Fort Wallace
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 38° 54.617 W 101° 34.966
14S E 276055 N 4309992
Historical marker located on the grounds of the Fort Wallace Museum near Wallace, Kansas
Waymark Code: WM20A4
Location: Kansas, United States
Date Posted: 08/13/2007
Views: 75
Fort Wallace
First called Camp Pond Creek, Fort Wallace was established in 1865. The
fort served as the headquarters for troops given the task of protecting
travelers headed west along the Smoky Hill Trail to the Denver gold fields.
Fort Wallace was the westernmost military outpost in Kansas, and from 1865 to
1878 served as one of the most active military posts in the Central Plains.
Troops often spent time in the field, and the fort was several times attacked by
Plains Indians striving to defend their lands and protect their way of life.
The fort was located about two miles to the southeast of this marker.
Abandoned in 1882, nothing is now visible of the stone and wood buildings where
once over 300 men were stationed
Just north of where the fort once stood, the old post cemetery still
exists, enclosed by stone walls within the Wallace Township Cemetery. IN
1867 U.S. soldiers erected a monument as a tribute to their comrades who had
been killed in action and buried there. Although the soldiers' remains
were later moved to Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery, the monument still
stands in their honor. ~ text of marker