The number and variety of forts and posts, together with changes of location, name, and designation, have posed perplexing problems for students of western history. Now Robert W. Frazer has prepared a systematic listing of all presidios and military forts, which were ever, at any time and in any sense, so designated. The lists of posts are arranged alphabetically within the boundaries of present states. Pertinent information is included for each fort: date of establishment, location, and reason for establishment; name, rank, and military unit of the person establishing the post; origin of the post name and changes in name and location; present status or date of abandonment; and disposition of any existing military reservation. A map for each state shows the location of the posts discussed. A prime reference for historians, Forts of the West will prove useful to readers of western history as well.

Hart has taken photographs of forts, posts, and military relics, and supplied accounts and reminiscences in accurate detail. The result is a picture of the true beginnings of Western life. From Lewis and Clark's Ford Clatsop, to the "Pig War" in the San Juan Islands, you'll find ground plans, sketches, and anecdotes to make the outposts come alive.

"Author Hart finds the crumbling adobe walls of the western forts to be virtually permeated with these rapidly being forgotten memories, and extracts them with story and picture just in time to prevent them from returning to the dust from which they came."--Inside front dust cover.

An up-to-date guide to the critical forts of the Indian campaigns of the late 19th century. Recounts the integral role of 51 forts during the decades of warfare with the Plains Indian tribes and tells of the posts fates after the Indian wars, providing narrative vignettes of incidents or points of historical importance. It also provides directions and visitor information for the following states: Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming.

What was it like to live in a nineteenth-century fort, in the midst of the wild frontier? Take a peek inside its strong, high walls to see how it was built; what a pioneer cabin was like; what the people there did all day; and how the forts sometimes grew into bustling towns. Cutaway illustrations capture the fort in its spectacular entirety.