Wooden keg, ht. 22, end dia. 16.5 in., composed of nine staves secured by four wooden bands. Stenciling to lid reads, "U.S. / Lieut. R.W. Hoyt / A. A. C. S. / Fort Bennett / D.T."Fort Bennett, Daktoa Territory was established in 1870 during the Indian wars. The fort was located on the Missouri River above Fort Pierre, next to the Cheyenne River Agency. The Agency was set up for the Miniconjou, Two Kettle, and Sans Arc Tribes and had a population as high as 7,000 at its peak. The fort was abandoned in 1891 and later flooded by the Missouri River.  A native of Milo, NY, Ralph Wilson Hoyt (1849-1920) graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1872. He was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant with the 11th Infantry on June 14 and headed west for frontier duty in Texas. From September 4, 1876 through February 10, 1878, Hoyt was stationed at the Cheyenne River Agency in Dakota Territory and notably was engaged in the capture of a band of Sioux on February 25, 1877. Promoted to the rank of 1st lieutenant in the summer of 1879, Hoyt served as Regimental Quartermaster at three different locations in the Dakota Territory through the summer of 1887, when he returned to New York. From there, Hoyt commanded companies in Arizona, Florida, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Nebraska, Washington, Wyoming, and the Philippines, and he was honored three times with service medals for his gallantry in the Indian Wars, the Spanish-American War and the Philippine Insurrection. He had attained the rank of brigadier general by 1913, when he retired by operation of law.Â