fort d.a. russell

When troops of the U.S. 11th Infantry arrived at their new post, Fort D.A. Russell, near Cheyenne, Wyo., in 1904, they brought with them two church bells—war trophies of recent bitter fighting in the Philippines. The Bells of Balangiga still stand at F.E. Warren Air Force Base. 

Union Pacific locomotives still rumble through Cheyenne, as they first did 150 years ago. But after the railroad arrived in November 1867, skeptics questioned whether the town would last, as so many other end-of-tracks communities had died once the graders and tracklayers moved on.

After the Civil War, about one-fifth of the regular U.S. cavalry troops in the West were Black. These buffalo soldiers were sent to keep order on a disorderly frontier—a difficult job with blurry ethical boundaries. Despite meager food, castoff equipment and chronic racial prejudice, they performed well.

After joining the Republican Party, Amos W. Barber was elected Secretary of State in September 1890 and served until January of 1895. Secretary Barber's term was interrupted while he served as Acting Governor from November 24, 1890 until January 2, 1893.