Historic Fort Dodge

The peaceful park, quiet shaded tree lined walks and dignified buildings of today’s Fort Dodge are a far cry from the humble beginnings of this historic fort which has been called one of the most important forts on the western frontier by Legends of America. 

The Custer House at Fort Dodge.

Just east of present day Dodge City, the dry route and the wet route of the Santa Fe Trail intersected in a low pasture that became a stopping and recovery point for many wagon trains as they headed to Santa Fe.  When the Indians discovered this popular stopping point, they began to attack unwary travelers in the area, making it an important point on the trail to protect.  As a result, Major General Grenville M. Dodge ordered the establishment of Fort Dodge on April 10, 1865. 

The original hospital/pershing barracks is now a
clinic/doctor's office.

With no lumber and no hardware, initial construction consisted of crude earth dugouts on the north bank of the Arkansas River.  They built 70 sod dugouts, 10 feet by 12 feet in circumference and seven feet deep.  In 1867, Fort Dodge was relocated and built with stone quarried five to 12 miles north of the fort.  During the next two years, permanent facilities were built which included two barracks, a hospital, commanding officer’s quarters and a sutler’s store.

The warehouse is now used as a library/museum.

A drawing of the sutler's story, which is still there.

Over the next 15 years life changed dramatically along the Santa Fe Trail. As the railroad reached Dodge City in 1872, buffalo extinction seemed imminent and the Indians had been forced into Oklahoma.  Consequently, the U.S. Army abandoned Fort Dodge on April 5, 1882. 

In 1890, Fort Dodge was deeded to the state for use as a Soldiers Home.  Today, the Kansas Soldiers Home includes a library/museum, a modern intensive nursing home, a recreation center, five residence halls and 60 cottages. Names of the streets and buildings honor great American presidents and military heroes, including Eisenhower, Nimitz, Sheridan, Garfield, Custer, Lincoln, Dewey and Walt. Veterans of the Mexican, Civil, Indian, Spanish-American, Philippines, Boxer Rebellion, World War I, and II, Korean and Vietnam Wars have all been occupants.