Fort Keogh - The Need For A Military Fort

The Need For A Military Fort

Shortly after the defeat of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer at the Battle of the Little Bighorn on June 25, 1876, the Army sent General Nelson A. Miles to the plains of Eastern Montana to establish a military fort. The order for development of the fort was signed on August 28, 1876. The Army's intended use for its garrison at the post was to reduce warfare by the American Indians in the region and to persuade them to resettle on reservations.

Colonel D.S. Stanley had originally scouted the first site of the fort when he was leading a military expedition though the area. He thought the location would be good for supplying troops throughout the region. But, the Army did not decide to build the fort until after Custer's overwhelming defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

As the US and developers planned to bring the Great Northern Railway to the region, the US Army was assigned to survey the land and develop maps. The troops came into contact with two tribes of Indians, the Lakota (Sioux) and the Crow. The Sioux had pushed the Crow west of their traditional lands as they moved west, in response to European-American settlers encroaching on Sioux territory. Resentful of the Sioux, the Crow frequently allied with the Army and served as scouts to its expeditions.

General Miles established the "Cantonment Tongue River" at the confluence of the north-flowing Tongue River and the east-flowing Yellowstone River. The site would provide easy access to boats bringing supplies up the Yellowstone. The original cantonment was referred to by several names during its first two years: New Post on the Yellowstone, Cantonment on Tongue River, and Tongue River Barracks, before the Army officially named it Fort Keogh on November 8, 1878.

Miles was a well-respected as a leader, not only by his troops, but among the Indians as well. Promising fair treatment and better lives to the Native Americans, Miles gradually persuaded the Indian nations to settle on the reservations. Not all the nations surrendered immediately. Miles went to battle against the holdouts with his troops, including during the extreme cold of winter. The Sioux and Crow bands migrated through wide areas in the Montana Territory, and troops were engaged in battle with them hundreds of miles from the fort.

The 22nd Infantry served at Fort Keogh from 1888-1896. (A website on the 22nd Infantry also offers a link to a downloadable thesis, Fort Keogh: Cutting Edge of a Culture, by Josef James Warhank, that chronicles the fort's complete military history.)