Kansas Forts & Bases: Sentinels on the Prairie by Debra Goodrich Bisel and Michelle M. Martin

Explore the forts, military posts, airfields, and defense installations that helped shape Kansas and protect the nation. In Kansas Forts & Bases: Sentinels on the Prairie, historians Debra Goodrich Bisel and Michelle M. Martin trace the state’s military history from early European exploration through the Cold War and modern era.

Featuring 58 historical images, this illustrated guide reveals how the military presence on the Kansas prairie influenced settlement, transportation, conflict, and the development of the Sunflower State.

Explore Kansas Military History

Kansas may be closely associated with quiet farms and open prairie, but the state has also played an important role in American military history. Its strategic location placed Kansas forts and bases at the center of westward expansion, territorial conflict, national defense, and military training.

Beginning with Fort de Cavagnial in 1744 and continuing through abandoned Cold War missile fields, the authors provide an engaging guide to military sites located throughout Kansas.

Historical Periods Covered

• Early European exploration

• Territorial Kansas and westward expansion

• Bleeding Kansas

• The American Civil War

• The Plains Indian Wars

• Frontier forts and military posts

• World War I and World War II

• Military airfields and training bases

• Cold War defense installations

• Decommissioned missile-silo fields

• Kansas military history in the modern era

Product Features

• Comprehensive guide to forts and military bases across Kansas

• Written by historians Debra Goodrich Bisel and Michelle M. Martin

• Features 58 historical images

• Covers more than two centuries of military history

• Includes active, abandoned, and historic military locations

• Combines state, local, frontier, and national-defense history

• Illustrated paperback format

• Excellent reference for researchers and travelers

About the Authors

Debra Goodrich Bisel is a historian, freelance journalist, documentary contributor, and public speaker. She has served as president of the Shawnee County Historical Society and co-president of the Civil War Roundtable of Eastern Kansas.

Michelle M. Martin is a historian and living-history interpreter who has taught at Pittsburg State University, Baker University, Fort Scott Community College, and Rogers State University. She has also served as director and historian of the Little House on the Prairie Museum near Independence, Kansas.

Specifications

• Title: Kansas Forts & Bases

• Subtitle: Sentinels on the Prairie

• Authors: Debra Goodrich Bisel and Michelle M. Martin

• Publisher: The History Press

• Format: Paperback

• Publication Date: February 19, 2013

• Page Count: 144 pages

• Image Count: 58

• Dimensions: 6 inches wide x 9 inches high

• Language: English

• Geographic Focus: Kansas

• Subject: Kansas military and regional history

• Paperback ISBN: 9781609498269

• SKU: AP8269

Ideal For

• Kansas history enthusiasts

• Military-history readers

• Researchers and genealogists

• Travelers visiting Kansas historic sites

• Frontier and Old West enthusiasts

• Civil War and Plains Indian Wars researchers

• Veterans, service members, and military families

• Metal detectorists researching historic activity

• Collectors of regional history books

Kansas Forts & Bases: Sentinels on the Prairie provides a fascinating look at the military sites that stood watch over the prairie and helped shape the history of Kansas and the United States.

These books are packed with images and stories about the history in this area.  They are perfect for research or just a good read.  

The relationship between Kansas and the science of war is ingrained, consistent and evident, yet it seems antithetical to the quiet, conservative farmer who is the quintessential image of the state. It is not. The same values created both, and both created Kansas. From early exploration of America, Bleeding Kansas, the Civil War and the Plains Indian wars to the world wars and the modern era, the forts and bases of the Sunflower State have been central to America's defense. Beginning with Fort de Cavagnial in 1744 through to the defunct fields of Cold War missile silos, historians Debra Goodrich Bisel and Michelle M. Martin provide a guide to the forts and posts throughout Kansas.

About the Author:

Deb Goodrich Bisel is president of the Shawnee County Historical Society and co-president of the Civil War Roundtable of Eastern Kansas. A freelance journalist and historian, she has appeared on numerous documentaries, has spoken to hundreds of groups around the nation and is a frequent talk-radio guest. Michelle M. Martin is a widely sought-after living history interpreter. She has taught history at Pittsburg State University, Baker University and Fort Scott Community College in Kansas and is currently on the faculty at Rogers State University. Martin is the Director/Historian of the Little House on the Prairie Museum near Independence, KS.

Book Details

ISBN: 9781609498269
FORMAT: Paperback
PUBLISHER: The History Press
DATE: 2/19/2013
STATE: Kansas
IMAGES: 58
PAGES: 144
DIMENSIONS: 6 (w) x 9 (h)