Fort Sidney is a historic fort located in

Sidney, Nebraska Sidney is a city in and the county seat of Cheyenne County, Nebraska, United States. The city is north of the Colorado state line. The population was 6,757 at the 2010 census. History The city was named for Sidney Dillon, president of the Uni ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The 37th

Infantry Regiment Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

established "Sidney Station" at a point midway between the

Platte River The Platte River () is a major river in the State of Nebraska. It is about long; measured to its farthest source via its tributary, the North Platte River, it flows for over . The Platte River is a tributary of the Missouri River, which itself ...

s, where the modern community of

, now stands. Initially the installation was a

block house A blockhouse is a small fortification, usually consisting of one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire in various directions. It is usually an isolated fort in the form of a single building, serving as a defensive stron ...

on a bluff with soldiers residing in tents nearby. That Spring, Fort Sedgewick,

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

, was abandoned and the wooden buildings moved by mule train to a location beneath the bluffs and on the

Lodgepole creek Lodgepole Creek is a tributary of the South Platte River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed March 25, 2011 in the U.S. states of Wyoming, Nebraska and ...

. This new garrison was named Sidney Barracks and would remain so until 1879, when it was designated Fort Sidney. The

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

railroad eventually arrived and the fort was a trailhead for the

Sidney-Black Hills Trail The Sidney Black Hills Stage Road or Route was a trail connecting Sidney, Nebraska, Sidney Barracks, and the Union Pacific Railroad with Fort Robinson, Red Cloud Agency, Spotted Tail Agency, Custer City, Dakota Territory, and Deadwood, Dakota ...

to the gold prospecting and mining areas of the Dakotas. The

Greenwood Stage Station The Greenwood Stage Station was a historic stagecoach stop located in what is now rural Morrill County, Nebraska. It was the second stage station on the Sidney-Black Hills Trail, when coming north from the Union Pacific railroad at Fort Sidney, N ...

was a stagecoach stop on the trail. The trail crossed the

North Platte River The North Platte River is a major tributary of the Platte River and is approximately long, counting its many curves.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 21, 2011 In a ...

Camp Clarke Bridge Site The Camp Clarke Bridge Site in Morrill County, Nebraska near Bridgeport dates from 1875. Also known as 25 MO 68, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. It is the location of a toll bridge built in 1875 by entreprene ...

. The Fort Sidney Complex is a museum of the remaining fort buildings. The complex includes the married officer's quarters which houses the Cheyenne County Museum, the Commander's Home which has been restored and outfitted with late 19th-century period furnishings, and a powder house. Ft Sidney Officers Quarters

References

External links

Fort Sidney Complex
- Cheyenne County Tourism Buildings and structures in Cheyenne County, Nebraska Pre-statehood history of Nebraska Sidney Museums in Cheyenne County, Nebraska History museums in Nebraska {{Nebraska-museum-stub