Fort Phil Kearny: An American Saga

In 1866, the U.S. Army built Fort Phil Kearny to protect travelers on the Bozeman Trail from competition with allied tribes for food and supplies, resulting in the Fetterman Fight and the army's worst defeat on the northern plains until Custer's defeat at the Little Bighorn. Dee Browns' Fort Phil Kearny: An American Saga was the first detailed account of the battle.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 276 pages
Publication date: 01 April 2022
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press

In 1866, the U.S. Army established Fort Phil Kearny in the foothills of Wyoming's Bighorn Mountains, a strategic location to safeguard travelers on the Bozeman Trail, which was a vital route leading to Montana's gold fields. The establishment of this fort was necessitated by the fact that the Bozeman Trail traversed through the heart of the last abundant hunting grounds of the Lakotas, Northern Cheyennes, and Northern Arapahos. The influx of gold seekers into these territories resulted in direct competition for food and supplies with the allied tribes, leading to a series of violent encounters. The culmination of this conflict was the Fetterman Fight on December 21, 1866, which marked the army's worst defeat on the northern plains until Custer's defeat at the Little Bighorn ten years later. This battle gained widespread attention and was subsequently investigated by Congress.

Dee Browns' book, Fort Phil Kearny: An American Saga, published in 1991, was the first comprehensive account of the battle and the tragic loss of Lieutenant Fettermans eighty men. In this new edition, Shannon D. Smith provides an introduction to this seminal work.

Weight: 313g
Dimension: 203 x 133 x 16 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780803234581