Fort Wise

Fort Wise (1852-1867) - A trading post first established in 1852 as Bents New Fort by William Bent in Bent County, Colorado. The post was leased to the U.S. Army in 1859 and renamed Fort Fauntleroy after Colonel T.T. Fauntleroy, 1st U.S. Dragoons. Colonel Fauntleroy joined the Confederacy in 1861 and the post was renamed Fort Wise after Henry A. Wise, Governor of Virginia. Wise also joined the Confederacy and the post was renamed Fort Lyon after the deceased Union General Nathan Lyon who was the first Union general killed in the U.S. Civil War. The post was abandoned in 1867 for a newly constructed Fort Lyon. Commonly known as Bents New Fort and Fort Wise.

Fort Wise History

William Bent destroyed his original fort on the Arkansas River in 1849 when he was unable to sell it to the U.S. Army. He then built another post at Short Timbers, five miles down river from Bents Old Fort. In 1852 he abandoned that post and moved 40 miles further down river and constructed a new stone fort on a high bluff above the Arkansas river. In 1859 Bent leased his fort to the U.S. Army.

The U.S. Army renamed the fort for Colonel T.T. Fauntleroy and went through an embarrassing series of name changes as the U.S. Civil War caused officers and men to choose sides. In 1864 the post was involved in the Sand Creek Massacre of the friendly Cheyennes led by Black Kettle that sparked a long lasting uprising of the plains Indians.

By 1867 the Arkansas River had undercut the bluff that the fort was built on and the Army constructed a new Fort Lyon (2) about 20 miles further upstream. The move to the new post was accomplished in 1868.

Current Status

Markers and outline of fort in Bent County, Colorado

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Location: Bent County, Colorado. Maps & Images Lat: 38.0944524 Long: -102.7601969 Multi Maps from ACME Maps from Bing Maps from Google Elevation: 3,737'

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 209
• Hart, Herbert M., Tour Guide to Old Western Forts, Pruett Publishing Co., Boulder CO, 1980, ISBN 0-87108-568-2, page 47

Links:

• North American Forts - Fort Wise

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