Audio
IMAGES and TEXT: Life at a Frontier Outpost
Transcript
IMAGE 1 of 3: Officers’ Row DESCRIPTION: Black and white photograph showing all four Officers' Quarters. The white buildings with shingled roofs stand in a row to the left along a dirt road. On the right side of the road is a wooden fence surrounding an open field, what once was the parade grounds. The buildings are two and a half stories tall with a porch that runs along the second floor. The porch has a white fence railing and tall white wooden columns that support the gabled roof over the porch. Broad exterior staircases rise to the porch on either end of the building and a white picket fence is present between the staircases on the first level. Trees line the path along the fenced-in grounds. CAPTION: Officers’ Row 1873 CREDIT: NPS IMAGE 2 of 3: Post Hospital DESCRIPTION: Black and white photograph of a large two-story white building with a porch that wraps around the entire building. Stone columns line the building, supporting the porch overhead, which has wooden columns supporting the roof slanting down in all four directions of the rectangular building. Two tall chimneys rise up on each side of the building. There is an entrance on the second floor with two windows on either side. Standing in the foreground are seven men, posing in front of a freshly plowed garden. In the distance, stands an octagon building with a domed roof, the Powder Magazine, with the Officer Quarters beyond in the distance. CAPTION: Post Hospital during the Civil War CREDIT: NPS IMAGE 3 of 3: Drawing of Artillery Piece and Crew: DESCRIPTION: Black and white line drawing of a cannon and its five-man crew. The cannon is facing left. The crew are standing at attention in their various positions around the cannon. A team of six horses and the wheeled ammunition chest are some distance away behind the cannon. CREDIT: NPS RELATED TEXT: Soldier life at Fort Scott in the 1840s was one of boredom and monotony. Outside contacts were few and came mostly from Indians, travelers on the military road, and missionaries and traders on Indian lands. Social contacts were confined mostly to the post. Daily activities ranged from guard and fatigue duties to roll calls and drills. Periodic expeditions to patrol trails, escort wagon trains, and meet with Indians alleviated the routine. The soldiers lived in tents and log huts until permanent quarters were completed. Food was shipped by wagon from Fort Leavenworth, over 100 miles away, and consisted mostly of salt pork, salt beef, rice, and beans. Fresh vegetables from fort gardens supplemented this. Items not supplied by the military could be purchased from the post sutler. While illness and injury were constant threats to Fort Scott’s soldiers, combat was not. Nobody was killed in battle while stationed here. Work was rigorous during the years of construction, but once the post was built little was demanded of the garrison except general maintenance. All in all, Fort Scott had relatively good food and comfortable quarters, and the health of the soldiers was good.
Description
An audio description of the Life at a Frontier Outpost segment of Fort Scott's Unigrid brochure.
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