Although the United States is preparing for the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, Americans are still much aware of every segment of this nation's colorful history. Throughout the country, the National Park Service is providing good stewardship to many sites of historic importance and interest—Civil War and otherwise.
One such site is the Fort Scott National Historic Site, located in the small community of Fort Scott, Kansas.
This beautifully maintained site tells the story of how America expanded further west and south as pioneers and settlers made their way across the broad prairies in search of homes and fortunes in the West.
Established in 1842, Fort Scott was one of a series of military installations which were built to guard what was known as the "permanent Indian frontier." At that time in history, an imaginary line drawn from Minnesota to Louisiana was drawn to separate white settlers from Native Americans who were trying to avoid interactions and emersion into white civilizations.
However, with the opening of the Santa Fe and Oregon trails, pioneers began crossing this line. Ironically, some of the Native American tribes who wanted peace were at war with each other near this frontier. At times pioneer wagon trains were caught in the midst of this war between the tribes.
So, in addition to marking the separation, soldiers at Fort Scott also served as protectors of white pioneers crossing the plains.
With infantrymen and mounted Dragoons, Fort Scott covered a wide strip of land between Fort Leavenworth in Kansas and Fort Gibson in modern day Oklahoma.
As there became more and more interaction and more "mingling" of white Americans with Native Americans, the idea of a "permanent Indian frontier" died, and Manifest Destiny ruled the day.
This dissolved any need for a small garrison such as Fort Scott so the camp was closed in 1855. The buildings were sold and some actually became the town of Fort Scott. However, in this area soon rose hot feelings about the issues of slavery and states' rights which eventually led to the Civil War.
With the outbreak of Civil War violence, the U. S. Army returned to Fort Scott and occupied buildings that were empty, and built new fortifications and buildings. Even after the war, soldiers stayed on duty as railroads headed west. Soldiers at Fort Scott took on protection duties once more, guarding workers on the railroads as they had protected settlers in covered wagons.
