Wyoming Forts of the Old West

WYOMING LEGENDS

Wyoming Forts of the Old West

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Wyoming Forts

Fort Bonneville (Fort Nonsense)

Fort Bridger

Fort Caspar

Fort Clay

Fort Fetterman

Fort H.W. Halleck

Fort Laramie

Fort McKinney

Fort Phil Kearny

Fort Reno

Fort David A. Russell

Fort Sanders

Fort Stambaugh

Fort Fred Steele

Fort Washakie (Camp Brown)

Fort Yellowstone

This painting of Fort Caspar hangs in the Fort Caspar Museum.

Fort Bonneville (1832-1839) - Never an official U.S. Military outpost, rather, Fort Bonneville was a fur trading post built by Captain Benjamin Bonneville in 1832. In 1835, it was the site of a Rocky Mountain Fur Company rendezvous, known as “The Green River Rendezvous.” The Fort was mocked and nick-named by other U.S. Forts as Fort Nonsense. Early snow falls made the fort unusable in the winter and by 1839 it was abandoned. Though all signs of the original fort have long since disappeared back into the landscape, a historic marker is posted at the site, approximately three miles northwest of Daniel, Wyoming.

Fort Caspar (1859-1865) - The fort began as a trading post and toll bridge built by Louis Guinard in 1859 on the Oregon Trail. It also served as an overnight stage stop, Pony Express mail stop and telegraph office. In 1861, volunteer cavalry were ordered to Guinard’s Bridge to guard against the increasingly frequent Indian Raids. The following year, the trading post became a one-company military post and was renamed Platte Bridge Station.

However, in July, 1865, Sioux and Cheyenne warriors, including Red Cloud, Old Man Afraid of His Horses, Roman Nose, and Dull Knife, began to threaten the bridge. About this same time, an eastern bound Army wagon train was due to come in and the company, led by Lieutenant Caspar Collins planned to drive of the hostile Indians. As Collins and his troops crossed the bridge, they were quickly driven back by the Indians and in the battle that ensued, Collins and three other soldiers were killed. The battle became known as the Battle of Platte Bridge Station.

The wagon train that the troops were trying to protect, was attacked the same day, with the soldiers attached to it being completely overrun, and only a few of them surviving. That battle became known as the Battle of Red Buttes.

Shortly after the Battle of Platte Bridge Station, the Army officially renamed the outpost Fort Caspar, in honor of the fallen lieutenant. The fort remained an active outpost until August, 1867, when the garrison moved to Fort Fetterman at Douglas, Wyoming. The fort fell into ruins but was partially reconstructed in 1936 by the Works Progress Administration and the City of Casper, Wyoming, using sketches made by Lieutenant Collins in 1863. In the 1980s, a replica of the Mormon ferry and a reconstructed section of the Guinard bridge were added to the grounds.

Today, the City of Casper operates a museum at the site, featuring the reconstructed log buildings, wooden stockade, bridge and ferry. The site is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

More Information:

Fort Caspar Museum

4001 Fort Caspar Road

Casper, Wyoming 82604

307-235-8462

Fort Clay (1855-1856) - Also known as Camp Davis, the fort was established in 1855 to protect the Reshaw Bridge traffic in what is present-day Evansville, Wyoming (a suburb of Casper.) Lieutenant Deschler and members of the 6th Infantry, 10th Infantry, and 4th Artillery staffed Fort Clay in November 1855. It was re-named Camp Davis in March of 1856, but by November, the outpost of Fort Laramie was abandoned. The site is located in Evansville Town Park.

Fort H.W. Halleck (1862-1866) - Established 1862 to protect the Overland Trail from Indian attacks, the fort was named in honor of General H.W. Halleck, commander of the Division of the Pacific. The site, on the north side of Elk Mountain at an elevation of about 7300 feet, was near a spring, had plenty of wood, and the area was filled with ample game. The fort complex consisted of stables large enough to hold 200 horses, storehouses, two sets of company quarters, officers' quarters, a store, bake house, a jail and a hospital.

Fort Halleck, from a drawing made by Bugler C. Moellman, Eleventh Ohio Cavalry, 1863.

Though it was considered one of the most dangerous sections of the trail and the troops were kept busy defending the area, it was also a busy location. In 1864, over 4200 wagons carrying 17,584 emigrants passed the fort, bringing over 50,000 animals. Busy or no, after just four short years, the fort was abandoned in 1866. By the following year, one traveler described it as "the most dreary place on the entire route."

Today, only one building remains that may be the old blacksmith shop. The site is located on a private ranch southwest of Elk Mountain in Carbon County. A stone marker indicates the site of the Fort Halleck cemetery.

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