Fort Douglas
Affirmation was born in Salt Lake City, and this will be our fifth conference here (1980, 1987, 1997, 2003, 2009). The view from here looks out over our pioneer heritage and over the challenges of the 21st century and of Affirmation’s changing role in its second thirty years.
Camp Douglas was established on October 26, 1862 as a small military garrison about three miles east of Salt Lake City, Utah, for the purpose of protecting the overland mail route and telegraph lines along what later became known as the Oregon Trail. At the time, there was felt to be an increasing threat of violence caused by the withdrawal of Federal troops from the West for action against the Confederacy in the Civil War. Named after Stephen A. Douglas by Abraham Lincoln, the post served as the headquarters of the District of Utah in the Department of the Pacific.
Military Museum
Between 1866 and 1898, Fort Douglas was part of the Department of the Platte. The Fort's importance grew when the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads joined rails at Promontory Summit, Utah, on May 10, 1869, completing the Transcontinental Railroad.
In 1878, the post was renamed Fort Douglas. During World War I Fort Douglas was used as an internment camp for Germans living in the US and also to house German naval prisoners of war. In 1922, Fort Douglas became the home of the 38th Infantry. The 38th remained at Fort Douglas until August 1940. Fort Douglas then became an Army Air Field and was home to the 7th Bombardment Group (B-17s). Fort Douglas reverted to an Army base after the attack on Pearl Harbor, when fears of a Japanese attack of the U.S. mainland caused the 9th Service Command Headquarters to be moved to Fort Douglas from the Presidio in San Francisco.
After World War II, the Army began a slow divestiture of its lands at Fort Douglas to the University of Utah, which is located directly adjacent to the Fort. However, the Fort maintained busy Reserve functions for several more decades, notably with the 96th ARCOM under the command of Maj. Gen. Michael B. Kauffman, who had spent much of his Army career at the Fort and was instrumental in keeping the Fort alive well past its announced closing in the 1970s.
Post Chapel
The fort was officially closed in 1991 and most of the buildings turned over to the University of Utah. A small section of the original fort is used by the Army Reserve and includes a museum. During the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, much of Fort Douglas was used as part of the Olympic Village for the participating athletes.
(From Wikipedia® and other sources)
