Early days:

1829: Maj. Gen. Bennett C. Riley leads the first military escort along the Santa Fe Trail.

July 31, 1852: Following trouble with Kanza Indians near Council Grove, Col. T.T. Fauntleroy recommends a new fort be established in the region.

Jan. 7, 1853: Camp Center site is approved by the Secretary of War.

June 27, 1853: Camp Center becomes Fort Riley.

July 1855-1861: Soldiers patrol the territory to keep peace during the “Bleeding Kansas” era.

Jan. 27, 1866: The commissary burns, and supplies worth $1 million are lost.

Fall 1866: George Custer and 7th Cavalry muster at Fort Riley. Union Pacific Railroad reaches post.

1870s: Cavalry maintains civil order near posts of Forts Hays, Wallace and Dodge in western Kansas.

April 1881: After a tornado, the “Army and Navy Journal” says that Fort Riley might be lost.

1902-04, 1906-08, 1911: State militias use Fort Riley for annual training maneuvers.

May 2, 1903: President Theodore Roosevelt visits Fort Riley.

The World Wars

June 8, 1917: Fort Riley’s 1st Division is activated.

Summer-Fall 1917: Camp Funston is constructed to accommodate between 30,000 and 50,000 men.

October 1918: An influenza epidemic that started in March puts 11,645 patients in the post hospital and causes 958 deaths.

December 1940: Camp Funston is rebuilt. The 2nd Cavalry Division is stationed there for training. Camp Forsythe is constructed and 32,000 acres, added to post.

1941-1944: More than 125,000 soldiers are trained at Fort Riley, including the 9th Armored Division

April 29, 1943: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt visits Fort Riley.

Oct. 14, 1943: Sgt. Joe Lewis, heavyweight boxing champion, trains at Fort Riley.

Cold War

August 1948: 10th Infantry Division, one of 10 Army training units, is activated at Camp Funston.

July 1951: A flood destroys 61 buildings, causing millions of dollars of damage.

January 1956: Construction begins on Custer Hill to make room for the 1st Infantry Division.

Sept. 28, 1965: 1st Infantry Division deploys to combat in Vietnam.

February 1966: 9th Infantry Division is activated.

1966: The post acquires an additional 50,000 acres of land.

May 1968: The 24th Infantry Division is activated.

1970s-1980s: The 1st Infantry Division takes part in regular exercises in Germany designed to show U.S. commitment to defending Western Europe.

1990 to present:

1992: The 3rd ROTC Region Headquarters is deactivated.

Spring 1996: Headquarters of the 1st Infantry Division transfers to Germany. One brigade of the 1st Infantry remains, along with a brigade of the 1st Armored Division and the 937th Engineer Group.

June 5, 1999: Fort Riley named headquarters of 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized), comprised of National Guard brigades from Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

March 22, 2002: Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki announces Fort Riley is an American War Fighting Center, training active duty and reserve units.

— Source: Fort Riley, Kansas State University’s Institute for Military History and 20th Century Studies