Camp Jenney

The panel's first authorized expedition did not get in. In 1857 Lieutenant Gouverneur K. Warren and the geologist Ferdinand Hayden came north from Fort Laramie and, near Inyan Kara on the western edge of the Black Hills, met a large Lakota camp whose men warned them off, some wanting to attack at once. Warren waited three days for the chief Bear's Rib, who never came, then turned away and skirted the hills, writing that to go on would have meant certain death. That same year Lakota bands meeting at Bear Butte agreed to keep white men out.

What the plaque says

Camp Jenney In 1857, before it became known as Camp Jenney, this site was the base camp of the first authorized military expedition into the Black Hills. Lt. G. K. Warren and geologist Dr. F. V. Hayden headed the topographical engineering party created to explore the mineral wealth of the area. This expedition took place seventeen years before Custer's expedition. Later, on June 3, 1875, Professor Walter P. Jenney, along with 432 soldiers and 75 geologists and miners, arrived at this location and established Camp Jenney. Within ten days, the party had constructed a log fort at the site that would serve as a supply depot for camps throughout the Black Hills. The men worked all summer but returned to Fort Laramie and Cheyenne in October. During the winter of 1875-76, Camp Jenney was used as a stopover by gold-seekers. Afterwards known as Jenny Stockade, the log structure built by Jenney's party also served as a stagecoach station for the Cheyenne to Deadwood Stage Line. By April of 1877, the stage line was making night runs to Hat Creek; thus, the stockade became a breakfast and supper stop for passengers traveling the line. Because of the prevalence of stage hold-ups, a cavalry escort from Jenney Stockade to the Hat Creek Station ensured that heavy gold shipments ultimately arrived safely to Cheyenne. This site, along with the Jenney Stockade, became the property of the LAK (Lake, Allerton, and Spencer) Ranch in the winter of 1877-78. LAK used the Jenny Stockade for many years until the need for new construction arose. The original log structure was carefully taken apart log-by-log, moved to Newcastle, and reassembled on the courthouse lawn. It now serves as part of the Anna Miller Museum.

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• The Jenney Stockade — steps away
• Cheyenne-Deadwood Trail — 0.7 mi
• Site of Field City — 1.0 mi
• Cambria — 7.6 mi