The following is an excerpt from the book “Fort Riley Citadel of the Frontier West” by William McKale, director of the U.S. Cavalry Museum at Fort Riley, and William Young.

“On the frontier, both officers’ and enlisted soldiers’ lives revolved around two elements: routine and Army regulations. Most soldiers joined the Army hoping for excitement, to chase Indians and fire their weapons. In reality, most of their time was spent at the post, with limited time spent on actual patrol and very infrequent contact with Indians. Instead, drill and guard duty, daily fatigue details, care and construction of post facilities, grooming and feeding cavalry mounts, and occasional target practice consumed their days.

“In a typical day established by post orders, everything revolved around the trumpet calls.

“6:00 a.m. reveille, assembly, and first roll call of troops

“6:30 a.m. mess (breakfast)

“7:30 a.m. fatigue call

“8:00 a.m. sick call

“9:00 a.m. assembly of guard detail

“9:45 a.m. recall from fatigue details

“10:00-11:30 a.m. various drills for infantry, artillery, and cavalry

“12:00 noon mess

“1:00 p.m. target practice drill

“2:00 p.m. additional fatigue call

“4:30 p.m. recall from fatigue duties

“6:00 p.m. mess

“9:00 p.m. tattoo, assembly of troops, and last roll call

“9:30 p.m. taps, lights out

“The bane of a soldier’s life was fatigue detail. Rather than firing weapons, soldiers spent more time shouldering an ax or shovel because using enlisted men for construction and maintenance work was less expensive than hiring civilians. Even when civilian employees worked at Fort Riley during the many stages of construction, troops performed most of the heavy labor. At least these soldiers were eligible for additional pay of 25 cents a day. …

“A frequent assignment for privates was to police (clean up) the grounds.

“Cavalry units stationed at Fort Riley had the additional duty of stable service, requiring them to clean and groom their mounts and to clean up after them. Stable service had to be completed before the cavalry ate, much to the amusement of infantry and artillery companies.

“The Kansas frontier also created other tasks: soldiers at Fort Riley frequently found themselves pulling sunflowers out of the parade ground.

“Needless to say, soldiers disliked fatigue duty and resented the amount of time they spent on these tasks. However, once the tasks were completed, a soldier’s time was his own. Army regulations required soldiers be within hearing distance of bugle calls on post, unless given permission to leave the area.”