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Fort Riley A Great Military Camp
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OFFICERS QUARTERS AT FORT RILEY. ADMINISTRATION BUILDING WITH TOWER.
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MONUMENT TO THE SEVENTH CAV
ALRY DEAD AT FORT RILEY.
HE autumn army maneuvers now
in progress at Fort Riley, Kan.,
and which will continue until the;
last of October, has brought to-!
getlier the largest body of mill-'
tary forces ever assembled in the west. As
a consequence all eyes are directed toward
this military post, which Is the second'
largest in the United States, and Is ex
celled in beauty and dimensions by few
military establishments In the world.
Fort Riley is located on a commanding
bluff, or series of bluffs, overlooking the
Junction of the Smoky Hill and Republican
rivers, which here form the Kansas river,
and four miles northeast of the town of
Junction City, Kan., and i3 very nearly in
the geographical center of the continental
United States.
The post was first established In the year
1852, in the then Territory of Nebraska.
The establishment of the post at this point
was for two reasons; First, for the protec
tion of emigrants to the Pacific coast, the
trails to New Mexico, California and Oregon
converging at this point; second, for the
moral effect on the powerful Indian trlbe-i
who then Inhabited that portion of the
west. Troops could take the field from a
month to six weeks earlier in the spiin
and remain in the field for the same period
later than from Fort Leavenworth. The
site was selected by a board of officer. ap
pointed September 21, 1852, by the secretary
of war, and the building of the post began
In the following March and was named
Camp Center, because of being near tho
geographical renter of the United Stales.
Pursuant with general orJers No. 17, War
department, A. O. O., dated June 17, I1"!,
the name was changed to Fort Riley, in
honor of Brevet Major General Dennett
Riley, colonel of the First Infantry, who
died June 9, 1853.
Major K. A. Ogden, quartermaster, es
corted by Troop D. First dragoons, under
Major Chilton, proceeded from Fort Leaven
worth to the new post at Camp Center,
With orders to erect thu necessary huiMlngs
and some temporary buildings were erected
In 1S53 and 1854. the original plan being for
an eight-company post. Five hundred
laborers were brought from Fort Leaven
worth by wagon and work begun in July,
1SS5.
The troop were sent out on a summer
campaign, leaving at the post only Majiir
Ogden. Surgeon Simmons, Chaplain Clark
son. Bandmaster Jackson, Wagonmastor P.
sir
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ARTILLERY BARRACKS AT FORT It I LEY, LOOKING EAST. WATER WORKS IN FOREGROUND.
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DEPOT OP TTTE UNION PACIFIC AT FORT RI LET.
G. Lowe, the hospital steward and a few
of the band of the Sixth infantry. On
August 1, 1SHS. cholera broke out and a
panic among the workmen ensued. Major
Ogden was taken down with the scourge on
the id and died the following day. The dis
ease ran its course in six days, during
which time there were nearly lot) deaths.
The workmen became unmanageable and
demanded their pay. There was no one to
pay them and the money was locked in the
uaft. A guns? of laborers broke Into the
sutler's store, rolled out a barrel of whisky,
knocked in the head and helped themselves
with tin cups until they became very much
intoxicated Hnd mutinou". They then broke
into the ordnance storehouse, armed them
selves end threatened to break into the safe
and ta!;e their pay. They were about to
make the attack, when Wagoninasier
Lowe rode Into the post from the ramp on
the Republican. The leader of the mob
threatened Lowe with a revolver. Lown
knocked him down and held a revoh er on
him until he begged for bis life. The panic
was thus allayed and the various trades
organized Into squads to pieservw order
when the work of construction waa re
sumed. The post as completed under Major fig.
den's orders remained practically the same
until 1SS5, and was much smaller than at
present, and was built in the form of a rec
ta !itle.
The plan of the present post begin to
take form about and was prepared by
and under the direction of Colonel George
E. Pond, assistant quartermaster general,
who was selected for the duty by General
P. H. Sheridan. Colonel Pond was spnt to
Fort Riley In 1SS5 and remained In charge
of the work until 1891. expending moro than
fl.ooo.ooo in the work of construction. In
addition to the plans of the post he pre
pared the plans for the waterworks, the
sewerage system, the beautiful roads on the
reservation and through the post, and uho
the splendid steel bridge which spans the
Republican river.
Thc present reservation contains 1!,W9
acres uud l.i about cltiht miles in Its great
est length and fdx miles in Its greatest
breadth. Ill ISC i.) acres cf !ai:d belong
ing to the reservation, lying between the
two rivers nnd Junction City, were t;lven
to a local cointMtny for the building of a
bridge, across tho Republican river. The
bridge fell Into the river before it had been
used, but tho company retained possession
of the land. The bridge w.ir. finally built
by the government In lss3. There ure three
regular drill grounds on the reservation,
each compritlng or 4,000 acre hi. They
are known rc spectivel v as Smoky Hill Flat,
Republican F at and Pawnee Flat. n this
latter Is the target rangn which lias a limit
of l.KM ards. North of the post alio it a
mil- and a quarter, alcn' the Kansas river,
and closely shut in by bluffs, is the drill
ground known as Pawnee Flat. This was
tlie site of l'anre City, the original capital
of the Territory of Kansas. Two ruined
stone buildings still remain to mark the
spot; tho larger nnd better preserved one
being the eapitol building, where met .the
first legislature of Kansas, July 2, 1S55.
Junction City, the nearest Uiwn, is about
four mi I us southwest of the post and U
connected by an electric car line. Cars
run every hour during the day and every
half hour from 6, no p. in. until midnight.
Fort Riley was originally constructed as
an exclusively cavalry iost, although at
tlmeo battel Ics of artillery have been sta
tioned there. In W7 It was decided to add
artl'lery barracks to t tie post, and the fort
now virtually coni rises two posts, one for
cavalry, with uccinnmodutlous for twelve
companies, and one for live batteries of
field artillery.
A magnillcent stone riding school lOfix.'tOO
feet has been built and is one of the tine.-t
buildings of Its kind in t li s world. Tho
old post consisted almo.-t entirely of frame
buildings. The present post, with the ex
ception of the in iicomini.-Hloned staff quar
ters, both frame buildings, Is built entirely
of i.tone, with slate or tin roofs.
On a high eminence ovcr'ooklng the Mit
Is a monument erected to the memory of
Major Ogden. It is surroundod by a neat
iron fence and the shaft, which i twelve
feet high, is suitably Inscribe d in memory
of the dead founder of the post. The body
of .Major Ogden was some ye-ars after his
ile:, ill disinterred and now lies buried at
his old home In I'mtililla, N. V.
Fort Riley was for some years the sta
tion of tho Seventh United States cavalry
and there was erected then at tho head ot
Sheridan avenue a handsome granite monu
ment to the memory of the officers and soU
dlcr.4 of that regiment who lost their Uvea
In the battle of Wou tided Knee. The mon
ument with its pedtwtal is about twenty
fivg feet in height.