Fort Bissell By Sharon Black

Fort Bissell Drawing

Brenda McCrary and I, representing the Smith County Historical Society,toured Fort Bissell in Phillipsburg, Kansas. Ruby Ras Wiehman curator, who has an interesting life story about immigrating from South Africa to the United States, met in the newest museum building.

The fort was built by civilians, not by the military, she explained. It was a place for the settlers to escape to when there was danger from the natives.

Ruby had attended the Smith County Historical Museum breakfast fundraiser the week before and visited Kanza House Library and Museum in Lebanon a couple of weeks ago.

Brenda wanted ideas for display that could be incorporated into the Smith County Historical Museum.

Philips County also has an interesting history of each town in the county being named and established by settlers. Glade, Kansas was once called Marvin.

Phillipsburg had a woman doctor, who wrote “How To Sleep on a Windy Night” by Dr. Mary Townsend-Glassen, M.D. After medical school which was difficult then for a woman to enroll, returned to Phillipsburg during the Dustbowl days, and practiced medicine. The page of the book open in the museum was to the photo of she and “Festus” Ken Curtis, who came to Kansas for the Phillips County Rodeo, sometimes with other actors on “Gunsmoke“, a popular long-running television drama taking place in Dodge City, Kansas, and other “mountainous areas in Kansas.”

Civil War cap

Also on the grounds is a sod house built by high school students, a log cabin, and the Glade/Marvin train depot.

Buffalo Bill Cody made his appearance in Phillips County while hunting buffalo.

Fort Bissell has a new church on the premises as well.

Keeping an historical society or museum going requires a special knack. Once it is gone or the town’s newspaper quits, there goes the town’s history. One doesn’t throw away family pictures, so why should the town’s history be left in a drawer.

Volunteer. Donate. Visit.

More on Kansas

: Festus and Dr. Mary

: Fort Bissell Drawing

: Tramp Art from the 1920s

: Home on properties

: Civil War cap

: Fort Bissell Entry

Sharon Black

Sharon Black has been writing for many years including newspapers, short stories, and as a publisher. She was born in Nebraska and has lived in Kansas most of her life. In her hometown of Smith Center, Kansas, Willa Cather’s hometown is to the north and Bob Dole’s hometown is to the south. Sharon is a press release writer for the National Parks Arts Foundation and writes for b U n e k e magazine. The biggest project she has accomplished is the co-writer of the TV movie Home on the Range. The movie is about the song, which is the state song of Kansas and the lawsuit surrounding it in the 1930s and finding the rightful author of the song. Sharon is distantly related to the Mississippi writer Eudora Welty.

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