Kansas Forts Along the Smoky Hill Trail-FORT RILEY by Zina Abbott

For my next four books, my writing has taken me to frontier Kansas. In particular, I have researched the primary trails and frontier forts along those trails. For the next several months, I will be sharing with you regarding the Kansas Forts along the Smoky Hill Trail.

Today I am starting from the eastern part of Kansas with Fort Riley. Even though by the time the American Civil War ended, this part of Kansas was no longer on the frontier, it was a primary supply center for the forts in western Kansas. Situated along the Smoky Hill Trail in eastern Kansas, goods traveled by military mule teams, or, more commonly, by contract freight trains comprised by oxen-pulled wagons to their destinations in the west.

In the early 1850s the army needed a site west of Fort Leavenworth to cope with the inevitable clashes between emigrant tribes, long-established tribes, and Americans who were arriving in greater numbers. Military officials decided that necessary repairs to Fort Leavenworth, along the Missouri River in Kansas, would be a waste because it was too far to the east to enforce boundaries and policies. A more strategically sensible position was desired. 

In 1852, a troop of the First Dragoons escorted Major E.A. Ogden went on a reconnaissance mission to find a site for a new post. Major Odgen found the most promising terrain near the juncture of the Smoky Hill and Republican rivers, a long-established crossroads of Indian activity. It was first known as Camp Center, because of its proximity to the geographical center of the United States.

Plan for Fort Riley

Fort Riley is located on the north bank of the Kansas River three miles from Junction City at the junction of the Republican and Smoky Hill Rivers. It was located between the Oregon and Santa Fe trails to provide protection for travelers on overland routes. It was established 17 May 1853 in Kansas Territory by Captain Charles S. Lovell, 6th U.S. Infantry, on a site recommended by Colonel Thomas T. Flauntleroy, 1st U. S. Dragoons.

On 27 June 1853, it was designated Fort Riley, in honor of Colonel Bennett Riley, 1st U.S. Infantry, who led the first military escort along the Santa Fe Trail and who died on 9 June 1853. Construction of the permanent cavalry post was commenced in 1855 under the direction of Captain Edmund A. Ogden, 8th U. S. Infantry.

Soldiers erected a few temporary buildings in 1853, but Major Ogden oversaw the principal construction of the permanent buildings of the fort beginning in 1855. In July of that year, a cholera epidemic broke in the fort. Although short-lived, by the time it ended, an estimated 75 to 125 persons in the region died, including Major Ogden.

Fort Riley and the Plains Indians

Even before the Civil War, soldiers from Fort Riley fought in major campaigns against Indians as they executed and enforced the laws and policies of the United States government. Fort Riley was the stage for the Second Dragoon Sioux Campaign of 1855, the Cheyenne Expedition of 1857, the 1860 Comanche and Kiowa Expedition, and the Curtis Expedition of 1864.

With the opening of Kansas Territory in 1854, Fort Riley’s first mission was to protect those Americans settling in the new region. Eventually, it's main function became organizing and drilling troops and source of supplies. As more forts were established in the west part of the state, it soon became a supply depot headquarters for the western Army forts.

As a cavalry post, the horse trade was especially important. The army had strict regulations about the quality of horses to be purchased and who might serve as suppliers. Most of the cavalry horses at Fort Riley came from Fort Leavenworth and St. Louis. These “American” horses were capable of carrying a 450-pound load.

 

Fort Riley 1866

Fort Riley also served as the headquarters of the District of the Upper Arkansas, responsible for the army’s operations and posts in western Kansas and eastern Colorado under the command of Major General Samuel R. Curtis at Fort Leavenworth who headed the Department of Kansas, which included the Territory of Colorado, Indian Territory, and the state of Kansas.

Soldiers from Fort Riley assisted in treaty arrangements with many Indian nations. Some agreements were concluded with relative ease, often facilitated by chicanery as in the cases of the Kaws and immigrant Potawatomis, Shawnees, and Delawares. Many Indians in Kansas became US citizens through the treaty process, but others were more resistant to change. These included Cheyennes, Arapahos, Comanches, and Kiowas. It was because of the resistance from these tribes that Fort Riley and many of the forts to the west that it supplied fought military campaigns over the 1860s into the early part of the 1870s to conclude what they considered meaningful treaties with these tribes. Even after peace treaties were in place, the problems did not end.

