The initial location of the post was established by Major Edward Banker Willis and Captain Nathaniel J. Pishon on December 23, 1863.

He served as a brigadier general in the American Civil War, and was mortally wounded on May 7, 1863, at the Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia.

Whipple between 1853 and 1854 was to survey a transcontinental railroad route along the 35th parallel north from Fort Smith, Arkansas to Los Angeles, California.

Along the expedition's route, Whipple spotted the fields of gamma grass in the Del Rio Springs area and called the region "Val de China".

In mid-May 1864, Major Willis under instructions from Colonel Nelson H. Davis, selected and implemented the relocation of the fort twenty-one miles south, near a miner's tent settlement on the east bank of Granite Creek.

Its placement was on higher ground, had better access to lumber, and the military could better protect the miners and pioneers in the Bradshaw Mountains area.

In late May, Prescott (approximately 1½ miles west of the fort) was designated as the permanent capital of the Arizona Territory.

The town's name was suggested by then Secretary Richard Cunningham McCormick of the Arizona Territory, whom had read Hickling's books.

In September 1864, they met in Prescott and adopted the Howell Code, which was the first set of statutory laws to govern the territory.

Fort Whipple served as a tactical base for detachments of several regiments involved in the American Indian Wars between 1864 and 1886.

From May 1885 to July 1886, Fort Whipple was home to Colonel Benjamin Grierson and Troop B of the 10th Cavalry Regiment (United States), also known as Buffalo Soldiers.

In April 1898 when the United States declared war on Spain, the U.S. Army reopened Whipple Barracks as a point of muster for Arizona volunteers.

[4] In 1920 the property was loaned to the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) and operated under a permit from the War Department.

The museum is currently open on Fridays only from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.. Plans to add additional days will be based on demand and volunteer staffing.

Also pictured are the historic buildings that were built between 1903 and 1908: Days Past articles, a collaborative project of the Sharlot Hall Museum and the Prescott Corral of Westerners International #PrescottAZHistory Stories