Fort Fred Steele State Historic Site

Coordinates: 41°46′42″N 106°56′51″W / 41.77833°N 106.94750°W

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Fort Steele
U.S. National Register of Historic Places


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Location	North Platte River at the Union Pacific Railroad crossing
Nearest city	Sinclair, Wyoming
Coordinates	41°46′42″N 106°56′51″W / 41.77833°N 106.94750°W / 41.77833; -106.94750
Area	40 acres (16 ha)
Built	1868 (1868)
NRHP reference No.	69000185^[1]
Added to NRHP	April 16, 1969

Fort Steele, also known as Fort Fred Steele, was established to protect the newly built Union Pacific Railroad from attacks by Native Americans during construction of the transcontinental railroad in the United States.^[2] The fort was built in 1868 where the railroad crossed the North Platte River in Carbon County, Wyoming. Work on the fort was carried out by military and civilian labor. Fort Steele was one of three forts built on the line. Fort Sanders (originally Fort John Buford) near Laramie and Fort D.A. Russell at Cheyenne were the other railroad forts. Fort Steele was named for the recently deceased General Frederick Steele.^[3]

History

Immediately after the fort's establishment in the summer of 1868 it was the scene of a meeting that included Generals Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman, who had come west to inspect the railroad, accompanied by Generals Philip Sheridan, August Kautz, Joseph H. Potter, William S. Harney, Frederick T. Dent and Adam J. Slemmer, with Union Pacific officials Thomas C. Durant and Sidney Dillon. The fort provided both military protection and law enforcement for the region. Troops from the fort also dealt with labor disputes in Wyoming and as far away as Chicago. The most notable incident occurred in 1878 during the White River War, when the fort sent a contingent that was ambushed with heavy losses in the Battle of Milk Creek. Casualties included the fort's commander, Major Thomas Thornburgh.^[3]^[4]

The fort was abandoned in 1886. The fort's structures have suffered from repeated fires. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 16, 1969.^[1]^[4] It is now managed as Fort Fred Steele State Historic Site by the state of Wyoming.^[5]

References

^ ^a ^b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
^ Thompson, John (December 2, 2023). "Wyoming 'Bridge Nerd' On A Mission To Document State's Historic Bridges". Cowboy State Daily. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
^ ^a ^b Barnhart, Bill (February 26, 1969). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form: Fort Steele". National Park Service. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
^ ^a ^b Fraser, Clayton B. (1977). "Fort Fred Steele, Carbon, WY". Historic American Buildings Survey. Library of Congress. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
^ "Fort Fred Steele Historic Site". Wyoming State Parks. Retrieved August 29, 2013.

External links

Fort Fred Steele State Historic Site at Wyoming State Parks
Fort Fred Steele Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine at the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office
Fort Fred Steele, Fort Fred Steele, Carbon, WY at the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS)

v t e National Register of Historic Places in Carbon County, Wyoming
National Historic Landmark	Ames Monument
Historic districts	Arlington Brush Creek Work Center Como Bluff Downtown Rawlins Historic District Headquarters Park Historic District Medicine Bow Airport Muddy Creek Archeological Complex Parco Historic District Powder Wash Archeological District Rawlins Residential Historic District Ryan Ranch Wyoming State Penitentiary
Historic properties	Garrett Allen Prehistoric Site Jim Baker Cabin Boston Wyoming Smelter Site Bridger Pass Carbon Cemetery DFU Elk Mountain Bridge Divide Sheep Camp DMJ Pick Bridge DML Butler Bridge Duck Lake Station Site Elk Mountain Hotel George Ferris Mansion Ferris-Haggarty Mine Site First State Bank of Baggs Fort Halleck Fort Fred Steele Fossil Cabin France Memorial United Presbyterian Church Hanna Community Hall Hotel Wolf Hugus Hardware Jack Creek Guard Station J. O. Ranch Rural Historic Landscape Medicine Bow Union Pacific Depot Midway Station Site Pine Grove Station Site Platte River Crossing Sage Creek Station Site Saratoga Masonic Hall Stockgrowers Bank Stone Wall Ranch Union Pacific Railroad Depot, Rawlins Virginian Hotel Washakie Station Site
See also: National Register of Historic Places listings in Carbon County, Wyoming and List of National Historic Landmarks in Wyoming

Protected areas of Wyoming

Federal

National parks	Grand Teton Yellowstone
National monuments	Devils Tower Fossil Butte
National Historic Sites	Fort Laramie
National Historic Trails	California Trail Mormon Trail Oregon Trail Pony Express
National Wildlife Refuges	Bamforth Cokeville Meadows Elk Hutton Lake Jackson Fish Hatchery Mortenson Lake Pathfinder Seedskadee
National recreation areas	Bighorn Canyon Flaming Gorge (USFS)
National forests	Ashley Bighorn Bridger–Teton Caribou–Targhee Medicine Bow–Routt Shoshone
National grasslands	Thunder Basin
Wilderness Areas	Absaroka–Beartooth Bridger Cloud Peak Encampment River Fitzpatrick Gros Ventre Huston Park Jedediah Smith North Absaroka Platte River Popo Agie Savage Run Teton Washakie Winegar Hole
Wild and Scenic Rivers	Clarks Fork Yellowstone River Niobrara River Snake River
Former	Jackson Hole National Monument