Chapman's Dugout facts for kids

The Chapman family lived on a farm near Lawrence, Kansas in the early 1860s. After a difficult event in Lawrence in August 1863, and with conflicts happening near their farm, the family decided to move west in September.

The Chapman Dugout: A Frontier Home and Fort

Leaving Home and Finding a New One

The Chapman family arrived in Ottawa County, Kansas, in October 1863. They settled near the Solomon River. They and some of their new neighbors worked together to build a special kind of home called a dugout.

Building a Unique Home: The Dugout

Their dugout was a single room, about fourteen feet wide and sixteen feet long. It had a fireplace. The roof and some of the walls were likely made from logs or sod (blocks of earth with grass). Once the dugout was finished, the family moved in. Mr. Chapman then built a simple wooden floor inside.

A Safe Place for Settlers

Very quickly, the Chapman dugout became a safe place for the growing number of settlers in the area. During this time, there were many conflicts between settlers and Native American groups. Sometimes, many settlers would take shelter in the Chapman dugout. The most people it ever held was fifty-two men, women, and children. During these nights, the men would watch for danger, while the women and children slept on quilts on the floor.

One time, Native Americans set a large grass fire. The prairie grass was very tall, about six feet high, and it burned quickly in the wind. Many buffalo died in this fire.

Community Hub and School

When the Chapman dugout was used as a community fort, it also served as the local Sunday school. About ten people would meet there every Sunday.

The End of an Era

The dugout's main use as a refuge mostly ended by the summer of 1864. Around that time, Fort Solomon was built about a mile to the north. A town called Lindsey grew up around Fort Solomon. Most of the people in the county lived in log cabins inside Fort Solomon from the summer of 1864 to the spring of 1865.

Even the Chapmans had a cabin inside the fort. However, they chose to stay in their dugout. A military leader, Captain Elisha Hammer, visited Ottawa County and asked the Chapmans to leave their dugout for safety. But they stayed, even though they faced near starvation.

Eventually, the conflicts stopped. In 1868 or 1869, the Chapmans finished building a new brick house. They then left their dugout, which slowly fell apart over time.