Full Moon Fort at Fort Phil Kearny

An old fort, such as Fort Phil Kearny, can be ghostly at night, especially under a full moon. Friday, Sept 29, 2023, at the Fort Phil Kearny Full Moon Fort event, was no exception.

Tours were given by the light of the full moon and by lanterns carried by the guides One could almost hear ghostly footsteps of the soldiers, horses stamping on the picket line, and the voices of the soldiers in the still night. Even wolves could be heard howling in the distance.

One guide was a Lieutenant who wondered,

He called out to the sentry at the gate, who called back, “advance and be recognized.” The Lieutenant told the group about the sentries’ duties at the fort.

After entering the fort, the first station was a four man tent, which the soldiers lived in at the fort, and a demonstration of loading and firing the rifle, and the soldier explained that the Indians could shoot arrows much faster than the soldier could load the old gun.

Another station was the laundress at the hospital tent, who talked about how she came with her husband to the fort, and became a laundress to bring in extra money. She said a lot of her duties including washing the bloody dressing from the wounded, and about some of the diseases on the frontier, including dysentery. While she was talking, the medics in the hospital tent were removing a soldiers arm.

Following the guide with the lantern, the group halted at a cannon, and an artilleryman, Ray, explained how he came to be at the Fort.

After the cannon station, the group heard Mrs. Frances Grummond, second wife of George Grummond, who died at the Fetterman Fight. She talked about her husband.

After about three months of being married, she said that Grummond get himself killed and left her, his pregnant 21-year-old wife at Fort Phil Kearny, alone and thousands of miles from home. Colonel Carrington and his wife, Margaret, helped her get back home to Tennessee to be with her family.

But, she didn’t want to leave George alone in the frontier cemetery. “How could I leave him here alone?” She asked. She took his remains with her to Tennessee and had him buried in the family cemetery. She had him moved again after she found that his first wife had applied for his widow’s pension before Frances applied for it. Grummond did get a pension, and she then married Henry Carrington after the death of his wife Margaret.

She added that the George’s coffin was built inside her house at the Fort, and she never wanted to go back into the house, living with the Carrington’s until she left Fort Phil Kearny.

The last stop on the tour was with Mountain Man Jim Bridger, who talked about John ‘Portugee’ Phillips’ famous ride from Fort Phil Kearny to Fort Laramie after the Fetterman fight. He said that Phillips and another man, Dan Dixon, rode from the fort to Horseshoe Station, near present-day Glendo, Wyo, the nearest station with a telegraph. There, they telegraphed For Laramie to send help to the defenders of Fort Phil Kearny.

Bridger said

The fort would like to thank the many people who turned out and the volunteers who helped with the event, including one small lady who helped out with at the “Will Call” table inside the fort. Several people commented on the warm, dry weather and the clear skies for the event.

This year’s “Full Moon Fort” drew over 100 people, split into groups of approximately 25 people, on Friday the 29. There will be a rerun on Saturday night as well. Tours fill up quickly, but anyone interested can call the fort at 307-684-7629 to see if there are any openings.

Full Moon Fort is an annual event at Fort Phil Kearny, held each fall, usually around Halloween.