Back when I was stationed at Fort Wallace...

1971

1971

US Cavalry post Fort Wallace, just about two miles south of Wallace, Kansas on route 40, was closed in 1882. But Mona and I were stationed there for about an hour in 1971.

This fort was called by General Sherman, commander of the western army after the Civil War, 'The fightingest fort of the west'. The site of the fort cemetery is still pretty much the same.  But the museum and collections of 19th century historical and military artifacts from the Wallace, Kansas area and beyond has grown and is growing                                                  exponentially.

Today we skipped the fort site (we'd been there twice before and my two hours at the Fort Wallace Museum sucking up new information while Mona read meant lunch at 2pm and about 2 hours more to drive to Scott Lake State Park where there is a BEACH!


But this museum has SO MUCH to teach!

An original almost as constructed Butterfield Stage Station with bullet holes inside from several major Indian attacks led by Dog Soldiers enraged by Colonel Chivington's massacre and mutilation of old men and women, mothers and children on Sand Creek in November 1864.





 This place has a huge and very well documented collection of Jerry Thomas accurately depicted historical western art.

 The transportation museum has a complete authentic cowboy chuck wagon set up so you can smell the beans cooking and the coffee burning.

 And there is an amazing lifetime collection of US Army, Indian, Cowboy, Pioneer, Settler etc artifacts carefully dug up by the Weiser's and then carefully catalogued and placed in wooden display cases.  Over 30 wooden display cases!

Here are just a few...

Oh, and today the museum had Mike Corn, a visiting photo-journalist from the Hay's, (Fort Hays or Hays City in the 1800's) Kansas newspaper.

Mike was here filling out a story he'll be writing about the museum's recent receipt of a $700,000.00 bequest with which they'll be adding 100 feet to the existing main museum building.

They also had just taken possession of a pioneer church and are already preparing it for open display on the grounds.

Mike photoed us and took some info about our new life on the road, so I asked for quid pro quo and he posed for a pic for the blog.

Thanks Mike!  I know we each enjoyed this museum an awful lot.

-Ken