Fort Riley involved itself with policing actions. Notable among them was their failed efforts to control squatters from taking over Kaw reservation land in Council Grove. Other policing actions included incarcerating Indian prisoners, which proved to be unsuccessful since the facilities were open and its boundaries easily breached.

After the Civil War, troops from Fort Riley were needed to protect workers constructing the Kansas Pacific Railroad from the Indian attacks.

In 1887, Fort Riley became the site of the United States Cavalry School. The famous all-black 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments, the soldiers of which were called "Buffalo Soldiers", were stationed at Fort Riley at various times in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

There were nine major frontier forts established in Kansas, as well as several smaller, temporary camps. Of those forts, Fort Riley is one of the two nineteenth century forts still active today.

Starting in the twentieth century, during World War I, the fort was home to 50,000 soldiers, and it is sometimes identified as ground zero for the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, which its soldiers were said to have spread all over the world. Since the end of World War II, various infantry divisions have been assigned there. Most notably, from 1955-1996 the post was home to the famed Big Red One. Between 1999-2006, the post was headquarters to the 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized) and known as "America's Warfighting Center". In August 2006, the Big Red One relocated its headquarters to Fort Riley from Leighton Barracks, Germany.

Notable people from the nineteenth century at Fort Riley:

Major E.A. Ogden who died in the cholera epidemic to hit Fort Riley in 1855.

In 1864 Major Benjamin S. Henning commanded the U.S. Army’s District of the Upper Arkansas from Fort Riley.

7th Cavalry at Fort Riley

George A. Custer was stationed at the fort in 1866. That same year he formed the 7th Cavalry. 

Wild Bill Hickok was a scout for Fort Riley starting in 1867.

Today is release day for my novel, Hannah’s Handkerchief, Book 24 in the Lockets & Lace series (also Book 4 in the Atwell Kin series). The opening chapters take place at Fort Riley. As will my other Atwell Kin books, an underlying theme involves the situation with the Kaw (Kansa) tribe who made early treaties with the United States which were not enforced to these people’s detriment.

To read the book description and find the purchase link, please CLICK HERE.

Sources:

http://www.vlib.us/old_west/forts.html#riley

https://kshs.org/kansapedia/frontier-forts/14568

Sherow, James E.;  Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains

Wikipedia: Fort Riley

KANSAS FORTS AND TRAILS by Zina Abbott

I’m sure I’m not the only historical author who has found herself in this position.

I’m writing another book for the Lockets and Lace series. My earlier books have dealt with the Atwell family that (mostly) settled in Salina, Kansas. They have dealt with Fort Riley and the Kaw, or Kansa, Indians, as well as suffered some excitement because of the hostile native tribes. Although I have researched quite a bit about these topics, my current book is set in the second half of the 1860s, which means several more forts were built in Kansas, especially as the American Civil War drew to an end.

In 1858, gold was discovered at Cherry Creek in Denver and started the Pike’s Peak gold rush, thus turning the Indian trail that followed the Smoky Hill River into a prospectors’ and freighters’ trail. In 1862, several bills were signed into law by President Lincoln, including the Homestead Act. That act opened the floodgates of those Americans choosing to move west to claim land. Many chose to homestead on the buffalo hunting grounds of the Cheyenne, Kaw, Arapaho, and several other tribes. After Butterfield lost his contract to use the Southern route, he established his new route to Denver through Kansas.

 

Frank C McCarthy- The Run to the Way Station

While the white Americans were fighting each other in their civil war, several native tribes took advantage of the situation and raised havoc with the whites who settled on or crossed their land. This continued through the late a860s and 1870s until all the hostile Plains tribes were subdued, forced to sign treaties, and confined to reservations.

These forts were not established for long-term use like Ft. Leavenworth or Ft. Riley. The following is from Marvin H. Garfield who wrote The Frontier Defenses of Kansas:

 

"THE name “fort” is perhaps a misnomer when applied to the military posts of the western frontier during the sixties. No huge, grim structure of defense which usually is associated with the name fort was ever erected on the western border. Nor did the western fort usually possess a stockade or blockhouse for defensive purposes. Officers' quarters, soldiers' barracks, stables, military storehouses and headquarters buildings, grouped around a trim parade ground, constituted the frontier fort. While no doubt a disappointment to many of its critics the military post of the Middle West admirably fulfilled the purposes for which it was constructed, i. e., the keeping open of lines of travel and communication and the protection of outlying settlements."

