Fort Atkinson: First Fort on the Santa Fe Trail
Near Dodge City, Kansas
Two miles west of present-day Dodge City, on a stretch of the Santa Fe Trail, stands the site of Fort Atkinson, the first fully garrisoned military fort on the trail. It was established in August of eighteen fifty to protect wagon trains passing through Comanche and Kiowa territory. Soldiers built the post from the only material available on the treeless plains: sod.
They nicknamed it Fort Sod, and later, with a sardonic nod to its construction, Fort Sodom. The Treaty of Fort Atkinson was signed here in eighteen fifty-three, an agreement between the United States and several Plains tribes attempting to formalize safe passage along the trail. The original post was abandoned in September of that same year, and a reestablished post was given up in eighteen fifty-four, its buildings too inadequate for the Kansas winters and its supply lines too difficult to maintain.
Little remains above ground today. The site is marked, a reminder that this point on the Arkansas River was once among the most contested and watched crossings on the American frontier.
