Fort Omaha Fort Omaha , originally known as Sherman Barracks and then Omaha Barracks , is an Indian War - era United States Army supply installation . Located at 5730 North 30th Street , with the entrance at North 30th and Fort Streets in modern - day North Omaha , Nebraska , the facility is primarily occupied by Metropolitan Community College . A Navy Operational Support Center and Marine Corps Reserve unit , along with an Army Reserve unit occupy the periphery of the 82 . 5 acre fort . The government deeded all but four parcels of the land to the community college in 1974 . This is where Ponca Chief Standing Bear and 29 fellow Ponca were held prior to the landmark 1879 trial of " Standing Bear v . Crook . " Judge Elmer Dundy determined that American Indians were persons within the meaning of the law and that the Ponca were illegally detained after leaving Indian Territory in January 1879 . The Fort Omaha Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places . The district includes the 1879 General Crook House Museum , as well as the 1879 Quartermaster ' s office , 1878 commissary , 1884 guardhouse , 1883 ordnance magazine and 1887 mule stables . About . Opened in 1868 as a supply depot for various forts along the Platte River , Fort Omaha is primarily occupied by Metropolitan Community College . It continues to house Navy , Marine and Army Reserve units . The fort is located in the present - day Miller Park neighborhood of North Omaha . The site includes the General Crook House , which is listed separately on the National Register of Historic Places ( NHRP ) . The entire fort is listed as an historic district on the NRHP . History . Sherman Barracks , also known as Camp Sherman , was established in 1868 by Captain William Sinclair of the 3rd U . S . Artillery and named in honor of Lt . General William Tecumseh Sherman . It was located on an 82 - ½ acre tract four miles ( 6 km ) north of Omaha and 1½ miles south of Florence . Pioneer entrepreneur Augustus Kountze sold land for the installation to the federal government . The following year the name was changed to Omaha Barracks . General Sherman was said to have complained about such a small site being named after him . On December 30 , 1878 , the post was designated Fort Omaha . During this same time period , the U . S . Army ' s Department of the Platte was organized . The Fort was the Department ' s headquarters from 1878 to 1881 . The post , however , remained home to upwards of ten companies of the 2nd Infantry until 1896 when the garrison was relocated to Fort Crook near Bellevue . The Spanish - American War brought the Fort into usage as a muster point for troops from across Nebraska . Camp Meiklejohn , Camp Augur and Camp Vincent were all subordinate troop sites around Omaha under command of the Fort . Fort Omaha is perhaps most notable as the site where Chief Standing Bear was held prior to the 1879 trial of " Standing Bear v . Crook " . Standing Bear , a Ponca chief , successfully argued in U . S . District Court that Native Americans were " persons within the meaning of the law " and had rights of citizenship . During the trial , Standing Bear was assisted by Susette LaFlesche Tibbles , a famous Omaha woman who was the daughter of Iron Eye , the last recognized chief of the Omaha . His lawyer was Andrew Jackson Poppleton , a pioneer Omaha attorney who held the position of general attorney for the Union Pacific Railroad . The trial was the most important of Poppleton ' s career . Both the fort ' s significant role in US military history in relation to the Indian Wars , and this important civil rights trial , contributed to the site ' s being listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places . In World War II Fort Omaha was used as a prisoner - of - war camp to house Italian Army soldiers captured in Europe . Fort Omaha Balloon School . In 1907 the Army built a large steel hangar at Fort Omaha for use in experiments with dirigibles , a program that was abandoned in 1909 . This program and its successor were part of the American Expeditionary Forces . A balloon house was built in 1908 , and in 1909 the first balloon flight took place . The military acquired additional space for training called Florence Field , at the corner of North 30th and Martin Streets in North Omaha . Shortly after the United States entered World War I , 800 men immediately enlisted in the Aviation Section , U . S . Signal Corps . They were sent to the Fort Omaha Balloon School for training . They later provided forward observations for the artillery . More than 16 , 000 airmen went through the Balloon School . In 1917 the Army determined that weather conditions at Fort Omaha were not suitable for rapidly training balloon companies . The next year a contingent of officers and men from Fort Omaha were assigned to Camp John Wise in Texas . The Balloon School at Fort Omaha was soon ended . Meanwhile , at the Florence Field site in May 1918 , two soldiers were burned to death and thirteen seriously burned when a Caquot - type balloon exploded . Historic District . There are six extant 19th - century structures in Fort Omaha , and the site overall has been judged significant in US history . Because of this , Fort Omaha has received numerous historical designations . The Department of the Interior designated Fort Omaha a historic district , and listed the Crook House on the National Register of Historic Places . In 1982 the Fort Omaha Guardhouse was designated a Landmark under the City of Omaha ' s Landmark Heritage Preservation Ordinance . General Crook House . In 1879 this Italianate - style house was completed for General and Mrs . Crook for the general ' s continued administration of the Indian Wars . Today it is used as the museum of the Douglas County Historical Society . It is filled with 19th - century Victorian - style furniture , in addition to military exhibits , and offices of the Douglas County Historical Society . Ornate Victorian - style gardens have been restored on the property . It is located in the middle of Fort Omaha , at 5730 North 30th Street . It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969 . Headquarters building . Built in 1879 by the U . S . Army , the Headquarters Building at Fort Omaha first served as the home of the Department of the Platte during the command of General George Crook . In 1881 the headquarters moved back to Downtown Omaha to be nearer to the railroads . Today the building serves as the community college ' s library . Guardhouse . Originally constructed in 1861 , the current Guardhouse was built in 1883 . Over the course of its usage , the Fort Omaha Guardhouse housed numerous notable prisoners . Its most famous was Ponca Chief Standing Bear . On March 31 , 1879 , General George Crook met with the imprisoned Ponca at the Fort Omaha guardhouse . It was there that he said to the General , Expanded several times , the Guardhouse , which sits at Bourke Gate , was designated an Omaha Landmark in 1982 . Current usage . After World War II , Fort Omaha was placed under control of the US Navy . Today , several perimeter facilities are used as a training locations for the Marine Corps Reserve , as well as storage and repair areas for Navy vehicles . The remainder of Fort Omaha houses a campus of the Metropolitan Community College , in addition to the Douglas County Historical Society at the General Crook House and Library Archives Center . Further reading . Barnes , Jeff . " Forts of the Northern Plains : Guide to Historic Military Posts of the Plains Indian Wars " . Mechanicsburg , PA : Stackpole Books , 2008 .