He was one of the first leaders of Montana. Now 142 years after his death, Thomas Francis Meager is being remembered in Fort Benton. During the town’s annual summer celebration a new memorial was dedicated to him. Hundreds of people including Governor Brian Schweitzer and one of Meager’s descendants where there to pay their respects. Meager was first a patriotic leader in Ireland, then a commanding general of the Irish brigade in the American civil war, and finally a statesman in the Montana territory. He died on July 1, 1867 on the Missouri River and since that time nothing has been put in place to mark the site of his death. The Helena Hibernians, the Thomas Francis Meager division raised funds for the monument. Eventually, several benches will be placed near the site to provide a pause for reflection on what the memorial represents.