In January 1867, Fort Harker was relocated approximately three-quarters mile east of the old location to an open prairie about one mile north of the Smoky Hill river. This new location featured a "large, well-equipped" hospital," which housed those were ill. The hospital was surely busy, as about 200 people died in 1867 from cholera in and around the Fort Harker area. < For the next five years, Fort Harker became one of the most important military stations west of the Missouri River.the Guardhouse national register nomination It used 700 soldiers and twice as many civilian employees, as well as 400 horses and mules. Additionally, the mail to all military posts down the Arkansas river, as well as many posts in Colorado and New Mexico, was supplied from Fort Harker.