.........The Last U.S. Cavalry Horse
H/T to Barb (http://barbacat.blogspot.com/) for the idea! Stop by her wonderful blog and get your smiles on!
Chief, The Last U.S. Cavalry Horse
Chief,
the last U.S. Army cavalry horse, was foaled in 1932. The Army
purchased him in 1940 from a Nebraska rancher, at Ft. Robinson, NE. He
arrived at his cavalry post, Ft. Riley, KS. on 3 April 1941, assigned to
the 10th Cavalry and later the 9th Cavalry. In June 1942, Chief was
transferred to the Cavalry School (also at Ft.Riley) where he rose to
the rank of Advanced Cavalry Charger. Chief remained at the school after
his 1949 semi-retirement until his 1958 full retirement.
During
the 1950s and early 1960s the number of retired cavalry horses declined
until only Chief was left. For years, Chief enjoyed his retirement days
in a corral at the Ft. Riley Riding Club. Each year, Chief entertained
hundreds of visitors, a living repreentative of the more than 6,000
horses who were kept on post at Ft. Riley during WW II, as well as all
Army horses. Finally, on 24 May 1968, Chief died, to join the millions
of faithful cavalry horses who served and died before him. A military
funeral with full honors was held, attended by the Commanding General of
the U.S. Army.
Chief
is buried at Ft. Riley, at the foot of the Old Trooper Monument
(modeled after the Cavalry soldier drawing "Old Bill" by Fredric
Remington.) Chief is buried upright, encased in a marble vault, ready
to ride again.
:o)
Interesting! Quite the vault for Chief!
ReplyDeleteA special place for a very special horse! :o)
DeleteGreat post. Thanks to Barb from me also.
ReplyDeleteLots of good vids of the real cavalry on YouTube!
DeleteAs a child, my neighbor had a horse called Bill. He had his serial number on his neck and a circle C on his rump. We could slide off his back and he never flinched, two of us rode him every day.
ReplyDeleteOne day Mom had the radio on really loud, it was playing a Military march and Bill went into a routine that was amazing to watch. He danced, he pranced and at the end went into a full upstanding salute, rearing up on his back legs.
This was about 1952 and Bill was 13 years old at the time.
What a great story, Granny! I hope he had many, many years left to enjoy his dancing and marching!
DeleteIndeed! Wish it could have been filmed. Must have amazed you when that happened.
DeleteYes, it would have been a viral sensation. I have the video in my head and will never forget it. Thanks for the link.
DeleteMy father was born and raised in El Paso, and would talk about visiting Fort Bliss as a child in the thirties.
ReplyDeleteHe did say that the historians never mention the byproduct of having a very large number of horses in one place.
LOL! But the landscaping must have been spectacular!
DeleteSo would he have been a quarter horse then CM?
ReplyDeleteProbably a Morgan, Glenn - Don't think Quarter's were a standard breed in the early 40's.
DeleteI just love this!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the idea, Cuz! :o)
DeleteThank you for the link! As much as I have had to do with horses in my life, I never knew that story. My Dad was briefly stationed at Ft. Riley too... World War II veteran, him. I am busily scanning all of his remaining photographs from his time in the 850th Engineer Aviation Battalion.
ReplyDeleteFair Winds and thank you so much for the great 'horse story'. I will remember it and repeat it to my young nephews and nieces.
Cap'n Jan
Bet you are having a fun time going through all the photographs! Must bring back some wonderful memories, Cap'n Jan! :o)
Delete