In the fall of 1852, a small party of cavalrymen established Camp Center at the head of the Kansas River (the junction of the Republican and Smoky Hill Rivers). This site would later become Fort Riley.
Established to protect travelers along the Oregon-California and Santa Fe trails, the fort also acted as a police force during the Bleeding Kansas era prior to the Civil War. At that time, Fort Riley was garrisoned by Kansas militia units. It later became home for the United States Army Cavalry School and 1st Infantry Division ("Big Red 1") of the U. S. Army. Both are still active there today.
Fort Riley hospital and privy (right), c. 1865-1869.
Based on military records, construction of permanent facilities at Fort Riley began during the summer of 1855. This included a two-story hospital. It is likely that the stone-vaulted privy (or toilet) was also built behind the hospital around that time to serve the patients and staff.
This privy appeared on an 1867 but not on an 1887 map. It may have been abandoned and sealed by the latter date.
The main post area of Fort Riley was declared a historic site and listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 1, 1974. It was at this time that archaeological excavations were considered to gain a greater understanding of post facilities and activities. The hospital privy was chosen as a site for investigation.
Dr. O'Brien entered into an agreement with Ft. Riley to lead the project while training eight K-State undergraduate students in controlled excavation of this historic feature. Excavation began in September 1984 and continued until November, followed by an artifact conservation and analysis course.
After uncovering the top of the stone-line pit of the former privy, the area within this large feature was divided into four quadrants. The student trainees dug in levels of 12 inches within each quadrant. Before continuing the excavation into the next deeper level, they recorded the location of their finds within each unit. During the first two weekends of excavation, the students cleared the top four feet of earth, gravel, and rock used to fill the hole when the superstructure was demolished. Systematic excavation of each succeeding layer of privy debris revealed a wide range of artifacts.
The team uncovered items expected for a hospital. This included glass prescription bottles and pestle and mortar sets for preparing medicines. Additionally, the team recovered children's toys, ceramic pieces, bullet casings, square nails, leather pieces (from items like boots and feed bags), and animal bones. Dr. O'Brien was hopeful to find other items that were "not supposed to be on the old cavalry post," like liquor bottles and non-regulation weaponry. This was entirely true as the students uncovered many whiskey flasks and beer bottles. For the military, outhouses, much like our modern toilets, were good places to pitch garbage and forbidden items!
In the end, over 30,000 artifacts were collected. These provide insights into daily activities associated with an early western military post hospital. These are useful supplements to written documents, which only tell part of the story of Ft. Riley. After the excavation, the materials were cataloged so information about where and how they were found will always be linked to those remains. Some of these artifacts are displayed to help tell the stories of western military life and health while the remainder are curated at Ft Riley, where they are available for further study.
Back Through the Decades: 1980s
