Colorful story: Stained-glass window tells the history of Fort Douglas

"But I also wanted to make a unique contribution to the museum. I think this window will set the stage for the total experience here."

The design of the window highlights four epochs of military history: 1857-61 and the establishment of Camp Floyd; 1862-78, the rise of Camp Douglas; 1878-1991, the permanent Fort Douglas; and 1991-present. Each epoch is represented by two window panels. In the lower left portion of each section, there's an American flag showing the number of stars the flag had at that time; on the lower right side, there's a brief history etched in glass. Small insets highlight historic events of each epoch, some done in stained glass and some as etched reproductions of photographs. The unifying theme for all eight windows is an external view of both the east and west buildings of the museum.

"There are so many interesting little tidbits of history here," says Iker; "we don't want them forgotten." One of the small panels honors the Buffalo Soldiers, who were stationed at Fort Douglas during the Spanish-American War. "When they first came here, there were some who were opposed to it, who thought, as black men, they wouldn't be welcome here. But they turned out to be very popular. They would go to dances; they were good baseball players. And when they went off to Cuba, the whole city turned out to see them off. Then, when they came back two years later, the whole state turned out. Attitudes had changed."

Another panel honors Gen. George C. Marshall, Army chief of staff during World War II and postwar secretary of state. "He authored the Marshall Plan that saved Western Europe," says Iker. "Not many people know that in 1916, Captain Marshall was the adjutant of Fort Douglas and lived with his family on Officers Circle."

It is important to remember what happened at Fort Douglas, says Iker. "All history is important. If we don't learn it, we keep making the same mistakes over and over. I'd like to see more people interested in it. In Utah, the early military and the first pioneers were so connected."

The Fort Douglas Museum was established in 1977 to tell that and other stories of the military in Utah, says Voyles. "It was originally an Army museum, but it has expanded to include all military."

The museum is housed in buildings that were originally the barracks. What Iker particularly loves about the buildings is that they were built by the soldiers out of sandstone quarried in Red Butte Canyon. "The soldiers got an extra 3 cents a day if they excavated the rock, and an extra 13 cents a day if they helped build. That supplemented their regular pay of $13 a month." In those days, that was a lot of money, he says, and the buildings are a historic symbol of times long gone.