I recently came across a reference that Chaska brick were to be used in several new forts near the confluence of the Yellowstone and Powder rivers, in eastern Montana. Here is the reference, which is from the Minneapolis Tribune of August 9, 1876:

“Some time since it was generally known throughout this section of the country that two forts were to be constructed on the Yellowstone, near the Powder river. Mr. H. D. Gates, of St. Paul, took the contract and commenced preparations for work. Although it was not advertised that he wanted men, thousands visited him to procure situations. He took down the names of some three hundred persons, and informed them the amount of wages they were to receive. The contract for lumber was made at N. P. Junction. The contract for brick was made at Chaska. The parties in both places have already sent some of the material out, and it is now on the road between here and its destination. The expedition was advertised to leave St. Paul last Tuesday morning, but the night before Mr. Gates received a dispatch stating that the work of the forts would have to be delayed till spring on account of low water and the Indian depredations on the frontier.”

I don’t think either fort was ever built, as the Battle of the Little Bighorn also took place in the summer of 1876. However, it is still an interesting twist for Chaska brick.