Fort McPherson was originally called Cantonment McKean, and was popularly known as Fort Cottonwood. The Fort was an Indian Wars-era U.S. Army installation in Nebraska Territory

Nebraska Territory

The Territory of Nebraska was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until March 1, 1867, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Nebraska. The Nebraska Territory was created by the Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854...

 located near the site of present-day North Platte, Nebraska

North Platte, Nebraska

North Platte is a city in and the county seat of Lincoln County, Nebraska, United States. It is located in the southwestern part of the state, along Interstate 80, at the confluence of the North and South Platte Rivers forming the Platte River...

.

Location

It was located on the banks of the North Platte River

North Platte River

The North Platte River is a major tributary of the Platte River and is approximately long counting its many curves, It travels about distance. Its course lies in the U.S...

, at the mouth of Cottonwood Canyon, a strategic location near the junction of South and North Platte Rivers. Cottonwood Springs, a natural spring in an abandoned bed of the river, was the only spring for many miles along the river and a favored spot used by the plains Indians

Plains Indians

The Plains Indians are the Indigenous peoples who live on the plains and rolling hills of the Great Plains of North America. Their colorful equestrian culture and resistance to White domination have made the Plains Indians an archetype in literature and art for American Indians everywhere.Plains...

.

We started early on October 11th, and passed Gilmans' ranch, which was built of cedar, and, going fifteen miles farther, camped at a spring called Cottonwood Springs. A man by the name of Charles MacDonald had built a cedar ranch at the mouth of Cottonwood Canyon, which canyon came down to the river near Cottonwood Springs. Cottonwood Springs was merely a seep in a gully which had been an old bed of the river, and which had curved up towards Cottonwood Canyon. The water-bed of the river being largely composed of gravel, the water came down in the underflow, and seeped out at a place down in the bank where there had grown a large cottonwood tree. This spring had been dug out, and was the only spring as far as known along the Platte for two hundred miles. It was at the mouth of Cottonwood Canyon that we were to build our military post. The place was a great crossing for the Indians going north and south. The valley here was several miles wide. There was a large island in the river of several thousand acres, upon which grew the finest grass to be found in the country, and there were some scrubby willows and cottonwoods; so that the Indians coming from the north found it a good stopping-place to feed their ponies either in summer or winter, because in the winter the ponies could eat the cottonwood brush. In addition to this, Cottonwood Canyon gave a fine passage to the south. A road went up on the floor of the canyon, between the trees, until it rose onto the tableland twenty miles south. The canyon furnished fuel and protection. It was for the purpose of breaking up this Indian run-way that we were ordered to build a post at the mouth of the canyon.

History

The decision to build the fort was following the Dakota War of 1862

Dakota War of 1862

The Dakota War of 1862, also known as the Sioux Uprising, was an armed conflict between the United States and several bands of the eastern Sioux. It began on August 17, 1862, along the Minnesota River in southwest Minnesota...

. The was an outpost to protect travelers along the Oregon

Oregon Trail

The Oregon Trail is a historic east-west wagon route that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon and locations in between.After 1840 steam-powered riverboats and steamboats traversing up and down the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers sped settlement and development in the flat...

 and California Trail

California Trail

The California Trail was an emigrant trail of about across the western half of the North American continent from Missouri River towns to what is now the state of California...

s, between Fort Kearny

Fort Kearny

Fort Kearny was a historic outpost of the United States Army founded in 1848 in the western U.S. during the middle and late 19th century. The outpost was located along the Oregon Trail near present-day Kearney, Nebraska, which took its name from the fort .-Origins and various missions of the...

 and Colorado

Julesburg, Colorado

The historic town of Julesburg is a statutory town that is the county seat of Sedgwick County, Colorado, United States. The town is located on the north side of the South Platte River. The population was 1,467 at the U.S. Census 2000...

 and to keep the peace with the local Native Americans. The fort was built by troops of the 7th Regiment Iowa Volunteer Cavalry

7th Regiment Iowa Volunteer Cavalry

The 7th Regiment Iowa Volunteer Cavalry was an cavalry regiment that served in the Union Army during the Indian Wars.-Service:The 7th Iowa Cavalry was mustered into Federal service at Davenport, Iowa for a three year enlistment between April 27 to July 13, 1863. On September 19, 1863 it was...

 using cedar logs cut in Cottonwood Canyon. It was completed in October 1863. Originally named Cantonment McKean, on February 26, 1866 it was renamed Fort McPherson in the honor of Major General James B. McPherson

James B. McPherson

James Birdseye McPherson was a career United States Army officer who served as a General in the Union Army during the American Civil War...

. However, it was always popularly known as Fort Cottonwood.

Numerous expeditions were launched from Fort McPherson during the Indian Wars

Indian Wars

American Indian Wars is the name used in the United States to describe a series of conflicts between American settlers or the federal government and the native peoples of North America before and after the American Revolutionary War. The wars resulted from the arrival of European colonizers who...

. The most important was the expedition of General Eugene Asa Carr

Eugene Asa Carr

Eugene Asa Carr was a soldier in the United States Army and a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Early life:...

 which finished with the defeat of the Cheyenne

Cheyenne

Cheyenne are a Native American people of the Great Plains, who are of the Algonquian language family. The Cheyenne Nation is composed of two united tribes, the Só'taeo'o and the Tsétsêhéstâhese .The Cheyenne are thought to have branched off other tribes of Algonquian stock inhabiting lands...

 Indians at the Battle of Summit Springs

Battle of Summit Springs

The Battle of Summit Springs, on July 11, 1869, was an armed conflict between elements of the United States Army under the command of Colonel Eugene A. Carr and a group of Cheyenne Dog Soldiers led by Tall Bull, who died during the engagement...

. The fort was abandoned in 1880.

A cemetery was created along with the fort. In 1873, 20 acres (80,937.2 m²) were set aside for Fort McPherson National Cemetery

Fort McPherson National Cemetery

Fort McPherson National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery, located south of the village of Maxwell in Lincoln County, Nebraska. It encompasses , and as of the end of 2005, it had 8,355 interments.- History :...

, and the remains interred in the original post cemetery were moved to it.

Further reading

• Barnes, Jeff. Forts of the Northern Plains: Guide to Historic Military Posts of the Plains Indian Wars. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2008.

External links

• Fort McPherson records at the Nebraska State Historical Society
  Nebraska State Historical Society
  The Nebraska State Historical Society is a Nebraska state agency, founded in 1878 to "encourage historical research and inquiry, spread historical information .....