Military Installation Names (semi off topic).

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Pat Holscher
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This is a post that I’m posting here following a discussion I read elsewhere on the probable decision of the U.S. Army to rename a collection of forts that were named after Confederate generals in the 1917 to 1942 period (or give or take a few years on either side of that).

I'm not seeking commentary on renaming those posts itself, but rather it occured to me that I know of the Army forts themselves, but my guess (maybe inaccurately) is that some southern states may have National Guard posts named after Confederate figures as well. That then caused me to ponder how the US has named its military installations, in general, in the past, which lead me to thinking about military installations locally, and who they were named after. We all know the well-known posts, but rarely the lesser known Guard and smaller military installations. Given that, as it might be interesting, I’ll list them for my state, Wyoming. I’ll break them down into a couple of different categories.

Part of the reason that I thought this might be interesting, and I hope others follow, is that it helps illustrate what posts were named at various times.

Current:

1. F. E. Warren A.F.B.

Warren is named after Francis E. Warren, former Wyoming Senator and Governor and father in law to Gen. John Pershing. He was also a Civil War Medal of Honor recipient, an award conferred on him post war. Warren was a major Wyoming political figure during his lifetime.

F. E. Warren A.F.B. used to be Ft. Warren, and before that was Ft. D. A. Russell. That earlier name was in honor of Civil War General (Union of course), David A. General, who was a casualty of the war. The post is perhaps somewhat unique for an Air Force Base as it doesn’t contain a runway. It’s a strategic missile post.

Pershing would give this one a cavalry connection.

2. Camp Guernsey.

The heavily used National Guard training range is named after the town of Guernsey, Wyoming. This post receives so much use that it is, for all practical purposes, a ground combat training range in constant use by the Army and the Marine Corps, as well as the National Guard.

This location also has a cavalry connection as it was the last training range for the 115th Cavalry.

3. Wyoming Air National Guard Base.

The unimaginatively named Air Guard base in Cheyenne is also heavily used and is called simply that. It’s odd to think that this Air Guard base, which is extremely active, basically overflies Warren AFB, which as noted lacks a runway.

Former and Closed in the 20th Century.

1. Ft. McKenzie. Named for Indian War commander Ranald McKenzie who is famous for the Dull Knife battle as well as his campaigns in the Southwest. This post was disestablished in 1918, but an ongoing military presence continued on until after World War Two in the form of a Remount station. So it didn’t really end as a post but simply converted to an auxiliary of Ft. Robinson, Nebraska.

This one has a long association with the military horse in that the remount aspects of this post were a major give and take for the town. The area where the post was located, Sheridan, had a substantial English ranching connection and a lot of high quality horse breeding occurred there. Polo was introduced there and it remains in the form of the Big Horn Polo Club.

2. Ft. Yellowstone. Named after Yellowstone National Park, which it served. Today its Mammoth Hot Springs in the park. This was manned by the Army up until the creation of the National Park Service, as the Army patrolled the park.

This post had to offer its troops some of the best duty of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.

3. Pole Mountain. A National Guard training range located at Pole Mountain, Albany County. It was used in the 20s and the 30s until Camp Guernsey was opened just prior to World War Two. It’s National Forest today. It was a cavalry training range during its existence.

4. Ft. Washakie. This post was named after Chief Washakie of the Shoshone was living at the time and in fact outlived the post, dying at about age 100. Today the location is the seat of government for the Wind River Reservation and many of the military buildings remain in use. Prior to that it was at first Camp Augur, which was named after Christopher Augur, a Mexican War and Civil War officer who was living at the time and who outlived the post. He was the Commander of the Department of the Platte when the post was named. It later became Camp Brown, named after Cpt. Frederick Brown who was killed at the Fetterman Fight. It was abandoned in 1909.

This post was one of two (the other being D. A. Russell) which at which the 9th Cavalry was stationed in the state for a time.

5. Casper Air Force Base. This enormous airfield was built during World War Two as a bomber training facility. It was transferred to the county following World War Two and is now the Natrona County International Airport. It continues to get a lot of military traffic including so much Royal Canadian Air Force traffic that I jokingly refer to it as the southernmost Canadian air force base.

6. Douglas Prisoner of War Camp. This World War Two POW camp held Italian and German POWs. Only one building remains, which contains murals painted by Italian prisoners.


Former and closed in the 19th Century. This list will be incomplete.

1. Ft. Laramie. Named for its location on the Laramie River. It was founded as a trading post called Ft. William and simply taken over by the Army following the Mexican War. Laramie of the name was a French fur trapper who had the misfortune of being killed by Indians in the location. Jacques LaRamy donated his name, by that method, to the state and as a result the fort, two towns, a river, a county, a mountain range, and a geologic event are all named for him.

2. Ft. Caspar. Named for Lt. Caspar Collins who was killed at a battle with the Cheyenne at that location in 1865, prior to which it was Platte Bridge Station. This post started as a privately owned bridge and was occupied off and on until it became manned during the Civil War and was closed as a result of Red Cloud’s War after which the Sioux burned it down. It’s been rebuilt as a very nice city park and historical site.

