It's been...

...a while, 143 years in fact,
the Santa Fe Trail needed to be intact;
so the Army founded, in this Kansas town,
Fort Larned, the new post in town.

That square blockhouse in the photo above,
was the only protection, for those the soldiers love;
there were no stockade fences, or even barbed wire,
hunker down in the slots, and the leader yells, "fire".

Here we see the tools of the Horse Soldiers trade,
these were tough times, there was no time to fade;
keep the horses in shape, go and ride the trail,
watch the cattle drives, this is no time to fail.

This is the Livery, built in eighteen sixty-seven,
and as far a horses go, it might have seemed like heaven;
horses were important, both to ride and to haul,
and an occasional mule, might receive the call.

This is the U S Army, 10th Calvary, shown here,
"Buffalo Soldiers", men who did not fear...
..the racial intolerance, because they were black,
in the post-Civil War days, they had to watch their back.

This Fort Larned National Historic Site,
the best preserved post, of the Army's fight,
to protect the cattle drive, and the movement west,
as the country grew, they did what they thought best.

There are many lessons, that we can learn,
visit the site, http://www.nps.gov/, and you can earn...
...much more information about our National sites,
it's better than saying "nothing to do, that bites!".

There is also a lesson that we can gain,
skin color shouldn't matter, it only causes pain,
white, black, yellow or red, we can get along,
if we band together, only then are we strong.

Giddy up!!