FORT SCOTT

THIS WESTERN OUTPOST, NAMED FOR GEN. WINFIELD SCOTT, WAS ESTABLISHED BY U. S. DRAGOONS IN 1842 ON LAND RESERVED FOR NEW YORK INDIANS. IT WAS MIDWAY BETWEEN FORT LEAVENWORTH AND FORT GIBSON ON A MILITARY ROAD THAT EXTENDED FROM THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER TO LOUISIANA. BY 1853 THE INDIAN FRONTIER HAD MOVED WEST AND TROOPS WERE WITHDRAWN. TWO YEARS LATER THE BUILDINGS WERE AUCTIONED TO INCOMING SETTLERS AND THE CITY OF FORT SCOTT GREW UP AROUND THEM. FROM 1855 TO 1860 THE TOWN WAS IN THE THICK OF THE TERRITORIAL STRUGGLE OVER SLAVERY AND IN 1858 IT WAS RAIDED BY MONTGOMERY AND HIS BAND OF JAYHAWKERS. DURING THE CIVIL WAR THE FORT WAS REËSTABLISHED. IT BECAME UNION HEADQUARTERS AND SUPPLY DEPOT FOR SOUTHEAST KANSAS AND WAS UNDER CONSTANT THREAT OF ATTACK UNTIL 1865. SEVERAL OF THE OLD FORT BUILDINGS MAY STILL BE SEEN ON THE PLAZA.