Fort Larned | Along the Pawnee River Near the Santa Fe Trail Kansas frontier Army post |
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ith nine surviving buildings built in the mid-1860s plus a reconstructed blockhouse, Fort Larned is one of the best surviving examples of a frontier Army post. Established in 1859, troops stationed here escorted mail coaches and wagon trains along the trail, and patrolled throughout the region. The fort also served as a base for military campaigns against the original owners and inhabitants of the vast Kansas plains. The Fort was abandoned by the army in 1878, its job complete.
“Standing on the summit of the hill that overlooks the plain of Larned as we approach it from the eastward, our eyes were gladdened by the sight of the fort, and close to it could be traced the tortuous course of the Pawnee Fork.” - Henry Morton Stanley
