Fort Atkinson, Kansas - Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Fort Atkinson, Kansas - Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Fort Atkinson, west of Dodge City, had two lives. One life occurred before Kansas became a territory in 1854. The original Fort Atkinson was established August 8, 1850, by the U.S. Army in an attempt to prevent Indians in the area from attacking travelers on the Santa Fe Trail. Even before this, a site nearby was occupied in July 1850 by Lieut. Col. Edwin Vose Sumner, Who served as a Union major general in the Civil War. This first site was called Camp Mackay or Fort Mackay. Later the camp was moved to the site where it was permanently established. Sod buildings with canvas roofs were constructed. This post was abandoned in September 1853 and the buildings were torn down so Indians could not hide inside them and surprise travelers on the Trail.Robert W. Frazier, Forts of the West: Military Forts and Presidios and Posts Commonly Called Forts West of the Mississippi River to 1898 (Norman, Okla.: U. of Oklahoma Press, 1965), April 15, 1975, ed., pp. 50-1,Maj. Brian A. Riniker, "How United States Army Leaders at Fort Leavenworth Performed Peacekeeping Operations in Territorial Kansas" (MMAS thesis, U.S. Army Command and Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kans., 2007), p. 14. Read more on Wikipedia
Source: en.wikipedia.org