USA > Kansas > Kansas; a cyclopedia of state history, embracing events, institutions, industries, counties, cities, towns, prominent persons, etc. with a supplementary volume devoted to selected personal history and reminiscence, Voilume I > Part 80
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Fort Insley, the largest of three blockhouses erected at Fort Scott in the spring of 1861, under the supervision of Capt. William Holcke, was located on the point of the mound, where the Plaza school build- ing was afterward erected. It was garrisoned by a detachment of the Sixth Kansas, and was used for storing ammunition. (See Fort Henning.)
Fort Jewell, also called Camp Jewell, was erected in the latter part of May, 1870, on the site of Jewell City. On May 13, 1870, a meeting of the settlers in that locality was held "to discuss means of defense against the Cheyennes," who were then on the war path. At this meet- ing W. D. Street proposed the erection of a fort, which suggestion was adopted, and a company called the "Buffalo Militia" was immediately organized to carry it out. Street was chosen captain of the company, and Cutler says: "At once selecting a spot fifty yards square, they plowed around it, laid a wall four feet thick and seven feet high, and in two days 'Fort Jewell' was completed." The fort was garrisoned by Street's company until some time in June, when it was occupied by a detachment of the Third United States mounted artillery. No attack was ever made upon the post, but it is quite probable that the prompt action of the settlers in erecting this defense had a tendency to prevent any demonstration on the part of the savages in that sec- tion. After the Indians had been pacified, the fort was allowed to fall into decay. (See also Jewell county.)
Fort Kanses .- Sometime in the first half of the 18th century the French established a trading post at the Kansa village, a little below Isle au Vache, or Cow island, in what is now Atchison county, and this was probably the first post in Kansas where white men lived as permanent settlers. Bougainville, writing of the French posts, in 1757, said: "In ascending this stream (the Missouri) we meet the village of the Kanses. We have there a garrison with a commandant, appointed, as is the case with Pimiteoui and Fort Chartres, by New Orleans. This post produces 100 bundles of furs."
When it is known that a "bundle" of furs was equal to 100 otter, wolf or badger skins, or 500 mink or muskrat skins, it will be seen that the trade at this old post was considerable. Like all the establish- ments engaged in the fur trade of that period, it was probably in the hands of some licensed trader, a favorite of the governor-general of Canada. The ruins of this old fort were still to be seen at the begin- ning of the 19th century. Lewis and Clark's journal for July 2. 1804, shows this entry :
"Opposite our camp is a valley, in which was situated an old village of the Kansas, between two high points of land, on the bank of the river. About a mile in the rear of the village was a small fort, built by the French on an elevation. There are now no traces of the village, but the situation of the fort may be recognized by some remnants of chimneys, and the general outlines of the fortification, as well as by the fine spring which supplied it with water. The party who were
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stationed here were probably cut off by Indians, as there are no accounts of them." (Coues' Edition, p. 37.)
Fort Lane .- An old map of Douglas county, drawn under the direc- tion of the surveyor-general of the territory and published in 1857, shows "Fort Lane" a short distance west of the city of Lawrence, and about half a mile north of the California road. The following descrip- tion of the fort is taken from an address delivered by Brinton W. Woodward before the Kansas Historical Society on Jan. 18, 1898, on "The Invasion of the 2,700, Sept. 14, 1856:"
"The fort on Mount Oread had been located and built, under the direction of Lane, at the point of the bluff coming north, where it drops down to the rather lower level or ridge on which Gov. Robinson's house had stood, and where the first university building (since called North College) was afterward placed. Its site has scarcely even yet been wholly obliterated by grading, and it was directly west (south) of where Mr. Frank A. Bailey's residence now stands. It occupied a sightly and commanding position ; was of irregular outline, following the curve or point of the bluff on two sides, with a straight chord subtending on the south. It was laid up as a loose, dry wall from the rough stone gathered about, to the height of from three to four feet, thus making a show of outline fairly exhibited to the east."
When Lawrence was threatened on Sept. 14, 1856, the date men- tioned in Mr. Woodward's address, Fort Lane was manned by a com- pany of 40 men, of whom Mr. Woodward was one, hence the above description is from an eye witness.
