Sheridan is a

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

Logan County, Kansas Logan County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. Its county seat and largest city is Oakley. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 2,762. The county was named for John Logan, a general during the American Civil ...

, United States. Founded in 1868 at the western terminus of an important railroad line under construction, it served as a regional center of trade and departure point to 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, the ...

to the south. In 1870, the local population abandoned the settlement due to the extension of the railroad west to

Kit Carson, Colorado Kit Carson is a statutory town in Cheyenne County, Colorado, United States. The population was 255 at the 2020 United States census. History The town was named in honor of frontiersman Christopher Houston "Kit" Carson. Geography Kit Cars ...

. During its brief existence, Sheridan earned a reputation for violence and lawlessness characteristic of the American frontier.

History

An end-of-tracks town was founded in the summer of 1868 ahead of the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad Eastern Division at a site southwest of

Monument, Kansas Monument is a census-designated place (CDP) in northeastern Logan County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 56. It is located along U.S. Route 40, west of Oakley. History Established sometime in the latter hal ...

. Within two weeks, the settlement included 65 businesses and a population of 200. Its inhabitants initially named it “Phil Sheridan” in honor of U.S. Army Gen. Philip Sheridan. The name was then shortened to just “Sheridan”. Once rail construction reached the new town, it became a railhead for westbound freight to the

via a wagon road to

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 ope ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. Rail construction stopped at Sheridan in August 1868 and would not resume for a year pending additional funding from the

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a bicameral legislature, including a lower body, the U.S. House of Representatives, and an upper body, the U.S. Senate. They both ...

. In the interim, the town experienced an economic boom, becoming an area center of trade and swelling to a population of 2,000. It became a base of operations for buffalo hunters and wholesale traders in hides, furs, and wool. Merchandising firms and outfitters maintained warehouses along the tracks, and freight companies supplied wagon trains bound for

New Mexico Territory The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912. It was created from the U.S. provisional government of New Mexico, as a result of '' Nuevo México'' becomi ...

. Sheridan also became a center of vice, home to numerous saloons and brothels. As was typical of remote frontier towns, violent crime was rampant. The settlement averaged four violent deaths per month, and hangings were common. In March 1869, the railroad changed its name to the

Kansas Pacific Railway The Kansas Pacific Railway (KP) was a historic railroad company that operated in the western United States in the late 19th century. It was a federally chartered railroad, backed with government land grants. At a time when the first transcontin ...

, and westward construction resumed the following autumn. In March 1870, the railroad reached

and made it the new railhead. The population of Sheridan followed, dismantling the town’s buildings and relocating them to Kit Carson on

flatcar A flatcar (US) (also flat car, or flatbed) is a piece of rolling stock that consists of an open, flat deck mounted on trucks (US) or bogies (UK) at each end. Occasionally, flat cars designed to carry extra heavy or extra large loads are mounted ...

s. A new wagon road opened from Kit Carson to the Santa Fe Trail, leaving the site of Sheridan abandoned.

Geography

Sheridan was located at (39.0236193 , -101.3629391) at an elevation of . This site is on the North Fork of the Smoky Hill River, north of

U.S. Route 40 U.S. Route 40 or U.S. Highway 40 (US 40), also known as the Main Street of America (a nickname shared with U.S. Route 66), is a major east–west United States Highway traveling across the United States from the Mountain States to the Mid- ...

, approximately northeast of present-day McAllaster. It is in northwestern

Logan County Logan County is the name of ten current counties and one former county in the United States: * Logan County, Arkansas * Logan County, Colorado * Logan County, Idaho (1889–1895) * Logan County, Illinois * Logan County, Kansas * Logan County ...

in the High Plains region of the

Great Plains The Great Plains is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. The region stretches east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. They are the western part of the Interior Plains, which include th ...

. The town sat on the side of a ravine near two

butte In geomorphology, a butte ( ) is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and table (landform), tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from the French l ...

s named Hurlburt and Lawrence, later renamed the Consolation Points. Situated at the foot of the buttes was a water-filled depression called Lake Como.

Notable people

Notable individuals who lived in Sheridan include: *

Buffalo Bill Cody William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846January 10, 1917), better known as Buffalo Bill, was an American soldier, bison hunter, and showman. One of the most famous figures of the American Old West, Cody started his legend at the young age o ...

, bison hunter, showman

References

{{Logan County, Kansas Former populated places in Kansas Populated places in Logan County, Kansas Populated places established in 1868 1868 establishments in Kansas Populated places disestablished in 1870 1870 disestablishments in the United States