During the autumn of 1859 the Comanches were raiding ranches in eastern New Mexico.

The military responded with expeditions to find and punish them, but they could not be found.

In Kansas Territory, the Comanches joined the Kiowas to attack travelers passing along the western portion of the Santa Fe Trail.

In early October the mail from the States, east of Kansas Territory, failed to arrive as expected. Jacob Hall and Company usually sent two coaches at once. One coach carried mail and baggage and the other carried passengers. Often armed guards provided additional protection.

At Fort Union the assumption was made that the belated mail coaches had encountered Kiowa and Comanche raiders.

A band of Kiowas had in fact killed a driver and conductor on Sept. 24, west of Pawnee Fork, a tributary to the Arkansas River. Instead of two coaches, a single coach with no passengers and no armed guards attempted to pass through to Santa Fe. The men were killed in a running fight. A third employee for the stage company saved his life by hiding in tall grass when the coach came to a stop.

The stage company, Jacob Hall and Company, had for some time tried to establish a stage station where the Santa Fe Trail crossed Pawnee Fork, but Kiowa and Comanche leaders objected to the establishment of any new stations. Any construction at that location would bring trouble.

Earlier in September the stage company sent seven supply wagons and a team of contractors to Pawnee Fork to build the station. However, most of the troops were recalled to Fort Riley before construction of the mail station had even begun. With construction halted, for the time being, there would be no station at Pawnee Fork.

Walnut Creek (east of present-day Great Bend, Kan.), established in 1857, was the most westerly mail station on the plains. The place was popularly known as Allison’s Ranche.

With no additional relay stations between Allison’s to Fort Union, N. M. the stage company was left with no support for its operations on a very desolate trail.

Prior to the attack on the coach, on Sept. 19, 1859, Capt. W. D. DeSaussure met with the Comanche-Kiowa leaders gathered near Allison’s Ranche. They assured him that they would not attack the new mail station. But that was before the death of Big Pawnee on Sept. 22. The Kiowa chief had threatened stock tenders at Allison’s Ranche. When arrested he suddenly mounted a nearby horse and bounded away.

Lt. George T. Byard raced after him in a wild horseback chase. Big Pawnee’s mount carried him swiftly away but the officer, determined not to let him escape, at last pulled his pistol and shot Big Pawnee in the back.

In a case of unfortunate timing the mail coach arrived at Allison’s Ranch a few hours after the shooting. They were given an escort to Pawnee Fork, but death was waiting after they continued alone on the westward trail.

The attack finally impressed upon the government that greater protection for the mail was imperative. On Oct. 14, Col. Edwin V. Sumner ordered Capt. George N. Steuart and 75 troopers of the First Cavalry to Pawnee Fork from Fort Riley. Their mission was to set up a “fort” as a base of support along the Santa Fe Trail. They arrived on Oct. 22, 1859. Capt. Steuart selected a new site about a half mile from the former encampment, established during the initial construction of the stage station. The new encampment, eight miles above the confluence of Pawnee Fork with the Arkansas River, was named Camp on Pawnee Fork.

From the camp Steurat’s men had secured the mail station. Steuart’s escorts were keeping the coaches running safely and on time. However, Steuart reported on Oct. 30 that he was seriously undermanned. Half of his men were continually on escort while work on the new post had been hampered by drought. Dry grass meant more time taking care of the horses while the work of putting up hay and constructing barracks and corrals continued at a slow pace. The army responded by reducing the garrison instead of increasing it. The mail schedule was cut in half from a weekly timetable to once every two weeks.

Troops moved into the sod quarters in November and the escorts continued without fail. Additional troops were returned to the post in December. On Jan. 12, 1860, Camp on Pawnee Creek was renamed Camp Alert, indicating the need for the troops to be constantly on guard against attack. On May 12, 1860, the camp was renamed Fort Larned, serving the next 28 years as the Guardian of the Santa Fe Trail on the Way West.

“The Cowboy,” Jim Gray is author of the book Desperate Seed: Ellsworth Kansas on the Violent Frontier, Ellsworth, KS. Contact Kansas Cowboy, 220 21st Road, Geneseo, Kan. Phone: (785) 531-2058 or kansascowboy@kans.com.