Museum Review

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Museum Review
The Fort Riley US Cavalry Museum is located in Fort Riley in Kansas, United States. It is always open from 9 am to 4:30 pm from Monday to Saturday. On Sundays, it is open from 12 noon to 4:00 pm. For a virtual tour of the museum, the website that can be used is www.fortrileyhistoricalsociety.org. Its principal function is to care for and put on display the equipment that is a vital component of the past and mode of living of the US Horse Soldiers from 1775 to 1950. Moreover, the primary role of the Museum Division is tasked with is showing the times gone by of Fort Riley from its setting up to date; it includes different schools and major commands. At Fort Riley, the museum section is made up of three museums- The Custer House, The US Cavalry Museum, and 1st Infantry Division Museum.
The Fort Riley Museum is a US Cavalry Museum centered on a single piece of history and art. And also a single piece of a historical figure. I say so for the reason that it is mandated to put on display and construe the times gone by of the Fort since it was established. The museum covers the times gone by of the U.S Horse Soldiers from the avant-garde war to the end of the mounted era in 1950. The fort was established in 1852 along the Santa Fe Trail to guard travelers as they moved westwards. The Fort is named after Major General Bennet C. Riley who died before the fort was built. The Major General served in the Mexican-American war.

Fort Riley became the home of the First Infantry Division of the Army, which was also known as the Big Red One in 1955.
On how to access the artifacts and exhibits, the cavalry museum has self-guided walking and driving tour pamphlets. Alternatively, guide driving tours can be arranged on request that is before visiting the place. Recently, this year, for illustration purposes, associates of the Historical and Archeological Society of Fort Riley coordinated an organized careful walk through the gravestones. They were taken through by the chief of the museum section, Robert Smith. Visitors were taken on a walking tour through the cemetery; wherein there are graves and tombs arranged in a sequential order. Examples of the resting places talked about include those of three individuals that received Medals of Honor, who each earned their decorations in the Indian hostilities. The headstone of a Confederate combatant of unknown naming, (other seven are resting at the burial ground) and also the resting place of Mary Rogers a young civilian female who passed on at some stage in the cholera contagion that broke out in 1855. Members of the Historical and Archeological Society of Fort Riley (HASFR) raised money to renovate her tombstone that had been partially damaged.
In seeking to describe the exhibits whether they are centered on a single piece of art or several of them, I looked at the graves and tombstones at the cemetery. It is not entirely wrong to say that it’s centered on a single part of history. All graves belong to dead soldiers save for that of one woman who died of a cholera outbreak that struck Fort Riley in 1855. As regard the ‘controversiality’ of exhibits, there’s not really any that’s likely to bring any big questions and change how the people think about the past, present and future, save for the one civilian woman laid to rest at the Fort Riley Cemetery yet the place is exclusively for veterans. The woman died of a cholera outbreak in 1855- why they chose to bury her at Fort Riley I can’t answer with certainty.
Aside as of putting on show the relics and art, the museum gives back to the society in more than a few other methods, like giving learning curriculums and once-overs so as to hold up education, schooling, research and sequential lineups. Another way in which the museum serves the community is by giving them an opportunity to visit the place during day time and learn about historical facts. It also provides jobs for civilians. An example is a lady by the name Debbie Clark who has been working at Fort Riley from the year 1997. She forms part of a group who operate the museum on placement. And suffice to say, this employee stands out as having the extraordinary aptitude to prioritize and resourcefully complete several tasks on time and with distinction. Her work entails conducting an account of all the museum items and to prepare those that are to go on exhibit. She maintains the saddles in good form. Ms. Clark also performs administrative roles. The museum also aids in the conveyance to locations, gives historical research hold up and controls the library for on-site inquiries.
Striking me as the finest string of displays and predominantly worth mentioning is a subdivision of the cemetery separated from the others with a brickwork barricade. At the entrance of the place are headstones set away from the others in the sectioned-off zone. These belong to Italian and German prisoners of war (POWs) of the Second World War who were laid to rest at Fort Riley. The Fort Riley was used to hold prisoners of war in the US for the duration of the Second World War. Few Japanese soldiers were also buried at the fort. The graves are particularly noteworthy because they are of a sentimental importance to military families.
What struck me as a weakness that I observed is that the museum is understaffed. They used to be six workers, but they are now three. For case in point, Debbie Clark has been discharging duties at the museum for close to twenty years has the responsibility of getting ready things for show up and seeing to it that the skin items like the saddles are in tip-top condition and performs administrative roles as well. It could have been better to have a relatively higher number of staff to help ease the workload on staff. That notwithstanding, the museum was just perfect and a very nice place to visit.
On the overall effectiveness of the foundation, I can rate it as comfortably meeting its targets. I couldn’t find any factors hindering the realization of its functions. The museum just operated optimally. A single cause I bring into being as ensuring the smooth the progress of the comprehension of its duty is some financial support from the Historical and Archeological Society of Fort Riley (HASFR) who donated money purposely for the reformation of a partially deformed gravestone. To this end, the significance of Fort Riley to our study cannot be overlooked. By the unswerving body of information and artifacts, the Fort has just proved its societal and cultural usefulness beyond a reasonable doubt.