portuguese Houses

Portuguese Houses(1834-1840)
 by Margaret Brock Hanson
There seems to be little factual history about the first white settlement on the Powder River. But there are still lasting evidences of a stockade and houses of an early trading post. These were always referred to as the"Portuguese Houses," and are located on the north bank of the Powder River, 11 miles east of the present town of Kaycee.
In 1834, (Antonio) Montero received instructions from (Captain L.E.) Bonneville to trap in Crow Indian Country of the Big Horn Mountains.
The post was evidently not built to be a temporary winter shelter. It had stout stockade of cottonwood logs and the houses were sturdily built of hewn logs. Montero was in charge of fifty men and sent them out to trap the beaver.
In 1859, Captain W.F. Raynolds and Jim Bridger visited the site of the Portuguese Houses. Raynolds, at this time was make an exploration of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers. He wrote in his journal: "Bridger and myself turned our faces down stream...after a ride of about 15 miles we came to the ruins of some old trading posts, known as the "Portuguese Houses," from the fact that many years ago they were erected by a Portuguese trader named Antonio Montero. "They are now badly dilapidated, and only one side of the pickets remains standing. These, however, are of hewn logs, and from their character it is evident that the structures were originally very strongly built. Bridger recounted a tradition that at one time this post was besieged by the Sioux for forty days, resisting successfully to the last alike the strength and ingenuity of their assaults, and the appearance of the ruins renders the story not only credible but probable."
No citation for this newspaper article that states...
The late Edward T. Burnett recorded the fact that he saw ruins of these building in 1880. The old beaver hide press was still there, and some of the stockade logs were still lying around. They had been mortised to a heavy sill. The beaver press worked somewhat similar to the present hay presses or balers, built of hewn cottonwood, and was used for baling the beaver hides.
From a book by Tom Wall...
I asked Oris, "Why do they call this place the old Portuguese Fort?" He replied, "I don't know- tis' always been called that, ever since I can remember." I thought this strange as Oris was an old-timer in the country and I thought the legend or history of the place would be handed down to the younger generation. I looked around where the old buildings had stood; one could pick out the spots by the piles of dirt and rock, which was caused by the falling down of the dirt roofs and the stone chimneys. There were three spots that were black as if from fires; maybe Indians burnt the buildings down, or the black spots were caused by campers who camped here as we were doing now. This was my first visit to the main stream of Powder River. The Place looked very rough with sharp jagged rocks which gave it the appearance of being a very difficult country to ride into, or to even get past, or around. It reminded me of what I'd heard of Powder River being a wild and woolly place. Talking to H.W. Davis a few years later about the Portuguese Fort, he stated, "The Portuguese trappers put up the log cabins and when they got through trapping for the season and went to leave, they would bury what extra powder they might have left, so as to be sure that they would have some on their return the next year. The he continued, "It was burying this gunpowder that gave Powder River its name."
From an manuscript written by Jack Roberts...
Montero's fort was built on a slight eminence alongside the Crow travois trail, overlooking the Powder River. Groves of tall, sweet cottonwood lined both sides of the river, providing adequate building material and fuel. The bark of the sweet cottonwood was stripped for winter horse feed, and the straight logs were hewn square for the stockade walls. The enclosure measured 112' x 116' along the outside, with bastions on the northwest and southwest corner, making it possible for a guard on the sod roof to view the riverbank for some distance both directions. The horses were kept in a corral between the south wall and the river, and the blockhouse overlooked the entire area. The main gate was on the north wall, facing the Powder River Trail. The living quarters were built along the inside walls, leaving a courtyard, or trading arena, in the center. Two cisterns were built of rock, eight feet in diameter and located near each bastion. This was a fire prevention measure in the event hostile Indians attacked with incendiary arrows. A blacksmith shop was on the ground level in the northwest bastion. The privy was in the southeast bastion, where the waste was washed away through a rock-lined drain leading to the riverbank. The drain was frequently doused with lime. A carpenter shop was located in the blockhouse, and since there had never been a wagon in the Crow country, there was no wheelwright. There was a two -story barracks for the single men along the south wall, and the kitchen and mess hall were on the east wall. Rooms for fur storage and trade goods were provided along the north wall. Near the main gate were the master's quarters and the counting room for the clerk. Along the west wall were small rooms for employees with squaws and children. The flat roofs of the dwellings on the north and west walls served a s banquette for the guards.

 

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