Following the defeat of George Armstrong Custer’s 7th Cavalry Division at the Battle of Little Bighorn, The United States waged a ruthless campaign against the Native Americans on the eastern plains of Montana. The 22nd Infantry was stationed at Camp Canby on Glendive Creek during the Great Sioux War from 1876 to 1877 under the command of General Thomas Rosser.

Camp Canby was named in honor of General Edward Canby, who on April 11th, 1873, had a parley with Captain Jack, the leader of the Modoc Tribe near Tule Lake in California. The Modoc people had been forced on a reservation in Oregon to live with their historical enemies, the Klamath tribe. Captain Jack asked General Canby to give his people a home in their own country. But General Canby replied that he did not have authority to make such a promise. At that moment, Captain Jack attacked, and General Canby was assassinated. He was the only General to be killed during the American Frontier Wars.

The monument of a petrified stump was moved to the museum grounds years ago. It had been located less than a mile away in a pasture overlooking the Yellowstone River. You’ll notice the bronze plaque is reads the following:

This monument erected August 1st 1945 commemorates the raising of the flag July 5th, 1873, over Camp Canby, the first post on the Yellowstone River, and the establishment on this pot of the original townsite of the City of Glendive.