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Fieldtrip - Winterset, IA - John Wayne's Birth Place
Sometimes a great field trip is very close to
home. Visiting historic
Fort
Leavenworth
leads people back in history, as
Fort Leavenworth
,
Kansas
is the oldest continuously operating military installation
west of the
Mississippi River
, founded in 1827. For nearly two centuries, this post, on the western bank
of the Missouri River, has served our Nation and our Army, initially as a
frontier outpost during America’s expansion westward and then as an important
military installation.
We began the excursion at the
Fort
Leavenworth
Museum
that documents the long, rich history of
the installation and military history
throughout the years.
After the time in the museum, we spent
some time outside of the museum reading the state historical sign and viewing
the historical information kiosks located around post signifying the
historical nature of different areas of the post.
After spending time at the museum, we
drove past the Command and General Staff College where the US Army
educates and trains Army Officers, International Officers, Sister Service
Officers and Interagency leaders prepare to become field grade commanders and
staff officers. We arrived to a point near the Missouri River
where there are stationary cannons facing the east, there is a plaque
reminiscing about another bridge that used to be across the river, and a very
important historical fact that the area is part of the Lewis & Clark Trail
. Moving along the river to the north, we stopped out in front of the
Combined Arms Center Headquarters and near the Post Commanders residence.
As we moved north, we stopped at the location of
the old United States Disciplinary Barracks and went to the historical
information kiosk that described the old prison. The United States
Disciplinary Barracks (USDB) at
Fort Leavenworth
,
Kansas
is the only maximum security prison in the Department of Defense. It is the
oldest penal institution in continuous operation in the federal system.
Operations at the prison started in May 1875 and have continued to this date,
but in the fall of 2002 there was a move from the old facility to a new, state
of the art facility.
We then visited the historical
Military
Prison
Cemetery
. There is history of inmates that died or were executed at the United States
Disciplinary Barracks that are buried there, including several World War II
German Prisoners of War.
We returned a few days later to continue
our adventure into history at
Fort
Leavenworth
. Our first stop this day was the
Buffalo
Soldiers
Monument
. The story of the
Buffalo soldiers is one piece
of the rich and varied history of
Fort
Leavenworth
.
From here we went out to Sherman Army
Airfield , located on the north end of
Fort
Leavenworth
. At the information kiosk there, we found out that the area was used to
hold Native Americans during the times of the Indian wars in the 1800’s.
To conclude this day’s adventure, we
visited one of many buildings on post named for famous military men. The
Lee House is named after Robert E. Lee, the distinguished general
of the southern states during The War between the States.
We didn’t visit every possible place but there are many other places to visit
throughout the post that are accessible to the public.
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