View source for Fort Phil Kearny

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{{Infobox NRHP
| name = Fort Phil Kearny and Associated Sites 
| nrhp_type = nhl
| image = Fort_Phil_Kearney.JPG
| caption = Fort Phil Kearny, between Buffalo & Sheridan, WY
| location = [[Johnson County, Wyoming|Johnson County]], n SR W off U.S. 87 
| nearest_city = [[Story, Wyoming]]
| lat_degrees = | lat_minutes = | lat_seconds = | lat_direction = 
| long_degrees = | long_minutes =| long_seconds = | long_direction = 
| area =
| built = 1866
| architect =
| architecture = 
| designated_nrhp_type = December 19, 1960<ref name="nhlsum">{{cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=565&ResourceType=Site|title=Fort Phil Kearny and Associated Sites |accessdate=2008-02-29|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service}}</ref>
| added = October 15, 1966<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2007a}}</ref>
| visitation_num = 
| visitation_year = 
| refnum = 66000756 
| governing_body = Wyoming Division of State Parks; Private
}}
'''Fort Phil Kearny''' was an outpost of the [[United States Army]] that existed in the late 1860s in present-day northeastern [[Wyoming]] along the [[Bozeman Trail]]. Construction began Friday July 13, 1866 by Companies A, C, E and H of the 2nd Battalion, [[18th Infantry Regiment (United States)|18th Infantry]], under the direction of the regimental commander and Mountain District commander [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]] [[Henry B. Carrington]]. The post was named for [[Major General|Maj. Gen.]] [[Philip Kearny]], a popular figure in the [[American Civil War]].  The fort should be distinguished from the similarly named [[Fort Kearny]] in [[Nebraska]], which was named for Kearny's uncle [[Stephen W. Kearny]]. Today, the fort and the nearby Fetterman and Wagon Box battle sites are maintained by the State of Wyoming as the '''Fort Phil Kearny State Historic Site'''.

The fort was located along the east side of the [[Bighorn Mountains]] in present-day northern [[Johnson County, Wyoming|Johnson County]], approximately {{convert|15|mi|km|0}} north of [[Buffalo, Wyoming|Buffalo]].  Along with [[Fort Reno (Wyoming)|Fort Reno]] and [[Fort C. F. Smith (Fort Smith, Montana)|Fort C. F. Smith]], the fort was established along the Bozeman Trail in the [[Powder River Country]] at the height of the [[Indian Wars]] to protect prospective miners traveling the trail north from the [[Oregon Trail]] to present-day [[Montana]].

Fort Phil Kearny was the largest of the three stockaded fortifications along the trail. Its eight foot (2 m) high log walls enclosed an area of 17 acres (69,000 m²). The walls measured 1,496 feet (456 m) in length, tapering in width from 600 feet (180 m) on the north to 240 feet (73 m) on the south. Construction of the stockade required more than 4,000 logs. In 1867, the building construction required over 606,000 [[board foot|board feet]] of lumber and 130,000 adobe bricks.

The fort was under continuous construction and was nearing completion in December 1866, when its garrison was due to be re-designated the 27th Infantry. At its peak strength the garrison numbered 400 troops and 150 civilians: 9 officers, a surgeon, and 329 enlisted men of five infantry companies of the 18th/27th Infantry, including the newly recruited Company K, 27th; one officer and 60 men of Company C, [[2nd Cavalry Regiment (United States)|2nd Cavalry]], and 150 civilian quartermaster and contractor employees.

[[Image:FortPhillipKearney.JPG|thumb|left|300px|Plan of Fort Kearney from ''Indian Fights and Fighters (1904)''<ref>{{cite book |last=Brady |first=Cyrus Townsend |title=Indian Fights and Fighters-The Soldier and the Sioux |publisher=McClure, Phillips and Co |location=New York |year=1904 }}</ref>]]
[[Image:Fort Phil Kearney - Pilot Hill.JPG|thumb|Pilot Hill, Fort Phil Kearny, WY]]
The fort, known to the Indians as the "hated post on the Little Piney",<ref>Keenan, Jerry; (2000:8) The Wagon Box Fight: An Episode of Red Cloud's War, Savas Publishing. ISBN 1-882810-87-2</ref> played an important role in [[Red Cloud's War]]. The area around the fort was the site of the [[Fetterman massacre]] and the [[Wagon Box Fight]].  By 1868, the [[Union Pacific Railroad]] had reached far enough west that emigrants could reach the Montana gold fields through present-day [[Idaho]], rendering the dangerous Bozeman Trail obsolete. All three forts along the trail were abandoned as part of the [[Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868)]]. Shortly after, it was burned by [[Cheyenne]] Indians.

Fort Phil Kearny, including the nearby sites of the Fetterman massacre and the Wagon Box Fight, was designated a [[National Historic Landmark]] in 1960.<ref name="nhlsum"/><ref name="nrhpinv2">{{Cite document|title={{PDFlink|[http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Text/66000756.pdf National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Fort Phil Kearny and Related Sites]|32&nbsp;KB}}|date=January 3, 1976 |author=Stephen Lissandrello |publisher=National Park Service|postscript=<!--None-->}} and {{PDFlink|[http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Photos/66000756.pdf ''Accompanying 25 photos, from 1953, 1987, 1960 and undated'']|32&nbsp;KB}}</ref>

==Fort Phil Kearny State Historic Site==
'''Fort Phil Kearny State Historic Site''' includes a visitor's center with exhibits, videos, a bookstore, and self-guided tours of the fort grounds and outlying sites.  The tour marks the archaeological remains of the fort's buildings.  A cabin built by the [[Civilian Conservation Corps]] has been furnished to depict the period quarters of an officer's wife and a non-commissioned officer’s quarters.  Visitors can also tour the nearby battlefields which are located within a five mile radius of the visitor center and include interpretive trails.

In 1966, [[NBC]] televised "The Massacre at Fort Phil Kearny" on the [[anthology series]] ''[[Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre]]'', with [[Robert Fuller (actor)|Robert Fuller]] in the role of Captain Fetterman. Other stars were [[Richard Egan (actor)|Richard Egan]], [[Phyllis Avery]], and [[Carroll O'Connor]].<ref>{{cite web|url=|title=''[[Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre]]'': Massacre at Fort Phil Kearney|publisher=[[Internet Movie Data Base]]}}</ref>

Fort Phil Kearny was also the subject of the 1951 movie “Tomahawk“ starring Van Heflin, by Universal International (UI) Pictures.  The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) called the movie unusually accurate historically.  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044135/

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
*[http://wyoparks.state.wy.us/Site/SiteInfo.asp?siteID=17 Fort Phil Kearny], Wyoming Division of State Parks and Historic Sites
*[http://www.philkearny.vcn.com/ Fort Phil Kearny State Historic Site] - Fort Phil Kearny/Bozeman Trail Association
*[http://historical.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=6074&lotNo=52026 1868 photo]

{{NRHP in Johnson County, Wyoming}}

{{coord|44|31|56|N|106|49|35|W|display=title}}

{{Protected Areas of Wyoming}}

[[Category:Forts in Wyoming|Phil Kearny]]
[[Category:Pre-statehood history of Wyoming]]
[[Category:National Historic Landmarks in Wyoming]]
[[Category:Red Cloud's War]]
[[Category:Wyoming state historic sites]]
[[Category:Military and war museums in Wyoming]]
[[Category:Museums in Johnson County, Wyoming]]
[[Category:Civilian Conservation Corps in Wyoming]]
[[Category:Military facilities on the National Register of Historic Places in Wyoming]]