Blockhouse Fort.
In the summer of 1865, Camp Kirwin, a temporary encampment in Phillips County, Kansas, was established by Colonel John S. Kirwin and a company of Tennessee Cavalry volunteers.
The soldiers were sent to provide an escort for a government survey team and protect the area from Indian raids. The site of the fort, with a stockaded corral, was near the confluence of Bow Creek with the North Solomon River. From here, the troops conducted patrols to scout the country for Indian predators.
At that time, there were no settlers needing protection within 100 miles of the fort. During the soldiers’ stay, there were no engagements with the Indians, and the surveyors were unharassed. Before long, the site was abandoned, and the fort fell into disrepair. Today, the site is underwater in the Kerwin Reservoir.
In 1871, another fort was established a mile and a half southwest of Kirwin, Kansas, during an Indian scare. At that time, local settlers erected a 90-by-50-foot stockade within the town, which became known as Fort Kirwin, named after Colonel John S. Kirwin, who had earlier established Camp Kirwin in 1865.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, January 2026.
Also See:
Haunted Forts & Battle Grounds
Sources: