Fort Riley Museums

01/17/2025

Like many companies during World War II, Harley Davidson produced items needed for the war effort. The motorcycle manufacturer's contribution to the American military during this time was the WLA. Its three-letter name came from improvements made upon Harley’s “R” series, symbolized by the “W,” its newly introduced high compression engine denoted by the “L,” and its employment with the U.S. Army, indicated by the “A” on the end of the name. The WLA was first test-rode in 1939 at Fort Knox and quickly went into production in time for US entry into the Second World War. A total of 118,000 WLAs would be produced during the war, with 30,000 of these bikes being sent to Soviet forces as part of the Lend-Lease Act. WLAs gained a reputation for being reliable and adaptable for any circumstance the rider encountered. Throughout the war, the WLAs would be equipped with black-out lighting, leg shields, saddlebags, skid plates, safety bars, a luggage carrier, an ammunition box, a left-side rearview mirror, and a windshield. Some WLAs were equipped with a Thompson machine gun scabbard as the war progressed. Despite these accouterments and the vehicle’s reliability, they were rarely in combat situations. Instead, couriers mostly used WLAs to deliver messages to the front. Harley Davidson elected to discontinue the WLA after World War II ended but eventually manufactured them for another three years during the Korean War.

Below is an example of a 1941 WLA that is on display on the second floor of the US Cavalry Museum.

01/17/2025

This is correct! Both museums are currently closed for maintenance and will be closed next week as well.

Sorry for the inconvenience!

Fort Riley Museums are currently closed for facility maintenance. Check back here for updates.

01/14/2025

Trivia Tuesday Question:

What motorcycle manufacturer made the WLA during World War II?

01/10/2025

When people think of the words “winter” and “American Revolution,” the trying months spent at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, from 1777-1778 come to mind. However, the winter of 1779-1780 saw Washington’s army camp around Morristown, New Jersey, and it was a more extraordinary trial. Accounts of the nearly eight months spent at Morristown tell of a brutal winter featuring twenty snowstorms and six blizzards (one that dropped an estimated 4 feet of snowfall) that repeatedly blanketed the encampment in large amounts of snow. These storms caused temperatures to plummet, causing every body of water in the arena to freeze, including New York Harbor. As at Valley Forge two years earlier, weather conditions caused a logistical breakdown, leading to mass starvation among the 10,000 Continentals at the encampment. Many residents of Morristown proved reluctant to help supply the army, leaving men to go without proper food for over four days routinely. Tree bark, pets, shoes, and other materials became impromptu sources of sustenance. Although a lack of food often led to diseases, killing hundreds of soldiers in the 1700s, at Morristown, records indicate that only 100 men perished due to illnesses. Discontent, rather than disease, was of more significant concern. Most of the Continental Army had not been paid in months (some had gone as long as 6 months) and were starving, leading some soldiers to take matters into their own hands. Soldiers from Connecticut staged a mutiny in early 1780, but Washington quickly put down their rebellion. In June 1780, Washington’s men left Morristown to engage the British Army.

01/07/2025

Trivia Tuesday Question:

Where in New Jersey did the Continental Army spend its coldest winter during the Revolution?

12/24/2024

We will be closed Christmas and New Year’s Day! Sorry for the inconvenience!

12/19/2024

The Jeep has become one of the most easily recognizable cars on the road, taking travelers over various terrains and on many adventures. However, the Jeep was originally designed for military purposes. Though the origins of the term Jeep are unknown, the design of the vehicle culminated decades of work conducted by the Army to create an automobile that could carry men and equipment into combat. The American Bantam Car Company of Butler, Pennsylvania, developed the Jeep design in 1940, but was not selected to manufacture its creation because the company was deemed too small by War Department officials. Instead, the contract for the new vehicle was given to the Willys-Overland Motors. Over the course of the next few years, 639,000 Jeeps were manufactured for the war effort by both Willys-Overland and the Ford Motor Company. Jeeps manufactured by both companies shared the same design and ability to be assembled in the field without specialized tools. Although designed for Americans by Americans, the Jeep also saw action with the British and the Soviet Red Armies during the war. Soldiers of all three armies made modifications to their vehicles to counter Axis weapons, one of which is seen on the Jeep on display in the US Cavalry Museum. The Jeep continued to see service with the U.S. Army after the war, while also being adapted for civilian use.

12/03/2024

Trivia Tuesday Question:

What popular car was oringinally designed for military use in World War II?
Hint: It’s name starts with “J”.

10/07/2024

U.S. Army uniforms, as with any article of clothing, can become worn because of repeated use and need the attention of a sewer. On the battlefield, however, sewers are hard to come by, forcing soldiers to do it themselves. Although the first named in the 1740s, the “hussif” or “housewife,” probably descended from sewing kits developed years before. The idea behind these portable, pocket size sewing kits was to give soldiers the ability to mend their uniforms on campaign. Usually, these kits consisted of a somewhat waterproof shell, thimbles, needles, string, and other materials necessary for any clothing repairs. The contents of these little sew kits has changed over the years, but their concept and purpose have remained the same. Originally provided by the individual soldier, “housewives” became eventually became standard issue U.S. Army equipment by the mid-1800s. Though uniform repair could be a mundane chore, for some soldiers the task could be therapeutic, allowing them to escape the realities of war a short while. This was first observed during World War I. Today, sewing kits are not standard issue anymore, but the history of when they were remains.

Below is an 1850s example of a “housewife” in the US Cavalry Museum.

