No Fooling! Not So Happy Trails

This year, April Fools is on the same day as one of my normal posts, so while it isn't a bonus this time, it IS a No Fooling post.😀

Inside the visitor center is a pretty extensive museum. In this layout, I focus on 2 groups who were key to the history of Fort Larned, but both of whom were treated rather poorly. The Buffalo Soldiers were stationed at Fort Larned for a time, though eventually, they were moved farther west. Their presence was not appreciated by the white soldiers, and frequent bullying and fighting erupted. Additionally, the Native Americans were forced off their lands, and skirmishes occurred frequently related to raids on the Santa Fe Trail wagon trains or to misunderstandings between the Fort commanders and the Tribes. I was impressed with the technology in the museum. The photos below show a hologram inside of the teepee. She recounted stories of her history for the visitors.

This layout was made during one of my Saturday morning classes. It is another 1-2-3 sketch from Noreen Smith, but it is from a class where I cannot share the sketch with you. This is one sheet of double-sided paper. I chose this paper from the Wide Open Spaces collection as I liked the diamond pattern side and wanted that for the Native American portion of the layout. I liked that I could alternate the prominent patterns on each page with this sketch. That way, the Buffalo Soldiers in their blue Union Cavalry uniforms would be on the blue plaid side. Additional embellishments came from Close to My Heart (the Rough and Tough title) and another sheet of stickers I had purchased with Native American themes. 

But There's No Wall!

My next stop in Kansas was Fort Larned. I liked their entry sign area, which had metal silhouettes of soldiers. What is unusual about this Fort is that it never had an exterior wall. Think of it more like a base than an area for defense. The barracks here helped protect and police the traffic along the Santa Fe trail and work with the Native Americans in the area. The buildings are now made of beautiful brownstones. Originally, they were all wooden structures, but to preserve the fort, they switched to stones. The porticos came in handy as it was a bit drizzly during my visit. 

I made this layout as part of one of my Saturday morning classes. It uses a 1-2-3 sketch from Noreen Smith. Unfortunately, I cannot post it here since it was part of a class I purchased. I wanted to highlight the brownstones, so I looked for a similar paper. I didn't have anything in stone or brick that I liked, but the brown and stripe paper I used was an almost perfect match. It came from the Keep the Faith pack, which is usually more appropriate for churches. The borders on the right came from the Wide Open Spaces collection, and so did the journal box. The remaining embellishments were from an older Close To My Heart kit. The stickers are foil and a little delicate. If you don't handle them right, they will tear as you try to remove them from the backing paper.

I had a few additional photos, and since I wanted to highlight the Santa Fe Trail connection, I used an 8 1/2 x 11 pocket. This is the front side. I chose a similarly toned brown paper and added it across the middle to match the 12x12 pages. I used a few random saddle and bridle stickers to represent the trail.

On the back of the pocket, I added 2 more photos of the Fort with a wide-angle look. This page has additional stickers from the CTMH pack.