Cantonment Reno
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Cantonment Reno
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| Nearest city | Kaycee, Wyoming |
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| Area | 640 acres (260 ha) |
| Built | 1876 |
| Architectural style | Fort |
| NRHP Reference # | 77001382 |
| Added to NRHP | July 29, 1977 |
Cantonment Reno also known as Fort McKinney 1 was a US Army post or cantonment located on the Powder River near the old Bozeman Trail crossing. A previous fort near the site (Fort Reno) had been abandoned and burned after the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868.Cantonment Reno was re-established in late 1876, just upstream of the site of old Fort Reno. Cantonment Reno started as a temporary base of operations for General George Crooks’ 1876 Big Horn Expedition,. Crook's Expedition was part of the intensive campaign against the Sioux and Cheyenne in late 1876, following Custer's defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.
The construction of the cantonment began on October 14, 1876, and work was completed on December 19, 1876. The total cost of materials (doors, windows, hardware and lumber) was $931.91. US Army troops did most of the work, but civilian employees received an additional $170.00 in wages. The structures included a storehouse, two storage cellars, barracks (19 huts), a hospital, a mess room and kitchen, nine officers huts, a shed, a corral, teamster's hut, a blacksmith's shop, and a bakery for a total of forty-two structures. A wooden bridge was built across the river in March and April of 1877.
One of the cantonment's surgeons left a description of the hospital: "The hospital at this station is one log hut, 14 x 16 feet, occupied as a ward and dispensary, having a dirt floor and covered with dirt. The height of the roof from the floor inside is 9 feet on one side and 10 feet on the other, giving one foot slope to it; this room has five small windows and one door, and is heated when necessary by one stove."
On November 25, 1876, part of Crook's command, under the leadership of Col. Ranald S. Mackenzie, attacked a village of Cheyenne ("Dull Knife's village") on the nearby Red Fork of the Powder River. The army surprised and scattered the Cheyennes driving men, women and children out of their village into subzero temperatures and snow on the open prairie. The battle is known as the Dull Knife Fight or the Battle of Bates Creek. Cantonment Reno provided logistic support for the attack, and rudimentary care for the army wounded from the battle. Lieutenant John A. McKinney was one of the 25 American soldiers killed in the Dull Knife Fight.
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