Fort Scott and Lawrence, Kansas

Tuesday morning we left Branson around 10:30 in the morning. We woke up at 7:00 to the wind blowing. We jumped up to go and get the awning up and then decided to get as much done on the outside we could before the rain came. And it did come! It was a good thing we weren't on a schedule. But once we were on the road the sky's turned blue and the humidity came.

We drove back into Kansas, to see Fort Scott. Fort Scott was built in 1842 to bridge a gap between Fort Leavenworth to the north and Fort Gibson 150 miles south. The fort was used for training of infantry and they had a large company of Dragoons. Dragoons were the elite troops of the frontier army. They were trained to fight either on horseback or foot and were employed to keep peace. They were used to escort wagons on the Santa Fe Trail and also settlers along the Oregon Trail. The fort as been reconstructed on the original site.




When the railroad was completed, the fort was closed and part of the buildings were sold. The fort was re-opened at the onset of the Civil War and became headquarters for the Army of the Frontier and a supply depot.



This is the first fort that we have seen where the town actually grew out from the fort. This picture was taken from the fort looking out at the historic town of Fort Scott.




This morning we drove to Lawrence, Kansas. We stopped at the Visitor Center and discovered that there really isn't much to see there, but we did watch the movie about Lawrence. When Kansas was applying for statehood, they wanted to join the union as a free state but Missouri, 20 miles away, was a slave state. Lawrence is most famous for being the town burned by the raids of Quantrill. He and his riders road into the town one morning and killed all the men and boys and burned most of the town. Although while watching the movie we realized that some of the men from Lawrence might have set the whole thing in motion by first riding into Missouri doing much of the same thing!

Now we are in Independence, Missouri. Want to see the Truman Library. His house is still standing and you can also tour that but not sure if I want to do that. Will at least get a picture of it. There is also a Frontier Trails museum, for both the Santa Fe trail and the Oregon Trail.

Till next time....