History

Established in 1842, the fort has witnessed its share of human tragedy so perhaps it is not surprising that paranormal activity is associated with this site.  Of the 17 deaths recorded at the fort, one drowned, one froze to death, one died of intoxication, two died of gunshot wounds and one was stabbed and beaten to death. Others died of various diseases.

The building next to the officer’s quarters once served as the Free State Hotel (building on the right in photo) and was the scene of a fatal shooting in December, 1858. Part of the building was being used as a general store known as Little & Son and was occupied by the Little family.  Around 6 or 7 o’clock on the morning of December 16^th, U.S. Marshall John Little and George Crawford were sleeping in the store when they were disturbed by the noise of an armed mob.

This incident was part of the border troubles period also known as ‘Bleeding Kansas’ when there were several violent skirmishes between the ‘Free State’ and pro-slavery factions in the area. These 'Free-staters' had come to rescue one of their members Benjamin Rice who had been arrested for murder and was being held in custody at the Hotel. Alerted, Mr Little grabbed his gun, opened the front door of his store and seeing an armed mob, shot at them.  One of the mob fired back but hit the door. Mr Little quickly locked the front door and went to the side door. He stood on a box to look through the window above the door and took out his handkerchief to clean the dusty window. One of the mob standing at the corner of the building fired at the moving handkerchief. The bullet struck Little in the forehead and he dropped to the floor. Within a few minutes, he was dead.

Murder in the Stables

On March 18th, 1846 while former Corporal Nehemiah Evans was in the stables (left foreground), some drunken soldier entered and discharged his pistol, the buck and ball hit Evans killing him instantly. Charles Bacon, Private, Company A, 1st Dragoons, was accused of the murder and committed for trial.

Soldiers Lynched by Town Mob

In the spring of 1862, two soldiers raped a girl, reportedly while her mother watched. A mob of angry citizens took them from the guardhouse (right) and hanged them before they could be brought to trial. (source: Fort Scott on the Indian Frontier, Leo E. Oiva)

Prisoners Lynched by Mob
In March, 1899 Leopold Butler was murdered just outside Fort Scott. Amos Phillips and brothers Edward and George Silsbee were accused of the murder and taken to the jail in Fort Scott. After learning of the murder, a crowd of Fort Scott citizens broke down the door of the jail, took the two Silsbee brothers out of their cell and hanged them on the trees in front of the jail. (source:“The Public”, April 8th, 1899). Note: the original guardhouse was torn down in 1906 and replaced with a modern city jail and police station.