Aerial survey · USDA NAIP · public domainThe most besieged post on the Bozeman Trail — Crazy Horse lured 81 soldiers to their deaths here in 1866, the Army's worst defeat by Plains Indians before Little Bighorn
528 Wagon Box Rd, Banner, WY 82832
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
State park entrance fee applies; Full Moon Fort evening tours priced separately
Access
Limited Access
Open grassland with some unpaved paths; Fetterman Fight site is a short walk from parking
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1866 · Army's worst defeat by Plains Indians before Little Bighorn · Site of the Fetterman Fight (December 21, 1866) · Only Bozeman Trail fort forced into abandonment by military defeat
The Army built Fort Phil Kearny to protect emigrant traffic on the Bozeman Trail, a shortcut route to Montana gold fields that cut directly through Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne territory guaranteed by the 1851 Fort Laramie Treaty. Red Cloud immediately contested the fort's construction, launching what historians call Red Cloud's War — a sustained campaign of raids, ambushes, and sieges that made Fort Phil Kearny the most dangerous posting in the Army's western network.
By December 1866 the garrison was running low on firewood and morale was brittle. On December 21, a wood-cutting detail came under attack. Lt. Col. William Fetterman led a relief column of 80 men — infantry and cavalry — in pursuit of a small Lakota decoy party under Crazy Horse's direction. The decoys drew Fetterman's column over Lodge Trail Ridge, out of sight of the fort, and into a kill zone where roughly 1,500 warriors waited. The engagement lasted approximately 30 minutes. All 81 soldiers were killed.
The Army reinforced the post but abandoned it entirely in August 1868 as part of the Fort Laramie Treaty that ended Red Cloud's War — one of the only instances in which a Plains Indian military campaign succeeded in forcing the U.S. to abandon contested territory. Warriors burned the fort to the ground the day after the garrison marched out. The state of Wyoming established the historic site in 1960; archaeological excavations in the 1990s located the original fort's foundations.
Sources
The interpretive center at Fort Phil Kearny has been the location of persistent poltergeist-type activity — objects found displaced from their positions, display items moved overnight, doors that close or open without apparent cause. These accounts come primarily from staff who work regular hours at the site rather than from visiting paranormal investigators, which distinguishes them somewhat from the more common pattern of tour-group reports.
A soldier apparition has been reported on multiple occasions along Little Piney Creek, the waterway that runs between the fort site and the ridge from which Fetterman's column made its final approach on December 21, 1866. The figure is consistently described as appearing in military dress and then simply not being present when the observer looks directly or approaches.
A Gillette News Record account documented the interpretive center activity and included an account from a clairvoyant brought to the site who described EVP-consistent experiences near the main building — auditory impressions she attributed to soldiers from the garrison period. The Full Moon Fort evening tour program, which uses actors and special effects alongside historical guides, has run annually and reflects the community's awareness of and engagement with the site's dual identity as a historical landmark and reported haunting.
Notable Entities
Annual evening tours at Fort Phil Kearny combine actors in period costume, special effects, and guides presenting both the documented battle history and paranormal accounts. The tours are held on or near the full moon each fall. Check Wyoming State Parks for current dates and pricing.
Walk the preserved site of the Fetterman Fight (December 21, 1866), less than two miles from the fort, where 81 soldiers were killed in a 30-minute ambush. The fort itself has been archaeologically documented and marked; the interpretive center holds artifacts and detailed accounts of the 1866–1868 period when this post sustained the highest casualty rate of any Bozeman Trail post.
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