The commanding officer's quarters was one of the last stone structures to be built. In the years before it was completed the officer and his family lived near the river in a four-room dugout, three feet below ground and four feet above.

The houses are more picturesque than elegant. We are living somewhat in the manner of prairie dogs.
Mrs. Henry T. Douglas
February 3, 1867

This one-and-a-half story building contains a spacious center hall with two large rooms on each side. The attached kitchen forms an ell. The lower level was heated with fireplaces. The upper story has four rooms with windows which may have served as gun ports and can be seen just above the porch line. The frame building on the right, built in the early 1870's, was an officers' quarters and its twin once stood to the left of the stone house.

The stone building has been called Custer House for many years. Although Brevet Major General George A. Custer never was stationed at Fort Dodge he did lead the Seventh Cavalry from here to the Battle of the Washita.

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Show me all markers in:  Fort Dodge, KS  |  Ford County  |  67843  |  Kansas  |  United States of America

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