Fort Aubrey, in eastern Hamilton County, Kansas, was established by the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

in the 1850s. It originally had no name and was not made a truly permanent post until 1865. It was originally established to serve as a temporary resting place for traveling troops. The location of the fort is based upon a recommendation by François Xavier Aubry, for whom the fort is named. The intermittent camp was established at the site of a spring fifteen feet wide and three feet deep. The spring was on Spring Creek, near the

Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United Stat ...

, and was on the

Santa Fe Trail The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century route through central North America that connected Franklin, Missouri, with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pioneered in 1821 by William Becknell, who departed from the Boonslick region along the Missouri River, th ...

. The spring was used by soldiers, civilian travelers and Indians as they passed through the area. The camp had no name for most of its existence. Some structures were built there and these were at times left completely unused. Sometimes details of a few men stayed in the camp to keep it ready for use. The camp was named Camp Wynkoop in May 1864, in honor of Fort Lyon's commander, Maj.

Edward W. Wynkoop Edward Wanshear Wynkoop (June 19, 1836 – September 11, 1891) was an American US Army Colonel during the American Civil War. He was a founder of the city of Denver, Colorado. Wynkoop Street in Denver is named after him. History Edward Wans ...

. Around that time a stage station was built at Camp Wynkoop. When the camp was again abandoned in August the stage station remained. The camp was in a dangerous area, as hostile Indians at least once killed four soldiers working near the camp. Indian troubles in the area increased, so in August or September 1865 a permanent fort, named Fort Aubrey, was built by two companies of the 48th Wisconsin Infantry. The permanent fort was short lived, being closed April 15, 1866.http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/archives/1912/f/fort_aubrey.html (''Kansas Cyclopedia'')
- Burr, pp. 60-1
- Barry, pp. 188-9
- ''Hamilton County, Kansas, History'', pp. 54-5. In 1978, the site of the fort was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Santa Fe Trail Buildings and structures in Hamilton County, Kansas

Aubrey Aubrey is traditionally a male English given name. The name is from the French derivation Aubry of the Germanic given name Alberic / Old High German given name Alberich, which consists of the elements ALF "elf" and RIK "king", from Proto-Germani ...

Closed installations of the United States Army

1864 establishments in Kansas National Register of Historic Places in Hamilton County, Kansas