|
Only ten minutes from the Occidental
Hotel, Fort McKinney was established in 1878, after the major battles of
the Indian wars were already over.
The fort's primary purpose was to see that the recently hostile
Sioux and Cheyenne tribes did not go back on the warpath. The
troops at the fort were also to keep the Crow, Arapahoe, and Shoshoni
tribes at peace with each other -- and with the settlers that were
moving into the Powder River Basin.
During the Johnson County War of 1892, troops at the fort
received orders from President Benjamin Harrison to stop the fighting
and escort big cattlemen and their hired Texas gunslingers safely out of
the area before the irate citizens of Buffalo could lynch them. The City
of Buffalo was originally founded to provide various services for Fort
McKinney, including food for soldiers and horses, and entertainment of
various kinds for the men. In
discharging its obligations to amuse the soldiers, the town soon had a
superfluity of saloons (with one saloon for every 13 inhabitants), some
memorable sporting houses, and two very active breweries! By
1894, the fort was no longer needed and it was closed.
Today, it is the
site of the Wyoming Soldiers and Sailors Home. |
