Fort Yates Military Life

Fort Yates Military Life. Native American Scenic Byway. If walls could speak, the guardhouse building would represent the lone surviving voice of the former Fort Yates military fort. What stories would the guardhouse tell of the military occupation of Standing Rock? In July 1873, only 12 soldiers accompanied the Indian Agency when it was moved north from its old location on the Grand River. These few troops were removed in July 1874 because no need for them was foreseen. The three companies responsible for protecting the agency, the 6th Infantry then under the command of Captain Poland, remained at their Grand River post until new quarters were built adjoining the agency in May 1875. , This new location was known as the U.S. Military Station at Standing Rock, but was more commonly referred to as the Post at Standing Rock Agency. It retained this name until December 1878 when it was renamed Fort Yates in honor of Captain George W. Yates, who was killed with Custer's command during the Battle on the Little Big Horn. Shortly before this famous battle, four companies were added to the garrison at Standing Rock in fear of an outbreak of hostiles. , In the panic after the battle the military took direct control of the reservation for six months. Four more companies were added to the garrison and they proceeded to confiscate horses and guns from reservation bands who had no part in the battle. With the closure of Fort Rice in 1878, Fort Tottten in 1890, and Fort Abraham Lincoln in 1891, the garrison expanded to 3,000 troops and was one of the largest fort on the Missouri. , Fort Yates remained in operation until July 1903. It was the last of there frontier forts in North Dakota to be abandoned. The remaining troops were transferred to Fort Lincoln in Bismarck, and the remains buried at the fort's cemetery were exhumed and reinterred in the National Cemetery, Keokuk, Iowa.