Chief
U.S. Cavalry Horse

Chief was born in 1932.

He achieved notoriety due only to the fact that he was the last horse in the U.S. Cavalry. His death marked the end of the obsolete U.S. Army's Cavalry program.

Chief entered military service in 1940 at Fort Robinson, NE, and was assigned to Fort Riley, KS, to join the Tenth Cavalry. In 1950, the Army began disbanding the horse service and sold off its horses sixteen years or younger, while older mounts were put out to pasture on the post. By the time Chief died in 1968 at the age of 36, he was the very last cavalry mount on the rolls of the U.S. Army. His death marked the end of an era: whereby the army which once boasted thousands of mounts, now there were none.

Honors

Officials at Fort Riley buried him "standing up" with full military honors including a color guard ceremony, remarks by the commanding general, and a band which played throughout. His grave located near the Cavalry Museum lies beneath a statue of a mounted rider based on a painting by Frederick Remington in 1898 entitled, "The Cavalryman."

Death and Burial

Chief died on 26 May 1968. He is buried on the Cavalry Parade Ground at Fort Riley, KS.