Fort Riley

The former Fort Riley headquarters

The Ogden Monument (1890)

Fort Riley is a military base of the US Army in the northeast of the US state of Kansas . In 2000, Fort Riley had a population of 8,114.

Fort Riley is named in memory of Major General Bennett Riley , who took part in the 1823 campaign against the Arikaras , the first engagement between the US Army and Indians west of the Mississippi River , and in 1829 led the first escort for merchants on the Santa Fe Trail . The fort was founded in 1853 as a military post to protect the Oregon-California and Santa Fe Trail from here. From Fort Riley there was a series of minor military clashes with North American Indians after the American Civil War . During this time, among others, George Custer was stationed here.
Around 1890, according to official geographic surveys, Fort Riley was in the center of the national territory of the United States, as an obelisk - the Ogden Monument - reminds of.

Fort Riley and the Spanish flu

Fort Riley infirmary from the Spanish flu era

An unusually violent flu first appeared in January and February 1918 in Haskell County , Kansas and worried country doctor Loring Miner to such an extent that he published warnings about this outbreak with occasionally fatal results in a specialist magazine. There is evidence that at least three people traveled from Haskell County to Camp Funston Recruit Camp , part of the Fort Riley military base. They arrived there between February 28th and March 2nd. On March 4th, a cook fell ill with the flu, which at the time was already suffering from severe disease, but, unlike in the second wave in autumn 1918, was not yet associated with a high death rate. Although the first illness was quickly followed by others and it was evident that the illness was highly contagious, no quarantine measures were taken at Fort Riley . Troop transports to other training camps continued, and soldiers were sent to the front lines in Europe from Fort Riley . The flu broke out in April 1918 in the French port city of Brest , where forty percent of the US forces landed.

Stationed units

1st U.S. Infantry Division

• • 1st Heavy Brigade Combat Team (HBCT) (Heavy Brigade)
  • 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team (HBCT) (Heavy Brigade)
  • 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT) (Infantry Brigade)
  • Army Aviation - Brigade , 1st Infantry Division
• 1st Logistics Brigade (1st Sustainment Brigade)

Sons and daughters

• Johnny Damon (born 1973), baseball player
• Will Shields (born 1971), American football player

Web links

Commons : Fort Riley  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ^ Hans Michael Kloth: Influenza catastrophe of 1918/19. Contemporary stories on Spiegel -Online, April 27, 2009, accessed on March 13, 2011 . 

Coordinates: 39 ° 6 ′  N , 96 ° 49 ′  W