Fort Phil Kearny: ‘The landscape is the artifact’
New Interpretive Center Formally Opened with Ribbon-Cutting
Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon participated in the May 17 ribbon-cutting for the new Interpretive Center at Fort Phil Kearny State Historic Site in Johnson County.
The ceremony also included Dave McKee, president of the Fort Phil Kearny/Bozeman Trail Association (FPK/BTA); Dave Glenn, director of Wyoming State Parks; and Wayne Booze, Rural Healthcare Program director for the Helmsley Charitable Trust. The emcee was Misty Moore, Northeast Wyoming District manager for Wyoming State Parks.
The Helmsley Charitable Trust in 2021 awarded $1.1 million for construction of the Interpretive Center, which was added on to existing buildings donated by First Interstate Bank in the 1980s.
The Helmsley Charitable Trust’s Rural Healthcare Program is committed to improving healthcare access and outcomes in rural America. Spending time outdoors is keenly important to both physical and mental health.
Among the 2,000-square-foot addition’s best features are walls of windows that offer views to the Bighorn Mountains and the foothills that surrounded the fort to the south and west.
The fort was built in 1866 to protect passage on the Bozeman Trail from southeast Wyoming to the gold fields of Montana. The largest stockade fort in the West at the time at 17 acres, it was an incursion on lands sacred to Native American tribes. As a result, the area saw many major skirmishes in Red Cloud’s War, such as the Fetterman Fight and the Wagon Box Fight. The fort was abandoned in 1868 and burned to the ground that year. Only a small section of the fort was rebuilt for historical interpretation, while a simple fence outlines the original footprint.
The 1,000 acres of the state park and additional 84 acres secured by the FPK/BTA allows visitors to feel the remoteness of the post in a gateway to the Bighorns, prompting Moore to say in the ceremony that “the landscape is the artifact.”
Gordon said people who live in this part of Wyoming “live in history.”
“Everywhere you go in this area,” Gordon said, “you have a chance to understand the various cultures that have been here. … People recognized what this was, they fought over it, they cared about it, that there was something spiritual, mystical about this very area.”
Glenn called the center “a remarkable addition to our state parks that will enhance our understanding of this area’s rich history.”
“The Center launches visitors into the landscape that shaped the wild narratives of the Indian Wars,” he said.
The Interpretive Center opened on May 1. It is open Wednesdays through Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. in May and October, and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily June 1 through September 30. The grounds of the fort are open for self-guided tours during daylight hours seven days a week year-round.
The fort is located at 528 Wagon Box Road, just west of Interstate 90 at exit 44.
The center currently plans a rotation of temporary exhibits to provide insight into the region’s historical and cultural heritage. In the coming year, the Center will house permanent exhibits on Red Cloud’s War and the significance of Fort Phil Kearny during crucial moments in the story of the American West.
