In early 1863, John Bozeman had found himself in the Gallatin Valley of western Montana. He was following the scent of gold. Though he soon discovered panning was not his cup of tea, he realized that he wasn’t the only one with gold fever. Soon, thousands of prospectors and their families would be heading west even though there were only two routes to the gold frontier in western Montana, and neither were great options. Bozeman, with a keen eye for opportunity, figured that if he could find a quicker route, the immigrants would pay him to guide them through. With the help of an ornery guy named John Jacobs, they blazed the Bozeman Trail.

From the beginning to the end of its relatively short history, the Bozeman Trail was chaotic, a scene of almost constant turmoil. In the eyes of the Sioux, the trail violated the Treaty of Fort Laramie, which had promised undisturbed hunting grounds. Because the trail snaked through some of their most prized country, settlers traveled at their own risk as Sioux warriors immediately saw to it that any white man on the Bozeman Trail was fair game. Only large, well-armed wagon trains could realistically hope to reach the goldfields unscathed. In 1866, Colonel Henry B. Carrington arrived with strict orders to construct forts along the Bozeman Trail.

Fort C.F. Smith was established by the United States Army in the southern portion of the Montana Territory overlooking the Big Horn River. It was one of the five forts proposed to protect the Bozeman Trail against the Sioux. Fort Smith, along with Fort Phil Kearny and Fort Reno became reassuring symbols of safety for gold-fevered travelers.

Fort Smith included a 125-foot square stockade made of adobe and wood for protection and bastions for concentrated defense. Approximately 100 men of the 18th Infantry Regiment were stationed at Fort Smith in 1866. The following year, that number had grown to over 400. After constant Indian protests and demands, the Army abandoned Fort Smith in 1868. The fort was later burned by Sioux warriors.
The site of the fort is currently located on private land, on what is today the Crow Indian Reservation, outside the nearby small town of Fort Smith, Montana. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, though no evidence of the site remains today.