#fort leavenworth kansas

[popculturelib]

Haunted States of America: Kansas

Ghost Stories of Fort Leavenworth (1988) by the Musettes Fort Leavenworth Museum, illustrated by Craig Streeter

Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is an active army installation that was established in 1827. It protected the Santa Fe Trail and areas near the Missouri River as an important part of the westward expansion of the United States. Today, it is the oldest active Army post west of the Mississippi River.

Ghost Stories of Fort Leavenworth was written by the Musettes of the Fort Leavenworth Museum, a museum advocacy group, in an attempt to document stories of the many ghosts in and around Fort Leavenworth, which include:

A tea party held at 624 Scott Avenue

Faces seen in the fire and smoke of hearths

Ghosts of men who were executed at the US Disciplinary Barracks, a military prison

General George Armstrong Custer

Fort Leavenworth currently does ghost tours in and around the Fort if you live nearby and want to learn more. The museum is now called the Frontier Army Museum.

The Fort Leavenworth Historical Society also has a book titled The Haunted Houses of Fort Leavenworth (1995) by John Reichley. If you're interested in more stories about haunted Kansas, check out the aptly titled Haunted Kansas: Ghost Stories and Other Eerie Tales (1997) by Lisa Hefner Heitz in our collection.

The Browne Popular Culture Library (BPCL), founded in 1969, is the most comprehensive archive of its kind in the United States.  Our focus and mission is to acquire and preserve research materials on American Popular Culture (post 1876) for curricular and research use. Visit our website at https://www.bgsu.edu/library/pcl.html.

[whitepolaris]

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[doniell-cushman]

Learn about the time I lived in a haunted house.

[wormkats]

fort leavenworth kansas

[anza-redstar]

Cook was transferred from Fort Worth jail to Leavenworth penitentiary on April 6, 1925. He was by all accounts a model prisoner—aside from his irksome habit of washing just once a week, based on the medically dubious notion that bathing opened the pores up to disease. He took up embroidery as a hobby and, like so many things he set his mind to, mastered it. “The result of this needle work I prize today quite as much as the best of my literary efforts,” he wrote. (The warden once submitted Cook’s floral designs anonymously to a statewide contest, in which he won first place, beating out the housewives of Kansas.)

[railwayhistorical]

San Pedro River This is where Charleston Road crosses over the San Pedro River. (The historical site of Charleston is nearby.) Adjacent to the old bridge is a historical marker for the Mormon Battalion. Here they had a "battle of the bulls" (1846) on their march between Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and San Diego. The battle was with actual bulls, not people. Two images by Richard Koenig; taken May 4th 2024. Land acknowledgement: O’odham Jeweḍ, Akimel O’odham (Upper Pima), Tohono O’odham, Hohokam.

[myhauntedsalem]

Elizabeth Polly’s Grave

A cholera epidemic hit Fort Hays in Central Kansas in 1867. Elizabeth Polly lived at Fort Hayes with her husband, Ephraim Polly.

Elizabeth worked in the Fort Hays hospital with her husband who was an Army Hospital Steward.

A legend states that Elizabeth was a trained nurse. But other stories state she was just a Good Samaritan. Regardless, many believed she was God sent for she nursed and comforted the sick and dying during this epidemic.

Working day and night, Elizabeth’s only respite was an occasional stroll atop nearby Sentinel Hill.

Unfortunately, Elizabeth fell ill with this disease herself in the fall of 1867. Her dying wish was to be buried on top of Sentinel Hill. At her funeral she was given full military honors to recognize her courageous efforts.

But her dying wish was not to be for Sentinel Hill is made of solid bedrock so she was buried at the base of this hill instead.

In 1905, Fort Hayes was closed. All the soldiers’ bodies were moved to Fort Leavenworth. The civilians were placed in Hays City Cemetery. But Elizabeth’s body remains.

Starting in 1917, there have been many sightings of Elizabeth’s ghost.

A farmer, John Schmidt reported seeing a woman dressed in blue walking across his back pasture. He followed her as she headed toward Sentinel Hill. He watched as she entered one of his sheds.

When he arrived and inspected the area no one was there.

In the 1950s a highway patrolman stated he hit a woman wearing a blue dress and white bonnet with his patrol car near Sentinel Hill. When he got out to look around the woman he hit was gone and his car was not damaged.

Elizabeth was buried in a blue dress and white bonnet.

Many witness accounts state that when Elizabeth is seen she emits a glowing blue light. Because of this her ghost has been nicknamed Blue Light Lady.

Her ghost is frequently seen wandering atop Sentinel Hill–the place she loved best.

