- Built in 1859, Fort Larned was used as a military base, to protect travelers along the Sante Fe Trail and as an agency for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The site was built midway along the Santa Fe Trail, a main thorofare for westward migration. The fort was a key military base of operations during the Indian War of 1868-69. It was deactivated in 1878 and sold at public auction in 1884.
Copyright: - US National Park Service
Fort Larned National Historic Site
With nine restored buildings, it survives as one of the best examples of architecture from the Central Plains Indian Wars. Most of the buildings including: barracks, commissary, officers quarters and more, are furnished to their original appearance. Fort Larned National Historic Site takes visitors back to this turbulent era in our nation's history.
Recreation - Recreation at Fort Larned Naitonal Historic Site include walking and hiking, picnicking, viewing exhibits, touring historic buildings and viewing costumed interpreters/demonstrations. A good place to start your tour of this site is the visitor center, which has a museum, introductory slide show and library. There is a nature trail and a detached site where one can still view ruts left in the ground from wagons that traveled down the Santa Fe Trail.
When available, living historians staff the infantry barracks, post office,
blacksmith shop, hospital, blockhouse, commissary and officers quarters. During the summer there are weekend demonstrations providing a more detailed look at life in the 1860s.
Climate - The climate of the area is classified as typical interior-continental type with cold winters, warm summers and a short spring and fall.
Fort Larned National Historic Site is located in southwestern Kansas, on the south side of State Highway 156 and six miles west of the city of Larned. A detached section of the park, known as the Santa Fe Trail Ruts Area, is located on an unpaved county road, about four miles south and one mile west of the fort.