Sacred Heart Mission
Photo courtesy: John Ansotegui
Bison
Photo courtesy: Central Montana
scenery
Fort Belknap serves as agency headquarters for Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. The Fort Belknap Reservation consists of 705,067 acres carved out of the historic homelands of the Gros Ventre, Assiniboine and Blackfoot nations. Today Gros Ventre and Assiniboine-former enemies-live on the Reservation. On Fort Belknap visitors can visit Mission Canyon, Bear Gulch, St. Paul's Mission and Snake Butte, the imposing wall of rock that looms over the Reservation's buffalo preserve. Snake Butte has always been significant to residents of the region and abounds with petroglyphs and tipi rings. In addition, Fort Belknap's Milk River Indian Days and Hays Pow Wow celebrate the tribal culture with drummers, dancing and music.
Besides Fort Belknap's recently re-introduced herd of genetically pure Yellowstone bison, wildlife abound on the Reservation. Visitors can view deer, antelope, eagles, waterfowl, upland birds and a large prairie dog town that is one of the few remaining habitats of the highly endangered black-footed ferret.
