People have inhabited the area of the Salt Lake City Valley for thousands of years. It is the ancestral home to the Ute, Shoshone and Goshute, and Paiute Tribes, with other nations such as the Navajo travelling through and living with this land. The area would not enter into European colonial records until Silvestre Velez de Escalante learned of the area from the Timpanogos Utes. White western trappers Jim Bridger and Etienne Provost observed the Great Salt Lake and the surrounding region in 1824, though it would take over twenty years for colonial-settlers to establish permanent residences in the area. The first permanent white settlers arrived on July 24, 1847, when the first pioneers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints arrived in the valley.
For much of those initial years, the pioneers were largely self-ruled with little input from the federal government. Utah was not yet a site of interest, as it would be decades until the telegraph and transcontinental railroad would pass through the territory. The primary military force in the state was the Nauvoo Legion, a state-authorized militia founded in Nauvoo, Illinois for the defense of the Latter-Day Saint settlements. Despite the general lack of input from the federal government, Utah territory leaders and members of the Church would clash over the Church's practices. This tension would gradually increase through the years, culminating in the Utah War in 1857 when the federal government faced off against the Nauvoo Legion. This year-long conflict was largely a cold war, with no notable military battles, though at the height of tensions, Mormon militiamen murdered 120 unarmed California-bound colonists traveling to California during the Mountain Meadows Massacre. In July 1858 the U.S. Army established a formal military presence in the Utah territory at Camp Floyd, located in what is currently Fairfield, Utah, then the largest concentration of troops in the United States. The Utah War ended peacefully through a combination of negotiation and the withdrawal of federal troops. Brigham Young and the Mormon leaders ultimately agreed to permit federal troops into Utah Territory and recognize federal authority. In exchange, they received a pardon for any actions they had taken during the conflict.
Camp Floyd continued to exist after the Utah War, becoming an army post with routine garrison duty that included protecting stagecoach and Pony Express routes, mapping and surveying, and protecting the settler-colonists passing west. Camp Floyd was renamed Fort Crittenden on Dec. 29, 1860, after Secretary of War John B. Floyd resigned to join the Confederacy. The fort continued to function until July 1861when the military was called east during the American Civil War. The buildings and equipment were destroyed, sold, or transported. All that remains of the Fort today are a single military building, commissary building, and the Stagecoach Inn. Today the site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Camp Floyd Site. Federal military presence would be absent in Utah until the establishment of Camp Douglas in October 1862 when Colonel Patrick Connor was ordered to reestablish a military presence in Utah with Volunteer soldiers from California.
Colonel Connor chose a site east of Salt Lake City, where currently the University of Utah student housing, Research Park, University of Utah, and the Armed Forces Reserve Center reside. The Fort was originally named Camp Douglas, after recently deceased Representative Stephen A. Douglas. Douglas was most famous for being the Democratic Party nominee during the 1860 election against President Abraham Lincoln. Fort Douglas' primary role in its early years was much like camp Floyd, to protect the overland stagecoach and communication routes and the travelers heading west from attacks by the region's indigenous inhabitants. After years of skirmishes between farmers and ranchers, Colonel Conner led the California Volunteers against the Northwestern Shoshone Chief Bear River on Jan 29, 1863. What followed was the Bear River Massacre, or Massacre at Boa Ogoi, in what is currently southwestern Idaho
After the Bear River Massacre, the Fort continued its general status of protecting settler-colonialists moving westward and protecting the transcontinental telegraph line and overland routes as part of the Department of the Platte. One of the main routes this district oversaw protection of was the Oregon Trail. The Department and Camp Douglas' role increased in importance once the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads joined at Promontory Summit, Utah, May 10, 1869, completing the Transcontinental Railroad. During this time, the Regular Army arrived in Utah. In the 1870s the camp would continue to grow. It was also during this period that the buildings that would become the Fort Douglas Military Museum were built in 1874-1875.
