Leavenworth is known as the First City of Kansas, but its importance in settling the West transcends that provincial title.
The town was founded in 1854, 27 years after Col. Henry Leavenworth led a garrison of soldiers from Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, to a site overlooking the Missouri River northwest of present-day Kansas City. There he established Cantonment Leavenworth in 1827, later called Fort Leavenworth, to protect the Western trade routes from Plains Indians and caravans traveling on the Santa Fe and Oregon trails.
Fort Leavenworth, still operating after 195 years, has been described as the “most significant military post in the Trans-Mississippi West” and the “Post that opened the West.”
Colonel Leavenworth, after defeating the Pawnee Indians in a brutal campaign, was named a brigadier general, but the word of that promotion never reached him before his death in 1834. That was two decades before his namesake town was established south of the fort. Leavenworth City, as it was initially known, was established amid bitter conflict over Kansas and Nebraska entering the Union as slave or free states.
Today, Leavenworth is known nationally for its fort, the oldest west of the Mississippi, and the federal penitentiary, which incarcerated notorious criminals George "Machine Gun" Kelly, George "Bugs" Moran, and Robert Stroud, better known as the Birdman of Alcatraz, who had an aviary at Leavenworth before he was transferred to Alcatraz.
This story is from the April 2022 edition of True West.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the April 2022 edition of True West.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
WESTERN ART MUSEUMS OF THE YEAR
Visionary museums from coast to coast showcase the West's best artists and artwork.
DISCOVER THE WEST
Museums from coast to coast celebrate our Western heritage for all generations.
Amber Waves of Grain and Flowers
Kansas is still the breadbasket of America.
In Search of Hugh Glass
Travel the Rocky Mountain West to discover the truth about the legendary mountain man.
SPUR TALK
The day Bill McDonald rode over the hill leading the Appaloosa, Slim and I were repairing the corrals. Slim was running Pete Coleman's little ranch about three miles south of Cow Springs, New Mexico. I was just a snotty-nosed, freckle-faced kid at the time.
THE LEGENDARY FOUR SIXES
The ranch was founded 155 years ago by men and women who are as mythical as they are real.
YELLOWSTONE COWBOYS
THE REAL STORY OF TEDDY BLUE AND HOW HE BECAME MONTANA'S GREATEST COWBOY
Under Western Skies
The annual Scottsdale Art Auction was a tour de force of classic and contemporary art of the West.
If You Thought Dude Ranching Days Were Over....
Montana's original wants to set you straight.
The Indians and the Jesuit
Father de Smet built the first permanent settlement in Montana.