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Historic place

Fort Meade

Sheridan Street, Fort Meade, Fort Meade, SD

Soldiers at this frontier cavalry post started standing for "The Star-Spangled Banner" in 1892 — nearly 40 years before Congress made it the national anthem.

📅 1878–present🏛️ Military PostRepurposedBuilt 1878
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The story

Fort Meade was established August 31, 1878, three miles east of Bear Butte, and became headquarters of the rebuilt 7th Cavalry after the 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn — commanded for a time by Col. Samuel D. Sturgis, whose son had died in that battle and for whom the neighboring town is named. Marcus Reno was court-martialed here in 1880 over his conduct at Little Bighorn. In 1892 post commander Col. Caleb H. Carlton ordered the anthem played at every retreat and lobbied to spread the custom Army-wide. The post is credited as the last active horse-cavalry post in U.S. history, mounted until after World War II, and hosted Buffalo Soldiers of the 10th Cavalry. The VA took over in 1945.

Everything that was here

Did you know?

Comanche — the cavalry horse mythologized as the "sole survivor" of Little Bighorn — lived at Fort Meade from 1879 to 1888.
It was the last operating horse-cavalry post in the U.S. Army.
Today it's the Fort Meade VA Medical Center, a National Guard training site, a national cemetery, and the seasonal Old Fort Meade Museum.

Connected places

Sturgis Commercial Block

Sturgis, SD
Samuel D. Sturgis

Explore the full web of connections on the map.

Nearby history

Full Throttle Saloon (original)

12997 SD Highway 34 · 1.6 km away
Billed as the world's largest biker bar and immortalized on truTV, the 27-acre Full Throttle Saloon burned to the ground

Broken Spoke Saloon

905 Lazelle St · 2.9 km away
Dave Iversen built the Broken Spoke on the site of an old lumberyard in 1988, deliberately just off Main Street with a c

Hoel's Indian Motorcycle Shop

Junction Avenue · 3.0 km away
Nine riders raced for a $500 purse behind a small-town Indian Motorcycle shop in 1938 — and accidentally founded the lar

Sturgis Motorcycle Museum & Hall of Fame

999 Main St · 3.0 km away
The rally's official museum is housed in Sturgis's former U.S. Post Office, which served the town's mail for more than 6

Sturgis Commercial Block

1000 Main St · 3.1 km away
Nine cut-stone storefronts raised in 1888-1900 are the last standing witnesses to Sturgis's origins as a lawless boomtow

The Knuckle Saloon & Brewing Co.

931 1st St · 3.3 km away
The Knuckle Saloon occupies an entire downtown block that its own history says once belonged to Col. Samuel D. Sturgis —

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Sourceshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Meade_(South_Dakota)