Boots and Saddles! - Road Trip...

[St. George]

One of my favorite 'Playboy' cartoons of years gone by featured a pair of Indian Braves atop a promontory somewhere deep in  desert country, looking down at a newly-constructed Army Fort - complete with towers and a Main Gate.

One's saying to the other, 'What beats me is where they got all the wood...'

There's a new guide for the road warrior interested in the Plains Indian Wars - a guide to 51 historic military posts, primarily those involved in the wars with the Sioux (Dakota) Indians.

It includes the seven northern states of the Great Plains, with a brief history of each Post, the location and current information and photos, and covers Army Posts and Indian conflicts from about 1810 through the 1890's.

It's a more complete reference guide for today's traveller - with otherwise unexplored sites included in this work that were likely deemed insignificant in earlier references.

It includes 'family-related' information on admissions, events, attractions and amenities - enough to be of interest to everyone in the car and not just the family 'historian' and should prove useful when planning a trip into any of the regions once guarded by the Frontier Army.

The author is currently working on 'Forts of the Southern Plains' and will address the posts of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas during the Plains Indian Wars of that region, and will be a welcome companion addition to your library.

Locations:

Iowa
Fort Dodge

Minnesota
Fort Ridgely
Fort Ripley
Fort Snelling

Nebraska
Fort Atkinson
Fort Hartsuff
Fort Kearny
Fort Omaha
Fort Robinson

North Dakota
Fort Abercrombie
Fort Abraham Lincoln
Fort Buford
Fort Ransom
Fort Stevenson
Fort Totten

South Dakota
Fort Meade
Fort Sisseton

Wyoming
Fort Caspar
Fort D. A. Russell
Fort Fetterman
Fort Fred Steele
Fort Phil Kearny

If you're interested in the Indian Wars, you need this one.

'Forts of the Northern Plains' - Jeff Barnes - Stackpole - ISBN 978-0-8117-3496-7 - $19.95

Money well spent.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[French Jack]

Funny, most of the western forts did not have a stockade except the one used to house prisoners.  Most of the ones I have seen or seen pictured were a loose collection of buildings laid out in a rectangle.  Quite a few had lumber freighted in as well as other building products that could not be produced on the site.

Like the ancient Spartans, they depended on their troops to provide the stocade.

[Dr. Bob]

In 1820 the Army built Ft. Atkinson 10 miles north of present day downtown Omaha.  It was enclosed with the barracks being the outer wall.

It was replaced in 1827 by Fort Leavenworth which was not enclosed.  The transition was earlier than many would think.