Cantonment Reno Cantonment Reno also known as Fort McKinney 1 was a US Army post or cantonment located on the Powder River near the old Bozeman Trail crossing . A previous fort near the site ( Fort Reno ) had been abandoned and burned after the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 . Cantonment Reno was re - established in late 1876 , just upstream of the site of old Fort Reno . Cantonment Reno started as a temporary base of operations for General George Crook s ’ 1876 Big Horn Expedition . Crook ' s Expedition was part of the intensive campaign against the Sioux and Cheyenne in late 1876 , following Custer ' s defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn . Construction . The construction of the cantonment began on October 14 , 1876 , and work was completed on December 19 , 1876 . The total cost of materials ( doors , windows , hardware and lumber ) was $ 931 . 91 . US Army troops did most of the work , but civilian employees received an additional $ 170 . 00 in wages . The structures included a storehouse , two storage cellars , barracks ( 19 huts ) , a hospital , a mess room and kitchen , nine officers huts , a shed , a corral , teamster ' s hut , a blacksmith ' s shop , and a bakery for a total of forty - two structures . A wooden bridge was built across the river in March and April of 1877 . One of the cantonment ' s surgeons left a description of the hospital : " The hospital at this station is one log hut , 14 x 16 feet , occupied as a ward and dispensary , having a dirt floor and covered with dirt . The height of the roof from the floor inside is 9 feet on one side and 10 feet on the other , giving one foot slope to it ; this room has five small windows and one door , and is heated when necessary by one stove . " Fort McKinney 1 . On November 25 , 1876 , part of Crook ' s command , under the leadership of Col . Ranald S . Mackenzie , attacked a village of Cheyenne ( " Dull Knife ' s village " ) on the nearby Red Fork of the Powder River . The army surprised and scattered the Cheyennes driving men , women and children out of their village into subzero temperatures and snow on the open prairie . The battle is known as the Dull Knife Fight or the Battle of Bates Creek . Cantonment Reno provided logistic support for the attack , and rudimentary care for the army wounded from the battle . Lieutenant John A . McKinney was one of the 25 American soldiers killed in the Dull Knife Fight . In May 1877 , elements of the Fifth Cavalry established a camp on Clear Creek , near present - day Buffalo , Wyoming . On June 16 , 1877 , the officer in charge of the camp named it " Camp McKinney " , in honor of the officer who was killed in the Dull Knife Fight . However , since this was only a temporary camp , no one at headquarters recognized the name . However , this camp developed into Fort McKinney ( Wyoming ) also known as Fort McKinney 2 , the fort near Buffalo . At about the same time , the commander of Cantonment Reno asked his superiors that his Cantonment be renamed " Cantonment or Camp McKinney . " This was because mail for Cantonment Reno was being mixed up with mail directed to Fort Reno ( Oklahoma ) . On August 30 , 1877 , the War Department officially renamed Cantonment Reno as Fort McKinney . This duplication of names has led to endless confusion over the years between Fort McKinney 1 ( Cantonment Reno ) and Fort McKinney 2 , Fort McKinney ( Wyoming ) . Abandonment . By 1878 , Cantonment Reno was experiencing lumber , forage and water shortages . After considerable study a decision was made to relocate the post to the new Fort McKinney , 45 miles northwest , to a site on the Clear Fork of the Powder River . The new site of Fort McKinney was on benchlands just north of the Clear Fork , about two miles west of present - day Buffalo , Wyoming . By the end of 1878 , the Army had vacated Cantonment Reno / Fort McKinney 1 . Only a small detail of soldiers remained to take care of the depot and repair the telegraph line . Doors , window sashes , and hardware were stripped from the cantonment to supply the new post on Clear Fork , leaving the hulls of post buildings . On December 10 , 1878 Major Verling K . Hart , commander at the new Fort McKinney , recommended that a section of land at the old post be retained as a campground , so the land at Cantonment Reno remains publicly owned . Powder River Crossing . On May 13 , 1879 , the commander of Fort McKinney allowed a " Mr . Freron " to open a store and eating house ( but not a bar ) in the abandoned sutler ' s store at Cantonment Reno . " Mr . Freron " was Moreton Frewen , an English rancher in the Powder River country . The three - man caretaker detail at the cantonment was withdrawn in late 1879 , and civilians took over the telegraph operation . In January 1880 , the Rock River Stage Company received permission to move one of the log stables across the Powder River . This was the beginning of the settlement known as Powder River Crossing . Current Status . The Cantonment Reno site is one square mile in size . Its boundary lines are the historic boundary lines of the McKinney Military Reservation , which coincides to some extent with Section 17 , T44N , R78W . The site is located on County Road 76 , five miles north of the intersection with Wyoming Highway 192 , about twenty miles east of Kaycee , Wyoming . Today no structures remain of the cantonment , but shallow depressions in the ground are evidence of their former existence . Removal of structures and artifacts is a part of the history of Cantonment Reno . Scattered widely throughout the site are fragments of metal , wood and glass , reminders of what once could be found at the depot . An instance of wholesale removal of artifacts from this historic site occurred as late as 1962 . The site is administered by the Bureau of Land Management .