THE UTAH
MILITARY FRONTIER, 1872-1912 Forts Cameron, Thornburgh, AND
Duchesne B Y T H O M A S G. A L E X A N D E R A N D L E O N A R D J . A R R I N G T O N
As with other western territories, pioneer Utah was the site of a number of important federal defense installations. These included a temporary military grazing camp in Rush Valley, southwest of Salt Lake City, during the winter of 1854-55; the occupation of Camp Floyd (later, Fort Crittenden), northwest of Utah Lake, during the years 1858-61; the establishment of Camp Douglas (later Fort Douglas), east of Salt Lake City, which was occupied from 1862 to 1866, and intermittently until the present; and the three forts which form the subject of the present article: Fort Cameron, 1872-83; Fort Thornburgh, 1881-84; and Fort Duchesne, 1886-1912. With the exception of Camp Floyd, each of these forts was related to "Indian problems." While Utah's early white settlers had genA native of Ogden, T h o m a s Alexander is completing the Ph.D. in history at the University of California, Berkeley, and is assistant professor of history at Brigham Young University. Leonard Arrington is professor of economics at U t a h State University. This article was prepared u n d e r a grant from the U t a h State University Research Council.
