Established on Oct. 22, 1859 as Camp on the Pawnee Fork, it was renamed Camp Alert on Feb. 1, 1860, and became Fort Larned on June 1, 1860 in honor of Col. B. F. Larned, Paymaster General of the United States Army. It was abandoned in 1878, sold on Mar. 13, 1884 to the Pawnee Valley Stock Breeders Association, and purchased on June 28, 1902 by E. E. Frizell, who established Fort Larned Ranch.