• Fort Parade Ground and Officers Quarters as seen from
Guardhouse      Fort Scott National Historic Site      National
Historic Site Kansas  Quartermaster-Supplies and Transportation
Supply Wagons Arriving at the Fort  Supplies could not move
efficiently when there were no roads; and the Quartermaster
quickly found himself accountable for maintaining sections of
the military road which connected Fort Leavenworth and Fort
Gibson. With so much material being hauled overland, Swords was
diligent in repairing the roads over which his equipment and
supplies could be moved, but the elements sometimes were against
him.  Repairing the Washed Out Bridge  The spring and summer of
1844 were rainy and the roads became quagmires. The rivers,
higher than had been known before, tore away the bridges that
forded them. The military road to Fort Leavenworth, completed to
Spring River for a distance of 170 miles, crossed a number of
rivers and streams. Most of the bridges were carried away or
were so badly damaged as to be un