Fort Duchesne (Uintah County, Utah)
Uintah County · Utah · Indian Wars
History & Significance
Fort Duchesne was established by Major Frederick William Benteen on 20 August 1886, at a site selected by General George Crook, who soon took command. The fort was established to replace Fort Thornburgh, which had been abandoned in 1884–85; an outbreak of inter-band warfare among the Utes in winter 1885–86 prompted both the Department of the Interior and War Department to recommend a permanent military post.
Construction began in October 1886, and President Cleveland officially designated the six-square-mile reservation on 1 September 1887. Major Benteen led two troops of the Ninth Cavalry from Fort McKinney, Wyoming, and Captain Duncan led four infantry companies from Fort Steele, Wyoming; the Ninth was a Black cavalry unit that served on the Uintah frontier for twelve years.
The fort was designated to guard the Indian frontier in eastern Utah, western Colorado, and southwestern Wyoming. Facilities included officers' and enlisted men's quarters, a commissary, storehouse, and hospital, all of adobe brick.
In 1893 the four infantry companies were removed to Fort Douglas; by 1909 only one cavalry company remained. In 1910 an inspecting officer found no military reason to continue the post; on 13 September 1912, Troop M of the First Cavalry, the last unit at the reservation, departed for Fort Boise, Idaho. After the army abandoned the fort, the Indian Service consolidated its Uintah and Ouray operations there, and the buildings constructed to control the Indians were repurposed to assist them.
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Sources
- https://historytogo.utah.gov/fort-duchesne/
- https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/f/FORT_DUCHESNE.shtml
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Duchesne,_Utah
- https://thrive125.utah.gov/fort-duchesne/
- https://africanamericanheritagesites.stqry.app/en/story/44241