[Map Showing Location of Sheridan, Wyoming and Surrounding Reservations]

Wyoming’s state legislature packing the pork in the late 19th century.

“The abandonment of all the military posts in the Northwest on the call for war with Spain left the country, once so strictly guarded, practically in the hands of the Indians, and the scattered settlements of the citizens at their mercy.” – E.V. Sumner [pg. 3]

This fascinating pair of maps was published by the Government Printing Office in 1900 as part of a group of bound Congressional reports issued to members of the United States Senate. Lithographed in Washington, D.C. by the Norris-Peters Company, both sheets were designed to accompany a report by Francis Warren, one of Wyoming’s first Senators and part of the Committee for Military Affairs.

The fifteen-page report (one of many within the bound volume) outlines the imminent need for a permanent garrison of American troops to safeguard the settlers in the region and details the abundant natural resources (necessary for supply), impending growth of the community of Sheridan, and hostile attitude of the surrounding Native American tribes. It includes copies of correspondence (from the which excerpt above is taken) and text of previously submitted reports on the subject, in addition to the two maps.

The first map shows a large territory around Sheridan, highlighting the location and population of the Native American reservations. Total numbers are included in the lower left – over 35,000 Indians to a mere 10,000 settlers! Massacre Hill is labeled nearby to remind the audience of the Fetterman Fight in 1863 – a terrible military defeat at the hands of Crazy Horse. This fear-mongering lacks urgency when the population stats of individual reservations are examined (never exceeding 6,500 in total) and distances between points are taken into consideration. Troops garrisoned at any one of the numerous fortifications could travel quickly by rail to bolster the citizens of Sheridan, in the unlikely event that a multi-national indigenous uprising took place across the American Southwest.

Irrespective of military necessity, the installation known as Fort McKenzie was first established in 1898 and expanded significantly in the following years, peaking with a garrison of over 600 men in 1911. The second map in the set shows the grounds of the reservation adjacent to the city limits of Sheridan. It shows the infrastructure necessary to pipe in additional water from Big Goose Creek.

Sources: U.S. Senate History; Wyoming State Historic Preservation