Fort Leavenworth, Kansas is arguably most famous – even infamous to some – for being the home to the U.S. Military Corrections Complex, but that is really just one small facet of this Army installation, which actually dates back to 1827. In fact the prison, which does consist of the United States Disciplinary Barracks (the Department of Defense’s only maximum security prison) actually only dates back to 1874.
By that time Fort Leavenworth had already become an important part of America’s move westward. Today, the fort is the oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C. and it is also the oldest permanent settlement in Kansas. It was the home to the United States’ original so-called “Buffalo Soldiers,” the segregated African-American 10th Cavalry Regiment, which saw combat
