Note 206 — TRAVELS IN THE INTERIOR OF NORTH AMERICA, IN THE YEARS 1832, 1833, AND 1834 (continued 4)

Fort Leavenworth was founded to supersede two smaller posts—Forts Osage and Atkinson—the latter near Council Bluffs. The site was chosen because of the increasing interest in the Santa Fé trade, and because of the removal of large tribes of Indians west of the Missouri border. On March 7, 1827, Colonel Henry Leavenworth was ordered to proceed from Jefferson Barracks and choose the site for an establishment on the left bank of the Missouri, within twenty miles of the mouth of Little Platte. He selected instead Rattlesnake Hills on the right bank, a site later approved by the government. Fort Leavenworth has been an important military post throughout the history of the West. It was called Leavenworth Cantonment until the name was officially changed to "Fort," about 1832.

For Major Bennett Riley see our volume xix, p. 185, note 25 (Gregg).—Ed.