Book Seven in the Series of Eight

This historic account of the fort that was established in 1866 to safeguard passage across western Kansas. At the juncture of the Fort Riley-Fort Larned Road and the Smoky Hill Trail, the post was strategically located to provide a vital link in supplying military operations and counter Indian resistance to wagon trains, stagecoaches, and the railroad as they intruded into native lands and changed the West forever.

The book chronicles the activities of the military in relation to the fort. It presents the social history that unveils the "real" conditions of life in a frontier fort. Descriptions of early Fort Ellsworth are revealing of the difficulties faced by soldiers and their dependents. One of the devastating intrusions on life at the fort and in the civilian population near the fort was the cholera epidemic of 1867

Leo Oliva, a Woodston resident, is a historian specializing in Kansas and the American West. He has published numerous books and articles on the military and the trails. Jerry Thomas, a Manhattan resident, created cover artwork for each of the books in the forts series. He is a full-time artist who has received numerous national awards for his wildlife and historical paintings.

This series has been financed in part with federal funds from the National Parks Service, a division of the United States Department of the Interior, and administered by the Kansas Historical Society. The contents and opinions, however, do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the United States Department of the Interior or the Kansas Historical Society.