The site of Fort Dodge in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

was originally an old campground for wagons traveling along 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 ...

, just west of the western junction of the Wet and Dry Routes and near the middle or

Cimarron Cutoff 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, ...

. On March 23, 1865, Major General Grenville M. Dodge, who commanded the 11th and 16th Kansas Cavalry Regiments, wrote to Colonel

James Hobart Ford James Hobart Ford (May 22, 1829 – January 12, 1867) was a Union colonel and brevet brigadier general during the American Civil War, notable for his contributions in the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the war. Early life James Hobart Ford was born ...

to propose establishing a new military post west of

Fort Larned Fort Larned National Historic Site preserves Fort Larned which operated from 1859 to 1878. It is approximately west of Larned, Kansas, United States. History The Camp on Pawnee Fork was established on October 22, 1859 to protect traffic al ...

. On orders of Col. Ford, Captain Henry Pearce, with Company C, Eleventh Cavalry Regiment, and Company F, Second U.S. Volunteer Infantry, from Fort Larned, occupied and established Fort Dodge on April 10, 1865.

History

Fort Dodge was named for General Grenville M. Dodge. General Dodge wrote in his autobiography: "Fort Dodge was named after me, not as an honor, by a command that I was sent out there in the winter, after it was too late to furnish them lumber or anything for an encampment and they had to make dug-outs in the Bluffs for the purpose of wintering and the Colonel in command of the detachment wrote me that they were so mad at being sent there in the winter with so little accommodations that they had named the place Camp Dodge. This location was a celebrated crossing of the Southern Indians of the Arkansas Valley. There was a practicle (sic) ford of the Arkansas near here and the trails all centered here an it had been an important point during all the time I was in command of the plains. From Camp Dodge, when a permanent post was ordered there, they named it Fort Dodge and after the war when the fort was abandoned, a city had grown up there, which is now known as Dodge City.

It has, however, been claimed that the post was named for Col.

Henry Dodge Moses Henry Dodge (October 12, 1782 – June 19, 1867) was a Democratic member to the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, Territorial Governor of Wisconsin and a veteran of the Black Hawk War. His son, Augustus C. Dodge, served as a ...

. Moses Henry Dodge (he dropped the "Moses" when he came of age) led the

Second Dragoon Expedition The Second Dragoon Expedition of 1835 (also called the Dodge Expedition) left Fort Leavenworth, unorganized territory May 29, 1835, charged with contacting the Indian tribes across the Central Plains to the Rockies as far west as the Mexican bord ...

of 1835 in a circuit to and from

Fort Leavenworth Fort Leavenworth () is a United States Army installation located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, in the city of Leavenworth, Kansas, Leavenworth. Built in 1827, it is the second oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C., an ...

, west along the Platte River to Colorado and back east along the Arkansas River and the Santa Fe trail, passing through the future location of

Dodge City Dodge City is the county seat of Ford County, Kansas, United States, named after nearby Fort Dodge. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 27,788. The city is famous in American culture for its history as a wild frontier town ...

and Fort Dodge. There is no evidence that he established a camp at the site. Fort Dodge was used to maintain order along the Santa Fe Trail between there and

Fort Lyon Fort Lyon was composed of two 19th-century military fort complexes in southeastern Colorado. The initial fort, also called Fort Wise, operated from 1860 to 1867. After a flood in 1866, a new fort was built near Las Animas, Colorado, which oper ...

, Colorado. The post was raided by Indians several times, with many horses being stolen and a number of soldiers killed in the raids. In a June 1865 raid, the US Army Inspector-General, D. B. Sacket, reported the Indians took every horse at Fort Dodge. Corporal

Leander Herron Leander T. "Lee" Herron (1846 - 1937) was a Corporal in the United States Army who received the Medal of Honor for heroism near Fort Dodge, Kansas on September 2, 1868. Biography Early life Leander Herron was born on December 29, 1846, in Falls ...

received the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...

for heroism in action about 12 miles from Fort Dodge on September 2 and 3, 1868. The first buildings were constructed after the Civil War. These generally are believed to have been sod houses for the officers and dugouts for the enlisted men cut into the bank along 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 ...

, along the south side of the post. However, Sean Creevey, a professor at

Dodge City Community College Dodge City Community College (DC3, DCCC) is a public community college in Dodge City, Kansas, United States. History Campus Founded in 1935, Dodge City Community College was located on the third floor of the Senior High School Building at 1601 ...

, claimed that all the first housing consisted of "dugouts with canvas roofs dug into the bank of the Arkansas River." He denied any were built of sod or

adobe Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for ''mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of e ...

. Later, the dugouts were replaced with wooden and stone buildings. In its heyday, up to four companies of troops occupied the post. Apparently in its later years only about a dozen men occupied it and their main duty was to provide escorts to protect mail passing through the area. In 1882 the post was closed. A single custodian was assigned to keep watch over the property. A number of buildings were torn down or moved away, but many of the stone buildings remained.

residents worked to have the old fort used for a retired

soldiers' home The Soldiers' Home is an historic Italianate style building in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Located at 739 E. 35th Street, the Home was built in a series of phases from 1864 to 1923, designed by William W. Boyington and other architects. ...

, since most of the buildings were still functional. After much work toward that goal, a federal law was enacted in 1889 authorizing the use of the post as a soldiers' home by the State of Kansas. In early 1890 the Kansas Soldiers' Home was opened on the site. The Soldiers' Home has been maintained at Fort Dodge ever since. Numerous improvements have been made through the years and the public can tour part of the site.Frazer, pp. 52-3; Oliva, pp. 104-5, 109-110; Carey, ''The Thrilling Story of Famous Boot Hill and Modern Dodge City'' (Dodge City: Herbert Etrick Printers, 1937), p. 17; Rath.

References

External links

* {{Commons category-inline, Fort Dodge, Kansas

Dodge Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above P ...

Buildings and structures in Ford County, Kansas Santa Fe Trail

1865 establishments in Kansas