Fort Larned .- In the fall of 1859 Capt. George H. Steuart, command- ing Company K, First United States cavalry, was sent out with his company to establish a mail escort station on the line of the Santa Fe trail. On Oct. 22 he selected a site on the south bank of Pawnee Fork, 8 miles from the mouth, and his camp was known as "Camp on Pawnee Fork" until Feb. 1, 1860, when it was named "Camp Alert." On May 29, 1860, pursuant to General Order No. 14, the post was named . Fort Larned, in honor of Col. B. F. Larned, at that time paymaster- general of the United States army. The reservation included a tract of land four miles square, but the extent was not officially declared until the issuing of General Order No. 22, from the headquarters of the Department of Missouri, dated Nov. 25, 1867. The first buildings were of adobe, but in 1867, when the reservation was officially estab- lished, sandstone buildings were erected. In the early part of 1870 frame additions to the subalterns' quarters were built, and further im- provements were made in 1872, when the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad was completed to the fort. The agency for the Arapahoe and Cheyenne Indians was maintained at Fort Larned for several years, but it was discontinued in 1868. Late in the '7os it became apparent that the necessity for a military post at this place no longer existed, and in Jan., 1880, Senator Plumb, from the committee on military affairs, recommended the passage of a bill to provide for the sale of the reserva-
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tion to actual settlers. The bill did not pass at that time, but by the act of Congress, approved Aug. 4, 1882, the secretary of war was directed "to relinquish and turn over to the department of the interior, to the public domain, the Fort Larned reservation, to be sold to actual settlers at the appraised price, not more than a quarter-section to any one purchaser."
Fort Leavenworth .- On March 7, 1827, Maj .- Gen. Brown ordered Col. Henry Leavenworth, of the Third United States infantry, to take four companies of his regiment and ascend the Missouri, "and when he reaches a point on the left bank near the mouth of the Little Platte river, and within a range of 20 miles above its confluence, he will select such a position as, in his judgment, is best calculated for the site of a permanent cantonment. The spot being chosen, he will construct, with the troops of his command, comfortable though temporary quar- ters, sufficient for the accommodation of four companies."
This order marks the beginning of one of the best known and most important military posts in the country. At the time the order was received by Col. Leavenworth he was on duty at Jefferson barracks at St. Louis. Taking four companies, commanded by Capt. Belknap and Lieuts. Wheeler, Hunt and Babbitt-204 men in all-he started on his mission. On May 8 he reported that there was no suitable site for a cantonment on the left bank of the river, and recommended a bluff on the opposite side, "about 20 miles above the mouth of the Platte." His recommendation was approved on Sept. 29, 1827, and on Nov. 8 the post was named Cantonment Leavenworth, in honor of its founder.
Temporary quarters were constructed, in accordance with Gen. Brown's order, but no reservation for the post was established until 1838, when President Van Buren declared as such a large tract of tim- bered land on the east side of the Missouri. An entry in the records of the adjutant-general's office, under date of June 21, 1838, says: "The land held as reserved, extends from six to seven miles along the Mis- souri river, and varies from one to two miles wide, containing about 6,840 acres." This land had been claimed by the Delaware Indians until the survey of 1830. By the survey of 1839 it became a part of the military reservation. In 1854 the secretary of war ordered a new sur- vey, and the boundaries of the reservation then established were approved by President Pierce. In 1872 the United States attorney- general ruled that the land north of the post had never belonged to the Delawares, but became the property of Kansas when the state was admitted to the Union, and the state legislature, by the act of Feb. 25, 1875, ceded to the United States jurisdiction over that portion of the reservation.
On July 20, 1868, Congress authorized the sale of 20 acres of the reservation to the Leavenworth Coal company. At the same session right of way was granted to two railroad companies and a free public highway. By the joint resolution passed by Congress on Feb. 9, 1871, the reservation was further reduced in size by the sale of 128.82 acres
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to the Kansas Agricultural and Mechanical Association for a fair ground, the value of the land to be determined by a committee of army officers. On June 6, 1888, a tract of nearly 10 acres was sold to the Leaven- worth City and Fort Leavenworth Water company-the coal rights being reserved by the government-and the following March the water company was granted the privilege of leasing ground on the reserva- tion for a reservoir. The following description of the fort is taken from Hazelrigg's History of Kansas, published in 1895:
"The reservation contains 5,9041/2 acres on the west side and 936 acres on the east side of the Missouri river. The reservation is crossed by three railroads. An iron-truss three span bridge crosses the Mis- souri. A wide military road leads through the reserve to the post, which is entered from the south through a handsome archway. The parade ground is 517 by 514 feet, is graded down on the west side and thrown up in the center. North of this beautiful ground is a row of officers' headquarters, some of them modern and new, others as old as 1828, with vines creeping all over them. On the east side of the parade ground are the quarters of the field officers; neat home-like houses, with all comforts and conveniences. Between these and the brick pave- ment that edges the carriage way around three sides of the ground is a beautiful lawn. The barracks are frame and face the east. The post headquarters is an L-shaped, one-story brick building. It con- tains rooms for the commanding officer, the adjutant and the sergeant- major. A large room in this building is the dread court-martial room."
