List o f 19th-Century U. S. Western Frontier Forts, Part VIII: Montana

Note: This is the eighth of a series of lists of the U. S. forts of the Wild West. It is intended for use in research by writers, readers, movie fans, and others, so not much information is provided in this list itself; instead, it refers readers, by way of embedded links, to websites that provide brief historical accounts of the forts and, in many cases, one or more photographs or illustrations associated with each of the forts. All photographs and illustrations are in the public domain.

Montana was admitted to the Union on November 8, 1889; before then, it was Montana Territory

Fort Benton

Like a number of other 19th-century U. S. Western frontier posts, Fort Benton, established in 1848, in Montana Territory, on the Missouri River, made the cut: it is recognized as a National Historic Landmark.

Initially an American Fur Trading post, it brought traders on steamboats from the east as well as fur traders, "gold  seekers" and settlers, the latter  two groups of whom were, respectively, on their way to hoped-for fortunes or land of their own. Freight, too, was shipped by wagon along oxen trails, headed for "isolated settlements" to the west ("Fort Benton National Historic Landmark," National Park Service).

A National Park Service (NPS) map on the NPS's  Fort Benton National Historic Landmark locates numerous sites along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, which extends from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, to the Pacific Ocean. As might be expected, many of these points of interest are the sites of 19th-centtury (and earlier) U. S. Western frontier forts. "Traveling" this map is a great way to explore this period of the nation's history: the points of interest include  links to websites that provide accounts of the locations' storied histories.

One of the more colorful characters associated with Fort Benton is card dealer and gambler Eleanor Dumont (aka "Madame Mustache") (1834-1879) and Shep, "who famously waited for his deceased owner at the Fort Benton rail depot" ("Fort Benton," Wikipedia).

Fort Missoula

Noncommissioned officers' quarters, Fort Missoula

Although Fort Missoula, established in 1877,  was the only permanent military post in in Montana Territory, west of the Continental Divide, and was built "to control western Montana’s Indian tribes and to protect settlers," its soldiers, which, from 1888 to 1889, included "the African American 25th Infantry Regiment," the Army found an unusual purpose for the post: "Twenty men of the 25th explored military applications of the bicycle, riding 1,900 miles from Missoula to St. Louis in 40 days."

During World War I, it was "a technical training center," it served a the ignoble role of serving as "the nation’s largest civilian detention camp, interning German and Italian nationals."  Then, until its closure in 1948, Fort Missoula became "a  a medium-security military prison" ("Fort Missoula," Montana History Portal). 

Fort Peck

The Discovering Montana website's "Fort Peck, Montana" gives a thumbnail account of the Valley County fort for which the small, once-government-owned neighboring city took its name:

Fort Peck, Montana, was established as a trading post by Colonel Campbell K. Peck and his partner, Commander E.H. Durfee, in 1867. The town monopolized the fur trade with the Assiniboine and Sioux . . . . . Fort Peck later became an Indian agency in 1873.

The Wikipedia article "Fort Peck, Montana," provides a bit more information, citing Abe Farwell, an employee of "the Leavenworth, Kansas[,] trading firm of Durfee and Peck as having "constructed the Fort Peck trading post along the Missouri River" and pointing out that, in 1888, the Montana Territory Indian agency that had operated at the fort from 1873 "was moved," in 1878, "to its current location" in Poplar, Montana.

Fort Logan (Camp Baker)

Troops encamped at Fort Logan, Colorado, 1917 or 1918

Camp Bakker was established in 1869, in Montana Territory, as a protection against Native American raids. Eight years later, it was renamed Fort Logan; in 1880, it was abandoned. Today, only its  blockhouse (fortified building) remains standing ("Fort Logan," The Historical Marker Database).

Fort Logan, 1098.

The fort also had the mission of protecting the freight road running between the fort and Helena and "provided troops for many of the campaigns in western Montana, including the Nez Perce War in 1877" ("Fort Logan, Montana," Legends of  America).

Fort Lewis

During the 1830s, Fort Lewis was established in Montana Territory as a fur trading post on the Yellow River, as "part of [a] broader network of trading posts [and] would . . . have been a hub of activity and commerce [until] . . . . the fur trade waned ("10 Historic Forts in Montana" (Historic Forts).

Trading posts in Montana

Fort Custer

Built in 1877, "on an extensive elevated plateau in the fork of two streams," Fort Custer was an active military post until 1898.

"Saber Exercises, Troop 'List Cavalry, Ft. Custer Mont., 1892." An Indian troop of U.S. soldiers

Constructed as much as possible of local materials––"logs,  . . . brick, and sawing lumber," with only some pine "sent up from Bismark," the fort included unframed buildings "built up of planks two inches thick by six inches wide, laid flat one upon another, forming a solid wall six inches in thickness."

With the sole exception of the officers' quarters, which consist of a ground floor and an attic, all the other buildings are of a single story ("Fort Custer," Wikipedia).

A large fort, it supported 10 companies, and six stables provided enough accommodations for six troops of cavalry.

Although most Native Americans in the region "had been been confined to reservations, when the fort was built" ("Fort Custer," Wikipedia), its purpose was "to navigate and manage the intensifying conflict between Native American tribes and the advancing American frontier" ("10 Historic Forts in Montana," Historic Forts), and its soldiers put down "an uprising at the Crow Agency in the fall of 1887," Colonel Nathan Dudley and his  troops subsequently arresting "'Sword Bearer' and the Native Americans who had fired into the agency buildings on the night of September 30. On December 31, 1889."

