1st Infantry Division[4] Garrison[11] Partners: Inactivated: The early history of Fort Riley is closely tied to the movement of people and trade along the Oregon and Santa Fe trails.

[18] In the fall of 1852, a surveying party under the command of Captain Robert H. Chilton, 1st U.S. Dragoons, selected the junction of the Republican and Smoky Hill Rivers as a site for one of these forts.

The fort's design followed the standard frontier post configuration: buildings were constructed of the most readily available material — in this case, native limestone.

Anticipating greater utilization of the post, Congress authorized appropriations in the spring of 1855 to provide additional quarters and stables for the Dragoons.

In early 1862, the fort served as a temporary detention facility for 133 Confederate prisoners from Texas, who had been captured during a significant military campaign in New Mexico.

[21] The conclusion of the Civil War in 1865 saw Fort Riley again assume an important role in providing protection to railroad lines being built across Kansas.

Soldiers from the Kansas Volunteer regiments, "Jenison's Jayhawks," that were wounded in the Battle of Westport were brought to Fort Riley for recovery.

[18] 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.

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.

This short-lived school closed in March 1871 as the War Department imposed economic measures, which included cutting a private's monthly pay from $12 to $9.

Riley escaped this fate when Lt. Gen. Philip Sheridan recommended in his 1884 annual report to Congress to make the fort "Cavalry Headquarters of the Army".

That appropriation was the beginning of a series of improvements that amount practically to the rebuilding of the post, including a large cavalry riding hall.

These exercises gave added importance to the fort as a training facility and provided reserve units a valuable opportunity for sharpening their tactical skills.

Horse shows, hunts, and polo matches – long popular events on Army post – were a natural outgrowth of cavalry training.

Facilities were greatly expanded, and a cantonment named Camp Funston was built 5 miles (8 km) east of the permanent post during the summer and fall of 1917.

[18] The Spanish flu pandemic has been hypothesized to have begun at Fort Riley in early March 1918, with the case of Albert Gitchell, an army cook at Camp Funston.

The technological advances demonstrated on the battlefields of Europe and World War I – most notable the tank and machine gun – raised questions in the interwar years over the future of cavalry.

[18] Initial experiments in directing artillery fire from an aircraft were undertaken at Fort Riley in 1912, with participants including H. H. Arnold, who later became a significant figure in the United States Army Air Forces.

Built primarily as a refueling station for cross-country flights, the airfield featured metal hangars, underground fuel storage tanks, and lighting for night operations.

Notable trainees included heavyweight boxing champion, Joe Louis, Indy car driver Walt Faulkner, and motion picture stars such as Mickey Rooney.

[33] The arrival of victory in Europe and Japan during the spring and summer of 1945 were joyous occasions, but they also spelled new realities and directions for the Army and Fort Riley.

[18] The invasion of South Korea by North Korean forces in June 1950 once again brought attention to Fort Riley as an important training facility.

[18] The uneasy truce that settled on the Korean peninsula after 1953 was indicative of a cold war that had come to characterize relations between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Ultimately, the 1st Battle Group, 5th Infantry, would be stationed at Funston, with the other units of the division divided between Custer Hill, Forsythe, and Main Post.

Construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961 and the Cuban Missile Crisis the following year witnessed heightened alert for soldiers stationed at Fort Riley.

[18] Consistent with President Kennedy's August 1961 directive to augment the U.S. Berlin Brigade, in 1962–1963 1st Infantry Division rotated four Infantry Battle Group Task Forces (reinforced by Big Red One Artillery and Transportation units) from Fort Riley to West Germany, from where they motor marched through communist East Germany to surround West Berlin.

[18] Reserve Officer Training Corps summer camps were also held at the fort, which permitted troops to demonstrate and teach their skills to aspiring second lieutenants.

The fort also hosted the model U.S. Army Correctional Brigade, housed in Camp Funston, and the 3rd ROTC Region Headquarters until their inactivation in 1992.

This commenced in late February 1991, and over the course of the "hundred hours" combat of Operation Desert Storm, these soldiers carried out their orders and executed their missions that resulted in the crushing of Saddam Hussein's Republican Guards.

The Legacy and current hospitals were named after Brigadier General Bernard John Dowling Irwin, "The Fighting Doctor", who won the Medal of Honor for distinguished gallantry in action during an engagement with the Chiricahua Indians near Apache Pass, Arizona Territory, in February 1861.