FORT FETTERMAN. Notwithstanding the fact that the government was desirous of making peace with the Indians and was putting forth every effort to consumate a treaty, preparations for war were constantly going forward. It was decided to locate a post on the North Platte at the point where La Prele Creek empties into that stream. This was at the angle where the Bozeman Road turns to the north. Accordingly Major William McE. Dye, with Companies A, C, H and I, Fourth Infantry, was sent to construct the fort. These troops arrived on the ground on July 19, 1867, and at once commenced the erection of the necessary buildings. The fort was located on a beautiful plateau, 800 yards from the river and about 130 feet above it, and on the south bank of the stream. The military reservation which was laid off is described as follows: Beginning at a point five miles due east of the flagstaff; thence running due south one mile; thence due west ten miles; thence due south six miles; thence due east ten miles; thence due north five miles to the place of beginning. (General Orders No. 34, Series 1867, Headquarters Department of the Platte.) In addition to this, there were reservations for hay, and also for wood. The former comprised the bottom lands adjacent to Deer Creek from its mouth to the first high range of hills. The latter, "that part of the north range of the Black Hills running almost parallel to and about fourteen miles south of the North Platte River, and that part of the same range which lies between Box Elder Creek and little Box Elder." The logs for the fort were cut by enlisted men, and these were converted into lumber at the two saw-mills located at the post. This fort played a conspicuous part in the Indian wars for the next few years. It was a substantial structure, with all the appointments to make of it a first-class post, and when Fort Caspar was abandoned and the three forts north of it, Reno, Phil. Kearney and C. F. Smith, it became of necessity an important supply point for the army operating against the Indians in the Northwest. The post received its name in honor of Brevet Lieutenant Colonel W. J. Fetterman, captain in the Twenty-seventh Infantry, who, with his whole command, was killed in the Indian massacre near Fort Phil. Kearney, December 21, 1866. With the first troops who came to Fort Fetterman was Captain John D. O'Brien, who, after serving his time in the army, became a permanent resident of Wyoming and a prominent citizen of Converse county. On the breaking out of the war with Spain, he was elected Captain of Company F, First Regiment of Wyoming Volunteers, and went with his command to Manila. His name will appear in connection with the first settlement of his county, also in connection with the history of Wyoming troops in our war with Spain. In this volume will be found a carefully drawn sketch of Fort Fetterman. The history of this post is largely made up of events which occurred subsequent to the period which this volume covers. Military operations connected with Fort Fetterman will be detailed in the second volme of this work FORT D. A. RUSSELL. The building of Fort D. A. Russell occurred at about the same time as that of Fort Fetterman. The official record in the War Department relating to this post is as follows: "Located on the north bank of Crow Creek, a branch of the South Platte River, and distant three miles west of the town of Cheyenne, in Laramie County, Wyoming. "In July, 1867, Brevet Brigadier General John D. Stevenson, Colonel Thirteenth Infantry, then in camp on Larren's Fork, a branch of the North Platte River, in western Nebraska, about eighty miles northwest of old Fort Sedgwick, having under his command five companies of his regiment, received instructions to proceed to a point where the Union Pacific railroad would cross Crow Creek, with a view of locating a military post thereat. "On July 15th he left Larren's Fork and on the 21st, with Companies B, G and K, reached the creek about half a mile above the present site of the town of Cheyenne, which he selected as his first camp. Here he found Brevet Major General Christopher C. Augur, Colonel Twelfth Infantry, then commanding the Department of the Platte, with his staff, a detachment of Troop H, Second Cavalry, and a camp of railroad engineers. As yet no houses had been erected, though the railway was then running to Julesburg. "On August 16th the camp was moved to the present site and a post established thereon, pursuant to General Orders No. 33, Headquarters Department of the Platte, July 31, 1867, and designated Fort D. A. Russell, in honor of the memory of Brevet Major General David A. Russell, Major Eighth Infantry, who was killed at the battle of Opequan, Virginia, September 19, 1864. "The object in establishing the post was to protect the railway in the vicinity, and the lines of travel south to Denver, Colorado, and northward to Fort Laramie, Wyoming, and the posts beyond. Temporary log huts were erected for the accommodation of the enlisted men in September, the officers remaining in tents. Permanent company barracks were constructed in October