09/24/2024

Trivia Tuesday Question:

What piece of equipment did US Army soldiers carry with them in the 1800s to mend their uniforms?
(Hint: It was named for a special woman to married soldiers.)

09/11/2024

Twenty-three years ago today an event in history that is lften associated with the question, “Where were you?” Today we remember those lost on September 11, 2001 in New York, Washington DC, and Pennsylvania. We will never forget!

In the First Infantry Division Museum, you can view a silent witness to the events that day, a paperweight from the Pentagon.

08/30/2024

Until World War II, the cavalryman’s horse was his most valued item on the battlefield, for it was with the animal that he became a threat to the enemy. Yet, by 1946, the horse was deemed no longer needed by the US Army and was replaced with automobiles. That did not mean that the US Army got rid of its horses. Chief, the last cavalry horse in US Army service, was one of those the continued to serve the army. He was born in 1932 in Scottsbluff, Nebraska and then purchased by the Army at Fort Robinson, Nebraska in 1940 for $163. Chief was then transferred to Fort Riley to see service with the 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments. This did not last long, for he was eventually a training horse used by students at the fort’s Cavalry School, where he was given the rank of Advance Cavalry Charger in 1942. The bay horse with white markings was given this designation due to his popularity among the students, who said his gentle nature made it possible for anyone to ride him. When the US sold off all its mounts less than 16 years old between December 1949 and January 1950, Chief, then 18 years old, was sent into semi-retirement at Fort Riley before fully being retired in 1958. He spent the remainder of life under the care of the post veterinarian at the Fort Riley Riding Club. The last cavalry horse lived to be over 30 years old, dying in 1968 as the Vietnam War was raging. Following a large military funeral, Chief was buried standing up and outfitted with the accoutrements of the traditional cavalry horse in front of the Old Trooper statue on the Cavalry Parade ground.

Our collections include several plaques given the Chief’s caretakers over the years, as well as some tools used in his care.

08/27/2024

Trivia Tuesday Question:

What was the name of the last cavalry horse in the US Army? (Hint: think of the KC NFL team)

08/23/2024

Picture is worth a thousand words. Many soldiers have spent time at Fort Riley over the years, leaving little of their time here except for pictures. Below are some pictures of unidentified soldiers from the 1880s through the 1980s. We have been able to indentify some but many remain anonymous. It is our staff’s privilege to preserve these and other photographs that tell stroeis few can tell!

08/21/2024

For those interested in coming to the symposium we’re hosting, make sure to register before October 4! Its free to register! Go to the event posted under “Events” to learn more!

08/19/2024

Today’s soldiers carry some of the most advanced military technology with them into battle including machine guns. Whichever model they carry, servicemembers are armed with successors to the vision of Richard Jordan Gatling. Gatling, who was constantly looking for ways to improve the lives of American farmers, originally intended to create a weapon that would be more efficient than others at the time of the Civil War. Rapid fire weapons would also decrease the number of men needed to conduct a campaign. To provide this firepower, Gatling placed six-gun barrels into a mechanism like a coffee grinder that would be cranked by an operator, expending bullets from the barrel at the top of the rotation. The contraption would then be mounted on wheels and be hauled about like a piece of artillery. Though the gun could fire up to 200 .58 caliber bullets in a minute, the War Department deemed the weapon to experimental to buy it for war time use. This did not deter Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler from purchasing 12 Gatlings for his corps during the Siege of Petersburg in the closing stages of the war. In 1866, Gatling’s invention became a standard US Army weapon, seeing a lot of action during the Indian Wars. These weapons were produced by the first American company to receive a license to produce the Gatling Gun, the C**t’s Patent Fi****ms Manufacturing Company in Connecticut. It was C**t that introduced the Gatling Gun to Europe in the 1870s, thus making the weapon an internationally recognized weapon of war. The M1890 Gatling with a firing rate of around 1,200 rounds per minute, is an example of one of the last models to be introduced to the Army, which replaced the Gatling with the Maxim Machine Gun at the turn of the twentieth century.

08/14/2024

Trivia Tuesday (Wednesday edition):

The Gatling Gun was the first of what type of weapon used by the US Army?

08/08/2024

US Army soldiers have been playing sports since the earliest days of the service in 1775. Although the preferences have changed through the centuries, one can tell by looking at the picture below that others have not. Baseball was supposedly only about 22 years old when this photograph was taken in 1862 just outside of Savannah, Georgia. It is said that a future US Army general, Abner Doubleday of Cooperstown, New York, was the first to compose a list of the game’s rules in 1839, though West Point records say he was attending the institution at the time rather than devising new sports. Whether it was Doubleday (he never claimed credit for the idea during his lifetime) or someone else who imagined the game, it was the Civil War that popularized the sport. Before the conflict, baseball was a regional sport and the rules were not uniform, though a set of formal rules did exist. War brought men from various parts of the country together, introducing them to new ideas, activities, and people amidst the chaos. One of those new notions was baseball. It became one of the two favorite pastimes of US Army soldiers while in camp, second only to horse racing. Several sketches showing soldiers playing baseball and literary descriptions of the game, but few photos, like the one below, captured a contest live. This is one the earliest known pictures of a baseball game. These men would take baseball home to their hometowns after they were discharged thereby increasing the appeal of the game. The economic effects of baseball led to large crowds attending games, which made it easier to pay players. The rules of the game were codified, professional leagues were established, and players associations were created to help govern the baseball world. By 1900, baseball had become a key component in American popular culture. Thus, it can be said that the US Army helped to make baseball “America’s past time.”