Sketch of General Crook's arrival at Fort Fetterman in Wyoming Territory

Fort Fetterman was constructed in 1867 by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

on the

Great Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, a ...

frontier A frontier is the political and geographical area near or beyond a boundary. A frontier can also be referred to as a "front". The term came from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"—the region of a country that fronts ...

Dakota Territory The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of N ...

, approximately 11 miles northwest of present-day

Douglas, Wyoming Douglas is a city in Converse County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 6,120 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Converse County and the home of the Wyoming State Fair. History Douglas was platted in 1886 when the Wyoming ...

. Located high on the bluffs south of the

North Platte River The North Platte River is a major tributary of the Platte River and is approximately long, counting its many curves.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 21, 2011 In a ...

, it served as a major base for the start of several United States military expeditions against warring Native American tribes. The fort is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

History

Fort Fetterman was built as a major supply point for the United States army's operations in the area. Established on July 19, 1867, by Companies A, C, H, and I of the

4th U.S. Infantry The U.S. 4th Infantry Regiment ("Warriors") is an infantry regiment in the United States Army. It has served the United States for approximately two hundred years. History Origins It has been alleged that the regiment traces its lineage to the ...

under the command of Major William E. Dye, the fort was named in honor of Captain

William J. Fetterman William Judd Fetterman (1833 – December 21, 1866) was an officer in the United States Army during the American Civil War and the subsequent Red Cloud's War on the Great Plains. Fetterman and his command of 80 men were killed in the Fetterm ...

, who was killed in a battle with Indians near Fort Phil Kearny on December 21, 1866. "It contained quarters for three hundred enlisted men, and the necessary officers; the various magazines and store-houses required for the preservation of ammunition, rations and other supplies; a hospital with fifteen beds; stables for fifty horses; a corral capable of holding fifty-six mule wagons, with their animals; a theatre, an ice-house, a root-house, a granary, a bake-house, blacksmith shops, saw-mill, saddlers' shop, paint shop, laundresses' quarters and a steam engine for pumping water from the North Platte River." With the completion of Fort Fetterman, the army abandoned

Fort Caspar Fort Caspar was a military post of the United States Army in present-day Wyoming, named after 2nd Lieutenant Caspar Collins, a U.S. Army officer who was killed in the 1865 Battle of the Platte Bridge Station against the Lakota and Cheyenne. Fou ...

and moved its garrison into the new fort in August. As it was on the south side of the Platte, Fort Fetterman was excluded from the provisions of the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie, which resulted in the US abandonment of all forts further to the north: forts

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is th ...

, Phil Kearny, and C.F. Smith). Thus, Fort Fetterman became the northernmost military post in eastern

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to t ...

. It was important to the protection of the

Bozeman Trail The Bozeman Trail was an overland route in the western United States, connecting the gold rush territory of southern Montana to the Oregon Trail in eastern Wyoming. Its most important period was from 1863–68. Despite the fact that the maj ...

and other routes for settlers. Given its remote location, the post was not considered a desirable station. Desertions by soldiers were frequent, and the winters long and hard. Supplies had to be brought in by wagon from Fort Laramie to the southeast or from Medicine Bow Station on the railroad. Soldiers had to carry water up the steep bluffs from the river or nearby creek. The soil proved to be unsuitable for sustaining gardens, so fresh vegetables were not available. FortFettermanPhilKonstantin

In 1876, during the Great Sioux War with the Lakota,

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enr ...

, and Arapaho tribes, the monotony of garrison duty at Fetterman was broken by a series of major military expeditions that set out from the fort. The

Big Horn Expedition :''This event should not be confused with the Powder River Expedition (1865).'' The Big Horn Expedition, or Bighorn Expedition, was a military operation of the United States Army against the Sioux, and Cheyenne Indians in Wyoming Territory and ...

, which included three of the post's four companies under the command of Colonel Joseph J. Reynolds, culminated in a defeat at the

Battle of Powder River The Battle of Powder River, also known as the Reynolds Battle, occurred on March 17, 1876, in Montana Territory, United States. The attack on a Cheyenne Indian encampment by Colonel Joseph J. Reynolds initiated the Great Sioux War of 1876. Alth ...

in March. The Yellowstone Expedition led by Brigadier General

George Crook George R. Crook (September 8, 1828 – March 21, 1890) was a career United States Army officer, most noted for his distinguished service during the American Civil War and the Indian Wars. During the 1880s, the Apache nicknamed Crook ''Nanta ...

engaged in the

Battle of Rosebud The Battle of the Rosebud (also known as the Battle of Rosebud Creek) took place on June 17, 1876, in the Montana Territory between the United States Army and its Crow and Shoshoni allies against a force consisting mostly of Lakota Sioux and Nort ...

in June, and the Powder River Expedition under Colonel

Ranald S. Mackenzie Ranald Slidell Mackenzie, also called Bad Hand, (July 27, 1840 – January 19, 1889) was a career United States Army officer and general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was described by General Ulysses S. Grant as i ...

destroyed a Cheyenne village in November during the Dull Knife Fight. Fort Fetterman remained active until 1882, when it was abandoned by the Army as the Indian Wars had subsided. A small community (Fetterman City) was started around the empty fort by Charles Henry King and others as an outfitting point for area ranchers and for wagon trains. When the town of Douglas was established eleven miles away in 1886, Fetterman City rapidly declined.

State Historic Site

The old fort deteriorated from neglect. Today, the partially restored site is listed on the

and is administered as an historic site by the State of Wyoming. Visitors can walk an interpretive trail to view the ruins of the fort's buildings. An officers' quarters and an

ordnance Ordnance may refer to: Military and defense * Materiel in military logistics, including weapons, ammunition, vehicles, and maintenance tools and equipment. **The military branch responsible for supplying and developing these items, e.g., the Uni ...

warehouse have been restored and contain exhibits, artifacts and dioramas about the fort's history, Fetterman City and area Native Americans.

References and links

Fort Fetterman

External links

Fort Fetterman
- Wyoming State Historic Site
Fort Fetterman
at the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office {{Protected areas of Wyoming Fetterman Wyoming Territory Great Sioux War of 1876 Wyoming state historic sites Military and war museums in Wyoming Museums in Converse County, Wyoming 1867 establishments in Dakota Territory Protected areas of Converse County, Wyoming Fetterman National Register of Historic Places in Converse County, Wyoming IUCN Category III