Fort Omaha

Infobox_nrhp | name =Fort Omaha Historic District
nrhp_type =hd


caption =Nebraska State Historical Marker for Fort Omaha at the corner of 30th and Fort Streets
location= Omaha, Nebraska
area =

added = March 27, 1974
governing_body = United States Navy
refnum=74001112 cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]

Fort Omaha, originally known as Sherman Barracks and then Omaha Barracks, is an Indian War-era United States Army supply installation. This is where the important case of "Standing Bear v. Crook" (1879) was tried, which determined that American Indians were persons within the law and eligible for the rights of citizenship.

Located at 5300 North 30th Street, with the entrance at North 30th and Fort Streets in modern-day North Omaha, Nebraska, the facility is owned by the United States Navy. It provides storage for equipment and location of a Marine Corps Reserve unit. The Navy also leases buildings at the Fort to the Metropolitan Community College.

The Fort Omaha Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The district includes the 1879 General Crook House Museum, as well as the 1879 Quartermaster's office, 1878 commissary, 1884 guardhouse, 1883 ordnance magazine and 1887 mule stables.

About

Opened in 1868 as a supply depot for various forts along the Platte River, Fort Omaha is currently the home of Metropolitan Community College. [(n.d.) " [http://www.historicomaha.com/frtomaha.htm Fort Omaha] HistoricOmaha.Com] The Fort is located in the present-day Miller Park neighborhood of North Omaha. It is the site of the General Crook House, which, along with the Fort itself, is on the National Register of Historic Places.

History

Sherman Barracks, also known as Camp Sherman, was established by Captain William Sinclair of the 3rd U.S. Artillery and named in honor of Lt. General William Tecumseh Sherman in 1868. Located on an 82-½ acre tract four miles (6 km) north of Omaha and 1½ miles south of Florence. Pioneer entrepreneur Augustus Kountze sold land for the installment to the federal government. The following year the name was changed to Omaha Barracks, when it is said that General Sherman complained about such a small site being named after him. [ [http://www.omahahistory.org/Education_Timeline4.htm "Omaha Street Names."] Douglas County Historical Society. Retrieved 9/18/07.]

On December 30, 1878, the post was designated Fort Omaha. During this same time period, the U. S. Army's Department of the Platte was organized. The Fort was the Department's headquarters from 1878 to 1881. The post, however, remained home to upwards of ten companies of the 2nd Infantry until 1896 when the garrison was relocated to Fort Crook near Bellevue. [(nd) [http://www.omahahistory.org/fort_omaha.htm Fort Omaha] . Douglas County Historical Society. Retrieved 9/18/07.]

The Spanish-American War brought the Fort into usage as a muster point for troops from across Nebraska. Camp Meiklejohn, Camp Augur and Camp Vincent were all subordinate troop sites around Omaha under command of the Fort.

Fort Omaha is perhaps most notable as the site of the 1879 trial of "Standing Bear v. Crook". Standing Bear, a Ponca chief, successfully argued in U.S. District Court that Native Americans are "persons within the meaning of the law" and have the rights of citizenship. During the trial, Standing Bear was assisted by Susette LaFlesche Tibbles, a famous Omaha woman who was the daughter of Iron Eye, the last recognized chief of the Omaha. His lawyer was Andrew Jackson Poppleton, a pioneer Omaha attorney who held the position of general attorney for the Union Pacific Railroad. The trial was the most important of his career. [(nd) [http://www.nebraskahistory.org/histpres/nebraska/douglas2.htm More Historical National Register Places in Nebraska] Nebraska Historical Society.]

In World War II Fort Omaha was used as a prisoner-of-war camp to house Italian Army soldiers.

Notable personnel

*Major General George Crook
*Major General Stuart Heintzelman
*Brigadier General Dan Christie Kingman
*Brigadier General George G. Lundberg

Fort Omaha Balloon School

In 1907 the Army built a large steel hangar at Fort Omaha for use in experiments with dirigibles, a program that was abandoned in 1909. This program and its successor were part of the
American Expeditionary Forces. [Rea, L. (nd) [http://www.omahahistory.org/fort_omaha.htm#Balloon%20School Brief History of the Fort Omaha Balloon School] . Douglas County Historical Society.]