Since the above was written the government has made liberal appro- priations for additional improvements. About the beginning of the present century, when cavalry and artillery quarters were provided, contracts amounting to over $350,000 were let for the construction of a riding school, cavalry stables, a new parade ground, barracks, quar- ters, stables and gun sheds for a battery of light artillery, and a new headquarters building. In 1900 an appropriation of $60,000 was made by Congress for a modern military hospital, and in 1904 an addition to the hospital was ordered at a cost of $30,000. Altogether, over $2,000,000 have been expended on the post, and with the completion of improvements under contemplation it will be probably the greatest military establishment in the world. The garrison in 1909 consisted of one regiment of infantry, five troops of cavalry, four companies of engineers and a battery of light artillery-a total of 3,078 officers and men.
The importance of Fort Leavenworth as a military post dates almost from its establishment. For years before Kansas was organized as a territory steamboats touched at the fort, which was a depot for mili- tary supplies for the entire department. A postoffice was established there on May 29, 1828, with Philip G. Rand as postmaster. During the war with Mexico Fort Leavenworth was a gathering point for soldiers and a shipping point for military stores bound for the front.
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In 1846 Gen. Stephen Kearney stopped at the fort for some time while on his way to Santa Fe; Gen. Joseph Lane's Oregon expedition started from there in 1848; Capt. Stansbury's expedition to Salt Lake in 1840 rested for awhile at the fort, and Gen. John C. Fremont made his final preparations there before setting out on his exploring expeditions which gave him the sobriquet of the "Pathfinder." Upon the discovery of gold in California Fort Leavenworth became the outfitting point for a number of overland parties bound for the Pacific coast; the fort was the rendezvous for the surveying parties of the proposed Central Pacific railroad in 1853, and in 1859 a United States arsenal was located on the reservation.
Among the officers stationed at the fort in the early days were sev- eral who achieved distinction in military circles. Capt. Belknap, who accompanied Col. Leavenworth to locate the fort, was the father of W. W. Belknap, who was secretary of war in President Grant's cabinet, Lieut. Henry I. Hunt was chief of artillery in the Army of the Potomac in the Civil war. C. A. Finley was surgeon-general of the United States army during the first year of the Civil war. Col. E. V. Sum- ner and Col. George Sykes both rose to the rank of major-general. Albert S. Johnston, one time commandment at Fort Leavenworth, was killed at the battle of Shiloh while in command of the Confederate army, and Braxton Bragg also became a prominent Confederate officer.
Fort Leavenworth is located 3 miles north of the city of Leaven- worth, with which it is connected by a line of electric railway, right of way of which was granted by Congress to the 'Leavenworth Rapid Transit Railway company on Sept. 10, 1888. (See also Army Service School and U. S. Penitentiary.)
Fort Leavenworth, a town of Leavenworth county, the oldest per- manent white settlement in Kansas, is located on the Missouri river about 3 miles north of the city of Leavenworth. When Col. Leaven- worth established a military post here in 1827, a number of settlers soon located around the fort, and although only squatters on the gov- ernment land, they formed the first white settlement in what is now Kansas. With the passing years the fort has grown in importance and the population of the town has increased in proportion. Today it is a progressive and well established community with a money order postoffice, telegraph and express facilities and other business enter- prises, and in 1910 had a population of 2,000.
Fort Lincoln .- Goodlander, in his "Memoirs and Recollections of the Early Days of Fort Scott," says: "In the summer of 1861 Jim Lane had built a fort on the north side of the Osage river, and named it Fort Lincoln. It was built on low bottom land that was no more a fit place for a fort than where Knapp's park is now located. This fort con- sisted of a stockade and a large blockhouse. In later years this stockade and blockhouse were moved to Fort Scott and located about the junc- tion of 'Lowman and First streets."