Among the  fort's troops were buffalo soldiers, as Native Americans had dubbed black soldiers ("Fort Custer," Wikipedia).

Fort C. F. Smith

Fort C. F. Smith (originally Fort Ransom) came into being on August 12, 1866, when it was built on the Powder River  in lower Montana Territory, during Red Cloud's War, its mission to help to protect the Bozeman Trail against the Oglala Sioux, who viewed the trail as a violation of the 1851 Treaty of Fort Treaty.

Chief Red Cloud, c. 1880

The fort, built of adobe and wood, was burned down by Red Cloud's band of the Sioux  after the Army abandoned it in 1868 ("Fort C. F. Smith [Fort Smith, Montana]," Wikipedia)

Fort Shaw (Camp Reynolds)

Fort Shaw (formerly Camp Reynolds) was established in 1867 to protect against Sioux and the Cheyenne hostilities ("Fort Shaw, Montana," Legends of America). Located "20 miles  . . .  upstream from the confluence of the Sun and Missouri rivers, . . .. it was about 5 miles   . . . upstream from the point where the Mullan Road crossed the river ("Fort Shaw," Wikipedia).

As the Legends of America website points out:

During the 1876 campaign against the Sioux and Cheyenne, Colonel John Gibbon, the base commander, led the garrison up the Missouri River, procured reinforcements at Fort Ellis, Montana, rendezvoused with the forces of General Alfred Terry on the Yellowstone at the mouth of the Rosebud, and subsequently relieved the survivors of George Custer’s regiment at the Little Bighorn. The following year, troops from Forts Shaw, Ellis, and Missoula, again under Gibbon, defeated the non-treaty Nez Perce, retreating from Idaho to Montana at the Battle of the Big Hole.

As Camp Reynolds, the post consisted mostly of tents. As the camp was transformed into a fort, these shelters were gradually replaced by "log cabin housing," barracks, a  storehouse, a hospital, a commissary, a guardhouse "with stone walls," officers' quarters, a chapel, school, library, bakery, ordnance, magazine, water tanks, washing tanks, a telegraph office, and other buildings. 

Despite these improvements, the fort military use of the fort ended in 1892, after which part of it was turned over to the Fort Peck Indian boarding school and another part of it was reserved for agricultural use ("Fort Shaw," Wikipedia).

Fort Keogh

Officers' Quarters, Fort Keogh, 1989.

Established by Congress on July 22, 1876, Fort Keogh was built at the confluence of the Yellowstone River and the Tongue River, in Montana Territory, following the deaths of troops at the Battle of Little Bighorn (June 25-26, 1876), including those of Colonel George Armstrong Custer and Colonel Myles Keogh, after the latter of whom the post was named.

By the 1880s, most Native Americans had been removed from their lands to reservations, and, in 1909, two years after the fort's soldiers were relocated, it became an Army "remount station [which] supplied thousands of horses for World War I" and then a United States Department of Agriculture research center dedicated to improving "meat production and . . . quality" ("Fort Keogh," Fort Tours).

A "successor to  to the Tongue River Cantonment, Fort Keogh . . . . [became] the largest in the territory, [with] sixty buildings once sprawled across the diamond-shaped grounds" ( "Fort Keogh," Montana History Portal).

Fort Connah

The British Hudson's Bay Company established a trading post in 1846 to prevent competition from American traders west of the Continental Divide. The post, initially named Fort Connah, was later renamed Fort Connen after a river valley in Scotland.

The main trade was in furs, buffalo meat, pemmican, buffalo skin saddle blankets, rawhide, and hair cordage. The company continued to operate during the fur trade era until its closure in 1871 due to encroaching settlement ("Fort Connah," Historic Montana).

List o f 19th-Century U. S. Western Frontier Forts, Part VII: Texas

 

Note: This is the seventh of a series of lists of the U. S. forts of the Wild West. It is intended for use in research by writers, readers, movie fans, and others, so not much information is provided in this list itself; instead, it refers readers, by way of embedded links, to websites that provide brief historical accounts of the forts and, in many cases, one or more photographs or illustrations associated with each of the forts. All photographs and illustrations are in the public domain.

Texas (admitted to the Union on December 29, 1845)
 

Fort McKavett

Before Fort McKavett, Texas, was established, a civilian community had grown up about a mile north of where the post would be built.

Shortly after the fort was established on March 14, 1852 by the U. S. War Department, it was renamed Fort McKavett. Though the troops were involved in a few minor skirmishes, in the posts’ early years, life was relatively routine for most of the time, with the troops escorting travelers,  maintaining the post, patrolling the area, and loading supplies to be sent to other posts.

After the Civil War, the fort was re-garrisoned to fight in the Indian Wars in April 1868, and nearby “Scabtown” also grew again, though this time, it took on the fort’s name. This time, with the Indian threat gone, the civilians in the town of Fort McKavett stayed on, some of whom occupied the Fort McKavett buildings.

Today, the Fort McKavett State Historic Park is one of the best-preserved and most intact examples of a Texas Indian Wars military post ("Fort McKavett––Prettiest Fort in Texas," Legends of America).

