Fort Wallace (Wallace County, Kansas)
Wallace County · Kansas · Indian Wars
History & Significance
Fort Wallace was established in 1865 to defend traffic on the Butterfield Overland Despatch, a stagecoach service and mail route from Atchison to Denver, which passed through the hunting grounds of several Plains Indian tribes. Initially known as Camp Pond Creek, the post began as a temporary military camp adjacent to the Pond Creek Stage Station 1.5 miles west of present-day Wallace.
When the BOD was sold to another company in 1866, Camp Pond Creek moved a few miles east to the Smoky Hill river and was renamed Fort Wallace in honor of W.H.L. Wallace, a general who died at the Battle of Shiloh. It helped secure construction of the Union Pacific railroad, which arrived in 1868.
Garrisons at Fort Wallace were usually low during the Indian Wars of 1866 to 1869 because troops constantly acted as escorts for railroad surveyors and laborers, stagecoaches, wagon trains, government officials, and quartermaster trains. All eleven of the men were killed by Indians at Beaver Creek in present-day Sherman County on July 1, 1867 in the tragic Kidder Massacre.
Several influential men were stationed there, including General George Armstrong Custer, who fought in his first Indian battle not far from the fort; Buffalo Bill Cody; Wild Bill Hickok; and George Forsyth. The troops continued to protect the trail until it was officially decommissioned on May 31, 1882.
Abandoned in 1882, nothing is now visible of the stone and wood buildings where once more than 300 men were stationed. Today, Fort Wallace is represented by a privately operated museum nearby in the town of Wallace, with relics from the fort as well as photos, reproduction items, and literature covering the post's history and the settlement of the Great Plains.
Key Facts
Map
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🧳 Visiting
What you’ll see when you visit:
- 1865 cavalry outpost defending settlers against Cheyenne and Sioux raids
- Museum displays period artifacts, photographs, and historical materials
- Elasmosaurus plesiosaur casting found locally by fort officer
- Historic cemetery from original fort remains on site
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Wallace
- https://www.kansashistory.gov/kansapedia/wallace-county-kansas/15257
- https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=77906
- https://ftwallace.com/history/
- https://www.legendsofamerica.com/fort-wallace-kansas/
- https://www.kgs.ku.edu/Publications/Bulletins/18/03_geog.html
- https://www.kansashistory.gov/p/the-construction-and-development-of-fort-wallace-kansas/13266
- https://scholars.fhsu.edu/theses/1394/