The fort was relatively quiet during the following decades, with the primary event being the stationing of the 24th Infantry Unit for a brief two-year period. This unit, also known as the Buffalo Soldiers, was an all-black unit. Their primary use was in the western territories during the Indian Wars, where they received their name from the Plains Indian Tribes due to their bravery and skill in combat, after the revered buffalo. At the end of their time at Fort Douglas, they were recruited to fight in the Spanish-American War, fighting alongside the Rough Riders.
After the 24th Infantry left, the Fort remained an active military post, but with little outstanding events. Fort Douglas was upgraded to a Regimental Headquarters where troops were trained for service elsewhere. In the years leading up to the first World War, the Fort modernized, getting connected to the sewage system in 1897, indoor plumbing in 1903, electric lighting in 1910, and steam heating and telephones in 1911. Additionally, buildings for new services and housing were added. Once the United States entered World War I, the Fort became a German Prisoner of War Camp. The main prisoners kept at the Fort were from the SMS Cormoran, captured off the coast of Guam after it attempted to refuel and take provisions in 1914. The German captain submitted to detention, and once the United States joined the war in 1917, the crew became prisoners of war where they remained until the end of war in 1919.
The interwar years are often called the post’s “Golden Age”. Many buildings were remodeled, officers’ quarters were constructed on the west side of the parade grounds, additional quarters were added, and several recreational facilities, such as the still standing post theater, were built. During these years, the Fort became the base of the 38th “Rock of the Marne” Infantry Regiment from 1922 to 1940. The infantry received its name for its bravery in fighting in the Meuse-Argonne areas.
During World War II, the Fort served as a mobilization and training garrison, as well as again taking on the role of a prisoner of war camp. Starting in 1940, Fort Douglas was comprised of three different bases, the Fort itself, Salt Lake Airbase, and the Wendover Bombing and Gunnery Range. The 7th Bomb Group, which flew into Pearl Harbor the morning it was bombed, had trained and left from Fort Douglas. Additionally, the 96th “Deadeyes” Infantry Division, which were part of the Battle of Okinawa, were stationed at the Fort. Fort Douglas served as the headquarters for the Ninth Service Command as well as a reception and separation center. Growth of the Fort was immense during World War II. In 1936, the building count for the Fort itself was 92, by the end of the war in 1945, the building count was 457.
Once World War II ended, activity at the Fort decreased dramatically after the Ninth Service Command Center returned to its original location in San Francisco, California. Acres of land were transferred to various local and federal agencies around the Salt Lake Valley. In 1945, the Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association received 49 acres, in 1946, several acres were allocated to the building of the Shriner’s Hospital, and the motor pool area was granted to the Utah National Guard. Additionally, several acres were transferred in 1948 to the Veterans Administration for the construction of the Veterans Hospital on Foothill Boulevard. The University of Utah was, and continues to be, the greatest beneficiaries of the land transfer from the military. However, for decades, the base kept part of the Fort active for Army Reserve functions. The 96th Army Reserve Command was the most prominent military presence under Major General Michael B. Kauffman. In addition to this function, Fort Douglas was the site of the Deseret Test Center from 1962 to 1973, with the responsibility of evaluating chemical and biological weapons, though no tests were performed on the base.
In 1975, the post was placed on closure status. Due to the efforts of Maj. Gen. Kauffman, the Fort continued to be active for a few more decades. On October 26, 1991, the Fort officially closed, though the Utah National Guard maintained control of the museum, and the 96th Army Reserve Command kept part of the Fort not deeded to the university in conjunction with the cemetery. The rest of Fort Douglas was repurposed into residential areas for students. The University of Utah Hospital, dorm areas, and the Research Park region were all originally part of Fort Douglas.
Currently, the Army Reserve is in the process of relocating this center to Camp Williams in Bluffdale, Utah. The relocation is expected to be completed by spring 2026, and the historic Fort Douglas property will then be transferred to the University of Utah.