Fort Griffin

Originally called Camp Wilson, this post it was later named for Charles Griffin, a former Civil War Union general who had commanded, as de facto military governor, the Department of Texas during the early years of Reconstruction.

Although considerable time was spent building and maintaining the fort, the majority of the time was spent defending and patrolling the frontier.

The fort served as a starting point for many expeditions headed westward, and for a time, it had a substantial settled community that had been built around it, catering to passing wagon trains and military personnel who sought saloons for entertainment during their free or off-duty hours.

J. B. Irvine, commanding Company A, Twenty-Second Infantry lowered the flag for the last time and marched to Fort Clark on 31 May, 1879.

Wyatt Earp, c. 1887

Two famous names associated with the town of Fort Griffin are those of civilians: Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday. As "Wyatt Earp," Wikipedia, explains:

In October 1877 outlaw Dave Rudabaugh robbed a Santa Fe Railroad construction camp and fled south. Earp was given a temporary commission as deputy U.S. Marshal and left Dodge City, following Rudabaugh over 400 miles (640 km) through Fort Clark, Texas, where the newspaper reported his presence on January 22, 1878, and then on to Fort Griffin, Texas. 

In Fort Griffin, located between the military fort bearing the same name and the Clear Fork of the Brazos River, he went to the Bee Hive Saloon. It was the largest in town and owned by John Shanssey, whom Earp had known since he was 21. Shanssey told Earp that Rudabaugh had passed through town earlier in the week, but did not know where he was headed. Shanssey suggested that Earp ask gambler Doc Holliday, who played cards with Rudabaugh. Doc told Earp that Rudabaugh was headed back into Kansas.

For Griffin makes a cameo appearance in The Gunfight at the O. K. Corral (1957) starring Burt Lancaster as Wyatt Earp and Kirk Douglas as Doc  Holliday, directed by John Sturgis.

Fort Lancaster

Built in 1846, when the California Gold Rush was in full swing and prospectors and others were traveling West, Fort Lancaster recalls the "American colonization of Texas and the West, [the use] of militarized camels, the Confederacy, and Buffalo Soldiers fighting Indigenous tribes" ("Fort Lancaster State Historic Site Offers a Glimpse of Turbulent Times on the West Texas Frontier," Texas Highways).

As the article further observes,

Not long after, the fort was attacked in what’s known as the Battle of Fort Lancaster. The Texas Historical Commission describes the battle as the only instance of Native Americans directly attacking a U.S. Army fort in Texas.

On Dec. 26, 1867, a force of hundreds of Lipan Apaches, Kickapoos, Mexicans, and disgruntled ex-Confederates raided the fort. “I have the honor to report that my camp was attacked from three directions by upwards of nine hundred Indians, Mexicans and White renegades about 4 ‘0’ clock P.M. yesterday,” wrote commander of the fort Captain William Frohock in a letter to Lieutenant John S. Loud at Fort Stockton. The soldiers of the 9th Cavalry eventually repelled the attack, killing 20 of the attackers and suffering three losses.

As the Texas Highways article further explains, before this assault, the fort had also taken part in the U.S. Army’s "project to test feasibility of using camels imported from the Middle East and North Africa as pack animals on the American frontier." and the post is remembered for its valiant U.S. 9th Cavalry’s Company K—a unit of Buffalo Soldiers. "six all-black regiments (consolidated to four shortly after) to help rebuild the country after the Civil War and to fight on the Western frontier during the "Indian Wars."

Buffalo Soldier in the 9th Cavalry, 1890

Their nickname, "Buffalo Soldiers," was conferred upon them by the Native American braves they fought, as descriptive of "American Plains Indians who fought against these soldiers referred to the black cavalry troops as "buffalo soldiers" because of their dark, curly hair, which resembled a buffalo's coat and because of their fierce nature of fighting("Buffalo Soldiers," National Park Service).

Fort Concho

Fort Concho: Officer's Row, 1913 photograph

Fort Concho (1867-89) was one of a series of posts guarding the Texas frontier during the post-Civil War era.

It was built at the center of the line, at the confluence of the North and South Concho Rivers, where a number of east-west trails converged to avoid the Staked Plains to the north and a semidesert area to the south.

The fort's administration building; nine sets of officers' quarters; the restored chapel, which also served as a schoolhouse; two reconstructed barracks; and the powder magazine have been salvaged and restored ("Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings: Fort Conch, Texas, " National Park Service).

Fort Davis 

Fort Davis, Texas, 1885

Described as "one of the best remaining examples of a U.S. Army" frontier post, Fort Davis, "established in 1854 on the San Antonio–El Paso Road through west Texas,  . . . was strategically placed to protect emigrants, mail coaches, and freight wagons, and played a key role in controlling activities during the Comanche and Mescalero war trails" ("Fort Davis, Fort Davis.com").

As "Fort Davis," Wikipedia, indicates, the fort was "established in 1854 on the San Antonio–El Paso Road through west Texas, it was named after Jefferson Davis, who was then the Secretary of War under President Franklin Pierce. It was reestablished in 1867 following the civil war."

