Camp Devin was a temporary

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

camp established on June 30, 1878 during the building of the Fort Keogh-Deadwood Telegraph Line. It was named for Brevet Major General

Thomas C. Devin Thomas Casimer Devin (December 10, 1822 – April 4, 1878) was a United States Army officer and general. He commanded Union cavalry during the American Civil War and during the Indian Wars. Early life Born in New York City to Irish immigran ...

, and abandoned in late 1878.

History

On June 1, 1878 Lieutenant Colonel Luther P. Bradley and 520 men of the 9th United States Infantry left Fort Laramie following the Cheyenne-Deadwood Stage route to the Black Hills. Their mission was to construct a telegraph line between Deadwood and Fort Keogh, thus tying together Montana, Wyoming, and Dakota Territories. At the conclusion of a 30-day march they established a summer bivouac on June 30, 1878, and named it Camp Devin for Colonel and Brevet Major General Thomas C. Devin, the late commander of the 3rd U.S. Cavalry, who had died on April 4, 1878. The camp had a life of only two months. Although the existence of the camp was short, its occupants fulfilled their mission. The completed telegraph line resulted in improved communications between forts and white settlements, opening the way for domestication of southeast Montana.

Location

Camp Devin is located at an unknown location in present-day southeastern

Carter County, Montana Carter County is a county located in the U.S. state of Montana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,415, making it the seventh-least populous county in Montana. The county seat is Ekalaka. History Carter County was named for Thomas H ...

near the

Census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, su ...

Alzada, Montana Alzada (also known as Stoneville and Telegraph Point) is a census-designated place in southern Carter County, Montana, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 29. It is located at the intersection of U.S. Route 212 with Mon ...

, near the Little Missouri River. Just outside Alzada near the Montana-Wyoming Border on Montana Highway 326 there is a historical marker giving information about Camp Devin.

Notes

{{coord missing, Montana Devin History of Montana 1878 establishments in Montana Territory

History

Location

See also

Notes