An authentic well preserved army post right out of the mid 1800s which was operating during the tumultuous history of the era known as the Indian Wars. These sandstone constructed buildings sheltered the army troops who had been given the name, Guardian of the Santa Fe Trail.

Fort Larned, which operated from 1859 to 1878 is approximately 5.5 miles west of Larned, Kansas.

First established on 22 October 1859 as a camp on the Pawnee Fork to protect traffic on the Santa Fe Trail from hostile Indians, it was later renamed to Camp Alert in 1860. Then in May 1860, the camp was moved across and upstream 3 miles and there was renamed Fort Larned.

The usefulness of the fort ended when a large contingent of tribes were relocated to reservation. Too, the completion of the railroads across Kansas also ended the need for the Santa Fe Trail.

Later, the sod and adobe brick were replaced with sandstone buildings that make up the fort today

Awake, dress in my fall blues, start the jammer and then drive north on 14th street to US 50 where I turn right and begin driving east, first out of Dodge City, then further east along the Santa Fe Trail, but to continue along the SFT, I need to take the exit for US 56 and 183 to go in a northeast direction because US 50 continues due east to Hutchinson, Kansas.

A short ways along US 56, I come to where US 183 forks to the north and so that I can drive to Fort Larned, I take the US 183 fork. Upon arriving at SH 156, I turn right and drive east almost five and a quarter miles, turn right into the Fort Larned NHS.

I park in the parking lot and when one of the rangers arrive, I ask if they have a cart shuttle to the visitors center. He says, Yes we do, I will be right back with the cart.

While I wait, I take some photos of the displays here at the trail head.

After what seems to be only a short time, the ranger arrives on the shuttle cart and we head for the visitors center. I then step out of the cart and start my visit.

While I am in the visitors center, I examine all of the displays and learn several things about the Santa Fe Trail. I find out that the fort was built on Pawnee Fork of the Arkansas river because the location was a very defensive site, however, the location was about five miles north of the original SFT, which at the time was a very wet section of the trail. From the fort, a military road was begun and came to be called the dry route of the SFT.

Also, I learned about another tribe of native Americans who lived in the vicinity of the fort, which were called the Pawnee tribe.

Awake at seven and begin looking for a w-mart and find one in the down town area, a down town which is not much to speak off. I check my email and the latest com, upload my latest journal entries and then stop for some coffee before heading to Fort Larned National Historic Site.

I arrive just after the gates open and walk over the new bridge into the compound, during which I meet one of the costumed volunteers.