In the 1960s Elizabeth finally got her dying wish. Her body was reburied at Sentinel Hill’s summit. A marker placed on her grave reads “The Lonely Grave.”

[lboogie1906]

On July 24, 1992, President George H. W. Bush proclaimed that July 28 would be known as Buffalo Soldiers Day. This date memorializes the action taken by Congress on July 28, 1866, to establish the 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments and the 38th, 39th, 40th and 41st Infantry Regiments. President Bush said, “Despite suffering the discrimination and the injustice that plagued all Black Americans during the days of segregation, the members of the 9th and 10th Cavalry regiments served with pride and distinction.”

The 10th Calvary Regiment was stationed at Fort Leavenworth and was initially tasked with protecting the Pacific Railroad while it was being constructed and fought hundreds of Cheyenne Warriors during two separate battles near the Saline River in Kansas.

Many of the Soldiers assigned to these regiments were Civil War veterans and former enslaved. They played a pivotal role in the westward expansion of the US. The history of how they earned their nickname “Buffalo Soldiers” is often debated, but a common theory is it came after the Cheyenne Warriors told tales of a new warrior fighting for the Americans that fought like a cornered buffalo. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[murder-and-maryjane]

Did You Know🤔

Nidal Malik Hasan (born September 8, 1970) is an American former United States Army major, physician and mass murderer convicted of killing 13 people and injuring more than 30 others in the Fort Hood mass shooting on November 5, 2009. Hasan, an Army Medical Corps psychiatrist, admitted to the shootings at his court-martial in August 2013. During the six years Hasan was a medical intern and resident at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, concerns were raised about his job performance and behavior, specifically comments described by colleagues as "anti-American". Hasan was described as socially isolated, stressed by his work with soldiers, and upset about their accounts of warfare. Two days before the shooting, less than a month before he was due to deploy to Afghanistan, Hasan gave away many of his belongings to a neighbor. Prior to the shooting, an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) concluded Hasan's email correspondence with the late Imam Anwar al-Awlaki were related to his authorized professional research and he was not a threat. The FBI, Department of Defense (DoD) and United States Senate all conducted investigations after the shootings. The Senate released a report describing the shooting as "the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil since September 11, 2001". Controversially, the Army decided not to charge Hasan with terrorism. A jury panel of 13 officers convicted him of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder, and unanimously recommended he be dismissed from the service and sentenced to death. Hasan is incarcerated at the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, awaiting execution. Early in life Nidal Hasan was born on September 8, 1970, at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington County, Virginia. His parents were naturalized American citizens of Palestinian origin; they had immigrated years earlier from al-Bireh, a city in the West Bank near Jerusalem. Raised in the Muslim faith with his two younger brothers, Hasan attended Wakefield High School in Arlington for his freshman year in 1985. His family moved to Roanoke in 1986, where his father had moved a year prior to set up what would become a number of successful family-owned businesses which included a market, restaurant and olive bar. Hasan graduated from Roanoke's William Fleming High School in 1988. His father died in 1998 at the age of 51; his mother died three years later at the age of 49. One of his brothers continues to live in Virginia while the other moved to the Palestinian Territories.

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"Nab Escaped Prisoners in Cornfield Battle," Wichita Beacon. December 11, 1931. Page 1 & 23. --- WARDEN IS WOUNDED, U. S. SOLDIERS QUELL RIOTING IN PRISON --- Warden White Tries Twice to Halt Escape of Desperate Life-termers; Arm Is Blown Off by Shotgun; Machine Gun Squads Guard Leavenworth Penitentiary; Trail 6 Desperadoes ---- WASHINGTON, Dec. 11. - (UP) - Three of the six convicts who broke out of Leavenworth federal penitentiary today were captured seven miles west of the prison, according to a telephone report from the prison at 2:30 p. m. to J. Edgar Hoover, chief of the bureau of investigation, department of justice.

The report to Hoover said the three other convicts were believed surrounded at a nearby place known as Salisbury farm, Prior to the announcement, an army airplane circled over the penitentiary and dropped a note reading: "All six men captured. (Signed) Galvin and Jackson."

The men signing the message were the deputy warden of the penitentiary and a lieutenant colonel in the army air corps. Other reports said the men had been captured in two groups.

Three of them, those who wounded the warden, were seized in one spot and three others were said to have been surrounded on a farm. At 2:10 p. m. a truck bearing three convicts drove to the prison gate and its cargo was unloaded and taken inside. The trio did not appear to be bruised or wounded. The guards who accompanied the prisoners did not disclose details of the capture.

