General Crook's Headquarters at Fort Omaha
Fort Omaha Walking Tour
Upon the recommendation of Lt. General William T. Sherman, in 1866 the Adjutant General’s office created the Department of the Platte which included present-day Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Montana and a portion of southeastern Idaho. As departmental headquarters, Fort Omaha presided over supply and administration posts across this territory and coordinated campaigns against the Sioux, Northern Cheyenne, Nez Perce and Ute.
In 1870 the War Department authorized 14 permanent posts under Fort Omaha, each with an average of 282 men. Later in that decade, Montana was transferred to the Department of Dakota.
Soldiers guarded construction crews, protected mail coaches, extended roads and telegraphic services, delivered Indian annuities, assisted farmers devastated by grasshoppers, facilitated mapping and several times intervened in civil insurrections.
This large building was constructed in 1879 as General Crook’s headquarters. In 1881 General Crook moved his headquarters downtown to be near the Union Pacific terminal and warehouses. The building then served as a hospital until the post was abandoned in 1896. Currently, it houses the Fort Omaha Campus library for Metropolitan Community College.
Marker is on Middle Road, on the right when traveling west.
Courtesy hmdb.org
