FORT LARNED – Home is where the heart is, or in the case of soldiers, where you eat and sleep. Come out to the 2019 Candlelight Tour at Fort Larned and learn about daily life on a frontier Army post. 

For most people, thoughts of home usually conjure up pictures of comfort, safety and good home-cooked meals. The frontier army posts where soldiers served during the Indian Wars were both their home and their work space. For them, their home was not necessarily cozy and comfortable. Accommodations were often substandard, the food was not always palatable, and punishment for breaking the rules could be harsh.

This year, Fort Larned’s Candlelight Tour, “The Army Called it Home,” explores several aspects of daily life on a frontier military post. The scenes will cover things like the bad food that soldiers were often served, the severe punishments they received for stepping out of line, as well as new arrivals trying to get their bearings in a vastly different living environment than they were used to.

The tour will be on October 12th with reservations beginning on September 30th at 8:30 am. You may make reservations in person at the Fort Larned Visitor Center or by phone at 620-285-6911. The first tour will leave at 7:30 pm and then every 15 minutes after that until the last tour leaves at 10:15 pm for a total of 12 tours. Each tour has space for 20 people and reservations will be taken on a first come, first served basis.

Fort Larned National Historic Site is located six miles west of Larned on Kansas Highway 156. Information on visiting is on the internet at www.nps.gov/fols, or by calling 620-285-6911, or email to fols_superintendent@nps.gov. For information on area tourism partners, lodging, dining, and community services go to www.larnedks.org or call (620) 285-6916.