NCEE/Econiful Road Trip - Post #2

I want to squeeze in my second post from my trip a couple of weeks ago to Kearney, Nebraska (for a class with Econiful and the Nebraska Council for Economic Education) and then the Kansas City area. In Post #1 I featured the North Platte Canteen of World War II - in Post #2 I want to look at the resources available at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Unfortunately very little is available (in terms of virtual access to details) about some of Fort Leavenworth's most interesting active programs - the Command and General Staff College, the federal penitentiary, the massive training center based out of there - but one resource that does have an online presence is the Frontier Army Museum . . .

Jay LeBlanc

7/11/20267 min read

Let's start with a little bit about Fort Leavenworth and its' role in U.S. Army history. As one of the pictures below notes, Fort Leavenworth has been an actively-used fort since 1827 (so coming up on 200 years next year). That makes it the oldest active Army post West of the Mississippi River (and the 2nd oldest west of Washington, D.C.). Sitting on the bluffs overlooking the western bank of the Missouri River, the fort initially served as a quartermaster depot, arsenal, and troop post, dedicated to protecting the fur trade and safeguarding commerce on the Santa Fe Trail. Fort Leavenworth quickly became a primary destination for thousands of soldiers, surveyors, and settlers passing through on their way to the vast West. After the Civil War, Fort Leavenworth became the chief base of operations on the Indian frontier; their primary mission was to control the American Indian tribes on the Western plains.

As the settling of the west and the Indian Wars died down in the late 19th century, Fort Leavenworth's primary mission once again changed. The United States Disciplinary Barracks was established in 1875 and continued to operate until 2002, when new barracks were built. The barracks are the only maximum-security prison in the Department of Defense and serve all military branches. In 1881, General William T. Sherman established the School of Application for Cavalry and Infantry, which later evolved into the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. World Wars I and II proved the wisdom of Sherman’s initiative, as Fort Leavenworth graduates excelled in planning complex American operations. Some of the many famous students and instructors at the college include George C. Marshall, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, Douglas MacArthur, Colin Powell, and George Patton. The Combined Arms Center was created in 1973. Today, through its major subordinate organizations and associated schools and centers, the Combined Arms Center has the mission of preparing the Army and its leaders for war as the Center for Excellence in leader development, doctrine, collective training, and battle command. And Fort Leavenworth still houses active-duty soldiers, including those from the 35th Infantry Division.

As I mentioned in the introduction, details on a lot of the current operations at Fort Leavenworth are (understandably) not accessible to the general public - like the Command and General Staff College or the Leavenworth military penitentiary. One area that IS accessible, though, is the history of the fort and specifically the Frontier Army Museum, focusing on the role of the U.S. Army in the exploration and settlement of the Western United States. In this second portion I'm going to focus on two areas: 1) the exhibits and resources available to the general public; and 2) the resources and lesson plans available to K-12 teachers:

Part One - Visiting the Frontier Army Museum:

As usual, I am assuming that most of you are unable to visit the Frontier Army Museum in person, so most of my focus here will be on virtual resources. I will note, though, that like many museums on military bases in other parts of the country, heightened security can make it a little challenging at times to access the physical museum on post. It is also not the most interactive museum on army operations (understandable given the focus on the frontier army in the 19th century - most of the exhibits are fairly old). If you are looking for more up-to-date tech-savvy exhibits on the U.S. Army, I would suggest the relatively-new Museum of the United States Army in Virginia (I visited for the first time a couple of years ago and was quite impressed). But within the historical scope of the frontier years, the historical content here is still impressive.

Below, let's start with access to two videos - one on the museum itself, and another on a walking tour of historic Fort Leavenworth. Both of these were done by the same group - Wandering Walks of Wonder (on YouTube). These are both longer video segments (35-45 mins), so probably intended either for your own historical background OR to grab shorter video pieces from to use with students:

Then I want to show you a couple of general resources available as PDF downloads for more specific research into aspects of frontier life . . .