LEAVENWORTH, KAN., Dec. 11.-(UP) - Six convicts in a ruthless gamble for their liberty enjoyed but four hours of freedom today before they were captured by posses. Their capture came, however, only after they had shot and seriously wounded Warden Thomas B. White of the federal penitentiary whom they had taken with them as hostage.

Announcement of the capture was made by E. H. Eckholdt, secretary to the warden. Eckholdt told the United Press at 1:05 pm.: "Word has just been received of capture of the convicts."

The capture was made in a cornfield 15 miles or more west of Leavenworth, the warden's secretary said.

Almost immediately after Eckholdt made the announcement an automobile sped west from Leavenworth.

Reports were received that James Galvin, deputy warden leading a posse, had been wounded.

Kidnap Warden The announcement from the warden's secretary was not supplemented by further details, nor did it make certain that all the men had been seized.

There was a possibility that the men had split into two groups and that the word to the warden's office meant the capture of only one group of the fleeing convicts.

The announcement from Eckholdt climaxed four hours filled with intense excitement and fear in Leavenworth and northeastern Kansas.

Warden White was seized by the convicts, forced to accompany them in their flight and was shot through the arm when he resisted them at a stop several miles west of the city.

The warden was found lying wounded by the roadside by two automobile salesmen, who brought him to a hospital here.

His arm was so badly shattered the physicians feared it would have to be amputated.

Order was preserved among the inmates of the penitentiary, numbering more than 2,000, after military reinforcements were summoned to quell disorder which threatened inside after the escape.

U. S. Troops Quell Riot As word of the warden's capture and flight of the convicts spread through the prison, howls and shouts went up from the convicts.

A general riot appeared imminent. Police and firemen were called and two companies of infantrymen came from Fort Leavenworth.

The troops entered the prison enclosure and within a short time the warden's secretary announced that all was quiet within. Warden White, former Texas ranger known throughout the West as a stern disciplinarian and a fearless man hunter, twice risked his life in an unsuccessful attempt to block, the flight, it was disclosed by his secretary.

Before the prisoners got out of the penitentiary walls White grabbed a tear gas gun and attempted to check them.

Later, on the roadside, he grappled with one of the prisoners. The second attempt caused the convict to shoot him.

Eckholdt said the six convicts came to the inner south gate of the prison with passes that permitted them to go to the warden's office.

Had Guns Concealed These passes may have been forged, the secretary said, or may have been issued to the convicts for a visit to the warden's office for legitimate reasons.

Passes for such a visit are usually issued by Frank Beck, captain of the guard. Beck left with a posse and it could not be learned whether the passes were genuine.

The convicts carried guns concealed in their clothing. There was nothing unusual about their movements until the two guards at the inner gate started to open it.

Then the prisoners pulled out their weapons. One had a sawed off shotgun, one a small rifle and the other four carried revolvers.

Instantly the convicts covered the guards at the inner gate, through which they were to pass the warden's office, between the inner and outer gates.

The two guards were forced to march ahead of two of the convicts to the warden's office.

The other convicts raced to the outer gate and covered the two guards there.

The guards were compelled to go with the convicts to the outer room of the warden's office.

There Eckholdt was interviewing a prisoner. White was questioning another prisoner in his inner office.

Three clerks were at their work. Suddenly the armed convicts burst into the room.

"Stick 'em up." one of them told the secretary and the clerk.

The order was complied with promptly.

Through the doorway of his inner office, Warden White saw the hands of the clerks go up.

Take Warden's Auto Although he had not heard the spoken command, the warden instantly knew a break was in progress.

He seized a tear gas gun and slipped through a side door, walked down the hallway, and attempted to capture the convicts from the rear.

One turned on him, ordered him to put his hands up, and the warden saw resistance was futile.

The warden, his secretary, the clerks and the guards were herded down the corridor to the chief clerk's office, where the telephone was torn from the wall and then the procession marched out through the south gates of the prison.

The convicts marched to the warden's residence with the clerks and officials protecting them from possible gunfire from guards in the watchtowers.

Stopping at the warden's garage, the prisoners ordered him to get his car out.

While the party was halted there, one of the guards on the wall fired at the convicts. The shot went wild.

The warden called back for the guards not to attempt to fire again.

The warden, his secretary said, was unable to start the car in his garage.

The procession then moved down the driveway and the convicts entered another automobile and drove swiftly away, taking White with them and releasing the others.

Among those taking up the pursuit were four Leavenworth youths, Albert Bower, Jack Gallivan, Lyle Hait and Carl Laufer, who drove out unarmed in their small car.

