An old brick

From the Facebook "Odebolt Community News" page, August 22, 2016

Jayne Humphrey Pearce posted:
Hello, I am with the Fort Wallace Museum located in Wallace, Kansas. We tell the story of this frontier fort that was very important to the history of the Smoky Hill Trail and the early Indian Wars. This fort was staffed by troops of the 7th Cavalry, 10th Cavalry, 3rd Infantry and 2nd Infantry from 1865 through 1883.

We recently built a facade to represent one of the original enlisted barracks of Fort Wallace, using salvaged stone once used on the Fort. On one of the stones is the name "A.K. Anderson Odebolt, Ia." I was delighted to find your town online and thought you would enjoy the sight of this lonely soldier's name and the name of his hometown! Does this name ring a bell? Are there any descendants of this man in Odebolt?

(Editor: A search of on-line resources, online Odebolt newspaper archives, and the Odebolt Cemetery did not find this name. It could be that he lived in Odebolt for a time and then moved on. He must have signed the brick sometime before 1882 - see below)

From Wikipedia:
Fort Wallace (ca. 1865–1882) was a US Cavalry fort built in Wallace County, Kansas to help defend settlers against Cheyenne and Sioux raids. All that remains today is the cemetery, but for a period of over a decade Fort Wallace was one of the most important military outposts on the frontier.

I believe this is the facade referred to in the facebook post. (from www.ftwallace.com/)

Click photo to enlarge it