Water Wagon Shed

Water Wagon Shed. Fort Keogh Historic District. Hundreds of military and civilian residents at Fort Keogh made the fort’s water supply a primary concern. By 1879, two thousand feet of pipe had been laid and seven cisterns installed. A converted boiler pumped water from the Yellowstone River for the fort’s domestic use. After the initial building period from 1877 to 1880, frame and brick buildings began to replace the original log structures. This hipped-roof brick shed, constructed during the second building phase in October 1883, is the fort’s oldest surviving building. Its arched window openings and lack of ornamentation reflect the fort’s early architecture and the building’s utilitarian function: to house the heavy water wagon. A team of three mules pulled the wagon that delivered water, stored in wooden barrels, to Fort Keogh residents two or three times each week. Several days’ water supply was then stored in individual oak barrels. In 1934, New Deal monies were used to convert the shed to a truck garage. Later, the building housed firefighting and fencing equipment. The building was completely restored in 2004 in accordance with Federal Historical Preservation guidelines at a cost of $125,000.