Fort D. A. Russell

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This Page: Fort D. A. Russell Target and Maneuver Range.

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Maneuvers, Regular Army, Camp Otis, Fort D.A. Russell Target and Maneuver Reserve, Pole Mountain, Wyoming, July 1910.

In the foreground is the Headquarters Camp. In the middle of the photo is the encampment for the 12th Cavalry and in the distance, barely visible, is the encampment for the 8th Cavalry. The Target and Maneuver Reserve was originally created in 1879 as a wood and water reserve for Fort D.A. Russell. The reserve was located about about 22 miles east of Laramie at Pole Mountain near the headwaters of the North Branch of Crow Creek.


 11th Infantry Encampment, Camp Otis, Fort D.A. Russell Target and Maneuver Reserve, Pole Mountain, Wyoming, July 1910.

The tents in the foreground housed non-commissioned officers. Participating in the maneuvers in addition to the 8th and 12th Cavalry and the 11th Infantry were the 15th Infantry and the 18th Infantry. Camp Otis was most likely named after Major General Elwell S. Otis who led American Land forces in the Phillipines during the Spanish-American War. Many of the forces in the Phillipines came from Fort D.A. Russell. Additionally, as previously noted, units of the Wyoming National Guard led the assualt on the City of Manila.


 Hospital Tents, Camp Otis, approx. 1910.

Ultimately, the Army acquired in excess of 62,00 acres for the Reserve. It was extensively used prior to the World War I. Its use declined following the war and in 1925 the bulk of the Reserve was transferred to the Medicine Bow National Forest with the army retaining approximately 3,300 acres.


 Camp Otis, 1909.

The military retained the rightto utilize the entire area. Use, however, prior to World war II, however, was limited and the area was primarily devoted, as it is today, primarily for recreation.


 Setting up tents, Camp Otis, undated.

In 1936, the area was used for the filming of the cavalry sequences in Cecil B. DeMille's The Plainsman. With the change of name of Fort D.A. Russell, the area became known as the Fort Francis E. Warren Target and Naneuver Range. During world War II, the area again was used for military training. In 1961, all military use was terminated and all administration was placed with National Forest Administration.


Training, Pole Mountain, 1943.

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