Fort Riley, Kansas

10th U.S. Cavalry Formed

Fri, 09/21/1866

By an act of Congress, the all-African American 10th U.S. Cavalry regiment (along with five other regiments stationed elsewhere in the West) is formed at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

Fort Riley

By Deborah Keating, University of Missouri—Kansas City

Kansas was officially opened to white settlers in 1854, and settlers, lured by promises of cheap land and easy wealth, rushed to the area. As settlements grew behind the westward movement of the frontier line, the federal government built roads and forts to accommodate the migration and to protect and assist the travelers along the trails that led southwest to Santa Fe and Denver, and northwest to Salt Lake City and The Dalles in Oregon. Fort Riley, Kansas, built on the Santa Fe Trail near the confluence of the Kansas and Republican Rivers in 1855, was one of those forts.

Pawnee, Kansas

The township of Pawnee, Kansas, has the distinction of having served as the Kansas Territorial capital for one of the shortest periods of any capital city in American history -- a mere five days.

Fort Riley

Established along the Kansas River to protect white travelers on the Oregon and Santa Fe Trails, Fort Riley continued to be an important military post through the Civil War.