and November, 1867, and by the end of the year the troops were in barracks with the exception of the officers, whose quarters were commenced later and were not occupied until February, 1868. "The site of the post was located a little to the left of the center of the reservation, its southernmost angle reaching the edge of the bluff, there about 50 feet above the water which flows directly beneath. The buildings at first were entirely of wood and arranged around a parade of diamond form 1,040 feet in its long, by 800 feet in its short axis. The post was designed to accommodate twelve companies, six each of cavalry and infantry. Subsequently it was extended to the east; the addition forming a parallelogram, 800 feet by 420 feet, and buildings of brick, frame and adobe constructed. "In the spring of 1870, cottonwood and pine trees were planted around the parade ground and other parts of the post. The cottonwood trees appear to have thrived fairly and many of them are standing at the present time, while the pines have entirely disappeared. A fire broke out at the post on January 4, 1875, destroying several sets of officers' quarters, and on December 13, 1882, one set of company barracks was destroyed by the same element. "From the appropriation of Congress of $2,000,000, Act approved July 7, 1884, for the construction of buildings and enlargement of military posts, the Secretary of War, on Au gust 7, 1884, authorized $100,000 for the rebuilding of Fort D. A. Russell, Wyoming. In the civil bill, approved August 4, 1886, Congress appropriated a further sum of $225,000 for military posts, and out of this sum the Secretary allotted $20,000 for the post. "By Act of Congress approved January 29, 1887, the Secretary of War was authorized and directed to complete the barracks and quarters at the post, at an expense of not exceeding $30,000. This sum, with the $20,000 above referred to for Fort D. A. Russell, were combined by the Secretary, who approved plans and estimates for work aggregating $50,000. The repairs and construction of barracks and quarters under the above act, were commenced in 1888, and completed the following year. "The region in the vicinity of the post was originally held by the Arapahoe Indians, but under the treaty ratified August 25, 1868, their removal was gradually effected to the permanent reservation in the Indian Territory, set apart for the Southern Cheyennes and Arapahoes by the treaty of 1867, or to the Missouri River reservations set apart for the Brule and other bands of Sioux by the treaty of April 29, 1868. "The post has been, since its establishment, a rendezvous or depot for the distribution of troops. A large quartermaster and commissary depot was established in August, 1867, located about one and a half miles east of the post, which during its existence was an important base of supplies for the military stations to the northward and for troops operating in the field; the old road from Fort Sedgwick to Fort Laramie having been abandoned for the new and shorter one from Fort D. A. Russell. "The Cheyenne depot of the Quartermaster's Department was abandoned March 31, 1890, and the stores transferred to Fort Robinson, Nebraska. "During 1890, the guard house was removed and renovated and the sewerage and water systems completed. The sewerage connects with that of the town of Cheyenne. Fort D. A. Russell has been continuously occupied from its establishment to date." The military events connected with Fort Russell, like those of Fort Fetterman, belong to a period which will be covered by the second volume of this history. From 1869 forward this post was the most important one in the Rocky Mountain country, and it had much to do with the Indian wars up to and including the Thornburg massacre of 1879. Its proximity to the railroad enabled the troops to reach points of disturbance in the west, south and east very promptly, which made it an important depot for both troops and supplies. TINUE CHAPTER XLI. MISTAKEN POLICY OF THE GOVERNMENT. INDIANS CONTINUE HOSTILITIES-RECORD FOR THE MONTH OF MARCHPEACE COMMISSIONERS ASSEMBLE AT FORT LARAMIE-RED CLOUD AGREES TO TERMS BUT DOES NOT SIGN-SIX HUNDRED OF HIS WARRIORS DISSATISFIED AND WITHDRAW-THE MARAUDING BANDS CONTHE WAR-FORTS RENO, PHIL. KEARNEY AND C. F. SMITH ABANDONED SEVERAL REGIMENTS WITHDRAWN FROM THE PLAINSGENERAL SHERIDAN POINTS OUT THE MISTAKES OF THE PEACE POLICY OF THE GOVERNMENT-INDIAN TROUBLES RENEWED-SCHUYLER COLFAX'S MESSAGE TO THE WAR DEPARTMENT-GOVERNOR HUNT OF COLORADO ASKS FOR ARMS-GENERAL SHERMAN'S REPLY-GENERALS SHERIDAN AND CUSTER TAKE THE FIELD-TEXT OF THE SIOUX TREATY -BUILDING OF FORT FRED. STEELE. Early in the year 1868, the Indians showed a determi nation to keep up hostilities. The desire of the government to hold a big peace conference at Fort Laramie in April had been communicated to all the Indian tribes during the winter. The hostile bands had signified their willingness to come to the conference, but, Indian-like, they were in no hurry to do so, and events proved that they were not acting in good faith. A condensation of the records of the War De |