Fort Larned

Fort Larned was a Kansas post that guarded a portion of the 900 mile Santa Fe Trail. This post evolved from a rough, temporary camp in 1859 to bustling town by 1867, only to became a near ghost town by 1878 when the new Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad reduced commerce on the Santa Fe Trail to a trickle.

Mail Wagon, a small stagecoach. 

Traveling by RV is soooo much easier.

Quartermaster supplies

Armory

Carpenter's shop

Doctor's office

Hospital. Cholera and  dysentery were common.

Officers and their wives lived in the best quarters amid fine furnishing and servants brought form the East. They aimed to keep up their upper-class lifestyle amid their "primitive" surroundings. 

The park service has done a tremendous job restoring the post. In 1902 Mr. Frizell purchased the decommissioned pot and began a dancing operation. He highly modified the existing stone building and added others. In 1967 the Park Service purchased the property and began stripping away the gambrel roofs added in 1929 and other modifications to reveal the original stone buildings.  

Ranch in 1956

Camped last night at Geary State Fishing Lake.

38.896066, -96.855073

Free

Tonight I am at the Isle of Capri Casino beside the Missouri River. 38.978408   -92.746762  The WINs are east of here and will arrive tomorrow. It will be nice see everyone and begin a leisurely pace exploring the Lewis & Clark Trail.

4/28/13