The location was not named “Ft. Collins” as the lieutenant’s father already had a post named after him, Ft. Collins, which is in northern Colorado. Lt. Collins himself was a member of the 11th Ohio Cavalry which was stationed in Wyoming during the Civil War. His actual post was Sweetwater Station and he just happened to be at Platte Bridge Station when the nearby Battle of Red Buttes developed and he volunteered to lead a relief party. He was killed in the following fight.

3. Ft. Halleck, which was of short duration and which was named after Gen. Henry Halleck who was living at the time.

4. Ft. Fetterman, named after the officer of that name killed at “The Fetterman Fight”. Only a single building from the post remains in place, but the outline of what was there is very clear and the place is littered with period nails. For a time it had the highest insanity rate in the Army. Most of the buildings were carted off following the posts closure and were used for the construction of a nearby and fairly infamous town that no longer exists.

5. Ft. Phil Kearny, named after Phil Kearny, a Union general who died at the Second Battle of Bull Run. This post was originally named Ft. Carrington by Col. Carrington, it’s first and only commander and who never lived the disgrace of the defeat of the Fettterman Fight. The post was burned to the ground by the Sioux following Red Cloud’s War. The post proved to be poorly located.

6. Ft. Fred Steele. Named for Frederick Steele who rose to the rank of Maj. Gen. during the Civil War but who died as the result of an accident while experiencing ill health in 1868. Somewhat fittingly, this is now the most depressing historical site in the state.

7. Ft. McKinney. There were two posts named this, both named after 2nd Lt. John McKinney, who died in an Indian battle in 1877.

8. Ft. Reno, named after Maj. Gen. Jesse Lee Reno, a Union officer killed early in the Civil War. This post was originally called Ft. Connor as it was established by Patrick Connor, a regional commander in Wyoming during the Civil War.

I should more accurately note that there were a couple of posts, all very nearby, named this, which started off as Cantonment Reno. Nothing remains of either. Constructed of large cottonwood logs, the buildings rotted as soon as the posts were abandoned. One of these posts became the first Ft. McKinney.

9. Ft. Sanders, which was named after Gen. William P. Sanders who was killed at the Siege of Knoxville. This post was originally Ft. John Buford, who died of illness in 1863.

10. Ft. Bridger, named for its founder Jim Bridger, who founded it as a trading post. It was taken over by the Army during the Civil War and manned until 1890.

11. Ft. Supply, briefly manned Army station in the 1850s.

12. Sweetwater Station. Named for the Sweetwater River.

During the Civil War a very large number of “stations” were built in Wyoming by the 11th Ohio Cavalry and the 11th Kansas Cavalry. These were manned by those units and the 1st U.S. Volunteers, the latter of which were “galvanized Yankees” who were mostly from Tennessee in the case of the Wyoming troops. They’re approach to policing the Oregon Trail was notably different from the Army’s as they constructed an enormous number of small stations and garrisoned them with very small detachments. I’m presently within a few miles of three of them, two of which have known locations and one of which doesn’t, but is probably within several hundred yards of my house.

13. Richard’s Bridge. A station named for the bridge owned by the individual of that name.
Couvi
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There is also a Camp Augur in Southwest Oklahoma. It was a semi-permanent sub-post of Fort Sill.

“In 1803 the United States purchased from France the Louisiana Purchase, which included the future state of Oklahoma. Expeditions were formed to explore the area. In southwestern Oklahoma, in 1852 Randolph B. Marcy headed one of those excursions in search of the headwaters of the Red River. Due to American Indian unrest in the area, Camps Radziminski and Augur were established in 1858 and 1871, respectively. In 1867 the Medicine Lodge Treaty created a reservation for the Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache (KCA) in southwestern Indian Territory. By the 1880s prominent Texas ranchers Daniel and William Thomas Waggoner and Samuel Burk Burnett leased grazing lands from those tribes.”

https://www.okhistory.org/publications/ ... ntry=TI003

“As buffalo herds are decimated by white thrill seekers, Native American tribes begin raiding white communities and ranches along the Red River in search of food. To help stop the attacks, the U.S. army establishes Camp Auger southwest of present-day Grandfield. The camp, named after Brigadier General C.C. Augur, was occupied by the Tenth Calvary (Buffalo Soldiers) and frequently attacked by Indians, however only one death was ever recorded.”

https://dwitt62.wixsite.com/grandfieldok/timeline

Early Military Forts of Oklahoma, Faulk, Franks and Lambert, Oklahoma Historical Society, 1978, page 95.

https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc862897/
Pat Holscher
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Couvi wrote: Wed Jun 10, 2020 9:22 am There is also a Camp Augur in Southwest Oklahoma. It was a semi-permanent sub-post of Fort Sill.