Fort Lincoln was about 12 miles northwest of the city of Fort Scott,
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and a few miles west of the present town of Fulton. According to Wilder, it was fortified by Lane on Aug. 17, 1861. After the battle of Drywood, on Sept. 2, Lane, believing that the Confederates would attack Fort Scott the next day, ordered the town abandoned, the citi- zens and troops there to fall back to Fort Lincoln. The fort was gar- risoned by detachments of the troops belonging to Lane's command until Jan., 1864, when it was abandoned.
Fort Lyon .- In 1826 the Bent brothers, fur traders, built a stockade on the Arkansas river, above where the city of Pueblo, Col., now stands, but finding this location out of the line of trade between the United States and Taos, they removed down the river in 1829 to a point about half-way between the present towns of Las Animas and La Junta. There they erected "Bent's Fort," also called "Fort Wil- liam," for William Bent. The fort was 100 by 150 feet, the walls of adobe being 6 feet thick at the base and 17 feet high. The new location brought the brothers in touch with the trade of Santa Fe, and the fort continued to be occupied by them until 1852, when it was destroyed by Col. William Bent. In 1853 a new fort was built on the same side of the Arkansas, near "Big Timbers," and this was occupied by the Bents as a trading post until 1859, when it was leased to the United States government. In the spring of 1860 the name was changed to Fort Wise, for Gov. Wise of Virginia, but on June 25. 1862, it was named Fort Lyon, in honor of Gen. Nathaniel Lyon, who was killed at the battle of Wilson's creek, Mo., Aug. 10, 1861. In the summer of 1866 the river undermined the fort, and on June 9, 1867, the new Fort Lyon was established on the north bank of the Arkansas, 21/2 miles below the Purgatory or Las Animas river. This post was in the Territory of Kansas until the passage of the act of admission in 1861, fixing the western boundary of the state as it is at the present time. By an act of Congress, approved Oct. 1, 1890, the Fort Lyon reserva- tion was opened to entry under the homestead laws.
Fort Mackay, or Camp Mackay, was established on Aug. 8. 1850, and was named after Col. A. Mackay of the United States quartermaster's department. Subsequently the name was changed to Fort Atkinson (q. v.).
Fort Mann .- Just when and by whom this old fort was founded is largely a matter of conjecture. It is supposed to have been estab- lished about 1845, as a part of Gilpin's battalion was quartered there in 1847-48. R. M. Wright, in an address before the Kansas Historical Society on Jan. 15, 1901, said : "At this side of Point of Rocks, 8 miles west of Dodge City, used to be the remains of an old adobe fort. Some called it fort Mann, others Fort Atkinson." Mr. Wright said further : "There was some inquiry made from Washington about Fort Mann, about thirty years ago, and I remember going with an escort, and, on the sloping hillside north of the fort, finding three or four graves. Of these, one was that of an officer and the others of enlisted men; also two lime-kilns in excellent condition and a well defined road leading
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to Sawlog. In fact the road was as large as the Santa Fe trail, show- ing that they must have hauled considerable wood over it. This leads me to believe that the fort had been occupied by a large garrison."
Mr. Wright's address was delivered in 1901. The inquiries from Washington he refers to must therefore have been made early in the '70s. If Fort Atkinson (q. v.), which was abandoned in 1854, occupied the same site as old Fort Mann, the ruins of the adobe fort mentioned by him may have been those of Fort Atkinson. Marcy's book, "The Prairie Traveler," published by authority of the United States war department in 1859, says Fort Mann was situated near the Arkansas river, on the route from Fort Leavenworth to Santa Fe, about 359 miles from Fort Leavenworth and 423 miles from Santa Fe.
Fort Orleans, established by Bourgmont about 1723. was the first military post ever built on the Missouri river, though its exact location is largely a matter of speculation. Du Pratz says: "There was a French post for some time on an island a few leagues in length over against the Missouris. The French settled in this fort at the east point [of the island] and called it Fort Orleans." This statement appears to have been accepted without question by some later writers, notably Chittenden, in his "American Fur Trade," and Prentis, in his "History of Kansas." Chittenden says: "The actual location was about 5 miles below the mouth of Grand river, opposite the old village of the Mis- souris," and Prentis locates the island "near the mouth of the Osage."
