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• Built  in  1865,  Fort  Dodge  is  the  oldest  permanent  settlement  in  this  area.  It  not  only  protected  those  traveling  on  the  trail,  but  provided  supplies  and  a  resting  place  for  traders  and  buffalo  hunters.  The  first  buildings  were  sod  and  adobe.  Once  lumber  arrived,  wooden  buildings  were  erected.
  
  The  fort  closed  in  1882  its  buildings  became  the  Kansas  Soldiers  Home  in  1890  and  still  functions  today.  Many  of  the  original  buildings  remain  and  a  few  of  them  are  open  to  visit.  During  the  daylight  hours  you  may  take  a  self-guiding  tour  of  the  fort  by  foot  or  car  and  visit  its  small  museum.  The  Kansas  Veterans'  Cemetery  was  opened  in  2002.  
  
  Fort  Dodge  was  established  in  1865  to  protect  a  long  section  of  the  Santa  Fe  Trail.  Streets  are  named  for  Presidents  and  famous  military  officers.
  
  The  Sutler’s  Store  was  operated  by  citizens  to  provided  “extra”  supplies  to  soldiers  and  travelers  following  the  Santa  Fe  Trail.
  
  The  Commander’s  Quarters,  presently  referred  to  as  the  “Custer  House,”  was  the  building  that  housed  the  fort’s  commanding  officer  family  quarters  and  administrative  offices.  Please  note  the  small  windows  along  the  top  of  the  porch’s  roofline  reportedly  used  as  rifle  ports.
  
  The  Post  Hospital  was  housed  in  the  east  side  of  this  building  and  included  a  ward  with  12  beds.
  
  The  Storehouse,  now  the  museum  and  library,  contained  a  supply  of  food,  clothing,  and  equipment  for  the  fort’s  troops.
  
  The  original  Parade  Ground  is  bounded  by  Custer,  Garfield,  Sheridan,  and  Pershing  streets.
  
  Each  dormitory  in  the  Barracks  contained  22  double  bunks  providing  sleeping  spaces  for  88  men.  Opposite  doors  and  windows  allowed  for  ventilation.  Wood  stoves  heated  the  quarters.  A  1930  WPA  construction  project  connected  two  stone  barrack  structures.
  
  The  Fort  Hays  to  Fort  Dodge  Road  marker  indicates  the  end  of  an  important  branch  of  the  Santa  Fe  Trail  used  by  freighters  from  1867-1872.  When  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  reached  Hays  in  1867,  all  military  freight  and  most  commercial  freight  destined  for  Santa  Fe  and  beyond  was  shipped  to  Hays  and  then  hauled  by  wagon  to  the  main  Santa  Fe  Trail  near  Fort  Dodge.  Military  freight  volume  attained  immense  proportions  during  1867-1869,  a  period  of  warfare  with  the  Plains  Indians.  This  branch  came  to  an  end  in  1872  when  the  Santa  Fe  Railroad  reached  Dodge  City.
  
  Both  civilians  and  soldiers  were  buried  in  the  Fort  Dodge  Cemetery.  The  saying  then  was  “the  rich  are  buried  at  the  Fort  and  the  cowhands  and  poor  are  buried  on  Boot  Hill  or  gone  to  ‘hell.’”  Friends  and  family  buried  Marshal  Ed  Masterson,  Bat’s  brochure,  at  Fort  Dodge  in  1878.  Some  drunken  cowboys  killed  the  Marshal  in  a  dance  hall  south  of  the  railroad  tracks  in  Dodge  City.  The  body  was  later  moved  to  a  cemetery  that  no  longer  exists  in  Dodge  City.  No  evidence  of  his  burial  site  remains  today.  The  bodies  of  military  personnel  were  removed  to  Fort  Leavenworth  in  1886.  Presently,  the  cemetery  is  part  of  the  Kansas  Solders’  Home  property.
  
  From  the  walking  tour  brochure  of  Fort  Dodge  and  kansastravel.org/fortdodge.htm

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