Fort Scott National Historic Site

Ann Shatteo

Imagine the fear you might have marching into battle with guns blazing all around you. Imagine the courage it took to charge an enemy when their cannons thundered at you from a fortified hilltop. Imagine fighting in a foreign country far from home against a determined foe and waging a war that half of your country opposes. Imagine putting your life in danger on a daily basis. Such was the experience of Fort Scott soldiers during the Mexican-American War.

Have you ever had your job description change? Soldiers at Fort Scott were sent here to serve as a "border patrol" to keep Missouri settlers and Native American tribes separated. However, many of the events in which they became involved in the 1840s had the opposite effect. Instead of containing westward expansion, soldiers at Fort Scott became agents of the largest expansion of territory in US history.

When Fort Scott was first established in 1842, the United States was a young, divided republic. There were no states west of Missouri, and states that did exist were divided over the issue of slavery. But even before soldiers first arrived at Fort Scott, events were set in motion that would dramatically change the nation.

Can you think of a time when U.S. soldiers took up arms against U.S. citizens? This article tells the story of soldiers protecting a railroad being built through Fort Scott. The railroad was being attacked by settlers already living on the land the railroad was being built on.

Videos and photos of birds at Fort Scott

Violence escalated in the Kansas Territory from 1854-1858 as anti-slavery Free-Staters and pro-slavery Border Ruffians battled to determine whether Kansas would enter the Union as a slave or free state.

In the 1850s, conflict arose over whether Kansas should be a free or slave state. People who felt strongly about the issue from all perspectives converged on Kansas Territory. Compromise was elusive as people on both sides employed violence to bring about their ends.

Fort Scott was established to contain Westward Expansion, yet many actions soldiers took had the opposite effect. From 1843-45, dragoons went out each summer to patrol the Oregon and Santa Fe Trails to make them safe for travel. They met with Native American tribes, had a showdown with Texans, and made it as far west as South Pass in Wyoming where they spent a few tense days near Oregon Territory in the event of a war with Great Britain.