Fort Larned National Historic Site

Fort Larned National Historic Site, located six miles west of Larned, Kansas, United States, preserves Fort Larned, which operated from 1859 to 1878. Fort Larned was established to protect traffic along the Santa Fe Trail from hostile American Indians, and as an agency for the administration of the Central Plains Indians by the Bureau of Indian Affairs under the terms of the Fort Wise Treaty of 1861. The fort's service ended as a combination of the tribes' relocation to reservations and the completion of railroads across Kansas that ended the need for the Santa Fe Trail.

Fort Larned was the site of a meeting between General Winfield Scott Hancock and several Cheyenne chiefs on April 12, 1867, in which Hancock intended to impress the Dog Soldier chiefs with his military power. Following that meeting, Hancock, along with George Armstrong Custer and the 7th U.S. Cavalry traveled west of Fort Larned to a combined Cheyenne and Lakota camp, inciting the villagers to flee. Hancock ordered the village burned, beginning a summer of warfare known as Hancock's War. Fort Larned assisted in bringing Hancock's War to an end by supplying the Medicine Lodge Treaty.

With nine historic buildings, the fort survives as one of the best-preserved examples of Indian Wars-period forts. Most of the buildings, including the barracks, commissary, and officers quarters, are furnished to their original appearance.

Fort Larned National Historic Site is open daily, year-round. Admission is free. The park offers several special events throughout the year, living history demonstrations, and ranger-guided tours.

Units stationed at Fort Larned
The following units were stationed at Fort Larned during its nineteen years of operation:

1st U.S. Cavalry - 1859

2nd U.S. Infantry - 1859-1863

2nd U.S. Dragoons - 1860-1861

2nd Kansas Volunteer Cavalry - 1862

9th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry - 1862-1864

2nd Colorado Volunteer Cavalry - 1862-1865

9th Battery, Wisconsin Light Artillery - 1862-1865

1st Colorado Volunteer Cavalry - 1862-1864

12th Kansas Volunteer Infantry - 1863

McLain’s Independent Colorado Volunteer Battery - 1864

15th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry - 1864-1865

3rd Wisconsin Volunteer Cavalry - 1864

11th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry - 1864-1865

2nd U.S. Volunteer Infantry - 1865

48th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry - 1865

17th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry - 1865

2nd U.S. Cavalry - 1865-1866

13th U.S. Infantry - 1865

3rd U.S. Infantry - 1866-1872

37th U.S. Infantry - 1867

10th U.S. Cavalry - 1867-1869

6th U.S. Infantry - 1871-1872

5th U.S. Infantry - 1872-1874

19th U.S. Infantry - 1874-1878