A subdivision of the

Division of the Missouri The Military Division of the Missouri was an administrative formation of the United States Army that functioned through the end of the American Civil War and the Indian Wars that continued after its conclusion. It was created by the War Departmen ...

, the Department of Dakota was established by the

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 ...

on August 11, 1866, to encompass all military activities and forts within

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

Dakota Territory The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of No ...

and

Montana Territory The Territory of Montana was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 26, 1864, until November 8, 1889, when it was admitted as the 41st state in the Union as the state of Montana. Original boundaries T ...

. The Department of Dakota was initially headquartered at

Fort Snelling Fort Snelling is a former military fortification and National Historic Landmark in the U.S. state of Minnesota on the bluffs overlooking the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers. The military site was initially named Fort Saint Anth ...

, Minnesota, and then moved to

Saint Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

in March 1867. The

18th Infantry Regiment (United States) The 18th Infantry Regiment ("Vanguards") is an Army Infantry regiment. The 18th Infantry Regiment currently exists with one active battalion under the U.S. Army Regimental System and has no regimental headquarters. * 1st Battalion, 18th Infa ...

would serve in Dakota several times. From 1869-1877 the

20th Infantry Regiment (United States) The 20th Infantry Regiment ("Sykes' Regulars") is a United States Army infantry regiment. Currently only the 5th Battalion of the 20th Infantry still exists. Stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord and part of the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Tea ...

was posted to the Department. In 1879 the Department returned to the Fort until 1886 at which time it moved back to downtown Saint Paul. The department was discontinued in 1911.

Commanders

*Brevet Major General

Alfred H. Terry Alfred Howe Terry (November 10, 1827 – December 16, 1890) was a Union army, Union Major general (United States), general in the American Civil War and the military commander of the Dakota Territory from 1866 to 1869, and again from 1872 to 18 ...

, (Sept. 18, 1866-May 17, 1869) *Major General

Winfield S. Hancock Winfield Scott Hancock (February 14, 1824 – February 9, 1886) was a United States Army officer and the Democratic nominee for President of the United States in 1880. He served with distinction in the Army for four decades, including service ...

, (May 17, 1869-Jan. 2, 1873) *Brigadier General

, (Jan. 2, 1873–1886) *Major General

Thomas Howard Ruger Thomas Howard Ruger (April 2, 1833 – June 3, 1907) was an American soldier and lawyer who served as a Union general in the American Civil War. After the war, he was a superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point, Ne ...

, (1886–1891) *Brigadier General James F. Wade, (1899-1901) *Brigadier General

Winfield Scott Edgerly Winfield Scott Edgerly (May 29, 1846 – September 10, 1927) was an officer in the United States Army in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Born in New Hampshire in 1846, he attended the United States Military Academy, graduating in 1870. H ...

, (1908) *Brigadier General Charles L. Hodges, (1909–1910)

Department of Dakota Forts

Minnesota

Fort Ridgely Fort Ridgely was a frontier United States Army outpost from 1851 to 1867, built 1853–1854 in Minnesota Territory. The Sioux called it Esa Tonka. It was located overlooking the Minnesota river southwest of Fairfax, Minnesota. Half of the ...

(1853–67) * Fort Ripley (1849–77) *

(1819–1994)

Dakota Territory

Montana

Fort Assinniboine Fort Assinniboine was a United States Army fort located in present-day north central Montana (historically within the military Department of Dakota). It was built in 1879 and operated by the Army through 1911. The 10th Cavalry Buffalo Soldiers, ...

(1879–1911) * Fort Benton (1869–81) * Camp Cooke (1866–70) * Fort Custer (1877–98) *

Fort Ellis Fort Ellis was a United States Army fort established August 27, 1867, east of present-day Bozeman, Montana. Troops from the fort participated in many major campaigns of the Indian Wars. The fort was closed on August 2, 1886. History The fort w ...

(1867–86) *

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 ...

