Fort Caspar

Infobox nrhp
name = Fort Caspar and Boundary Increase
nrhp_type =

---

caption = Reconstructed buildings at the site of Fort Caspar
location = 14 Fort Caspar Rd. and Area on N side of fort along Platte River
Casper, Wyoming
nearest_city =
lat_degrees =
lat_minutes =
lat_seconds =
lat_direction =
long_degrees =
long_minutes =
long_seconds =
long_direction =
area =
built =
architect = Louis Guinard
architecture =
added = August 12, 1971; July 19, 1976
visitation_num =
visitation_year =
refnum = 71000887; 76002282
mpsub =
governing_body =

Fort Caspar was a military post of the United States Army located in present-day Casper, Wyoming (which, like the fort, was named for Caspar Collins). Founded in the 1859 as a trading post and toll bridge along the Oregon Trail, it was located on the North Platte River. It was later taken over by the Army and renamed and used during 1865 as protection of emigrants and the telegraph line against raids from Lakota and Cheyenne in the ongoing wars between those nations and the United States. The fort was named for 2LT. Caspar Collins, a U.S. Army officer who was on the post only one night when he was killed in the Battle of the Platte Bridge Station against the Lakota and Cheyenne at the site. The site of the fort is listed in the National Register of Historic Places now owned by the City of Casper and operated the Fort Caspar Museum and Historic Site.

History

The area where Platte Bridge Station was located had been the site of various more or less temporary Army encampments over a period of years before the establishment of the fort, or "station" itself. The fort was located on the south side of the North Platte, near the western edge of present-day Casper, at one several local points where the Emigrant Trail crossed from the south side to the north side of the river. In 1847, during the first Mormon wagon train to present-day Utah, Brigham Young commissioned a ferry at the site for later emigrants. The ferry consisted of cottonwood dugout canoes and planking for a deck, with two oars and a rudder. On June 19, Brigham Young named nine men to remain to operate the ferry while the remainder of the party continued the journey westward. A group of Mormons returned to the site each summer between 1847 and 1852 to operate the ferry. The ferry was moved to a different spot on the North Platte in North Casper in 1849. It was eventually replaced with a rope-and-pulley system that could make the crossing in five minutes.

In the following years, trader John Baptiste Richard established a trading post several miles downriver of the crossing. The U.S. Army established its first presence in the area in 1855, erecting Fort Clay near Richard's trading post. In 1859, when the site was part of the Nebraska Territory, Louis Guinard built a competing bridge at the trading post, called the Platte Bridge Station, at the site of the old Mormon Ferry crossing. From 1860–1861, the Pony Express operated a station at the site.

By the middle 1860s, the increasing presence of emigrants and other white settlers in the region began to cause friction with the Lakota and Cheyenne. In response, and partly to protect the new telegraph line, the United States Army in 1861 began increasing its deployment of troops in the region, sending a detachment to guard Guinard's bridge. Many of these troops, who created a series of "stations" along the Oregon trail, were from various state units raised during the Civil War originally with that war in mind. In 1862 the Army purchased the Guinard's Platte Bridge station.

In July 1865, partly in response to the Sand Creek Massacre the previous November in Colorado, a party of several thousand Cheyenne and Lakota, surrounded Platte Bridge Station and demonstrated a hostile intent against it. Knowing that an eastern bound Army wagon train was due to come in, the officers of the post discussed attempting to relieve the post and drive off the Cheyenne and Sioux warriors, so that the wagon train could come safely in. Lt. Caspar Collins of the 11th Ohio Cavalry volunteered to lead the effort, with the troops involved in it being State cavalrymen from the 11th Ohio and 11th Kansas Cavalry. Amongst the Indian combats sometimes claimed as being present were the famous chief Red Cloud and a young Crazy Horse, although verification of the Indians present has not proven to be possible. Collin's command crossed the Platte Bridge into the present day town of Mills, Wyoming and attacked into the hills, where they were quickly repulsed and retreated back across it. Collins and three other soldiers were killed during the battle, with Collins death sometimes being attributed to a spooked horse charging into the Indian combatants, and other accounts claiming he went back to rescue a wounded man. One of the other soldiers killed in the battle was killed due to being dismounted and losing his horse, and thereby being left with no means of escaping the advancing Sioux and Cheyenne. The Sioux and Cheyenne, while victorious, were prevented from crossing Platte Bridge into the fort due it being guarded on the south side by a mountain howitzer. The battle became known as the Battle of Platte Bridge Station. The Army officially renamed the post to honor Collins. An existing post was already called Fort Collins, named after Collins' father, and thus the Army used Collins' first name. In response to the attacks, the Army established a permanent garrison of 100 troops at the site.

The wagon train itself, commanded by a Sgt. Custard, was attacked the same day, with the soldiers attached to it being completely overrun, and only a few of them surviving. That battle became known as the Battle of Red Buttes.

The fort was abandoned two years later in August, 1867, with the garrison moved to Fort Fetterman at Douglas, Wyoming. Fort Caspar was partially reconstructed in 1936 using sketches made by Lt. Collins in 1863. The fort itself underwent a lot of changes during its occupation, and the current recreation reflects the post in 1863-1865, rather than in its later, larger, form. The City of Casper now operates a museum at the site, which features reconstructed log buildings, including a wooden stockade. The site also includes a replica of the Mormon ferry that was operated there between 1847 and 1849, as well as a model of part of the bridge that later replaced the ferry. In early December the members of the living history group portraying Company I 3rd US Vol. Infantry (a galvanised yankee unit) host a historical re-enactment at the site.

To visit Fort Caspar, travel to Casper, Wyoming, and then travel 1.5 miles (2.41 km) west along 13th Street to historic Fort Caspar.

External links

* [http://www.fortcasparwyoming.com/ Official site]