by Louwane Vansoolen (Author), Fort Douglas Military Museum (Author)
On October 26, 1862, Col. Edward P. Connor and the 3rd California Volunteers set up Camp Douglas for the purpose of protecting the overland mail and telegraph routes between Nevada and Wyoming. This began a long history of a U.S. military presence in the Salt Lake Valley Mormon community. Although the camp closed on October 26, 1991, the U.S. military still has a presence today on the east bench of Salt Lake City known as Fort Douglas. The base as it was during its heyday of the 38th Infantry is gone, but the parade ground and Gothic sandstone homes of Officers Circle, shaded by trees planted long ago, still remain at Fort Douglas. The horses have disappeared and the "old soldiers have faded away," but the stable and red-brick barracks also remain. A few old-timers still enjoy a stroll around the parade ground, listening for the canyon breeze ruffling through the trees that echo faintly the calls of yesteryear.