Fort Mann facts for kids

Fort Mann was an important U.S. Army outpost built in 1847. It was located on the famous Santa Fe Trail in what is now Kansas, west of Dodge City. This fort was created to help travelers and wagons moving across the plains.

In early 1847, an Army officer named Captain William M. D. McKissack saw a problem. Wagons often broke down on the long journey between Santa Fe and Fort Leavenworth. There was no place to fix them. He suggested building a supply station halfway along the trail. This new post would help repair wagons and keep supplies safe.

Building Fort Mann

In April 1847, about 40 teamsters, led by Captain Daniel P. Mann, started building the fort. It was named Fort Mann in his honor. By late May, the main construction was finished.

The fort had four buildings with flat roofs. They were arranged in a rectangle around a large central courtyard. The buildings were made of wood and adobe, which is a type of sun-dried brick. Wooden walls, called stockades, connected the buildings. This gave the fort an eight-sided, or octagonal, shape.

One of the stockade walls had a thick gate that opened in the middle. Small openings, called loopholes, were cut into the walls. These allowed defenders inside to shoot at attackers if needed. For defense, the fort also had a six-pounder cannon. This cannon could shoot special ammunition called grapeshot. Adobe walls were also built on the roofs of two buildings for extra protection.

Early Challenges and Attacks

Even before Fort Mann was fully built, there were daily warnings about possible attacks. Local Native American tribes did not want outsiders on their land. In May, two incidents happened, and one teamster was killed. One Native American was shot and carried away by his group.

Despite these dangers, Fort Mann had very few soldiers. The main defenders were teamsters, not trained soldiers. The fort's weapons were limited: one cannon with 40 rounds of grapeshot and 40 cannon cartridges, plus six rifles and muskets.

On May 17, most of the teamsters left. Only about ten men remained to guard the fort. These few men had to work constantly, day and night, to keep the fort safe. Supplies arrived, but it was still dangerous. No one dared to leave the fort without a rifle.

John Simpson Smith took command of Fort Mann for a short time. After seven days, he left, and Thomas Sloan, the fort's blacksmith, became the commander. Native American groups continued to bother the fort and travelers nearby.

Construction on the fort was not finished when Mann's group left. The smaller group of defenders continued to work on it. There were times of peace, but on June 19, about 400 Native American warriors attacked Fort Mann. The teamsters fought back and managed to stop several attacks. It was said that 15 Native Americans were killed and 30 to 40 were wounded. During a break in the fighting, three defenders tried to leave but were killed close to the fort.

After the attackers left, Sloan decided to abandon Fort Mann. The teamsters took the cannon and headed to Santa Fe. In early July, two men traveling the trail found shelter in the empty fort. For two days, Native Americans tried to take the fort, but they eventually gave up. A passing wagon train later picked up the two men.

Reoccupation and Trouble

Fort Mann remained empty until November. During this time, it was damaged by neglect. Passing travelers also took wood from the fort for their campfires. In September, a group of soldiers called the Indian Battalion Missouri Volunteers was formed. Part of their mission was to reoccupy Fort Mann. They traveled from Fort Leavenworth and arrived in November.

The battalion was led by Lieutenant Colonel William Gilpin. It had five companies, which are groups of soldiers. Two companies rode horses, one used cannons (artillery), and two were foot soldiers (infantry). The infantry and artillery companies stayed at Fort Mann to rebuild and expand it.

Captain William Pelzer was put in charge of these three companies. There were 54 officers and 216 enlisted men, meaning regular soldiers. Many of these soldiers likely lived in simple shelters or tents during the winter. Most of them had never been on the great plains before. Only one company spoke English well. The other two companies were German speakers from St. Louis who knew little or no English. They also had not been well trained in Army rules.

Pelzer's command quickly ran into problems. On November 19, 1847, a group of Pawnee Native Americans camped near the fort. About 65 Pawnees approached the fort with a white flag, which meant they came in peace. Pelzer and some officers went outside the walls to meet them. They even shared a peace pipe.

Pelzer then invited most of the Pawnees inside Fort Mann. An officer who later learned about the peace pipe advised Pelzer not to trust them. He suggested holding all the Pawnees prisoner until Gilpin arrived. Some soldiers tried to take weapons from the Pawnees, but they failed. Pelzer then ordered his men to fire on the Pawnees. One company, made up of English speakers, refused to take part. Nine Pawnees were killed in this terrible event, and many were wounded. Two wounded Pawnees were taken prisoner, and one was held in chains for months.

This event caused two major problems. First, the Pawnees, who had come in peace, now deeply distrusted white men. Second, the soldiers' morale at Fort Mann completely broke down. There was bad feeling between the soldiers and their officers. There was also conflict between the German-speaking and English-speaking companies. Some officers wrote letters to newspapers criticizing Pelzer. Soon, many soldiers did as they pleased, and fights broke out between the German and English speakers.

Restoring Order and Abandonment

Colonel Gilpin was leading a campaign against Native Americans in the region. He learned about the problems at Fort Mann. He ordered the English-speaking company to join him. After this, 112 men still at Fort Mann signed a petition. They asked Gilpin to remove Pelzer as their commander. These petitions, letters, and stories appeared in newspapers. The situation became so serious that the War Department, which managed the Army, decided to investigate.

The War Department sent Colonel John Garland to Fort Mann to figure out what to do. Shortly before Garland arrived, Gilpin himself came to Fort Mann on May 30.

Gilpin found Native Americans waiting to discuss a peace treaty with him. However, he explained he did not have the power to make treaties, so they left. Gilpin also found that the soldiers' morale at the fort was almost gone. Very few officers had acted responsibly while Pelzer was in charge. Gilpin immediately started to bring order back. He arrested Pelzer and some other men. He began to restore discipline before Garland arrived to investigate.

Garland interviewed most of the people at Fort Mann. Pelzer was convinced to resign from his position. Other officers also resigned, and a few regular soldiers were dismissed from the Army in disgrace. Garland decided that Gilpin was not mostly to blame for what happened. Gilpin continued his military service and later became the governor of Colorado Territory from 1861 to 1862.

Garland released the Pawnee man who had been held in chains by Pelzer. Garland told him to tell his chief that the white man responsible had been punished. Soon after this, Fort Mann was abandoned for good and fell into ruin.

In 1850, a new fort, Fort Atkinson, was built a few miles to the east. Sometimes, people confuse Fort Mann and Fort Atkinson, but they were two different forts in different places. Fort Mann's troubled history showed the difficulties of protecting travelers on the Santa Fe Trail. It also damaged the trust the American government hoped to build with Native American tribes on the frontier.