Note that the portion of the table of contents I show you on the right is only a selection - the PDF collection includes short biographies written about Army Spouses, Pioneers, women disguised as soldiers, Native Americans, and women involved with medicine in various ways. Most of the bios written are 1-2 pages (so short enough to use with students) and have good links to document the research that went into each one. Below is a similar activity to be used with the Buffalo Soldier Monument at Fort Leavenworth, with questions to ask students as they obverve (in-person or with a mix of pictures/images) the depicted soldier and horse . . .

"Frontier Army Museum", U.S. Army Center of Military History, 2026, https://history.army.mil/Army-Museum-Enterprise/Find-an-Army-Museum/Frontier-Army-Museum/

If you can't visit in-person: "Online Museum Exhibits", Frontier Army Museum, https://frontierarmymuseum.stqry.app/1/tour/16355

"The Buffalo Soldiers Monument at Fort Leavenworth - An Interactive Experience", Frontier Army Museum, 2024, https://www.dvidshub.net/publication/issues/71738 OR https://d34w7g4gy10iej.cloudfront.net/pubs/pdf_71738.pdf

"The Frontier Army Museum" (a review of the museum focusing on the military armaments collection), Recoil Magazine, https://www.recoilweb.com/the-frontier-army-museum-152064.html

“The Frontier Army Museum in Fort Leavenworth: Honoring the Soldiers Who Protected the West" (video), Wandering Walks of Wonder, Oct 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te3dkmC2TuM

"Tour of Historic Fort Leavenworth KS | America’s Oldest Army Post on the Frontier" (video), Wandering Walks of Wonder, Sep 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqWJzFYzdDE

"Women on the Western Frontier", Frontier Army Museum, 2024, https://www.dvidshub.net/publication/issues/71956 OR https://d34w7g4gy10iej.cloudfront.net/pubs/pdf_71956.pdf

Part Two - Educational Resources from the Museum:

I'm going to post a screenshot of the educational resources offered by the Frontier Army Museum (at the bottom of their main website), then feature a couple of them in more detail below. Note that some of them are primarily for use in the museum (for example, the "History Hunts" at the bottom of the page are worksheets of questions for different age groups to use as a "scavenger hunt" in the museum). I am focusing on the ones that don't require in-museum use . . .

"Frontier Army Museum", U.S. Army Center of Military History, 2026, https://history.army.mil/Army-Museum-Enterprise/Find-an-Army-Museum/Frontier-Army-Museum/ NOTE: Another reminder that the educational resources are at the very bottom of this page

"Army Explorers of the 19th Century" (lesson plan)", Frontier Army Museum, Aug 2024, https://www.dvidshub.net/publication/issues/71767 OR https://d34w7g4gy10iej.cloudfront.net/pubs/pdf_71767.pdf

"Frontier History Flash Cards" (lesson plan), Frontier Army Museum, Aug 2024, https://www.dvidshub.net/publication/issues/71748 OR https://d34w7g4gy10iej.cloudfront.net/pubs/pdf_71748.pdf

"Oregon Trail: Pack Your Wagon Activity" (lesson plan), Frontier Army Museum, Mar 2020, https://www.dvidshub.net/publication/issues/71749 OR https://d34w7g4gy10iej.cloudfront.net/pubs/pdf_71749.pdf

Additional Resources and Links:

This is a selection of other links related to the history of Fort Leavenworth, particularly connected to 19th century history

“Fort Leavenworth History", U.S. Army, https://home.army.mil/leavenworth/about/visitor-information/fort-leavenworth-history

"Fort Leavenworth (in the Border War Encyclopedia)", Civil War on the Western Border: The Missouri-Kansas Conflict (from the Kansas City Public Library), 2025, https://civilwaronthewesternborder.org/encyclopedia/fort-leavenworth

"Fort Leavenworth and the Establishment of the 10th Cavalry", National Park Service, https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/fort-leavenworth-and-the-establishment-of-the-10th-cavalry.htm

"Fort Leavenworth National Cemetary", National Cemetery Administration (from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs), https://www.cem.va.gov/cems/nchp/FtLeavenworth.asp NOTE: Go down past the logistical elements of a visit to find tabs for "Historical Information" and "Notable Persons" buried there

"History and Hauntings of Fort Leavenworth", Legends of America, updated Jun 2026, https://www.legendsofamerica.com/ks-fortleavenworth/