Monday, October 12, 2026

Question: What was the original military purpose of the land that later became the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute?

Answer: The land originally served as a U.S. Army remount depot for breeding and training horses and mules to supply the Cavalry before World War I. The U.S. Army had obtained options on 42 hundred-acre farms near Front Royal in 1909 as part of a program to establish four major remount depots, and by 1911, the government had assembled a roughly 4,200-acre tract that offered abundant pasture land and spring water.