(1876–1924) * Camp Lewis (1874) *

Fort Logan Fort Logan was a military installation located eight miles southwest of Denver, Colorado. It was established in October 1887, when the first soldiers camped on the land, and lasted until 1946, when it was closed following the end of World War I ...

(1869–80) *

Fort Maginnis Fort Maginnis was established during the Indian wars in the Department of Dakota by the U.S. Army. It was the last of five forts: Keogh (1876), Custer (1877), Missoula (1877), Assinniboine (1879), and Maginnis (1880) - built following the defeat ...

(1880–90) * Camp Merritt (1890) *

Fort Missoula Fort Missoula was established by the United States Army in 1877 on land that is now part of the city of Missoula, Montana, Missoula, Montana, to protect settlers in Western Montana from possible threats from the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, ...

(1877–1918, 1921–1947) *

Camp Poplar River Camp Poplar River was established during the Indian wars in the Department of Dakota by U.S. Army to maintain order, keep non-agency Indians away, and help capture the Indians who disturbed the peace and would not conform to reservation boundaries ...

(1880–93) *

Camp Porter Camp Porter, Montana Territory, was established as a single-year camp in the Department of Dakota by the U.S. Army, to provide protection to Northern Pacific Railway construction crews during the Indian Wars. Established Camp Porter was establish ...

(1880–81) *

Fort Shaw Fort Shaw (originally named Camp Reynolds) was a United States Army fort located on the Sun River 24 miles west of Great Falls, Montana, in the United States. It was founded on June 30, 1867, and abandoned by the Army in July 1891. It later serv ...

(1867–91)

North Dakota

Fort Abercrombie Fort Abercrombie, in North Dakota, was an American fort established by authority of an act of Congress, March 3, 1857. The act allocated twenty-five square miles of land on the Red River of the North in Dakota Territory to be used for a military ...

(1858–77) *

Fort Abraham Lincoln Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park is a North Dakota state park located south of Mandan, North Dakota, United States. The park is home to the replica Mandan On-A-Slant Indian Village and reconstructed military buildings including the Custer House. ...

(1872–91) * Cantonment Badlands (1879–83) *

Fort Berthold Fort Berthold was the name of two successive forts on the upper Missouri River in present-day central-northwest North Dakota. Both were initially established as fur trading posts. The second was adapted as a post for the U.S. Army. After the Army l ...

(1864–67) *

Fort Buford Fort Buford was a United States Army Post at the confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers in Dakota Territory, present day North Dakota, and the site of Sitting Bull's surrender in 1881.Ewers, John C. (1988): "When Sitting Bull Surrendere ...

(1866–95) * Camp Hancock (1872–77) * Fort Pembina (1870–95) * Fort Ransom (1867–72) *

Fort Rice Fort Rice (Lakota: ''Psíŋ Otȟúŋwahe''; "Wild Rice Village") was a frontier military fort in the 19th century named for American Civil War General James Clay Rice in what was then Dakota Territory and what is now North Dakota. The 50th Wisconsi ...

(1864–78) * Fort Seward (1872–77) *

Fort Stevenson Fort Stevenson was a frontier military fort in the 19th century in what was then Dakota Territory and what is now North Dakota. The fort was named for Thomas G. Stevenson, a Civil War general who was killed in the Battle of Spotsylvania. It was buil ...

(1867–83) * Fort Totten (1867–90) *

Fort Yates Yates is a city in Sioux County, North Dakota, United States. It is the tribal headquarters of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and county seat of Sioux County. Since 1970 the population has declined markedly from more than 1,100 residents, as peo ...

(1874–1903)

South Dakota

* Fort Bennett (1870–91) * Fort Dakota (1865–69) *Post at Grand River Agency (1870–75) * Fort Hale (1870–84) *

Fort Meade Fort George G. Meade is a United States Army installation located in Maryland, that includes the Defense Information School, the Defense Media Activity, the United States Army Field Band, and the headquarters of United States Cyber Command, the N ...

