For the most part, the "fort" was still just a bivouac of hundreds of tents in the late summer of 1867 when it became the center of a war with the plains tribes over the construction of the Kansas Pacific Railway parallel to the trail.
For the most part, the "fort" remained a temporary base of hundreds of tents in late summer 1867, but it gained significance as the center of a conflict with Native American tribes over the Kansas Pacific Railway's route, which paralleled an existing trail used by traders and travelers.