Fort Morgan, Colorado: Summit Springs

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Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Custer and Fort Morgan

General George Custer was in the Colorado/Kansas area in 1867. There is no evidence that he was ever at Fort Morgan, but he would have been in the area with the 7th U. S. Cavalry chasing Cheyenne as part of what was known as the Hancock Expedition (after General Winfield Hancock). As part of the Hancock Expedition, troops from the 7th U.S. Calvary were stationed at Fort Morgan under the command of Captain Michael Sheridan (brother of General Philip Sheridan).

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Historic Overview

From my youth I brought with me only a vague impression of the history of the small town in which I was raised. Fort Morgan, Colorado, built on the site of a short-lived military fort in the heart of the great American desert; a fort that had never been attacked, never seen a battle. On little more than a whim I went in search of the fort’s operational dates (1864-1868), expecting this information would come readily to hand and that would end my curiosity - the fort once again fading into the midst of vague memory. To my surprise, I instead found a door opening to the history of the west.

The history of Fort Morgan will never rival that of Denver or glisten with the same gold dust of the mountain mining towns, but this little town on the plains of Colorado was central to the story of the Romantic west; it's story connecting with the major events of the age. Everyone has a history and every place is central to a story. What follows is the story from the land - of the land - on which Fort Morgan would rise.