10 U.S Army & Forts (extracts)
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10.3 Forts
The forts were used to ensure the security of the U.S. troops and to occupy the terrain.
The first ones were built along the migration routes, the others near the supply routes or not far from the hostile Indians. They were rudimentary and without comfort.
The exits were done under escort, the men patrolling along the trails.
The forts varied in type from old trading posts, to private construction, to US military posts. Forts were seldom solidly constructed stockades. They were initially established to protect commerce along the trails as traders and setters often met with not only, opposition from the Indian tribes, but also, with road agents interested in relieving them of their money or their goods. Their role was also to keep the Indian tribes from waging war with each other and at other times, to keep settlers from encroaching upon native lands, also representing and maintaining federal sovereignty over new territories. It was generally only when settlers insisted on encroaching upon native lands, especially during the many gold and silver rushes, that the Indians retaliated. Only then did the forts’ primary purpose change to protecting essentially the settlers.
As westward expansion continued, threatening the Indian’s livelihood, war between the whites and Indians intensified, resulting finally in the push of Native Americans onto reservations. As Indian reservations sprang up from the 1850’s, the military set up new forts to protect settlers and immigrants. Once the Indians were placed on reservations, some forts served as Indian agencies and distribution points for annuities given to tribes under treaty agreements.
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