Fort Douglas in the news
(Select news stories from media sources)
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March 3, 2008
Fort Douglas in the news
From the Deseret Morning News 3 March 2008:
Museum volunteer Arlo Johnson working on the
mural for the Utah War exhibit.
Artist tries to capture look of Camp Floyd
Ft. Douglas Museum featuring an exhibit on the Utah War era
By Steve Fidel
Deseret Morning News
Two glass-plate photographs are all Utah artist Arlo Johnson has for references as he paints a mural of historic Camp Floyd at the Fort Douglas Museum.
The mural will be the welcoming exhibit in the museum's Utah War display, which includes artifacts dating back to the arrival of the United States military 10 years after Mormon pioneers first settled in Utah.
True to the era, photographers documenting Camp Floyd, sometime between 1857 and 1860, took broad views of the camp from the middle of the parade ground. As such, the pictures, and the mural, will show rows of buildings on the far sides of a center field of nothing but dirt.
Recent excavations produced some helpful artifacts, including an adobe brick that rests on a table close to where Johnson is painting, providing a good color match for all of that earth he will be painting.
Besides being the museum's resident artist, Johnson formerly served in the Utah National Guard's 19th Special Forces and 23rd Army Band. He is also a docent at the museum.
Visitors are welcome as the exhibit develops during the next few weeks. Johnson will be working on the mural for several more weeks, mostly on Friday afternoons.
Joining the Utah War exhibit will be an exhibit of horse-soldier artifacts from a Montana collection by Hayes Otoupalik, who spent 50 years building his collection.
Visitors to the museum will also notice an ongoing expansion project that is awaiting $500,000 in funding currently in the governor's budget request with another $800,000 hoped for in a federal funding bill sponsored by Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah.
In addition, the museum plans an expansion of its contemporary military exhibit, which focuses on present-day military action in Afghanistan and Iraq, said research archivist Su Richards. Saddam Hussein's boots, recovered from the hole where he was found hiding, will likely continue to be the most infamous artifact in the contemporary exhibit. The expansion of that exhibit should be finished by Labor Day, Richards said.
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January 21, 2008
Historic flag in need of mendingFort Douglas in the news
From the Deseret Morning News 21 Jan 2008:
Terry O'Hara, registrar of the Fort Douglas Military Museum, inspects the original 24th Infantry Regiment Flag from the Spanish American War.
Fort Douglas regiment carried the banner up
San Juan Hill in 1898
By Larry Weist Deseret Morning News
FORT DOUGLAS — One hundred and 10 years ago next April, the 24th Infantry Regiment — an all-black unit — left Fort Douglas to make history as it charged up Cuba's San Juan Hill with Col. Teddy Roosevelt in the Spanish-American War.
The 24th, one of the regiments of so-called "Buffalo Soldiers," as they were called by American Indians during battles on the frontier, compiled an outstanding record of service from after the Civil War to its inactivation in 1951.
Although the regiment left Salt Lake City permanently in the early 1900s, it still has a presence here as its six-by-eight-foot battle flag — the one that went up San Juan Hill and remained with the regiment in subsequent wars — is at the Fort Douglas Military Museum.
The regimental battle flag, more than a century old and made of wool, has some moth holes in it and is in need of restoration so it can be put on display when the museum opens its $6 million expansion, said retired Col. Robert Voyles, museum director. Restoring the flag will take some time and cost an estimated $25,000 to $35,000, including a special display case to preserve it at the proper temperature and humidity.
Voyles hopes the black community will pitch in and help pay for the preservation. If the flag could be sold it would fetch an estimated $50,000 to $100,000, but its real value to the museum is priceless, he said. The flag originally belong to Maj. Jay Milton Thompson, of the 24th Infantry, and his daughter donated it to Fort Douglas, where it found its way into the museum.
The 24th Infantry came to Fort Douglas Oct. 22, 1896, bringing approximately 600 men, women and children to the city. The 24th's posting to Fort Douglas was a reward for its many years of service on the frontier.
And, some 21 members of the regiment plus nine family members are buried in the fort's cemetery. Although most of the regiment's members were from other states, mostly in the East, several of them asked to be buried with their comrades at the fort, including Edward Lee of Ohio, who, in 1922, was the last soldier buried there.
The flag will need to be restored by experts who will carefully weave wool threads into the holes, strengthening the flag. It is too weak to be properly cleaned until it is restored. The museum plans to display the flag as part of its 24th Infantry display in the expanded space. The museum is planning to raise $2.8 million this year, with $500,000 from the Legislature's capital improvements funds and the rest from private donors.
The other, more famous Buffalo Soldier regiments were the 9th and 10th Cavalry, which also fought on the frontier. The 9th Cavalry served at Fort Duchesne about the same time the 24th was at Fort Douglas. The 9th also served briefly at Fort Douglas. There were numerous all-black regiments formed during the Civil War and disbanded afterward. All regiments raised by the Army at that time were called United States Colored Troops.
Help restore flag
To donate for the flag restoration, send checks to Fort Douglas Military Museum Association, Attn. Flag, 31 Potter St., Salt Lake City, UT 84113. All contributions are tax-deductible.
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