Fetterman Monument

This is not the site of the infamous Fetterman Massacre. Fort Fetterman was constructed in 1867 by the United States Army on the Great Plains frontier in Dakota Territory, approximately 11 miles northwest of present-day Douglas, Wyoming. Fort Fetterman was used frequently as a staging location for U.S. Army expeditions during the Indian Wars. The fort was named for Capt. William J. Fetterman, killed with all 80 of the men under his command in December 1866 near Fort Phil Kearny, further north along the Bozeman Trail.

A restored officers’ quarters and an ordnance warehouse have interpretive exhibits and artifacts of the fort’s history, Fetterman City and its Indian predecessors. You are encouraged to walk the grounds where interpretive signs describe the fort’s buildings and activities.

It was closed when I visited it but we were able to slip past the gate and see the grounds but not anything inside a building. There is a graveyard down the road past the museum. It contains very little but there are some headstones and monuments. The most fancy is John C. Fenex a 24 year old cowboy who was killed during a bar fight. You can read about his death at this website: https://trib.newspapers.com/clip/55488163/recounting-of-the-death-of-john-fenex/

For most this will probably be a quick visit and a walk around the grounds.