A balloon house was built in 1908, and in 1909 the first balloon flight took place. The military acquired additional space for training called Florence Field, at the corner of North 30th and Martin Streets in North Omaha. [ [http://www.rootsweb.com/~necivwar/omaha_mil_history/pg3.htm Omaha Military History.] Retrieved 8/16/07.] Shortly after the United States entered World War I, 800 men immediately enlisted in the US Army Signal Corps. They were sent to the Fort Omaha Balloon School for training. They later provided forward observations for the artillery. [Collins, W. (1919) "History of Fort Omaha." Omaha: M. F. Shafer & Co.] [Herbert, C. (n.d.) "A Balloon's Eye View of World War One." Undated paper for the National Association of American Balloon Corps Veterans.] More than 16,000 airmen went through the Balloon School.

In 1917 the Army determined that weather conditions at Fort Omaha were not suitable for rapidly training balloon companies. The next year a contingent of officers and men from Fort Omaha were assigned to Camp John Wise in Texas. The Balloon School at Fort Omaha was soon entirely ended. [DesChenes, R. (n.d.) [http://www.worldwar1.com/dbc/balloon43.htm The Story of the American Expeditionary Forces: 43rd Balloon Company AEF.] Great War Society.]

Notable personnel

*Captain Frank Purdy Lahm
*Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge
*Lieutenant Benjamin Foulois
*Lieutenant Kent Curtis

Historic District

There are six extant 19th century structures in Fort Omaha, in addition its overall significance. Because of this, Fort Omaha has received numerous historical designations. The Department of the Interior designated Fort Omaha a historic district, and listed the Crook House on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1982 the Fort Omaha Guardhouse was designated a Landmark under the City of Omaha's Landmark Heritage Preservation Ordinance.

General Crook House

In 1879 this Italianate-style house was completed for General and Mrs. Crook for the General's continued administration of the Indian Wars. Today it is the Douglas County Historical Society museum, and is filled with 1800s Victorian-style furniture, with military exhibits, ornate Victorian-style gardens and the Douglas County Historical Society. It is located in the middle of Fort Omaha, at 5730 North 30th Street. [ [http://www.omahahistory.org/museum.htm "Fort Omaha and the General Crook House".] Douglas County Historical Society.] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969.

Headquarters building

Built in 1879 by the U.S. Army, the Headquarters Building at Fort Omaha first served as the home of the Department of the Platte during the command of General George Crook. In 1881 the headquarters moved back to Downtown Omaha to be nearer to the railroads. [ [http://www.rootsweb.com/~necivwar/omaha_mil_history/pg6.htm "Omaha Military History"] . Retrieved 9/15/07.] Today the building serves as the community college's library.

Guardhouse

Originally constructed in 1861, the current Guardhouse was built in 1883. Over the course of its usage, the Fort Omaha Guardhouse housed numerous notable prisoners. Its most famous was Ponca Chief Standing Bear. On March 31 1879, General George Crook met with the imprisoned Ponca at the Fort Omaha guardhouse. It was there that he said to the General, :"I thought God intended us to live, but I was mistaken. God intends to give the country to the White people, and we are to die". [(nd) [http://www.tolerance.org/teach/activities/activity.jsp?ar=748 This Land Is Ours] Teaching Tolerance.]

Expanded several times, the Guardhouse, which sits at Bourke Gate, was designated an Omaha Landmark in 1982. [ [http://www.ci.omaha.ne.us/landmarks/designated_landmarks/landmarks/68/Default.htm Fort Omaha Guardhouse] . City of Omaha.]

Current usage

After World War II, Fort Omaha was placed under control of the US Navy. Today, several perimeter facilities are used as a training locations for the Marine Corps Reserve, as well as storage and repair areas for Navy vehicles. The remainder of Fort Omaha houses a campus of the Metropolitan Community College and the Douglas County Historical Society at the General Crook House.

Image gallery

ee also

*Nebraska Territory
*History of military ballooning

References

Further reading

Barnes, Jeff. "Forts of the Northern Plains: Guide to Historic Military Posts of the Plains Indian Wars". Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2008.

External links

* [http://www.omahahistory.org/fort_omaha.htm History of Fort Omaha] Douglas County Historical Society website.
* [http://www.omahapubliclibrary.org/earlyomaha/photogallery9.html Historic photos of Fort Omaha]
* [http://www.memories.ne.gov/cgi-bin/getimage.exe?CISOROOT=/opl&CISOPTR=898&DMSCALE=100.00000&DMWIDTH=600&DMHEIGHT=600&DMX=0&DMY=0&DMTEXT=north&REC=18&DMTHUMB=1&DMROTATE=0 Historic photo of the Fort Omaha Balloon School]
* [http://www.omahapubliclibrary.org/earlyomaha/slidegallery12.html Lantern Slides of Fort Omaha]