Near Miles City in Custer County, Montana — The American West (Mountains)
Remount Depot Mess Hall
Fort Keogh Historic District
Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, September 13, 2020
1. Remount Depot Mess Hall and Marker
The marker is to the left of the stairs.
Inscription.
Remount Depot Mess Hall. Fort Keogh Historic District. Breaking and training thousands of horses at Fort Keogh for the U.S. military and Allied French and British forces was crucial during World War I because of the militarys reliance on horse-drawn transportation. This two-story mess hall served employees and civilian cowboys who worked on the ranch. Constructed in 1920 near the end of Fort Keoghs days as a Remount Station at a cost of $15,000, the wood-frame building featured many windows, high ceilings, hot water, steam heat, and electric lights. The main floor originally had five rooms and the basement three rooms. Records show that the basement housed the heating plant and storage for coal and the commissary. In 1924, ownership of the fort transferred to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Animal Husbandry, by an act of Congress. The mess hall was subsequently remodeled to serve as the USDA administrative headquarters. It served in that capacity until the construction of a new administrative building in 1970. Today, the building serves as a storage area and carpenters shop.
Breaking and training thousands of horses at Fort Keogh for the U.S. military and Allied French and British forces was crucial during World War I because of the militarys reliance on horse-drawn transportation. This two-story mess hall served employees and civilian cowboys who worked on the ranch. Constructed in 1920 near the end of Fort Keoghs days as a Remount Station at a cost of $15,000, the wood-frame building featured many windows, high ceilings, hot water, steam heat, and electric lights. The main floor originally had five rooms and the basement three rooms. Records show that the basement housed the heating plant and storage for coal and the commissary. In 1924, ownership of the fort transferred to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Animal Husbandry, by an act of Congress. The mess hall was subsequently remodeled to serve as the USDA administrative headquarters. It served in that capacity until the construction of a new administrative building in 1970. Today, the building serves as a storage area and carpenters shop.
46° 22.854′ N, 105° 53.037′ W. Marker is near Miles City, Montana, in Custer County. It can be reached from Fort Keogh Road near Business Interstate 94. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 243 Fort Keogh Road, Miles City MT 59301, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Southeast Montana, in Custer Country and in the Powder River Basin. It is also in the American Mountain West, in the Lewis & Clark Corridor, on the prairies, on the Great Plains, and specifically on the Northern Plains. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once Ruperts Land and also the Louisiana Purchase.
Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, September 13, 2020
2. Remount Depot Mess Hall
Credits. This page was last revised on July 23, 2021. It was originally submitted on January 8, 2021, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 231 times since then and 12 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on January 8, 2021, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.
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