“In 1803 the United States purchased from France the Louisiana Purchase, which included the future state of Oklahoma. Expeditions were formed to explore the area. In southwestern Oklahoma, in 1852 Randolph B. Marcy headed one of those excursions in search of the headwaters of the Red River. Due to American Indian unrest in the area, Camps Radziminski and Augur were established in 1858 and 1871, respectively. In 1867 the Medicine Lodge Treaty created a reservation for the Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache (KCA) in southwestern Indian Territory. By the 1880s prominent Texas ranchers Daniel and William Thomas Waggoner and Samuel Burk Burnett leased grazing lands from those tribes.”

https://www.okhistory.org/publications/ ... ntry=TI003

“As buffalo herds are decimated by white thrill seekers, Native American tribes begin raiding white communities and ranches along the Red River in search of food. To help stop the attacks, the U.S. army establishes Camp Auger southwest of present-day Grandfield. The camp, named after Brigadier General C.C. Augur, was occupied by the Tenth Calvary (Buffalo Soldiers) and frequently attacked by Indians, however only one death was ever recorded.”

https://dwitt62.wixsite.com/grandfieldok/timeline

Early Military Forts of Oklahoma, Faulk, Franks and Lambert, Oklahoma Historical Society, 1978, page 95.

https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc862897/
Interesting!

I know that there as also a Ft. D. A. Russell in Texas at the time of the Punitive Expedition, making for a dual use of that name there. And up until today I didn't know that Wyoming had a Ft. Supply, but I think that Oklahoma also did.

And making things additionally confusing the "Reno" name, (no relation to Marcus Reno) and McKinney name, were each used twice, with McKinney being a renaming of the second Reno the first time it was used.
Couvi
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Bob Rea (sp), a Society Member, was at the museum at Fort Supply. I haven’t heard from him in a long time.

Does Wyoming have a Camp Radziminski?

CAMP RADZIMINSKI

In September 1858 Bvt. Maj. Earl Van Dorn led soldiers of the Second U.S. Cavalry and First Infantry from Fort Belknap, Texas, in pursuit of Kiowa and Comanche raiders. Reaching the vicinity of present Tipton, in Tillman County, Oklahoma, Van Dorn ordered the construction of a camp on the left bank of Otter Creek. Named in honor of First Lt. Charles Radziminski of the U.S. Army Second Cavalry, the post contained no permanent structures. Also known as Camp Otter Creek and Otter Creek Station, it was moved in November 1858 to obtain better forage a few miles upstream. In March 1859 the camp was relocated a final time to a more sheltered site on the right bank of Otter Creek, four miles northwest of present Mountain Park in Kiowa County.

From his base of operations at Camp Radziminski, Van Dorn led his troops against the Comanche at the Battle of the Wichita Village near present Rush Springs, Oklahoma, in October 1858, and at Crooked Creek in southwestern Kansas in May 1859. Abandoned after the completion of Fort Cobb in December 1859, Camp Radziminski was briefly used by the Texas Rangers in their warfare against the Comanche. The site of Camp Radziminski near Mountain Park was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 (NR 72001067).

Jon D. May https://www.okhistory.org/publications/ ... ntry=CA029
Pat Holscher
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Couvi wrote: Wed Jun 10, 2020 6:56 pm Bob Rea (sp), a Society Member, was at the museum at Fort Supply. I haven’t heard from him in a long time.

Yes, he used to be a frequent participant here, but sadly hasn't stopped in for a long time.

Out of curiosity, I googled those elements and saw that he gave a presentation on the history of the Oklahoma post just before everything started shutting down due to the pandemic.


https://www.okhistory.org/calendar/even ... rt-supply/
Couvi
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WOW! He has been there a long time!
Steve Haupt
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On California's Central Coast is Camp Roberts the only Army Installation not named for a General, but named for Corporal Harold W. Roberts. It is a 40,000 acre National Guard Training Base.
He had enlisted and served as a Cavalryman in the Philippines before shipping to France and becoming a Tanker earning The Medal Of Honor.
https://camprobertshistoricalmuseum.com/

Adjacent to Camp Roberts is Fort Hunter Ligget.
This is an U. S. Army Reserve Base.
The home page does have an interesting photo.
https://home.army.mil/liggett/index.php

Liggett's services in the Philippines included setting up a staff ride in 1914 to study possible invasion sites on Luzon. He was assisted in this by his aide de camp, Captain George Marshall. The staff ride established that the most likely invasion route would be through the Lingayen Gulf and that this would be all but unstoppable unless the US dramatically increased its army and navy forces in the Philippines. In 1941, the Japanese invaded through the Lingayen Gulf, as the United States did in turn in 1945.

https://history.army.mil/StaffRide/Staffr/staffr.html


Cheers,
Steve Haupt
Pat Holscher
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Steve Haupt wrote: Sun Jun 14, 2020 1:11 pm On California's Central Coast is Camp Roberts the only Army Installation not named for a General,
Not the only one, there's also Fort Huachuca.
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