KANSAS
Situated on the vast expanse of the Southern Plains on the banks of the Pawnee River, Fort Larned National Historic Site tells the story of the Indian Wars era, a turbulent chapter of our Nation's conquest of the West. Established in 1859, Fort Larned was one of several military posts protecting the Santa Fe Trail from Plains Indians resisting passage of commercial freighters and others following the great trade route. The Fort also served as an Indian Agency to dispense annuities promised by treaties to Native Americans as compensation for loss of their lands. The National Historic Site offers a visitor center with a modern museum, audiovisual orientation program and bookstore.
DID YOU KNOW
- With most of its nine historic buildings accurately restored and refurnished to the period, Fort Larned survives as the most complete and authentically restored military post of the Indian Wars era on the Santa Fe Trail.
- Fort Larned NHS was authorized by Congress in 1964 and purchased by the National Park Service in 1966.
- The Site encompasses more than 718 acres and has an annual operating budget of $791,000.
- The Site receives approximately 35,000 visitors annually.
- Fort Larned hosts the largest living history program in western Kansas on Memorial Day weekend.
- Every year, more than 250 volunteers donate in excess of 5,000 hours of their time to Fort Larned. Their contributions (as soldiers, officers wives, scouts, teamsters, Plains Indians, buffalo hunters, etc.) make it possible to recreate the scene of a living military post of the Indian War era.
DON'T MISS ATTRACTIONS
- Restored Buildings- See the East Barracks, a combination barracks and hospital, so authentically restored that soldiers of the Indian Wars era would feel at "home." The exteriors and most interior rooms of the commissary, schoolhouse, warehouse, three officers quarters, blacksmith shop, bakery and more have been painstakingly restored to the period.
- History/Nature Trail- The park's History/Nature Trail tells both the human and natural history of Fort Larned, a great way to learn more about both local history and the plains ecosystem.
- Santa Fe Trail Ruts- View the actual imprint of wagons on the Santa Fe Trail and a thriving prairie dog colony at the park's nearby 44-acre detached unit.
- Rucker Ambulance- This rare military vehicle was recently restored by a park volunteer who donated more than 350 hours of craftsmanship to the project. Restoration was financed through grants of $3,500 from the National Park Foundation and $1,000 from the Fort Larned Old Guard, the park friends group.
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE PRIORITIES
- Maintenance of the Site's historic structures is continuous. Projects scheduled for 2004 include replacing roofs and masonry repairs on the West Barracks, New Commissary, South Officers Quarters and Commanding Officers Quarters.
- Stabilization of the Old Commissary and restoration of the North Officers Quarters are scheduled for 2005.
- Prairie restoration, through prescribed fire and other ecologically- based techniques, on 250 acres of grassland surrounding the Fort maintain the appearance of an isolated fort on the plains.
- The General Management Plan calls for a new Visitor Center outside the historic core to remove modern intrusions from the historic landscape. The Fort Larned Old Guard is assisting with planning and support for a visitor center.
- The park sponsors the biennial Santa Fe Trail Rendezvous with the nearby Santa Fe Trail Center and the national Santa Fe Trail Association. Rendezvous is a three-day history seminar and living history event keeping the memory of the Santa Fe Trail alive.
Park volunteer Ron Drummond begins restoration of a rare Rucker design army ambulance, including assessing its existing condition to determine what is needed to restore it to original specifications. [More photos]
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