Jolene Brand played the legendary Indian Annie, who saved Fort Davis from an Apache attack in the episode "Indian Annie" of the syndicated anthology series Death Valley Days (1930-1945), hosted at the time by Stanley Andrews. Other hosts of the show were Ronald Regan, Robert Taylor, Dale Robertson.

Fort Chadbourne

Fort Chadbourne, built in Texas in 1852, served four purposes: its used during the Civil War, its service as a Butterfield Overland Mail station, its protection of settlers, and its management of regional Indian affairs. ("Fort Chadbourne, Texas,"
Historic Forts).

Fort Inglish

Fort Inglish wasn't much to look at when it was built in 1837, but the 16-foot-long blockhouse "topped with a 24-foot-long "overhanging story" provided settlers with protection from Native Americans' attacks, which occurred frequently "on the western edge of the Red River frontier."

The fort was also unusual in that it was a private fortification, built by Bailey Inglish, who'd moved to a Clear Lake settlement on the western bank of the Red River, originally hailing from Warren County, Kentucky ("Fort Inglish: A Historical Refuge in Early Texas," Texas State Historical Association).

A historical marker provides details about the fort he constructed:

[Inglish, a] former sheriff [and the ] . . . train of settlers traveling by oxcart to [whom he led to the area] built a log stockade and blockhouse with gun ports for use in community defense. In a typical fight (1841), the Indians were repulsed, but caught two young boys hunting cows near the fort. (The boys returned later.) 

Called  Bois D'arc in 1840 the town was renamed (1843) to honor Texas Wat for Independence hero, Col. James Butler Bonham (1807-1836) ("Bailey Inglish: Founder of Bonham, Texas," Texas State Historical Association).

Fort Sam Houston

Unlike many of frontier forts that were built by the U. S. Army, Fort Sam Houston was built by the winning bidder on a contract, the Edward Braden Construction Company, whose representative offered to build the post for $83,900 ($2.48 million in 2024). The U. S. government had allotted $100,000 for the  post's construction on a 93-acre  lot deeded by the city of San Antonio, Texas.

The Pershing House, Fort Sam Houston, Texas

Constructed during the 1870s, the fort included a watchtower and a water tank, and, in 1880, officers' quarters were added; between 1885 and 1893, another 60 buildings were constructed, including the Band House and a hospital, the Sam Houston House.

The fort continues to serve the Army's needs today. Notable persons associated with the post's history include John J. Pershing, Walter Kreuger, Johnathan Mayhew Wainwright IV, and Dwight D. Eisenhower. ("Fort Sam Houston," Wikipedia).

Fort Worth

Fort Worth was one of seven other military posts established during 1848-1849, its purpose the protection of "settlers of Texas along the western frontier." The famous cowtown that followed, located along  the Chisholm Trail, was incorporated in 1874 ("Fort Worth, Wikipedia)  and is the setting for the 1954 Western film Fort Worth, starring Randolph Scott and Phyllis Thaxter (Fort Worth (film), Wikipedia). 

Fort Bliss

Today, Fort  Bliss, near El Paso, Texas, thrives as "a cornerstone of modern [U. S .] military infrastructure." Home of the 1st Armored Division, the fort also provides "housing, hospitals, and recreational areas" and provides " extensive anti-aircraft ranges and training areas" used for "large-scale training exercises" on its 1.2 million acres" in Texas and New Mexico ("Fort Bliss (Texas)," Historic Forts).

Established as the Post of EL Paso at Magoffisville on January 11, 1854, the fortification was later renamed as Fort Bliss, to protect against the Apaches. On March 321, 1861, David E, Twiggs, the Commander of the Department of Texas, ordered that Fort Bliss be surrendered to the Confederacy, and Companies B, E, F, H, I, and K were captured by Confederate troops and held as prisoners of war until February 25, 1863. The Confederates abandoned the fort without a fight when, in 1862, a federal column of 2,250 soldiers marched against the fort, reclaiming it for the Union. ("Fort Bliss," Wikipedia)

List of 19th-Century U. S. Western Frontier Forts, Part VI: Indian Territory and Oklahoma

 

Note: This is the sixth of a series of lists of the U. S. forts of the Wild West. It is intended for use in research by writers, readers, movie fans, and others, so not much information is provided in this list itself; instead, it refers readers, by way of embedded links, to websites that provide brief historical accounts of the forts and, in many cases, one or more photographs or illustrations associated with each of the forts. All photographs and illustrations are in the public domain.

Oklahoma (admitted to the Union on November 16, 1907)

As Wikipedia's "Oklahoma" article explains, during the 1800s, "the U. S. federal government forcibly removed tens of thousands of American Indians from their ancestral homelands from across North America and transported them to the area including and surrounding present-day Oklahoma." Included among these tribes were 17,000 "thousand Cherokees and 2,000 of their black slaves." From 1834 until 1890, this area was known as the Indian Territory; from 1890 to November 16, 1907, when it became a U. S. state, it was known as Oklahoma Territory.

During the U. S.  Civil War, the Indian Territory. Five Civilized Tribes (Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee [Creek], and Seminole) sided with the Confederacy; slavery was not abolished in Oklahoma until1865. The demand for cattle led to the development of five cattle trails, four of which ran through Indian Territory  and eventually to the Dawes Act that "abolished tribal governments and transferred most land ownership to the U. S. Much of this  land was sold to settlers and railroads, leading to the Land Rush of 1889 and others who claimed 160 acres under the Homestead Act of 1862.

