Camp Merritt was a
United States army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
camp established in December, 1891 at the Northern Cheyenne Agency. It was named for Brevet Major General
Wesley Merritt
Wesley Merritt (June 16, 1836December 3, 1910) was an American major general who served in the cavalry of the United States Army during the American Civil War, American Indian Wars, and Spanish–American War. Following the latter war, he became ...
, and abandoned in 1899.
History
Throughout the 1880s soldiers from
Fort Keogh
Fort Keogh is a former United States Army post located at the western edge of modern Miles City, Montana, Miles City, in the U.S. state of Montana. It is situated on the south bank of the Yellowstone River, at the mouth of the Tongue River (Montan ...
on the Yellowstone River had been periodically stationed near the Northern Cheyenne Agency on the Tongue River, but in 1891 after several Cheyenne's were arrested for stealing cattle, Brigadier General Wesley Merritt ordered a permanent military camp to be established at Lame Deer Agency. Camp Merritt, named after the general who ordered its construction was established in December of that year, and the Fort Keogh troops who garrisoned it were on a three-month rotation basis. As a sub-post of Fort Keogh, there were still soldiers stationed at the camp in 1899.
Location
Camp Merritt is located in present-day
Rosebud County, Montana
Rosebud County is a county in the state of Montana. It was established February 11, 1901, and has Montana vehicle license plate prefix 29. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,329. Its county seat is Forsyth.
Geography
According to the ...
near
Lame Deer
Lame Deer (1821-1877), also called "The Elk that Whistles Running," was a first chief of the Miniconjou Lakota (trans. "They who plant by the water") and vice chief of the Wakpokinyan (trans. "To Fly along the river") band.
Biography
Lame Deer ...
.
See also
*
List of military installations in Montana
There are at least 60 current and former U.S. military installations located in Montana. Installations listed as historical are no longer in service and may have no physical remains in the state.
Current installations
* Ekalaka Mini-Mutes R ...
Notes
{{coord missing, Montana
Merritt
History of Montana
1891 establishments in Montana