Fort Keogh Post Commissary Records, 1876-1893
Table of Contents
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Fort Keogh (Mont.)
- Title
- Fort Keogh Post Commissary Records
- Dates
- 1876-1893 (inclusive)18761893
- Quantity
- 2.5 linear feet of shelf space
- Collection Number
- MC 15
- Summary
- Fort Keogh was a military post near present-day Miles City, Montana. Records (1876-1893) consist of general and outgoing correspondence concerning supplies;subsistence stores ledger, inventories and invoices; abstracts of purchases and sales; ration certificates and returns; post orders for Fort Keogh, Fort Bliss, Fort Peck, Fort Buford, Fort Snelling, and Fort Meade; requisitions for supplies; and miscellaneous financial records, including purchases, accounts, funds, and payroll.
- Repository
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Montana Historical Society, Library & Archives
Montana Historical Society Research Center Archives
225 North Roberts
PO Box 201201
Helena MT
59620-1201
Telephone: 4064442681
Fax: 4064445297
mhslibrary@mt.gov - Access Restrictions
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Collection is open for research.
- Languages
- English
- Sponsor
- Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Historical Note
In July 1876, in direct response to the Battle of the Little Big Horn, the U.S. Congress appropriated funding for construction of two military posts, Forts Custer and Keogh, on the Yellowstone River in Montana Territory. The latter, named for Captain Myles W. Keogh who died at the Little Big Horn encounter, was located on the south bank of the Yellowstone, just above the mouth of the Tongue River in present day Custer County. Colonel Nelson A. Miles and the Fifth Infantry arrived in the area late in 1876 and established a temporary post known by several names including New Post on the Yellowstone, Cantonment on the Tongue River, and Tongue River Barracks. The following year, when building supplies could be freighted in, Miles had the post relocated one mile from the original site and officially named Fort Keogh on November 8, 1877. The post, unusual because it was constructed in a diamond shape with no stockade, was for a time the largest in Montana. In 1878 there were 36 officers and 754 enlisted men stationed there. The role of Fort Keogh was to provide a strategically positioned base for patrolling the Yellowstone area to prevent the escape of Indians into Canada. Miles, wasting no time, had his forces engaging Indians in the area before the permanent structure of Fort Keogh was constructed, most notably against Crazy Horse at the Battle of Wolf Mountain (1876) and against Lame Deer at the Battle of Lame Deer (1877). With Miles' successful campaigns Montana saw the end of Sioux and Cheyenne hostilities. A short time later, in 1877, the forces of Fort Keogh were successful in obtaining the surrender of Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce to Colonel Miles at the Battle of Bear Paw Mountains, thereby ending the last major Indian war in Montana. The 5th Infantry remained at Fort Keogh until 1888, at which time they were replaced by the 22nd Infantry. With the end of Indian hostilities, however, the importance of the post, and therefore its size, waned. It was decommissioned in the early 1900s, but was later used as a remount station during World War I. Following that, it was turned over to the Department of Agriculture and converted into a livestock experimental station.
Content Description
These records concern the operation of the post commissary at Fort Keogh. Included are outgoing and general correspondence (1876-1892); financial records (1878-1892), including abstracts, accounts, a ledger, payrolls, receipts, requisitions sales, subsistence stores lists, vouchers, and miscellany (1878-1893). Requisitions for supplies were directed to the Acting Commissary of Subsistence (A.C.S.) by various officers, and numbered post orders, both general and special for Forts Keogh, Buford, Snelling, Meade and Peck. [A volume of printed special post orders for Forts Keogh and Bliss (1887-1889) has been separated to the Library.]
Use of the Collection
Restrictions on Use
Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of the Montana Historical Society. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collection. In some cases permission for use may require additional authorization from the copyright owners. For more information contact an archivist.
