Fort
Brooks (1864) - In 1864,
Indians were regularly
attacking Cloud County,
Kansas and soon the the locals
organized the 17th Kansas State Militia with Colonel J.M.
Scholley leading the group. When the appearance of
Indians
forced many homesteaders to flee their land in August, 1864,
the militia determined to build a fort. Situated on Ensign G.D.
Brooks land, the post was named for the soldier. A blockhouse
was built, the militia began to patrol the area, and many
homesteaders returned to their claims. The temporary fortress
was located in northeastern Cloud County on the left bank of
the Republican River near the
present-day town of Clyde,
Kansas.
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Cloud County,
Kansas, 1887, L.H. Everts & Co.
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 Fort Cavagnial (or Cavagnal)
(1744-1764) - Not a military post, this fortress was one
of many that was an early trappers and traders post.
Established before the
Louisiana Purchase, it was built by
French trader, Joseph Deruisseau, who, on August 8, 1744, was
granted a monopoly to trade with the
Indians
along the
Missouri and Kansas Rivers. The fort was named for Louisiana
Governor Pierre François de Rigaud, Marquis de
Vaudreuil-Cavagnal and was the most western fort on the
Missouri River at the time.
The
fortress was small but substantial, including log buildings covered with
mud such as a commandant's house, guardhouse, powder house, trader's
house, and a building to house employees. It was surrounded by a stockade
and bastions at each corner. With plans to extend trade all the way to
Santa Fe,
New Mexico, the post thrived for several years until the advent
of the French and Indian War, which seriously affected the Indian trade.
However, the site continued to be utilized until the fort was abandoned by
France after Louisiana Territory was ceded to Spain in the treaties
concluding the French and Indian war.
The
exact location of the post is not known, but, it was thought to have been on the bluffs above
the confluence of Salt Creek and the Missouri River just north of modern
day
Fort
Leavenworth,
Kansas. The fort was still standing when
Lewis and Clark reported on the site in 1804.
Fort Clifton
(1862-1863) - The settlement of Clifton was laid out in 1859 and named
for the surveyor. The settlement was deluged with the threat of
Indian attacks and in 1862, Fort Clifton was built about three miles west
of the original townsite. By the following year, the fort was abandoned.
Later the settlement of Clifton was moved in 1870, now sitting in both
Washington and Clay Counties. The exact location of Fort Clifton has since
been lost, but is thought to have been near Fort Brooks.
Fort Dodge
(1865-1885) - See full article
HERE!
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Fort Downer (1867-68)
– Situated on the Smoky Hill
route to the
Colorado gold fields, the location was
first utilized as Downer’s Station, a Butterfield stage stop
established in 1865. The post was named for James P. Downer, a
Civil War veteran and a member of the party that originally surveyed the Smoky Hill Trail. In 1866,
Indians massacred many of the area
residents and the following year, in May, 1867, the location was
fortified and became a military post called Fort Downer. That same
year, the post was used by George A. Custer as a base for Indian
Operations. It was also burned in an Indian attack that year. It was
abandoned in May, 1868. The fort was located south of WaKeeney,
Kansas
in Trego County on Downer's Creek about 50 miles west of
Fort Hays.
Fort
Hamilton (1858) - Not an official military fort, this
site was a stronghold of Charles A. Hamelton, the leader of
the mob that perpetrated the
Marais des Cygnes
Massacre. The "fort" was a substantial log
cabin situated near an elevation known as Sugar Mound in Linn
County. Later, it was taken by free-state men and was occupied
by Captain Weaver's company of some 30 men who named it Fort
Hamilton.
Fort Harker (1864-1880) - See full article
HERE!
Fort Hays
(1865-1889) - See full article
HERE!
Fort
Henning (1861-18??) - Shortly after President Lincoln's second
call for volunteers in the spring of 1861, three blockhouses were
erected at
Fort Scott for the purpose of guarding
quartermaster's, hospital and ordnance stores. Fort Henning, one of
these blockhouses, stood at the corner of Scott Avenue and First
Street, on the site afterward occupied by the post office building. It
was built under the supervision of Captain William Holcke, an engineer
of the United States Army, who also superintended the erection of the
other two blockhouses. Some years after the war Fort Henning was
purchased by Dr. W.S. McDonald and removed to the lot immediately
south of his residence, in order that it might be preserved as a
historic relic of the war. On December 3, 1904, a flag was raised over
old Fort Henning in its new location with appropriate ceremonies.
While the fort was used for military purposes it was garrisoned by
troops belonging to the Sixth Kansas, under command of Lieutenant C.H.
Haynes.
Fort Insley (1861-18??) - The largest of three blockhouses erected
at Fort Scott
in the spring of 1861, under the supervision of Captain
William Holcke, it was located on the point of the mound,
where the Plaza school building was afterward erected. It was
garrisoned by a detachment of the Sixth Kansas and was used
for storing ammunition.
 Fort
Jewell (1870) – The post was built in May, 1870
following the killing of white settlers by
Indians at the mill
dam on the Solomon River. It was named in honor of
Lieutenant-Colonel Lewis R. Jewell of
the Sixth Kansas Cavalry, who died curing the
Civil War of
wounds received in the battle of Cane Hill, Arkansas. Built
and defended by 28 local settlers, who organized themselves as
the "Buffalo Militia,” the fortress was built of four feet
thick sod walls, stood seven feet high, and enclosed a space
of fifty square yards. The local volunteers were relieved in
June, 1870 by a Company of U.S. soldiers who remained until
Fall.
Though the fort is gone today, it stood in
present-day Jewell which is now bounded on the south by
Delaware Street and on the west by Belle Street. A bronze
plaque and monument stand in a city park four blocks west of
the old fort site. Jewell is located on state highway K-14
southeast of Mankato in Jewell County,
Kansas.
Fort Kanses (early 1700’s) – Not a military post, Fort
Kanses was a French trading post constructed at the Kansa
Indian village, a little below Isle au Vache, or Cow island,
in what is now Atchison County. It was probably the first
place in
Kansas where white men lived as permanent settlers.
In 1757 it was described as storing more than 100 bundles of
furs. The ruins of the trading post were still visible when
Lewis and Clark came through in the beginning of the 19th
century.
Fort Lane
(1856-1857) - Named for James
H. Lane, this unofficial fort was established in 1856 and
was a stronghold for the free-state men of
Kansas
during the
Kansas-Missouri Border War.
It was abandoned in 1857 and destroyed during Quantrill's Raid
of
Lawrence in
August, 1863. It was located on the east side of Mt. Oread,
which is now occupied by Kansas University, about where
Spooner Hall is on the northeast corner at 14th and Jayhawk
Boulevard in west
Lawrence,
Kansas.
Fort Larned (1859-1878) - See full article
HERE!
Fort
Leavenworth (1827-Present) - See full article
HERE!
Continued
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