Editing Fort Scott, Kansas (section)

==History==
{{See also|History of Kansas}}
{{More citations needed|section|date=July 2023}}
Established and garrisoned by the [[U.S. Army]] from 1842 to 1853, soldiers at military [[Fort Scott National Historic Site|Fort Scott]] assisted with the protection of the Permanent Indian Frontier. After the army abandoned the fort in 1853, the buildings were purchased by local settlers at a government auction in 1855. The community of Fort Scott was laid out in 1857,<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_5zdAAQAAMAAJ | title=Biennial Report of the Board of Directors of the Kansas State Historical Society | publisher=Kansas State Printing Plant | author=Kansas State Historical Society | year=1916 | page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_5zdAAQAAMAAJ/page/n254 147]}}</ref> and was chartered as a city in 1860.<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Fort Scott|volume=10|page=726}}</ref>

Between 1855 and 1861, the citizens of Fort Scott experienced the violent unrest that preceded the [[American Civil War]] on the Kansas and Missouri border. Eastern newspapers described this violence as "[[Bleeding Kansas]]", a result of the national controversy concerning the extension of slavery into the new territories. On January 29, 1861, [[Kansas]] entered the union as a free state, but the turmoil of "[[Bleeding Kansas]]" continued throughout the Civil War.

During the Civil War, Fort Scott was a U.S. Army district Headquarters, quartermaster supply depot, training center, and recruitment station. It was strategically vital to the defense of Kansas and the Midwest. A battle over the fort occurred in August 1861 just across the Missouri line in the [[Battle of Dry Wood Creek]]. The battle was a pro-South victory for [[Sterling Price]] and his [[Missouri State Guard]].

Price did not hold the fort and instead continued a northern push into Missouri in an attempt to recapture the state. [[James H. Lane (Senator)|Senator James H. Lane]] was to launch a [[Jayhawker]] offensive behind Price from Fort Scott that led to the [[Sacking of Osceola]].  The ill will of these actions was to be the basis for the 1976 [[Clint Eastwood]] film ''[[The Outlaw Josey Wales]]''.

After the Civil War, Fort Scott was a premier city of the frontier, one of the largest cities in eastern Kansas. On three occasions, between 1870 and 1900, Fort Scott was in competition with [[Kansas City, Kansas|Kansas City]] to become the largest railroad center west of the Mississippi.<ref>Banwart, Donald B. "Rails, Rivalry and Romance." ({{ISBN|0960156836}})</ref>

During the first half of the 20th century, Fort Scott became an agricultural and small industrial center which it continues to be today.

===Downtown fire===
{{stack|[[File:Fort Scott Fire.JPG|thumb|right|Downtown Fort Scott Fire (2005)]]}}
On March 11, 2005, a fire destroyed several historic buildings in Fort Scott's downtown. The Victorian-era buildings were among many that are a symbol of the town.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.wibw.com/home/headlines/1359527.html|title=Fire destroys downtown Fort Scott buildings|access-date=November 9, 2011|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304081739/http://www.wibw.com/home/headlines/1359527.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>