Fort Reno also known as Fort Connor or Old Fort Reno, was a wooden fort established on August 15, 1865 by the United States Army in Dakota Territory in present-day Johnson County, Wyoming. The fort was built to protect travelers on the Bozeman Trail from Native American tribes.
Old Fort Reno
Fort Reno marker
Fort Reno Monument
Fort Reno with Powder River in background
The Bozeman Trail was an overland route in the Western United States, connecting the gold rush territory of southern Montana to the Oregon Trail in eastern Wyoming. Its most important period was from 1863 to 1868. Despite the fact that the major part of the route in Wyoming used by all Bozeman Trail travelers in 1864 was pioneered by Allen Hurlbut, it was named after John Bozeman. Many miles of the Bozeman Trail in present Montana followed the tracks of Bridger Trail, opened by Jim Bridger in 1864.
Bozeman Trail, Fort C.F. Smith, Fort Phil Kearny and Fort Reno and relevant Indian territories of 1851. All three military forts along the Bozeman Trail were located in Crow Indian treaty territory, which had been invaded by buffalo hunting Lakotas.
Bozeman Trail marker, Wyoming, 2003