Thwaites' edition of the Lewis and Clark Journals says: "The exact site of Fort Orleans is not definitely known, and there are diverse opinions regarding it." Hon. Walter B. Douglas, of St. Louis, thinks that the fort was "on the north bank of the Missouri, above the mouth of Wakenda creek, in what is now Carroll county, Mo., and 15 or 20 miles above the town of Brunswick." This would place the fort nearly opposite Malta Bend, where Coues locates it. But, wherever it may liave been, authorities generally agree that it was erected for a trad- ing post, and to guard against a Spanish invasion. Chittenden says : "There is a tradition that when Bourgmont left the fort a year or two later to go down to New Orleans, the Indians attacked it and mas- sacred every inmate." (See Bourgmont's Expedition.)
Fort Riley .- Authorities do not agree as to the exact date when Fort Riley was founded, though it was some time in the year 1852. A circular issued by the United States surgeon-general's office in 1875 says it "was established in the spring of 1852, and was at first known as Camp Center, it being very near the geographical center of the United States." Percival G. Love, who was first sergeant of Troop B, First dragoons, at the time, says it was established late in the fall of 1852, and this statement is borne out by the fact that on July 31, 1852, Col. T. T. Fauntleroy, who had been commanding officer at Fort Leavenworth, wrote to Gen. Jesup, the quartermaster-general of the United States army, recommending the establishment of a military post somewhere near the junction of the Republican and Smoky Hill rivers.
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Col. Fauntleroy's suggestion found favor with the war department, and Maj. E. A. Ogden was charged with the duty. of selecting the site for such a post. Accepting Sergt. Lowe's statement, which appears to be the logical one, Maj. R. H. Chilton, with Troop B, First dragoons, escorted Maj. Ogden from Fort Leavenworth to the junction of the two rivers, where "Camp Center" was established as stated in the
TWO VIEWS OF FORT RILEY.
surgeon-general's circular. On May 17, 1853, the name was changed to "Fort Riley," in honor of Gen. Bennett C. Riley of the United States army, who guarded the Santa Fe trail and fought in the war with Mexico.
Temporary buildings were erected during the years 1853 and 1854. and in Dec., 1854, Congress made an appropriation for quarters and stables for five troops of cavalry, the buildings to be built of stone taken from the quarries in the vicinity. The post was built around a paral- lelogram 553 by 606 feet. The barracks for enlisted men consisted of six two-story stone buildings, each 40 by 88 feet with accommodations for one company. The officers' quarters consisted of six two-story build- ings, each 40 by 60 feet. One of these buildings was for the command- ing officer, and the other five each contained two sets of quarters. All the buildings were provided with broad piazzas. As the post grew
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in importance other buildings were erected, including a stone hospital, an ordnance building 18 by 117 feet, five stables each 39 by 256 feet and containing over 100 stalls, a brick magazine 16 feet square, with stone foundation, and a two-story guard-house 20 by 45 feet.
The reservation as at first established included a large tract of land along the left bank of the Kansas and Republican rivers, and extended across the latter to the Smoky Hill. But on March 2, 1867, Congress reduced the size of the reservation by releasing that portion lying between the Republican and Smoky Hill rivers, which was granted to the State of Kansas to aid in the construction of a bridge over the Republican river on the highway leading to the fort, with the under- standing that the state was to keep the bridge in good repair and the United States was to have the free use of it for all time to come. Be- fore the construction of this bridge L. B. Perry operated for several years a ferry between the fort and what was known as "Whisky Point."
Gen. P. H. Sheridan, who was appointed general-in-chief of the United States army in 1883, recommended the enlargement of the post, and in 1886 the Kansas legislature adopted a resolution requesting the senators and representatives in Congress from that state to use their power and influence to secure an appropriation to carry out the ideas of the commanding general. Senators Plumb and Ingalls and Repre- sentative John A. Anderson, who represented the district in which Fort Riley is located, were especially active in behalf of the appropria- tion. The result of the combined efforts of the friends of the post was that in 1887 an appropriation of $200,000 was made by Congress for the purpose of establishing "a permanent school of instruction for drill and practice for the cavalry and light artillery service of the army of the United States, and which shall be the depot to which all recruits for such service shall be sent; and for the purpose of construction of such quarters, barracks and stables as may be required to carry into effect the purposes of this act."
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