Mostly, the need to protect settlers and cattle trails to the construction of U. S. Army posts. The Civil War also prompted the use of such forts, sometimes by Union troops, sometimes by Confederate soldiers, the latter especially in Oklahoma Territory.

Fort Gibson (1824)

Fort Gibson Barracks

Fort Gibson, built in 1824, on the Grand River, near its confluence with the Arkansas River, was one of several in a "chain" of forts that protected the American frontier and much of the rest of the Louisiana Purchase and settled disputes among local tribes. Later, it assisted in managing Native Americans forcibly removed from eastern states. During the early 1830s, its soldiers also helped to build roads.

Zachary Taylor, c. 1843-1845

Among those stationed at he fort at one time or  another were Stephen W. Kearny, Robert E. Lee, and Zachary Taylor.

During the Civil War, Union troops were stationed there, and, in 1872, the fort's soldiers began to "police" laborers who'd moved to the area to build the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad from the Baxter Springs, Kansas, cow town to the Red River Crossing at Colbert's Ferry in Indian Territory.

Fort Gibson Historic Area: released into the public domain by its photographer.

In 1888, Kansas and Arkansas Valley Railway was constructed in the area, leading to the development of the town of Fort Gibson, Oklahoma. Soon thereafter, the fort was abandoned ("Fort Gibson," Wikipedia).

Fort Towson (1824)

As "10 Historic Forts in Oklahoma," Historic Forts, points out, Fort Towson, established  in1824, near the Red River, in southwestern Oklahoma, had much the same mission as Fort Gibson, to protect settlers and "maintain peace between various Native American tribes." During the Civil War, though, it functioned as a home base for Confederate troops until it became the site at which "the surrender of the last Confederate land forces [took place] in 1865."

Fort Washita (1824)

Fort Washita, established in 1824, along the Red River, has a history that is also similar to those of Fort Gibson and Fort Towson, having served a "role in the forced relocation of American Indians and its occupation by Confederate forces" and later having been occupied by Confederate soldiers during the Civil War "10 Historic Forts in Oklahoma."

Fort Sill (1869)

Wild Bill Hickok, 1869

Another relic of the Indian Wars (1609-1890), Camp Wichita (later Fort Sill) was "staked out" by Major General Philip Sheridan on January 8, 1869, who halted Native American raids against Texas and Kansas settlements during which  Buffalo Bill Cody, Wild Bill Hickok, Ben Clark and Jack Stilwell served as scouts employed by the U. S. Army. (To Native Americans, the fort was known as "The Soldier House at Medicine Bluffs."

William Tecumseh Sherman, 1865, wearing black mourning ribbon following President Abraham Lincoln's assassination

During an 1871 visit to the fort, General of the Army William Tecumseh Sherman, after hearing Kiowa chiefs' account of their attack on a wag on train, in which muleskinners were killed, ordered them arrested, at which point "two of the Indians attempted to assassinate him." Three chiefs, Satank, Satanta and Addo-ete, were arrested, tried, and sentenced to be hanged.

In transit to Fort Richardson, located in Texas, Satank disarmed a soldier, but Satank was killed when he sought to cock and fire the rifle he'd seized. The other two chief's death sentences were later commuted to life in prison by Texas Governor Edmund J. Davis.

During the Red River War (1874) between the U. S. and the Comanches, Kiowas, and Southern Cheyennes, defeated tribal members were sent to For Sill to enter the "reservation system."

Apache Chief Geronimo, 1898

Another famous name associated with the fort is that of the Chiricahua Apache Geronimo:

In 1894, Geronimo and 341 other Chiricahua Apache prisoners of war were brought to Fort Sill, where they lived in villages scattered around the post. After a couple of years, Geronimo was granted permission to travel with Pawnee Bill's Wild West Show, and he joined the Indian contingent at several annual World Expositions and Indian Expositions in the 1890s and early 1900s. Geronimo and other Indian leaders rode in the inaugural parade of President Theodore Roosevelt and met the president himself during that trip. Geronimo and the other Apache prisoners had free range of Fort Sill. He was a member of Fort Sill's Native Scouts. Still, he did make at least one documented attempt to escape from the fort, though not in the dramatic fashion of jumping off the steep Medicine Bluffs on his horse in a hail of bullets as popularized in the 1939 movie, Geronimo. . . .

The 10th Cavalry Regiment, "the famous Buffalo Soldiers," was also stationed at Fort Sill, as Troop L of the 7th Cavalry, an all-Native American unit "considered one of the best in the West."

The fort continues to operate today as the the home of the U. S. Field Artillery School ("Fort Sill," Wikipedia).

Fort Reno (1874)

Fort Reno, Oklahoma, 1891

Commissioned in 1874, "the same year that George Custer’s expedition confirmed reports of gold in the Black Hills," Fort Reno, in Indian Territory, supported the territory's "transition to . . . the State of Oklahoma," which involved  the forcible removal of Native Americans. The U. S. Army"issued an ultimatum to the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne bands to relocate onto reservations by January 31, 1876, [attacking] those who resisted."

The fort also supervised and controlled land rushes, and expelled "Eastern opportunists began trying to claim and settle the area surrounding Fort Reno." 

