Fort Cottonwood (North Platte, Nebraska)

North Platte · Nebraska · Indian Wars

Quick BriefCompleted in October 1863, this Nebraska post was built by the 7th Iowa Volunteer Cavalry to intercept a critical north–south Indigenous trail crossing Cottonwood Canyon and the Platte Valley. Originally named Cantonment McKean and later Fort McPherson, the installation was popularly known as Fort Cottonwood and served as a base for numerous Indian Wars campaigns through 1880.

History & Significance

Built by the 7th Regiment Iowa Volunteer Cavalry using cedar logs cut in Cottonwood Canyon, Fort Cottonwood was completed in October 1863. Located near present-day North Platte, Nebraska, on the banks of the North Platte River at the mouth of Cottonwood Canyon, it occupied a strategic position near the junction of South and North Platte Rivers.

The decision to build the fort followed the Dakota War of 1862. First known as Cantonment McKean and then Fort Cottonwood, the fort in February 1866 was named for Major-General James B. McPherson and served to protect the important Platte Valley line of travel and communication and was the base for innumerable scouting parties and field campaigns in 1865, 1866 and 1869.

General Carr's campaign in 1869 broke the power of the Cheyenne and cleared the surrounding area from more than temporary Indian threats. The Russian Grand Duke Alexis prepared here for his famous buffalo hunt in 1872, and General Custer, Buffalo Bill, the North Brothers and their Pawnee scouts were often at the Fort. The fort was abandoned in 1880, but a portion of the military reservation is now the Fort McPherson National Cemetery where rest soldiers from McPherson and other frontier forts.