Little is known about Fort Wakarusa, which was built by free-state partisans between 1855 and 1857. Historian
William E. Connelley drew a map in the 1920s that located the fort on the north side of the
Wakarusa River, at Blue Jacket's Crossing. The town of
Sebastian, Kansas, was on the south side of the river. Considering that the area is very flat and that there are some
meander scars showing that the river has changed course various times, the site of Fort Wakarusa may today be on the south side of the river. The fort was located about midway between
Lawrence, Kansas
Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70, between the Kansas River, Kansas and Waka ...
, and
Eudora, Kansas
Eudora is a city in Douglas County, Kansas, Douglas County, Kansas, United States, along the Kansas River, Kansas and Wakarusa River, Wakarusa rivers. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 6,408.
Histo ...
.
Little is known about the fort's layout. It probably consisted of earthworks and logs. One source said rifle pits were dug outside the fort. No source claims knowledge of this fort's fate and nothing of it remains.
[Paul R. Peterson, ''Quantrill at Lawrence: The Untold Story'' (Gretna, La.: Pelican Publishing Co., 2011), p. 68.]
References
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Wakarusa Wakarusa can refer to several things in the United States:
* Wakarusa, Indiana
* Wakarusa, Kansas
* The Wakarusa River, a tributary of the Kansas River
* The Wakarusa War, part of the Bleeding Kansas violence before the American Civil War
* Wakarus ...
category:Buildings and structures in Douglas County, Kansas
1855 establishments in Kansas Territory