One of the relatively few forts to survive  the 19th century:

In 1908, the fort shifted from a station for troops to a remount station raising horses and mules for army use, a function it served for nearly four decades. During World War II, Fort Reno continued to foster large-scale movements of people in support of the United States war effort. As defense-related traffic hummed along on adjacent Route 66, stimulating economies adjacent to military bases, nearly 100 acres of Fort Reno’s eastern portion became an internment camp for German prisoners of war. 

Even after it was closed in1947, it continued to serve the nation's needs, hosting "the Department of Agriculture's Grazinglands Research Laboratory," a mission that continues to this day ("Oklahoma: Fort Reno," National Park Service).  

Fort Supply (1868)

Established in 1868 so that is soldiers could participate in "the winter campaign against the Plains Indians," Camp Supply fulfilled this function for 25 years as its troops both sought to "contain the tribal nations and keep out trespassers, [including] buffalo hunters, timber and horse thieves, whiskey traders, and boomers." In addition, soldiers "escorted cattle drives and protected stage coaches, freight haulers, and travelers" until its closure in 1894" ("Fort Supply Historic Site," Oklahoma Historical Society).

Fort Arbuckle (1851)

Established in 1851, Fort Arbuckle's mission was to suppress and protect against Plains Indians' raids on Oklahoma and Texas settlers and their attacks against Southwestern tribes that had relocated to the eastern part of the Indian Territory. The fort was built on Wildhorse Creek, a branch of the Washita River, in the Territory's Chickasaw Nation, "to the north and west of Fort Washita." Initially, "a rectangular fort with barracks on opposite sides and quartermaster and commissary facilities on opposite ends," the fort would later contain "thirty hewn-log buildings with stone chimneys."

However, "when Maj. William H. Emory of the First Cavalry arrived in 1858 as commander of Forts Arbuckle and Washita, he found his headquarters post in a poor state, [reporting] that many buildings were dilapidated, his troops lacked proper clothing, and ordinance stores were almost nonexistent. Surplus ammunition and powder had to be buried to be protected from the weather."

Instead of improving the fort, he was ordered to build another, Fort Cobb, farther northwest, "to protect Texas tribes then being relocated to the Leased District in western Indian Territory." During the first year of the Civil War, Confederate troops occupied the fort after it was evacuated . After the war, the fort stored hay and corn for General Philip Sheridan's 1868 winter campaign against the Cheyenne, Kiowa, and Comanche tribes.

The post was abandoned in the spring of 1870, following the establishment of Fort Sill ("Fort Arbuckle," The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture).

Fort McCulloch (1862)

Once the Confederate army's "main . . . fortification," Fort McCullough was built, in 1862, "on a bluff on the south bank of the Blue River" in southern Indian Territory, "along routes leading to Forts Gibson and Washita."

Believing that his headquarters at Fort Davis in Cherokee Territory could be seized by Union troops, following the Confederate defeat at Pea Ridge, Arkansas in May 1862, Confederate Brigadier General Albert Pike abandoned it, moving his troops to a location near Blue River. 

After Pike resigned in July, the fort, consisting "of earthworks and no permanent buildings," became less important; it was abandoned as a military post when the war ended, although, afterward, it served as "a haven for refugees and briefly in 1865 as Gen. Stand Watie's seat of command." ("Fort McCulloch," The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture)  

Fort Coffee (1834)

"Built [in 1834] on a bluff on the south bank of the Arkansas River at a place known as Swallow Rock," F ort Coffee's mission was twofold: it protected the Choctaw and preventing liquor from being brought into Indian Territory from Arkansas. Later, it protected Arkansas's western boundary and "served as an arms depot for the [state] militia."

John D. May describes it as having been "poorly constructed, . . . its log buildings enclosed three sides of a small square, with the fourth side open toward the Arkansas River." When Fort Wayne was built on the Illinois River in 1838, Fort Coffee was  abandoned.

However, the Choctaw Nation, acquiring the property, permitted "Methodist  ministers to the facility as the Fort Coffee Academy for boys," a function it served until Confederate troops occupied it during the Civil War, and Union soldiers, capturing the post burned it in 1863. ("Fort Coffee," The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture)

Camp Nichols (1865)

Kit Carson wearing a beaver hat

Constructed un 1865 by U. S. Army soldiers under the command of Colonel Christopher "Kit" Carson, Camp Nichols was situated halfway between Fort Union, New Mexico, and Fort Dodge, Kansas, its purpose to protect travelers on the Santa Fe Trail's Cimarron Route.

A large fort (40,000 square feet), it was well-protected inside stone walls. Although the fort's commissary and hospital were also built of stone, "troops were quartered in dugouts and tents," and "officers' quarters were located outside the protective walls," despite the presence of their wives. ("Fort Nichols," The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma's History and Culture).

A historic marker adds a few additional details of the post's history:

[Fort Nichols was] established in May, 1865, by Kit Carson, hero of Valverde and Brig. Gen., New Mexico volunteers, to guard Santa Fe Trail and furnish escorts for caravans in Santa Fe trade. Santa Fe Trail . . . was first traveled  by William Becknell's expedition from Missouri in 1823 ("Camp  Nichols," Wikipedia).

As  Jon D. May points out, "Never officially a 'fort' as it is sometimes called, Camp Nichols was abandoned in November 1865" ("Fort Nichols," The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma, "History and Culture).

