Utah Forts of the Old West

Utah Forts of the Old West - Page 2

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One of many forts built by the Mormons to protect settlers and serve as way stations for travelers, Fort Deseret was erected in 1865, in the midst of the Blackhawk Indian War. At this time, the U.S. Army was too committed to the Civil War to protect settlers traveling through the west and advised pioneers to either move to a safe city or build a fort. The Mormons decided to build a fort.

With nearly 100 men working on the fort, it was completed in just 18 days, with an opening celebration held July 25, 1865.

Fort Desert, photo by Kristi Fillman, courtesy Great Basin National Historic Route

Constructed of mud and straw, it's 10 foot high walls were provided portals through which guns could be fired. It had two corner bastions and was approximately 550 feet square.

In the spring of 1866, the fort protected area inhabitants when Blackhawk and his warriors arrived. With the people and most of the livestock inside the fort, the Indian's threats were settled peacefully.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Fort Deseret is the only remaining example of the many adobe forts built in Utah. Today, the fort is part of an undeveloped State Park that continues to stand due to local volunteers. Though most of the 10-foot walls have fallen down, the corners, two bastions, and the majority of the east wall still stand.

Fort Desert is on Utah Highway 257 about one mile south of Deseret, Utah.

Fort Duchesne

In 1885 and 1886 intertribal violence erupted among the Ute Indians, requiring four companies of Infantry and two troops of African-American Cavalry to be rushed to the area. About 700 Indians confronted the troops near where the soldiers would build Fort Duchesne, but diplomacy averted a clash.

The fort site was officially chosen on August 20, 1886 and construction began in October. Buildings included officers' and enlisted men's quarters, a commissary, a storehouse, and a hospital, all of adobe brick. Fort Duchesne was designated to guard the Indian frontier in eastern Utah, western Colorado, and southwestern Wyoming.

The fort served with an average detachment of 250 men until it began to decline in the 1890s. In 1893, four infantry companies were removed to Fort Douglas and by 1909 there was only one company of cavalry left. By the next year, inspecting officers were recommending closure of the post and on September 13, 1912, the last remaining cavalry unit left for Fort Boise, Idaho. The buildings were then given over to the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation.

Today, some of the original fort buildings are still in use, though others have been razed. The fort is located on the west bank of the Uintah River about 22 miles south of Vernal, Utah.

Fort Utah

Just a few days after the Battle Creek Massacre, the Mormon church decided to build Fort Utah. President of the soon to be Provo Branch, John S. Higbee, along with brother Isaac and Dimick B. Hintington, church counselors, led a group of about 150 people from Salt Lake City to build the fortress at the present-day city of Provo, Utah. Established on March 12, 1849, the fort included several log houses, surrounded by a 14 foot palisade, with gates one the east and west sides, and a middle deck, for a cannon.

The fort became a trading post for a short time, with the Mormon settlers trading guns and ammunition with the Indians, for furs and pelts. However, this changed when three Mormon men killed an Indian called "Old Bishop." The tension between those living at the fort increased to ultimately result in the Battle of Fort Utah.

Today, the original fort is long gone, but a scaled-down version has been recreated in Pioneer Park at 500 W. Center St, Provo, Utah.

Fort Utah, courtesy Waymarking.com

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