(the sounds of the stable in its heyday: the era of the dragoons. Whinnying… stomping hooves… )
These stables were home for horses of the dragoons
soldiers sent here to police what was to be a “permanent Indian territory.”
as eastern tribes were forced to lands west of the Mississippi.
Sold-Dragoon Stables-$200.00
(music playing)
Indian Removal was based on freeing up more land for a growing nation.
“It will separate the Indians from immediate contact with settlements of whites… enable
them to cast off their savage habits.”
But the dreams of some posed dilemmas for others
“We are denationalized. We are deprived of membership in the human family!
We have neither land nor home, nor resting place that can be called our own.
(drums playing, rattles shaking)
When Indians arrived in the area, they were promised protection
a line of forts, including Fort Scott created a buffer between Indian territory and white settlements
“Small military posts, judiciously distributed upon the boundary between the States and the
Indian tribes will be of essential service in preventing causes of quarrel and bloodshed.
(hawk screaming, drumbeats)
“I respectively recommend… the establishment of a post…
perhaps near where the Military road crosses the Marmiton.”
Captain Benjamin Moore of the First Dragoons was dispatched to select a site for this post
near the Missouri border. "Uh, we're not too far from the Marmaton River right here"
"What about water?" (unintelligible) "Good water"
He would become the first commander of Fort Scott.
“We met with success, finding there everything requisite for the establishment of a military post…”
(Fife music)
“We are going to make it the crack post of the frontier.”
200... do I hear 225, 225, 225...Dragoon barracks
(echoing sounds from the past of soldiers’ voices)
Sold. Dragoon barracks.$200.00
(Light applause of auction from the crowd )
The mission of the soldiers who lived in these barracks would evolve,
along with the dreams of many – but not all - people.
“…the right of our manifest destiny to overspread and to possess the whole of the
continent which Providence has given us …”
"We are a restless people, prune to encroachment,
it is time for us to stop in the career of acquisition and conquest"
“We were told that they wished merely to pass through our country. . . to seek
gold in the far west . . . His presence here is . . . an insult to the spirits of our ancestors.”
. The advancing Americans would breach the permanent
Indian frontier following trails across Indian lands and Mexican territory.
Soldiers from Fort Scott often traveled great distances to protect people and goods along the trails.
“Every man is in fine spirits, and even the horses seem to be delighted at their prospect
of having many a fine roll and unconstrained gambol on the prairies”
In 1845, tensions between the United States and Mexico intensified when we annexed Texas
despite Mexico’s claim on its territory.
War would break out between the two countries. Infantry and dragoons from Fort Scott were
involved in every major campaign from Mexico City to California,
many giving their lives in battle, among them was Captain Benjamin Moore.
The conquest of Mexico was a turning point
in U.S. history. Newly acquired land ended the idea of a permanent Indian territory
along with ending Fort Scott’s usefulness.