List of 19th-Century U. S. Western Frontier Forts, Part V: Kansas Territory and Kansas

 

Note: This is the fifth of a series of lists of the U. S. forts of the Wild West. It is intended for use in research by writers, readers, movie fans, and others, so not much information is provided in this list itself; instead, it refers readers, by way of embedded links, to websites that provide brief historical accounts of the forts and, in many cases, one or more photographs or illustrations associated with each of the forts. All photographs and illustrations are in the public domain.

 Kansas (admitted to the Union on January 29, 1861)

Fort Leavenworth (1827-present)

Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, 1858.

Fort Leavenworth, "the second oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D. C.," was built in 1827 in Missouri Territory. (The Kansas Territory was established in 1854, and Kansas became a state on January 29, 1861.) Its original mission was to protect the Santa Fe Trail.

Located at the mouth of the Little Platte River, a Missouri River tributary, it was also the staging point in for a battle against its troops and the Cherokees, and its troops "were mobilized to control the 'Mormon Problem' [during] . . . the Utah War (1857-1858).

At the beginning of the Civil War, Fort Leavenworth was a receiving center and training base for Kansas volunteers. Following the war, the fort's mission was to "control" Native Americans "on the Western plains , . . . [and] between 1865 and 1891, the Army had more than 1,000 combat engagements with Apache, Modoc, Cheyenne, Ute, Nez Perce Comanche, Kiowa, Kickapoo and other tribes."

In 1866, the 10th Cavalry Regiment of "Buffalo soldiers," one of four all-black units who then served as on the Western frontier.

In 1877, four-hundred Nez Perce were sent to Fort Leavenworth after being their capture during the Nez Perce War; two years later, they were transferred to Tonkawa, Oklahoma, presumably to the Nez Perce reservation there.

Today, Fort Leavenworth functions as a maximum-security military prison. ("Fort Leavenworth," Wikipedia).

Fort Scott (184201873)

Politics, morality, protection of U. S. sovereignty, and "control" of Native Americans were some of the issues and functions associated with Fort Scott, which was established in 1842 and decommissioned in 1853.

As "10 Historic Forts in Kansas," Historic Forts, points out, "this fort was initially envisioned as part of a defense line meant to protect the US [sic] from potential foreign invasions and [to] keep the peace among various Native American tribes after their forced relocation from traditional territories."

The Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) left it up to territories to determine, by vote, whether to permit slavery, a contentious issue which led to "clashes  violent clashes between pro-slavery “Border Ruffians” and anti-slavery “Free-Staters" in "Bleeding Kansas." Even after it was decommissioned in 1853, the fort was a safe haven for those seeking to escape the violence introduced by "the slavery question," and the fort also served as a "supply depot" for Union troops.

Today, the reconstructed fort is a major attraction in the town that bears its name, located in Bourbon County, Kansas.

Fort Riley (Originally Camp Center) (1853-present)

Serving since 1853, when it was established to near the confluence of the Smoky Hill River and the Republican River in Kansas Territory to protect travelers on the Oregon Trail and the Sante Fe Trail, "during escalating tensions between settlers and Native American tribes," Fort Riley (originally Camp Center) continues to serve the U. S. Army today.

During the Civil War (1861-1865), the fort supported Union troops against Confederate soldiers, "housing troops, acting as a training ground, and facilitating the movement of supplies." During World War I and World War II, Fort Riley was used to train soldiers "for . . . European frontlines" and, during the latter, "as as a prisoner of war camp, housing captured Axis soldiers. Today, the fort continues to train soldiers for combat. ("10 Historic Forts in Kansas," Historic Forts).

Fort Larned (Originally Camp on Pawnee Fork; then Camp Alert (1859-1883)

Names of frontier forts were changed fairly frequently for a variety of reasons. Fort Larned was originally Camp on Pawnee Fork, its mission to protect the Santa Fe Trail. The original designation was of geographic origin: the camp was located on the bank of Pawnee  Fork (the Pawnee River, a tributary of the Arkansas River) ("10 Historic Forts in Kansas," Historic Forts). The completion of the Santa Fe Railroad led to the fort's abandonment in 1878. After serving as a ranch's headquarters from 1885-1966, the fort "was incorporated as a unit of the National Park System" as a National Historic Landmark ("Fort Larned," Wikipedia).

Fort Hays (aka Fort Fletcher) (1865-1889)

Fort Hays (originally Fort Fletcher) entered service in 1865, occupying the first of its three sites, its mission to protect freight wagons traveling over the Smoky Hill Trail against Cheyenne and Arapaho attacks ("Fort Hays," Wikipedia) and to "to relocate Native American tribes to reservations" ("10 Historic Forts in Kansas," Historic Forts).

The fort closed on May 5, 1886, but reopened in October of the same year, this time " at the confluence of Big Creek and its north fork, 1⁄4 mile north of the previous site," its new purpose the protection of Union Pacific Eastern Division workers, its name changed to Fort Hays in memory of Brigadier General Alexander Hays, a Union casualty of the Civil War's Battle of the Wilderness.