A short distance west of Leaven- worth the convicts car mired in the mud. A moment later the car of four youths came down the road.

The convicts stopped it and or-dered the boys out.

The convicts handled the youths roughly, and one fugitive struck one of the boys. White struck the offending convict and grappled with him, whereupon another of the group shot White.

The boys were released and the convicts drove on, leaving the war- den wounded in the road.

Two salesmen, Tim Shuman and James Cobb, drove by later, and brought the warden to a hospital here.

Surgeons operated hastily in an effort to save the arm. Mrs. B. G. Culver, a close friend of the White family, said the warden also was shot through the chest, just below the shoulder.

Only hospital attendants were permitted to talk to the warden before the operation. They said the warden told them the convicts separated a short time after leaving the prison, three going with him, and three in another car.

E. H. Echoltd, secretary to Warden White, announced that one t the men who escaped was om Underwood, sentenced to 25 years from Minnesota after a robbery there.

Another prisoner's last name was Brown, the secretary said.

He said a check was being made of the prisoners to determine names of the others who escaped.

Washington Sends Aid WASHINGTON, Dec. 11. - (UP) - The justice department today dispatched special agents from Kansas City to investigate and help put down the prison outbreak at Leavenworth, Kan.

Assistant Warden Zerbts telephoned the department that six prisoners had escaped and taken Warden White with them. Troops from Fort Leavenworth were in pursuit.

Agents also were dispatched from Washington. An effort was made to obtain an airplane but no plane was immediately available, and the agents left by train.

Brother Is Texas Sheriff AUSTIN, TEX., Dec. 11. - (UP) - A posse of 100 men has surrounded six convicts who escaped from the federal penitentiary at Leavenworth and kidnaped Warden Thomas B. White today, Sheriff Coley White, brother of the warden, said he was informed.

Sheriff White said he received his information from the department of justice at Kansas City.

Warden White is being held by six escaped convicts in a school house, according to information received here by Sheriff White from the warden's wife.

White Famed as Officer LEAVENWORTH, KAN., Dec. 11. - (UP) - Warden Thomas B. White, who was kidnaped by six convicts escaping from the federal penitentiary here today, has had a long record as a law enforcement officer. Tall, tight-lipped, steely-eyed, he looks the part of a hard-boiled officer. His record as Texas ranger, detective and prison executive bears out the impression given by his looks.

White was born at Oak Hill, Tex., 50 years ago. He was educated at Southwestern university, George- town, Tex. In 1905 he joined the Texas rangers, and worked with them four years.

He went to the department of justice as a criminal investigator in 1917, and stepped from that post to the warden's office at the Atlanta prison.

His record at Leavenworth dates from 1924. In that time he has had one major outbreak to fight. That was in 1929 when 50 were injured and none escaped.

"White has been a peace officer all his life and his resourcefulness is unlimited," said A. J. W. Schmid, United States commissioner at El Paso. "He can handle himself in any situation.

"I have seen him several times knock down 200-pound men with one blow."

White lived in El Paso seven years. He is a former Texas ranger.

[almackey]

Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College Day Five

Photo by Al Mackey Today was the last day of the 2024 Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College Summer Conference. This was another day of battlefield tours. I was on the “America’s Ways of War and Leadership: Cambridge to Cemetery Ridge” tour with Dr. Ethan Rafuse of the US Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. It began with a classroom discussion about how western…

[wormkats]

fort leavenworth kansas

[comicshopsaar]

"Lance" gilt als herausragender amerikanischer Comicstrip und zählt zu den letzten, die in voller Seitenlänge veröffentlicht wurden. Dieses Werk stammt von Warren Tufts, der es nicht nur kreierte, sondern auch eigenständig vertrieb. Der Strip wurde erstmals am 5. Juni 1955 veröffentlicht und lief bis zum 29. Mai 1960, wobei er in rund 100 Zeitungen erschien. Ursprünglich im Stil von "Prince Valiant" gehalten, mit Text in Untertiteln und ohne Sprechblasen, entwickelte sich "Lance" später zu einem Format mit Sprechblasen. Nach der letzten Veröffentlichung als vollseitiger Strip (Ausgabe 85) wurde "Lance" in halbseitigen und tabloidgroßen Formaten fortgesetzt. Eine tägliche Version des Strips startete am 14. Januar 1957 und lief mindestens bis zum 15. Februar 1958. Die Handlung dreht sich um den US-Kavallerieoffizier Lance St. Lorne, stationiert am Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, zur Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts. Die Geschichten, angesiedelt während der Besiedlung des amerikanischen Westens, zeichnen sich durch hohe erzählerische und künstlerische Qualität aus und werden für ihre historische Genauigkeit gelobt. Im Unterschied zu anderen Western-Comics der Zeit, begegnen die Charaktere in "Lance" historischen Persönlichkeiten, die authentisch nach Alter und Lebensumständen dargestellt werden. Diese vollständige Sammlung, die auf Deutsch veröffentlicht wurde, enthält sowohl die farbigen Sonntagsseiten als auch die schwarz-weißen Tagesstrips, die digital restauriert in fünf Hardcover-Bänden von Bocola herausgegeben wurden.

