Fort Yates

Fort Yates (1874-1903) - A U.S. Army post established in 1874 as Standing Rock Agency Post in the present-day town of Fort Yates, Sioux County, North Dakota. Named Fort Yates on 30 Dec 1878 for Captain George W. Yates, 7th U.S. Cavalry, who was killed 25 Jun 1876 at the Battle of Little Big Horn. Abandoned by the U.S. Army in 1903. Fort Yates Guardhouse History Fort Yates Marker (very faded) The Standing Rock Indian Agency moved from Grand River to the present-day town of Fort Yates in July 1873 accompanied by only 12 U.S. Army soldiers. These soldiers were removed in Jul 1874 and the three companies that were to garrison the new agency remained at Grand River until quarters in the new location were completed in May 1875. The original post was built out with three sets of officer's quarters, a barracks, a guardhouse, two storehouses, a hospital, and other support buildings. The post expanded by four companies in response to increased threats in early 1876 and when Colonel George Custer's command was massacred in June 1876, four more companies were added. As other nearby posts closed, Fort Yates grew to house some 3,000 troops before it was closed in 1903. Fort Yates was abandoned by the U.S. Army on 11 Sep 1903 and the former post became the headquarters for the Standing Rock Reservation. Fort Yates Partial Commanders List (edit list) Assumed Relieved Rank Name Cullum Notes 1879-05-03 1881-05-24 •Lt. Col. Carlin, William P. 1469 1887-07-25 1888-12-29 •Col. Townsend, E. Franklin 1658 1889-05-28 1890-08-21 •Col. Townsend, E. Franklin 1658 Resumed command after a long leave of absence 1890 1892-07-04 •Lt. Col. Drum, William Findlay N/A Died in command 1892-07-04 •Lt. Col. Hampson, Jesse A.P. N/A 1898-05 1898-10  Capt. Sprole, Henry W. 2308 Dates are formatted in yyyy-mm-dd to sort correctly. The Cullum Number is the graduation order from the United States Military Academy by year and class rank and links to a page for the officer on the website version of the Cullum Register. Listings without a Cullum Number indicate that the person was not a graduate of the United States Military Academy. Current Status Only the old guardhouse is still identified as belonging to the old Fort Yates post. Location: Town of Fort Yates, Sioux County, North Dakota. Map point is the location of the guardhouse. Maps & Images Lat: 46.091589 Long: -100.629967 Multi Maps from ACME Maps from Bing Maps from Google Elevation: 1634' Sources: Roberts, Robert B., Encyclopedia of Historic Forts: The Military, Pioneer, and Trading Posts of the United States, Macmillan, New York, 1988, 10th printing, ISBN 0-02-926880-X, page 634 Hart, Herbert M., Tour Guide to Old Western Forts, Pruett Publishing Co., Boulder CO, 1980, ISBN 0-87108-568-2, page 117 USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Database Entry: 1029027 Links: North American Forts - Fort Yates Visited: 15 Sep 2013