Army post with two locations. After Lt. This post was occupied through the spring of , and then abandoned due to insufficient local supplies of water, wood and forage.
The name, however, was transferred along with the troops to a new site on a broad terrace above Clear Fork of Powder River where that stream exits from the Big Horn Mountains just west of present Buffalo, Wyo. Construction of the new Fort McKinney began in July The post at its peak consisted of barracks for seven companies of troops and at least 14 structures for officer quarters, stables, warehouses, laundress quarters, a hospital, bakery, offices, and auxiliary buildings.
White and black troops alike were responsible for keeping the Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne from reverting to their old ways of life in a vast region, for preventing Crow and Shoshone tribes from resuming intermittent strife with tribal enemies, and for preventing Arapaho bands from becoming embroiled with settlers and other tribes while officials pondered their disposition. And the troops built and maintained the first telegraph line into the Powder River country. In April , the troops raised the siege of the T.
Ranch south of Buffalo, where hundreds of citizens of Johnson County had surrounded a group of about 50 stockmen and detectives, who had invaded the county intent on killing men they believed to be cattle thieves. In Fort McKinney was abandoned, and many of its buildings were dismantled. Two buildingsβthe hospital and dairyβfrom the original fort remain.
A highway interpretive sign awaits visitors to the site. The Jim Gatchell Memorial Museum in Buffalo holds a collection of artifacts and photographs from the fort explaining its significance to the development of Buffalo and the surrounding region. Home Encyclopedia Fort McKinney. Fort McKinney. Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office. Saturday, November 8, Earle photo, WyomingHeritage. Resources Bollinger, Gil A. Buffalo, Wyo. Jim Gatchell Memorial Museum.
