This black coat or jacket button was recovered from Fort Zarah. The button back advertises the "NOVELTY RUBBER CO. GOODYEAR'S PATENT 1851." This is the mark of the Novelty Rubber Company that manufactured hard rubber buttons using Goodyear's 1851 patent. This type of buttons was made between 1853 and 1872. The buttons were excavated during the 1969 Kansas Archeological Training Program field school, a joint project undertaken by Kansas Historical Society archeologists and Kansas Anthropological Association volunteers. Fort Zarah was a small outpost on the Santa Fe trail in Barton County manned between 1864 to 1869.
Kansas Memory
Kansas Historical Society
Novelty Rubber Company Button from Fort Zarah, 14BT301 - 2