Historic Fort Wallace Monument
Historic Fort Wallace Monument
Location: From the East edge of Wallace take the gravel road 3/4 mile South and 3/4 mile East to Cemetery. Monument is in the walled Northwest corner of the Wallace Cemetery.
Nearest Towns:
Wallace, Sharon Springs
The
cenotaph in the northwest walled portion of the Wallace cemetery
is about all that remains to mark what was one of the busiest army posts of the
Kansas frontier. The cenotaph was erected in 1867 to honor the soldiers
who lost their lives in the Indian Wars while stationed at the fort.
Originally called "Camp Pond", the outpost was
established here in 1865 due to the hostilities with the Indians of the area.
The name was soon changed the Ft. Wallace to honor a General of the Union Army
who lost his life in the Civil War.
By 1882 hostilities had ceased in the area, and the army abandoned the fort except for a small force left to guard the buildings. In 1886 a severe storm swept the area, and locals were allowed to salvage what building materials they could from the old fort. The army had exhumed the bodies of soldiers who died at the fort from 1867 to 1879 and re-reburied them at Ft. Leavenworth. Still this left behind over 100 graves of those who were not members of the regular army, including scouts who had died in action.
There
are several interesting headstones in the walled portion of the
cemetery near the monument. These appear to have been civilians buried in
the post cemetery. Many of the markers have cause of death listed, such
as: "Killed by Indians (the marker in photo at right shows the fate of an
entire pioneer family), Froze to Death, Hanged by Vigilance Committee".
Ft.
Wallace is but a memory now, merely a footnote in the history
books. Men who would later go on to distinguish themselves elsewhere were
at one time or another here: George Custer, Wild Bill Hickok, and "Buffalo
Bill" Cody.
Left behind are only the ghosts of soldiers long dead to guard the empty graves of their comrades and the massacred pioneers. Of course I don't believe in all this ghost nonsense--but I don't hang around in graveyards after dark, either.