As Fort Leavenworth looked in the late 1800s standing on a hill above the Missouri River



The start of the Oregon and Santa Fe Trails as it looks today cutting across the center of Fort Leavenworth

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Exiting the Missouri river and heading west from Fort Leavenworth



The 9th and 10th Cavalry was composed of black troops called the "Buffalo Soldiers."  The 10th Cavalry was formed at Fort Leavenworth

Supplying Fort Leavenworth by river boats from St. Louis on the Missouri River.  This scene sits below the bluff where the Fort sits.

Fort Leavenworth has arguably been the most important Army post in the history of the United States. Its location precipitated the expansion of the West, and the fort provided protection to the settlers on their way to the Pacific.  It was the meeting place for the establishment of treaties with the various tribes of Indians in the Midwest.  Fort Leavenworth was one trace of the Oregon and Santa Fe Trails.  The ruts, called swales, from their wagons have been preserved to this day at the storied post.



Looking down from a bluff overlooking the Missouri River, explorers stood at the site of the present day Fort Leavenworth as early as 1747