Historical Kansas (West Bound) # 98
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 39° 04.015 W 096° 37.319
14S E 705735 N 4326893
Historical marker located in rest area on I-70 westbound at mile 310.
Waymark Code: WM1ZJ2
Location: Kansas, United States
Date Posted: 08/09/2007
Views: 73
Seven miles ahead you will drive through the southern edge of Fort Riley,
established as Camp Center in 1852. The fort was visited by Horace Greeley,
noted editor of the New York Tribune when he
traveled by stagecoach to the Pike's Peak region in 1859 to determine if reports
of gold discoveries were humbug. Of Fort Riley, "I hear that two millions of
Uncle Sam's money have been expended in making these snug arrangements and that
the oats largely consumed here have often cost three dollars per bushel!"
The famous Seventh U.S. cavalry was organized at Fort Riley in 1866, with
George A. Custer second in command. Riley remained a cavalry post through
World War II, though by the early 1940's fuel-burning engines had replaced
oat-eating horses.
When you reach the reservation, Marshall Field, one of the army's oldest
airports, will be seen to the right. Here a young lieutenant in 1912
dropped colored cards from his aircraft, to direct artillery practice. The
cards were weighted with iron nuts; the "bomb" chute was a stovepipe. The
lieutenant was H. H. "Hap" Arnold, who became commanding general of the USAAF in
World War II. Junction City, three miles farther on, has been an army town
since its inception in 1857. ~ text of marker