MSU Collection on Fort Ellis and Gustavus C. Doane, 1865-1892

Fort Ellis was a military post established by the United States Army near Bozeman, Montana Territory, in 1867. The post was named for Colonel Augustus van Horne Ellis, who had been killed at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in 1863. Established to protect settlers in the Gallatin Valley from a perceived Indian threat, the fort housed troops from a number of different regiments prior to its deactivation in 1886. Among the cavalry units stationed at Fort Ellis was the Second United States Cavalry, portions of which were led by Major Eugene M. Baker and participated in the Marias Massacre in 1870. Soldiers from Fort Ellis joined the "Montana Column" under Colonel John Gibbon, participating in the Great Sioux War of 1876-1877, and were the first to view the aftermath of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. In 1877, Fort Ellis troops were also involved in stopping the Flight of the Nez Perce. Among the officers from the Second Cavalry was Lieutenant Gustavus C. Doane, who became known for his exploration of Yellowstone National Park.

Gustavus Cheyney Doane was born in Galesburg, Illinois, on May 20, 1840, and grew up in California. He graduated from the University of the Pacific at Santa Clara in 1861, and afterwards enlisted in the "California Hundred," a federal volunteer unit absorbed by the Second Massachusetts Volunteer Cavalry. Doane had attained the rank of sergeant by 1864 when he resigned to accept a commission as lieutenant with the first regiment, Mississippi Marine Brigade. After the war Doane lived for a time in Yazoo City, Mississippi where he was appointed mayor by the Reconstruction authorities in 1867. In 1868 he applied for a commission with the army and was appointed second lieutenant in the Second U.S. Cavalry. He served with the regiment for the next 24 years, attaining the rank of captain in 1884. During his postwar career Doane was stationed at a variety of frontier posts in Montana, California, and Arizona, including Fort Ellis, Fort Custer, Fort Keogh, Fort Maginnis, the Presidio, and Fort Bowie. He participated in the Sioux war of 1876, the Nez Pearce War of 1877, and the Apache campaign of 1886. Doane gained a great deal of fame as an explorer, participating in the 1870 Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition in present-day Yellowstone National Park, as well as a survey of the Judith Basin area in 1874, a trip down the Snake River in 1876-77, and the Howgate polar expedition in Greenland in 1880. Towards the end of his life, Doane attempted unsuccessfully to gain the superintendency of Yellowstone National Park and to influence widespread Army acceptance for his invention, the Doane Centennial Tent. He married twice, to Amelia Link in 1866 and to Mary Lee Hunter in 1878. Neither union resulted in offspring. Gustavus Cheyney Doane died on May 5, 1892.