Preferred Citation
item description and date. Collection Title. Collection Number. Box and Folder numbers. Montana Historical Society Research Center, Archives, Helena, Montana
Administrative Information
Return to TopDetailed Description of the Collection
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection
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General Correspondence
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Description: Miscellaneous letters concerning rations for Fort Keogh military and qualified civilian personnel (including complaints, re-ordering, changes in ration policies)Dates: 1876-1892Container: Box/Folder 1 / 1-8
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Outgoing Correspondence
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Description: Letterpress book (including letters from commissary staff to Chief Commissary of Subsistence, Dakota Territory, St. Paul Minnesota; Commissary General of Substance in Washington D.C.; and various quartermasters from U.S. military Forts in the region)Dates: 1878-1880Container: Box/Folder 1 / 9
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Description: Index/summary to letterpress bookDates: 1878-1880Container: Box/Folder 2 / 1
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Financial Records
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Description: Abstracts: articles receivedDates: 1892Container: Box/Folder 2 / 3
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Description: Abstracts: conginenciesDates: 1879-1880, 1891Container: Box/Folder 2 / 4
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Description: Abstracts: issuesDates: 1879, 1891 -1892Container: Box/Folder 2 / 5
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Description: Abstracts: purchasesDates: 1879, 1891Container: Box/Folder 2 / 6
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Description: Abstracts: sales to officers and enlisted menDates: 1881-1882, 1891Container: Box/Folder 2 / 7
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Description: Commissary property returnsDates: 1880Container: Box/Folder 2 / 8
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Description: Inspections and statement of money accountsDates: 1878, 1890 -1892Container: Box/Folder 2 / 9
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Description: LedgerDates: 1878-1879Container: Box/Folder 2 / 10
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Description: PayrollsDates: 1880, 1892Container: Box/Folder 2 / 11
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Description: PostageDates: 1880Container: Box/Folder 2 / 12
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Description: Ration Records: certificatesDates: 1884-1892Container: Box/Folder 3 / 1
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Description: Ration Records: communtationsDates: 1892Container: Box/Folder 3 / 2
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Description: Ration Records: company ordersDates: 1893, undatedContainer: Box/Folder 3 / 3
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Description: Ration Records: returnsDates: 1876-1892Container: Box/Folder 3 / 4-6
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Description: Ration Records: returns, hospitalDates: 1879Container: Box/Folder 3 / 7
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Description: Receipts: J.J. CrittendenDates: 1892Container: Box/Folder 3 / 8
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Description: Receipts: hospitalDates: 1880Container: Box/Folder 3 / 9
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Description: Receipts: purchases from commissaryDates: 1878-1881Container: Box/Folder 3 / 10-13
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Description: Receipts: purchases from commissaryDates: 1882-1893Container: Box/Folder 4 / 1-4
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Description: Requisitions: commissary subsistence suppliesDates: 1879-1880Container: Box/Folder 4 / 5
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Description: Requisitions: exceptional articles and extra issuesDates: 1891Container: Box/Folder 4 / 6
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Description: Requisitions: public sale of animalsDates: 1879Container: Box/Folder 4 / 7
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Description: Returns: provisionsDates: 1881-1892Container: Box/Folder 4 / 8
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Description: Subsistence: abstractsDates: 1879-1892Container: Box/Folder 5 / 1
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Description: Subsistence: account of sale at auctionDates: 1889, 1891Container: Box/Folder 5 / 2
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Description: Subsistence: certificatesDates: 1891-1892Container: Box/Folder 5 / 3
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Description: Subsistence: fundsDates: 1879-1880, 1888Container: Box/Folder 5 / 4
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Description: Subsistence: inspection reportsDates: 1884-1885, 1891-1892Container: Box/Folder 5 / 5
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Description: Subsistence: invoicesDates: 1878-1892Container: Box/Folder 5 / 6
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Description: Subsistence: lists of goods receivedDates: 1881-1892Container: Box/Folder 5 / 7
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Description: Subsistence: monthly reportsDates: 1880-1891Container: Box/Folder 5 / 8
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Description: Subsistence: price listsDates: 1879Container: Box/Folder 5 / 9
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Description: Subsistence: receiptsDates: 1879-1891Container: Box/Folder 5 / 10
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Description: Subsistence: requisitionsDates: 1883-1885Container: Box/Folder 5 / 11
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Description: Subsistence: returnsDates: 1879-1890Container: Box/Folder 5 / 12
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Description: Subsistence: vouchersDates: 1890, 1892Container: Box/Folder 5 / 13
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Description: Subsistence: waste reportsDates: 1892Container: Box/Folder 5 / 14
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Legal Documents
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Description: Statements by commissary sergeants regarding damaged goods claimsDates: 1877-1878Container: Box/Folder 5 / 15
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Minutes
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Description: Board of Survey at Fort KeoghDates: 1892Container: Box/Folder 5 / 16
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Miscellany
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Description: Post Orders and Special Orders for military personnelDates: 1881-1892Container: Box/Folder 5 / 17
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Description: Empty forms and fragments of unidentified documents from commissary [OVERSIZE MATERIALS: map case]Dates: undatedContainer: Box/Folder 5 / 18
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Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Military bases--Montana
- Wages--Montana
Corporate Names
- Fort Keogh (Mont.) (creator)
Geographical Names
- Fort Keogh (Mont.)
