Fort Sidney is a historic fort located in

Sidney, Nebraska Sidney is a city in and the county seat of Cheyenne County, Nebraska, Cheyenne County, Nebraska, United States. The city is north of the Colorado state line. The population was 6,410 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History The ci ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The 37th

Infantry Regiment Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

established "Sidney Station" at a point midway between the

Platte River The Platte River () is a major American 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, w ...

s, where the modern community of

, now stands. Initially the installation was a block house on a bluff with soldiers residing in tents nearby. That Spring, Fort Sedgewick,

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, was abandoned and the wooden buildings moved by mule train to a location beneath the bluffs and on the Lodgepole creek. 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 is a Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United States after BNSF, ...

railroad eventually arrived and the fort was a trailhead for the Sidney-Black Hills Trail to the gold prospecting and mining areas of the Dakotas. The Greenwood Stage Station 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 I ...

at Camp Clarke Bridge Site. 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