It Started with the Mail
Today we have lots of ways to communicate with each other. We use cell phones, text, video chats, or social media, just to name a few. You might even send a letter or card to someone. In the mid-1800's there were only two ways to communicate with people long distance – mail or telegraph. Sending telegraphs was expensive so most people mailed letters. The mail was carried across the Great Plains by wagons. One trail used to carry the mail was the Santa Fe Trail. First You Need a Mail StationTransporting anything by wagon is slow. It took about eight weeks for a wagon to get from Independence, Missouri to Santa Fe, New Mexico on the Santa Fe Trail. The company that carried the mail down the trail had to have stations along the way where drivers could rest and change horses. In the fall of 1859 this company, the Butterfield Overland Stage Company, tried to build a mail station at Pawnee Fork, near where Fort Larned is today. Kiowa and Comanche warriors kept chasing off the men trying to build the station. These Plains Indian tribes didn’t like travelers coming through their land. Travelers on the Santa Fe Trail scared away the animals they hunted, chopped down trees, and dirtied their water supplies. The Army Lends a HandIn October 1859 the U.S. Army sent some soldiers to protect the men building the mail station. The Army stayed after the mail station was built to guard the mail wagons traveling up and down the Santa Fe Trail. The Indians often attacked wagon trains on the trail. The slow moving wagons made an easy target for them. Plus, they could steal horses and mules. Fort Larned had both infantry and cavalry soldiers at the post. Infantry soldiers traveled and fought on foot. Cavalry soldiers rode horses. The infantry soldiers protected the wagons by marching alongside them. Cavalry soldiers on horseback rode up and down the trail to keep an eye on the Indians. ...And Builds a FortAt first there weren't a lot of soldiers at Fort Larned, only about 150. They lived in dugouts and tents the first winter. In the spring they build sod and adobe buildings. The Army had other forts along the trail besides Fort Larned. These forts were close enough to each other to protect most of the trail. They were also a place where Army troops in the area fighting Indians could get supplies and rest. Fort Larned was a busy place for a few years after the Civil War. The Indians were raiding a lot so the soldiers worked hard protecting the travelers on the trail. During this time there were up to 300 soldiers or more at the fort. After the Civil War is when the Army built the sandstone buildings still standing today. In April 1867 a company of cavalry soldiers arrived at Fort Larned. This company had African American men and white officers. These men were the first of some new all black units in the Army. They stayed at the fort until January 1869. These soldiers were eventually nicknamed "Buffalo Soldiers". The Fort's Final DaysWhen the railroad replaced the Santa Fe Trail in 1872, the Army didn’t need troops at Fort Larned anymore. They closed the fort in 1878. In 1884 the government sold the land to some local people who turned it into a ranch. Fortunately for us, the ranch owners did not tear down the buildings. They used them for barns and grain storage instead. They changed the inside of the buildings but not the outside. In 1964 the National Park Service bought the fort and made it a National Historic Site. Over the years they restored the buildings to look like the did during the Army days. |
Last updated: July 24, 2020