(1878- ) *

Fort Randall The Fort Randall Military Post was established in 1856 to help keep peace on the frontier. It was located on the south side of the Missouri River in South Dakota, just below the present site of the Fort Randall Dam. History The site for the f ...

(1856–1892) *

Fort Sisseton Fort Sisseton near Britton, South Dakota was established in 1864. As Fort Sisseton Historic State Park, it was designated as a State Historical Park in 1959. Fort Sisseton is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. It has 14 of ...

(1876–89) * Fort Sully (1863–66) * Fort Thompson (1864–71) *

Fort Wadsworth Fort Wadsworth is a former Military of the United States, United States military installation on Staten Island in New York City, situated on The Narrows which divide New York Bay into Upper New York Bay, Upper and Lower New York Bay, Lower halv ...

1864-76 *Post at Whetstone Agency 1870-72

Wyoming

(Wyoming Territory became attached to the

Department of the Platte The Department of the Platte was a military administrative district established by the U.S. Army on March 5, 1866, with boundaries encompassing Iowa, Nebraska, Dakota Territory, Utah Territory and a small portion of Idaho. With headquarters in Om ...

on July 25, 1868) *

Fort Bridger Fort Bridger was originally a 19th-century fur trading outpost established in 1842, on Blacks Fork of the Green River, in what is now Uinta County, Wyoming, United States. It became a vital resupply point for wagon trains on the Oregon Trail, Ca ...

1858-1878, 1880–1890 *

Fort Caspar Fort Caspar was a military post of the United States Army in present-day Wyoming, named after 2nd Lieutenant Caspar Collins, a U.S. Army officer who was killed in the 1865 Battle of the Platte Bridge Station against the Lakota and Cheyenne. Found ...

1855-1867 *

Fort Fetterman Fort Fetterman was constructed in 1867 by the United States Army on the Great Plains frontier in Dakota Territory, approximately 11 miles northwest of present-day Douglas, Wyoming. Located high on the bluffs south of the North Platte River, it ...

1867-1882 * Fort Halleck 1862-1866 * Fort LaClede 1863-1869 *

Fort Laramie Fort Laramie (founded as Fort William and known for a while as Fort John) was a significant 19th-century trading-post, diplomatic site, and military installation located at the confluence of the Laramie and the North Platte rivers. They joined ...

or Fort John 1849-1890 * Fort McKinney 1876-1894 *

Fort Phil Kearny 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 in 1866 on Friday, July 13, by Companies A, C, E, and H of the 2nd Battalion, ...

1866-1868 * Fort Rawlins 1868-? * Fort Reno 1865-1868 *

Fort Robinson Fort Robinson is a former U.S. Army fort and now a major feature of Fort Robinson State Park, a public recreation and historic preservation area located west of Crawford on U.S. Route 20 in the Pine Ridge region of northwest Nebraska. The for ...

1874-1948 * Fort David A. Russell 1867-1948 * Fort Sanders 1866-1882 * Fort Fred Steele 1868-1886 *

Fort Washakie Fort Washakie was a U.S. Army fort in what is now the U.S. state of Wyoming. The fort was established in 1869 and named Camp Augur after General Christopher C. Augur, commander of the Department of the Platte. In 1870 the camp was renamed Camp ...

1878-1913 *

Fort Yellowstone Fort Yellowstone was a U.S. Army fort, established in 1891 at Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone was designated in 1872 but the Interior Department was unable to effectively manage the park. Administration was transfer ...

1886-1918

Bibliography

*Raphael P. Thian, ''Notes Illustrating the Military Geography of the United States, 1813-1880'' (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1881; reprinted Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 1979). *Francis Paul Prucha, ''A Guide to the Military Posts of the United States, 1789-1895'' (Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1964). {{DEFAULTSORT:Department Of Dakota

Dakota Dakota may refer to: * Dakota people, a sub-tribe of the Sioux ** Dakota language, their language Dakota may also refer to: Places United States * Dakota, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Dakota, Illinois, a town * Dakota, Minnesota, a ...

1866 establishments in the United States