On June 7, 1867, "a severe flood nearly [destroying] the fort, killing nine soldiers and civilians." The fort was relocated "15 miles (24.1 km) to the northwest where the railway would cross Big Creek," its final site, so that it could be closer to the railroad. It also played an important role during the Indian Wars (1609-1890). In 1992, after the fort was closed for good in 1889, most of its buildings were sold at auction as scrap.

George Armstrong Custer

Fort Hays is used as a setting in the films The Plainsman (1936), Dances with Wolves (1990), and Stolen Women, Captured Hearts (1997), and the television series Custer (1967); it is also associated with such notable individuals as Buffalo Bill Cody (1846-1917), Brevet Brigadier General George Armstrong Custer (1839-1876), Wild Bill Hickok (1837-1925), U. S. General of the Army Philip Sheridan (1831-1888), and others ("Fort Hays," Wikipedia) 

Fort Dodge (1865-1882)

As the U. S., National Park service points out, Fort Dodge, built in 1865, to protect the Santa Fe Trail, "is the oldest permanent settlement in [southwestern] of Kansas." Initially, it was built of "sod and adobe," its wooden buildings constructed only after "lumber arrived." At one point, four infantry companies composed its garrison.

In 1882, the fort was abandoned and "deeded to the state for use as a soldiers home," a function it continues to serve today ("Fort Dodge: Santa Fe National Historic Site," U. S. National Park Service).

Two forts preceded Fort Dodge. The first, Fort Mann, was constructed by civilians in 1847 to protect the Santa Fe Trail, but it failed to survive a Native Americans' attack, collapsing a year later, and was replaced by Fort Atkinson, which the U. S. Army built on the former fort's site, but Fort Atkinson was abandoned in 1853.

Dodge City, Kansas, 1875

Dodge City Peace Commission:  From left to right, standing: William H. Harris, Luke Short, Bat Masterson, William F. Petillon; seated: Charlie Bassett, Wyatt Earp, Michael Francis "Frank" McLean, Cornelius "Neil" Brown.

Dodge City was built in 1871, in anticipation of the Santa Fe Railroad's passage through western Kansas. Dodge City "boomed" in 1883, when the Western Trail branched off the Chisholm Trail, opening a link to the town.

As "Dodge City," Wikipedia, observes, "Dodge City had more gunfighters working at one time or another than any other town in the West, many of whom participated in the Dodge City War of 1883." Famous lawmen formed the Dodge City Peace Commission, founded on June 210, 1883, members of which included Luke Short, Bat Masterson, Charlie Bassett, and Wyatt Earp.

Fort Wallace (1865-1882)

Officers at Fort Wallace, 1867

The Fort Wallace Museum website provides a fine, succinct account of its subject. Camp Pond Creek  was established in 1865 in response to numerous Native American raids against the Pond Creek Stage Station, which was one of the many stations along the Butterfield Overland Despatch:

[Travelers] could cross this great expanse of land for just $100. Stations were approximately 15 miles apart and were given different jobs.  One station would be a “home” station that would feed the travelers while “cattle” stations provided hay and "swing" provided fresh mules and horses.

In 1886, the camp was moved east, closer to the Smokey Hill River, and renamed Fort Wallace. During its heyday, the fort became known as "The Fightin'est Fort in the West" due to its many battles with the region's Cheyenne. Famous men associated with the fort include General George Armstrong Custer, George Forsythe, Buffalo Bill Cody, and Wild Bill Hickok.

Fort Zarah (1864-1869)

As "10 Historic Forts in Kansas," Historic Forts. indicates, "the trail was fraught with perils, from unpredictable weather to potential confrontations with Native American tribes."

There wasn't anything that the federal government could do about the weather, but, to protect travelers, the U. S. Army built and garrisoned several forts along the trail: Fort Leavenworth, Fort Mann, Fort Atkinson, and Fort Zarah among them.

Forts on the Western frontier were often built where rivers came together or a tributary branched off, as was Fort Zarah, constructed in 1864 to protect travelers on the Santa Fe Trail. (Historical sites along the Santa Fe Trail, including U. S. Army forts, are shown on this large interactive map.

Map of the Santa Fe Trail

Like a good number of other frontier post, Fort Zarah was abandoned fairly soon after its establishment, in 1869, its demise, so to speak, due to the building of the railroad, which "reduced" the need for it and other "such forts" ("10 Historic Forts in Kansas," Historic Forts).

Fort Aubrey (1864-1865)

Fort Aubrey, established in 1864, near the Arkansas River in Kansas, served the same function as several others, protecting the Santa Fe Trail used by pioneers, traders, and settlers. While it was of a modest size, the fort contained all the essentials, including "barracks, supply storerooms, and stables." The post was abandoned in 1865,  as the trail west became safe and railroads were built, offering much less expensive and safer travel ("10 Historic Forts in Kansas," Historic Forts).

Fort Downer

Werner lithograph of Cavalry Troops chasing Indians was printed in 1899.

Fort Downer was established in the late 1800s   in response to escalating tensions between settlers and travels and Native Americans and the ongoing Indian Wars  (1609-1890), "its primary role . . . [service] as a base for troops embarking on campaigns against Native American tribes resisting the encroachment on their lands" and the provision of support in the forms of "including supplies, medical facilities, and strategic planning headquarters."

By the end of the century, the cessation of the Indian Wars led to the abandonment of the fort ("10 Historic Forts in Kansas," Historic Forts).