![]() The campaign proved inconclusive, but resulted in Custer’s court martial and suspension from the Army for one year, in part for returning to Fort Riley to see his wife without permission. The following spring, Custer and the 7th left Fort Riley to participate in a campaign on the high plains of western Kansas and eastern Colorado. ![]() Custer arrived in December to take charge of the new regiment. Evidence of this occurred in the summer and fall of 1866 when the 7th Cavalry Regiment was mustered-in at Riley and the Union Pacific Railroad reached the fort. The conclusion of the Civil War in 1865 witnessed Fort Riley again assuming an importance in providing protection to railroad lines being built across Kansas. In the early stages of the war, the fort was used to confine confederate prisoners. Regular units returned east to participate in the Civil War while militia units from Kansas and other states used Fort Riley as a base from which to launch campaigns to show the flag and offer a degree of protection to trading caravans using the Santa Fe Trail. The outbreak of hostilities between the North and South in 1861 disrupted garrison life. They also continued to guard and patrol the Santa Fe Trail in 18 due to increased Indian threats. Increased tension and bloodshed between pro and anti-slavery settlers resulted in the use of the Army to "police" the troubled territory. The seeds of sectional discord were emerging that would lead to "Bleeding Kansas" and eventually, civil war. Slavery was a fact of life and an issue within the garrison just as it was in the rest of the country. The first territorial legislature met there in July 1855. Work gradually resumed and buildings were readied for the arrival in October of the 2nd Dragoons.Īs the fort began to take shape, an issue soon to dominate the national scene - states rights and slavery were debated during the brief territorial legislative session which met at Pawnee in the present area of Camp Whitside. The epidemic lasted only a few days but claimed 70 lives, including Ogden's. Work had progressed several weeks when cholera broke out among the workers. Ogden again marshaled resources and arrived from Leavenworth in July with 56 mule teams loaded with materials, craftsmen and laborers. Edmund Ogden.Īnticipating greater utilization of the post, Congress authorized appropriations in the spring of 1855 to provide additional quarters and stables for the Dragoons. At the fort, additional buildings were constructed under the supervision of Capt. The following spring, troops were dispatched to escort mail trains and protect travel routes across the plains. The fort's design followed the standard frontier post configuration: buildings were constructed of the most readily available material - in this case, native limestone. The "fort" took shape around a broad plain that overlooked the Kansas River valley. Riley who had led the first military escort along the Santa Fe Trail in 1829. ![]() On June 27, 1853, Camp Center became Fort Riley - named in honor of Maj. During the late spring, three companies of the 6th Infantry occupied the camp and began construction of temporary quarters. ![]() Surveyors believed the location to be near the center of the United States and named the site, Camp Center. This location, approved by the War Department in January 1853, offered an advantageous location from which to organize, train and equip troops in protecting the overland trails. Dragoons, selected the junction of the Republican and Smoky Hill Rivers as a site for one of these forts. Fort Riley has always had an important role in the defense of our nation and the training of our Soldiers. In the fall of 1852, a survey party under the command of Capt. These routes, a result of the United States perceived "manifest destiny" in the middle of the 19th century, extended American domination and interests into far reaches of a largely unsettled territory. During the 1850s, a number of military posts were established at strategic points to provide protection for the movement of people and trade over the Oregon-California and Santa Fe Trails. ![]()
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