                              

Fort Larned 1867

Here is a tidbit about Fort Larned that explains the purpose for the existence of most of the Kansas frontier forts of the 1860s and 1870s:

     Fort Larned came into existence on October 22, 1859, in response to the need to protect the constantly increasing traffic and the recently established stage stations on the Trail from the resistance of the Plains Indians. The post was first called "Camp on Pawnee Fork." On February 1, 1860, orders were issued changing the name to "Camp Alert" because the small garrison of about 50 men had to remain constantly alert for Indians. 

Back to my research. I have my heroine interested in two Army officers she meets at Fort Riley. However, with the building of the frontier forts to the west, and Fort Riley having been established as the primary supply fort for many other forts she must deal with them being sent where needed.

I found some great information about the Kansas forts. The Kansapedia Kansas Historical Society and Legions of America sites are wonderful sources for information. However, I’m a charts and graphs girl. I needed the big VISUAL picture.

Author's chart of Kansas frontier forts (partial)

First, I searched for information about the Kansas forts, the part of the state each fort served, and its primary purposes. I put together a excel spreadsheet that probably only makes sense to me. However, it did allow me to understand three things: 

  *  Most of the newer forts (camps, cantonments) were built along one of two trails: Santa Fe Trail or the Smoky Hill Trail. In fact, Fort Leavenworth that was first established in 1827 as Cantonment Leavenworth had as one of its missions the protection of the Santa Fe Trail.

  *  Most of the newer frontier forts in Kansas were built specifically to deal with protecting white American interests from the hostile Native American tribes. Once their purpose was served, they were discontinued.

  *  Civilian towns grew up around several of the forts. Once the forts in those locations were abandoned, all that remained were the towns.

Why am I so late posting today? I’ve been making a map. Why did I not use one already available? I was unable to find one in the public domain. However, I did find a public domain Kansas river map, and little ol’ mapmaker me put this together. It does the job. It also convinced me I need to invest in one of those pens that goes with my photo-editing program. The mouse and I don't get along well when it comes to freehand drawing.

 

Author's towns, forts, and trails map - not drawn to scale

Based on this information, I have decided my Jake Burdock in Hannah’s Handkerchief will be sent to head up a freight train escort from Fort Riley to Fort Harker. After, he will be assigned farther west to help deal with the hostilities. My Hannah falls in love with Andrew Call at Fort Riley. he also is involved in supplying the forts on both the trails. Seeing the map, and knowing the years the forts were built, helped me put it all together--important since my story starts in 1865, and some of the forts were established a year or two later.

Now I have the big picture before me, it is time to finish the fine details in my writing and get the book out to my readers.

Hannah’sHandkerchief just has its cover reveal earlier this week. It is now on preorder. It will be available March 27th. You may read the book description by CLICKING HERE.

Here is a snippet:

         Finally, he stood before her and asked her for the next dance, which happened to be a waltz. She noticed he was not more than three inches taller than she was. Although compactly built, his broad shoulders and narrow waist filled out his uniform well. His dark brown eyes appeared to dance with a light that came from a different source than those that lit the ballroom.

         “May I introduce myself. I’m Lieutenant Burdock.”

         “Pleased to meet you, lieutenant. I’m Miss Atwell.” Much to Hannah’s chagrin, Mrs. Prescott had earlier coached both her and Kizzie not to offer their first names.

         “Ah. I have already had the pleasure of meeting another Miss Atwell this night.”

         Hannah had to force herself to keep from grimacing. She did not want Lieutenant Burdock to be overly impressed with Kizzie. Instead, she smiled. “Yes. That would be my cousin.”

If you think I went to all this work for one book, think again. I will be writing two short novellas—just the right size for quick summer reads—and will use this same research for their plots. Mail Order Roslyn and Mail Order Penelope, both part of the Widows, Brides & Secret Babies series, do not have preorder links yet. I just barely shared their covers. Here are three things I can tell you about this pair of stories:

  *  Although written as stand-alone books, this pair of novellas will be a duet—a series within a series.

  *  Roslyn and Penelope are cousins.

  *  Both stories involve stagecoaches (along the new Butterfield Overland Despatch trail that follows the Smoky Hill Trail protected by above-discussed Kansas frontier forts.)

Sources:
https://kshs.org/p/the-military-post-as-a-factor-in-the-frontier-defense-of-kansas/12525

https://www.santafetrailresearch.com/research/fort-larned.html