Walking along the streets of Fort Leavenworth every morning, I am struck by the condition of the stables. Now, you may have a reaction that asks the question: “What is so special about those old stables?”
Here in the twenty first century, we do not think very much about stables. Stables are, of course, for horses—which, of course, are animals. Why should I care very much about the horses? Much less, why should I care about old stables?
My answer to this question is that these stables were made out of brick.
I want you to think a moment about the conditions under which these old stable were built. While I am not sure of the exact date when the stables were built, I assume that they were built in the late 1800s. Fort Leavenworth and the city of Leavenworth was beginning to be a part of the Western expansion. Brick have never been cheap to buy, nor have they been easy to use in building. You still have to place each one—one brick at a time. To me the fact that these stables were made out of brick, shows the importance of the horses.
The horses provided the Army with mobility and with operational reach. In a northern part of Missouri, Saint Joseph, horses were beginning to be used by the Pony Express to deliver the mail out west. The horses were critical to the way of life of the Soldier and the Army. They deserved the best care and the best housing that the Army could provide. The structures that were built were strong enough to be still in use and even to be converted into offices for the modern Army.
[…] large building sits roughly a hundred yards from the old stables where the Soldiers and Officers could walk their horses up the hill for an indoor workout. Through […]