Fort Mann.—Just when and by whom this old fort was founded is largely a matter of conjecture. It is supposed to have been established about 1845, as a part of Gilpin's battalion was quartered there in 1847-48. R. M. Wright, in an address before the Kansas Historical Society on Jan. 15, 1901, said: "At this side of Point of Rocks, 8 miles west of Dodge City, used to be the remains of an old adobe fort. Some called it fort Mann, others Fort Atkinson." Mr. Wright said further: There was some inquiry made from Washington about Fort Mann, about thirty years ago, and I remember going with an escort, and, on the sloping hillside north of the fort, finding three or four graves. Of these, one was that of an officer and the others of enlisted men; also two lime-kilns in excellent condition and a well defined road leading to Sawlog. In fact the road was as large as the Santa Fe trail, showing that they must have hauled considerable wood over it. This leads me to believe that the fort had been occupied by a large garrison."

Mr. Wright's address was delivered in 1901. The inquiries from Washington he refers to must therefore have been made early in the '70s. If Fort Atkinson (q. v.), which was abandoned in 1854, occupied the same site as old Fort Mann, the ruins of the adobe fort mentioned by him may have been those of Fort Atkinson. Marcy's book, "The Prairie Traveler," published by authority of the United States war department in 1859, says Fort Mann was situated near the Arkansas river, on the route from Fort Leavenworth to Santa Fe, about 359 miles from Fort Leavenworth and 423 miles from Santa Fe.