TALKING TRAIL

Fort Sully 1—or Old Fort Sully—was built by General Alfred Sully in 1863 on the east side of the Missouri River near Farm Island. Unfortunately, there were too many bugs and too little grass, so in 1866 the garrison was moved 28 miles up river and Fort Sully 2 – New Fort Sully – was established in Sully County.

The Fort Sully Military Reservation consisted of 42 square miles. Quarters for four companies were built of cottonwood logs and thirteen sets of officers’ quarters as well as a hospital, guard house, six store houses, stables, bakery, ice house, laundry quarters, and a brick magazine for ammunition. The post played an important role during the period known as the Indian wars, including the Messiah War of 1890.

When it was first established, most traffic to the fort came up the river on steamboats. Mail was delivered by “stage”—an open spring wagon—from Sioux City. It required six days for the stage to get from Sioux City to Fort Sully, and six days to return. In 1870 a military telegraph line was completed, connecting Fort Sully to Yankton.

General George Custer’s Seventh Regiment arrived at Fort Sully in the spring of 1873 and Mrs. Custer tells of their pleasant stay in her book, “Boots and Saddles.”

“ We were not surprised, after seeing the other posts below on the river, that the guide had praised Fort Sully. It was the headquarters of one of the infantry regiments, and the commanding officer had been at the fort long enough to put it in excellent order. It was situated on an open plateau, from which there was an extensive view. Below in the valley the companies had gardens and they also kept cows, pigs, and chickens. We looked upon all this as an El Dorado, and the thought of remaining long enough at one fort to get any good out of a garden was simply unknown in our vagrant existence.”

The fort was the center of attraction to the first settlers of western Sully County. The fort provided a market for their beef, vegetables, eggs, milk and other produce while the post band was a welcome addition to social gatherings.

The order to abandon the post came in the fall of 1894. The Okobojo Times of Oct. 26, 1894 reports, “The troops with the exception of hospital and commissary departments, and detail of twenty men, marched out of Fort Sully last Saturday morning to Pierre.” From there they boarded a train bound for their new headquarters in Niobrara, Nebraska. On October 31, 1894, the Fort Sully auction sale was held with the largest crowd seen at a single event up to that time. The buildings were sold and transported to their new posts.

When the waters of Lake Oahe are low, Fort Sully’s plateau emerges and you can make out the foundations of the buildings and the boundaries of the parade ground. With a little imagination you can hear a bugle playing Taps.