Fort Fred Steele

The panel's Civil War hero was a general Lincoln removed from command. Frederick Steele took Little Rock in 1863, but his 1864 Camden Expedition in Arkansas failed, and at Poison Spring on April 18, Confederate troops ambushed one of its foraging trains and killed wounded and captured men of the First Kansas Colored Infantry, many after the fighting ended. Steele, a Democrat who opposed emancipation, was relieved that December. He died after a fall from a buggy in San Mateo, California, on January 12, 1868, five months before this post took his name.

What the plaque says

Fort Fred Steele Historical Overview The south central portion of Wyoming has long been a travel corridor for pre- historic and historic people. Native American tribes from the Great Basin region to the west crossed this area to hunt buffalo on the eastern plains. From 1810 until the decline of the Rocky Mountain fur trade in the late 1830's, fur traders and trappers traversed this region on their way west in quest of beaver pelts, then retraced their route east laden with furs. These men left little evidence of their passing, but they explored the routes used by thousands of future settlers destined for locations west of Wyoming. Although suggestions to build a transcontinental railroad had been made in the 1840's, no decision was reached until after the outbreak of the Civil War when Congress selected a central route through southern Wyoming. The Union Pacific Railroad, chartered by Congress, built track westward from Nebraska through Wyoming to Utah. The military constructed a series of forts along the Union Pacific route to protect construction crews against attack by hostile Indians. Fort Fred Steele, named in honor of Civil War hero Major General Frederick Steele, was established in June, 1868 where the railroad crossed the North Platte River. Until 1886, when it was decommissioned, the garrison at Fort Fred Steele performed a variety of policing activities involving both Indians and civilians. The railroad also promoted mercantile development, and livestock, lumber and mining industries. After the departure of the military, these industries continued and the town of Fort Steele survived. Completion of the transcontinental Lincoln Highway through Wyoming in 1922 contributed to a brief economic revival but rerouting of the highway in 1939 and the demise of the tie industry in 1940 ended the town's function as a commercial center.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Fort Fred Steele State Historic Site — 1.7 mi
  A fort built in 1868 to guard the Union Pacific's North Platte crossing, which became the collecting yard for railroad ties floated down the river.

More markers nearby

• The Parco Inn — 8.6 mi
• This Marker on the Overland Trail — 12 mi
• Rawlins — 15 mi
• Rawlins Paint Mines — 15 mi