Communications
Depicted above are: on the left, the site of the once-busy guard house; and on the right, the still-standing ordnance building. Headquarters, located nearby, was connected by telegraph to higher commands in the east. The left view-sight points to the route of that line as it approached this post from Fort Laramie. Most of the line was part of the original 1861 transcontinental telegraph link along the Oregon Trail. This line had been abandoned, but was patched up and extended to this point for military use.

The device on the right locates the former route of the heavily-used wagon road out of Rock Creek, which was once a Union Pacific Railroad station 80 miles to the south. It was from Rock Creek that most supplies were freighted to Fort Fetterman. According to records, wagons traveling this road required a military escort, at times more for protection against outlaws than Indians.

Barracks
Three identical enlisted men’s barracks stood in a row parallel to the walk. Bunks were double-decked, with springs made of rope stretched on a wooden frame. Mattresses consisted of large bags filled with prairie hay. Clothing and other gear was hung on pegs or stored on wall shelves near each bunk.

Soldier’s Rations
Behind the row of barracks which paralleled this walkway, were kitchens and mess halls. Cooking duties were supposedly rotated; actually the most competent man usually held the job. Campaign food customarily consisted of the unleavened biscuit called hardtack; wild game when available, otherwise salt-pork; bacon, often moldy and/or wormy; and a watery soup ladled from a stock of canned vegetables mixed and boiled with hardtack. In garrison, baked bread, occasionally beef, and fruits such as raisins and dried apples and peaches offered variety. Raw onions were used as a means of preventing and curing scurvy, supplemented at established posts by fresh vegetables from the garden.

Bozeman Trail
From this point, the Bozeman Trail wound a long, twisting northwesterly route to the Montana gold fields. Also leaving the fort at this point was the telegraph line to Fort Reno about 75 miles northwest. Later, with the abandonment of that fort in 1868, the line ended here until it was extended to Fort McKinney, established in 1878, near the present town of Buffalo.

Stables and Shops
Fort Fetterman had extensive stables, with corrals enclosed by a six-foot adobe fence. Teamsters’ quarters were also located within the walls. Due to the isolation of the fort, there was provision for all types of repair work.

Hog Ranch
“Hog Ranch” was a common frontier term used to describe certain off-post facilities which catered to the lonely soldier’s desire for wine, women and song. A cluster of cabins, the “ranch” was typical of similar establishments located outside the bounds of many western military reservations. The nearby one was among the most notorious in the history of the west. Below, on the North Platte River, is a probable former site of a ferry crossing. Because the Hog Ranch was off-limits, soldiers who desired to visit it usually swam the river. Later a bridge was built not far from the present highway crossing.

Water Supply
From this location, where the water reservoir once stood, one can see several interesting points. The sighting device points out the location of the pump used during later years to supply the fort with water. Prior to installation of the pump the water detail was usually a punishment duty, water having been dipped from the river and hauled in a wooden tank wagon to the fort. There were never any wells on the grounds of the post.

Crook’s Campaign
It was from this post that General Crook, in the spring of 1876, led the southern unit of the three-pronged Big Horn and Yellowstone Expedition against the Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians. Severe losses were sustained by Crook on June 17th, in the stand-off Battle of the Rosebud. Shortly thereafter, on June 25th, the same Indians annihilated Lt. Col. George A. Custer and the 220 men of the 7th Cavalry which he personally led in the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Fort Letterman figured prominently in the final wars with these tribes and, following termination of hostilities, the post was abandoned in 1882. The sighting device points to Crook’s camp at the beginning of his campaign.

Letterman Hotel
Located here was a triplex officer’s quarters, usually occupied by the younger bachelor officers. Following abandonment by the army in 1882, the post was converted by civilians into the town of Letterman. That town was given a notorious reputation under the name “Drybone” in stories by Owen Wister, the founder of the western novel and author of “The Virginian”. The building was known as the Letterman Hotel at that time. Letterman began to die when, in 1886, the town of Douglas was established by the westward-building predecessor of the Chicago North Western Railway.

Post Hospital
The post hospital once stood near this point. Due to its frontier isolation and location on an exposed plateau, Letterman received the dubious honor of being called a hardship post. Here the relentless wind carrying biting sand or stinging snow gave the fort a reputation for being desolate, a reputation due to the unfavorable location of the fort rather than the general climate of the region. Because of these conditions and the hard duty, more soldiers were treated for mental disorders, or physical injuries received in brawling, than those hospitalized due to wounds received in combat.