[concupiscience]

Ten-sqúat-a-way, The Open Door, Known as The Prophet, Brother of Tecumseh. “The ‘Shawnee Prophet,’ is perhaps one of the most remarkable men, who has flourished on these frontiers for some time past. This man is brother of the famous Tecumseh, and quite equal in his medicines or mysteries, to what his brother was in arms; he was blind in his right eye, and in his right hand he was holding his ‘medicine fire,’ and his ‘sacred string of beads’ in the other. With these mysteries he made his way through most of the North Western tribes, enlisting warriors wherever he went, to assist Tecumseh in effecting his great scheme, of forming a confederacy of all the Indians on the frontier, to drive back the whites and defend the Indians’ rights; which he told them could never in any other way be protected . . . [he] had actually enlisted some eight or ten thousand, who were sworn to follow him home; and in a few days would have been on their way with him, had not a couple of his political enemies from his own tribe... defeated his plans, by pronouncing him an imposter . . . This, no doubt, has been a very shrewd and influential man, but circumstances have destroyed him . . . and he now lives respected, but silent and melancholy in his tribe.” Records show that the Prophet was living west of the Mississippi by 1830, which suggests that Catlin painted this portrait at Fort Leavenworth (in today’s Kansas) on his earliest journey to the West. (Catlin, Letters and Notes, vol. 2, no. 49, 1841, reprint 1973; Truettner, The Natural Man Observed, 1979)

[loscerritoscommunitynews]

Woman Warrior Honors ‘The Six Triple Eight’  and Veterans During Black History Month

The 6888 monument in the Buffalo Soldier Military Park at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas a and consist of a 25-inch Bronze bust of the unit’s Commanding Officer, LTC Charity Adams (Earley), eight black granite panels highlighting the unit’s lineage, historical information and key unit pictures. February 5, 2024 By Laurie Hanson During Black History Month, Keshia Javis-Jones is inspiring others to…

[lboogie1906]

Master Sergeant William Jones (July 15, 1918 - December 3, 2009) one of the last Buffalo Soldiers, was an Army Master Sergeant, Prisoner of War in Korea, and successful entrepreneur. He was born in Tamo, Arkansas to farmers Joseph and Elizabeth Jones, the youngest of seven children.

He grew up in Kansas and attended the “colored school” in Coffeyville, Kansas. On March 5, 1941, he enlisted in the Army at Fort Leavenworth. He was assigned to the 10th Calvary in Fort Riley, becoming part of the last generation of buffalo soldiers.

In 1943, the 9th and 10th Calvary were integrated into the Army Air Corps with the mission of building airstrips in North Africa and Italy for B-17 bombers. Beginning in March 1944, He was assigned to Casablanca, Morocco, and later Naples, Italy.

He was deployed to Manila, where he built airstrips for B-17 bombers to fly deep strikes into Japan. Before his unit became fully operational, atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan ending WWII.

He was assigned to Fort Lawton and his all-Black unit was designated the 503rd Field Artillery with the 2nd Infantry Division. The unit deployed to Pusan, Korea on August 3, 1950, after the start of the Korean conflict. They were overrun by Communist Chinese forces and he was captured and held in the Pyok-Dong POW camp. For three years he survived horrendous conditions that saw eight to ten captives die each night. He was released on September 5, 1953, at the end of the Conflict, and returned to Tacoma as a hero.

He was assigned to the 546th Field Artillery Battalion at Fort Lewis. After 20 years of military service, he retired as a Master Sergeant in El Paso. He was a truck driver, artillery mechanic, supply clerk, and marksman/ sharpshooter.

He started a thriving recycling and vintage antique business in Tacoma. To keep the memory of pioneering Black soldiers alive, he opened the Ninth and Tenth (Horse) Cavalry Museum in Tacoma.

He lived in Tacoma for 55 years, with his wife Hannah, who died in 1972. He was survived by his four children. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence