INTRODUCTION
By Marian Albright Schenk
FOREWORD
By Dean Knudsen
SECTION 1
Primary Themes of Jackson's Art
SECTION 2
Paintings of the Oregon Trail
SECTION 3
Historic Scenes From the West
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| Jackson set up his camera and then posed with his horse while his assistant removed the lens cap to make the exposure. This photograph was made in 1872 as the USGS explored the Grand Teton Range in Wyoming. (SCBL 931) |
Section 2: Paintings of the Oregon Trail
FORT MITCHELL
The military outpost known as Fort Mitchell was something of a poor step-child. Constructed in 1864, the land was never technically owned by the federal government. This oversight was compounded by the fact that there is no official record of when the post was abandoned 3 years later. Despite existing in a bureaucratic limbo, Fort Mitchell was a prominent feature on the overland trail when William Henry Jackson made his way through Mitchell Pass in 1866.
In 1864 relations between the Plains tribes—the Sioux, Cheyenne, and the Arapaho, and the increasing number of emigrants on the trails were becoming strained. To provide protection for travelers on the trail, in the fall of 1864, soldiers were stationed at the various telegraph and stage stations along the Platte River, and two new posts were constructed. One was Fort Rankin (later renamed Fort Sedgwick), near Julesburg, Colorado Territory, and the second was Fort Mitchell near Scotts Bluff.
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| This unfinished sketch of Fort Mitchell has a notation in pencil that simply reads, "Fort Mitchell 1866." The building to the right in the distance may have been the old Scotts Bluff Pony Express station. (SCBL 184) |
Prior to the construction of Fort Mitchell near a bend in the North Platte River, there had been a Pony Express station and a trading post at the site, but these had apparently fallen into disrepair. Owing to the lack of lumber, the soldiers used sod to construct the walls for the small outpost. While requiring a good deal of periodic maintenance, sod had the dual advantages of being easy to work with as well as being fireproof.
Built by the men of Company F 11th Ohio Volunteer Cavalry Regiment, the new post was initially known as Camp Shuman—after their captain, Jacob Shuman. However, rank has its privileges, and in a short time the post was re-named Fort Mitchell—after General Robert Mitchell, military commander of the Nebraska Territory. By the time Jackson made his appearance at Fort Mitchell in 1866, the Ohio volunteer troopers had been relieved by a company of the 18th U.S. Infantry Regiment.
Jackson is one of a very few artists who left a record of what Fort Mitchell actually looked like. The post was in existence for such a short time, and was reduced to rubble so soon after being abandoned, that very little notice was given to the site. Jackson's painting closely reflects the original floor plan as drawn by Lt. Caspar Collins, and it shows the post's location in relation to the Platte River and Scotts Bluff.
No official records dealing with Fort Mitchell survive from after 1867, and it is generally assumed that the post was simply abandoned sometime during that year. Useful items such as doors, gates, and window frames, were quickly scavenged by emigrants, and without the constant attention of the soldiers the sod walls quickly crumbled and fell into disrepair. Within a few years there were no physical reminders that Fort Mitchell had ever existed.1
It is interesting to note that Jackson exercised a little artistic license in his depiction of Mitchell Pass. His painting allows you to see Dome Rock, a prominent geological feature east of the bluff through the middle of the pass, but if you actually stand on the site of Fort Mitchell, Dome Rock is blocked by Scotts Bluff, and is not visible. Jackson's version is undoubtedly more dramatic.
1. Merrill J. Mattes, The Great Platte River Road (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1993), 473-479.
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| Fort Mitchell. Signed and dated 1933. 21.1 x 32.1 cm. (SCBL 28) |
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scbl/knudsen/sec2j.htm Last Updated: 14-Apr-2006 |
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