Fall is one of my favorite times of the year, perhaps only eclipsed by the Christmas season.

The crisp, cool weather, the changing leaves, pumpkins everywhere I look, and scrumptious apple pies make this time one of delightful coziness and comfort.

Every year, my husband and I love exploring fall events wherever the Army takes us.

Six years ago, we were stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas, and we thoroughly embraced all that the area had to offer for the autumnal months, including a well-loved, annual event that features apple pie, some fun military spouse history, and a lovely reminder to serve our communities! 

Every year, Fort Riley hosts an Apple Day Festival.

Held in September, this weekend is a fun opportunity for service members, their families, and the general community to come together, enjoy the beautiful base, and eat apple pie.

Adults and children alike are enchanted by the cavalry demonstrations, fascinated by the displayed military vehicles (which are open for eager children and limber adults to explore), and impressed by the working dog demonstrations.

But no visit to Apple Days would be complete without sampling the famous apple pies sold during the festival.

As someone who absolutely loves baking and history, I was intrigued to learn that the apple pie recipe used for the festival originates, according to the legend, from none other than Libby Custer. 

For those of you who might be unfamiliar with Elizabeth Bacon Custer, she was the wife of the infamous and highly controversial Civil War officer George Armstrong Custer, who eventually perished in the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

Elizabeth and George married on February 9, 1864, while the Civil War was in its third year of threatening to permanently divide the nation (KHS).

The couple was devoted to one another, though their marriage contained a fair bit of drama, including flirtations, rumors, and jealousy (Leckie, 38, 96-97, 102-105).

Perhaps I’ll address their tumultuousness and the controversies surrounding Custer in a future post!

Still, they loved each other dearly, calling each other by their nicknames, Libby and Autie, and spending as much time together as possible, even during the Civil War (KHS). One year after the war ended in 1865, the couple was sent to Fort Riley (KHS). 

After an initial adjustment period, during which Libby viewed Fort Riley as “remote and isolated,” she soon grew to appreciate her situation (Leckie, 89). As a Lieutenant Colonel, Autie was not the highest ranking officer on post, but he and Libby did enjoy privileged quarters (Leckie, 87, 90; Gage).

In a letter to a cousin, she exalted, “We are living almost in luxury. It does not seem life in the army for you know I have had mostly a rough time” (Libby to Rebecca, December 6, 1866).

While I am not sure I completely agree with Libby’s description of Riley as luxurious, I do have very fond memories of the time my husband and I spent there, the beauty of the rolling Flint Hills, and the welcoming community. 

Libby and Autie also appreciated their community and the Fort Riley area, though in a much more enthusiastic and social manner than my introverted nature allowed.

The Custers enjoyed many activities and social engagements, such as riding horses together and hosting gatherings and plays (Leckie, 92; Gage).

Of course, as is the case with nearly any military marriage, their time at Fort Riley did include periods of separation from each other.

According to historical tradition, as retold by the Fort Riley Spouses Club fundraising vice president Autumn McGuffey, Libby would make Autie an apple pie every time he returned home from one of his assignments (Loura).

This story is where the Apple Day Festival tradition of using Libby’s own pie recipe comes from. 

Lest you should think that you too can make Libby’s pie, I was intrigued to learn that only a couple people each year are allowed to see the entire recipe, keeping it a closely held post secret (Loura).

To preserve the recipe’s secrecy, pie making volunteers are divided into work stations, with each group only making a small portion of the pies to be sold during the festival (Loura).

As an avid baker, I dearly wish I could obtain this recipe – but the tradition of its secrecy lends such fun to the festival that I must be content with the charming custom! 

More importantly than any recipe, however, is the spirit in which the pie tradition exists.

Libby’s kind and loving act of baking pies for her husband is a useful lesson in serving those we love. True, Autie and Libby had anything but a perfect marriage. In fact, Autie’s actions during one period of jealousy contributed to his eventual court martial (Leckie, 105-106)!

While we can all hope for smoother sailing in our own lives, we can still appreciate the comforting warmth of feeling loved by an act of service, even if that service is as simple as an apple pie.

Perhaps during this fall season, we can think about what small act we can do to serve our families and our communities.

Is there a family in our community who could use a meal – or an apple pie? Or perhaps our spouses are in difficult work seasons and need a bit of cheering up with a nice night out.

However we can serve those around us, we will undoubtedly find that their days are brightened by a little extra kindness, and that we are cheered in the act of serving as well! 

And, if you decide to bake an apple pie, as I too plan on doing very soon, perhaps we can remember Libby and Autie and their adventure of marriage and Army life, sweetened by many a shared apple pie.

Who knows what traditions we all can start in our own military spouse communities! 

*Read Anna’s first post HERE!

Sources:

Kansas Historical Society (KHS). “Elizabeth Bacon Custer.” The Kansas Historical Society. Last modified February, 2013. https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/elizabeth-bacon-custer/12030.

Leckie, Shirley A. Elizabeth Bacon Custer and the Making of a Myth. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1993. 

Gage, Mary. “A Sunflower State Literary Pilgrimage: Visiting the Custers.” KANSAS! Magazine, September, 2020. https://www.travelks.com/kansas-magazine/articles/post/a-sunflower-state-literary-pilgrimage-visiting-the-custers/.

Custer, Elizabeth Bacon. Elizabeth Bacon Custer to Rebecca Richmond, December 6, 1866. In Millbrook, Minnie Dubbs, ed. “Mrs. General Custer at Fort Riley.” Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains 40, no. 1 (1974): 63-71. https://www.kshs.org/p/kansas-historical-quarterly-mrs-general-custer-at-fort-riley/17431.  

Loura, Emma. “American as Apple Pie: Volunteers Carry on a Fort Riley Tradition.” News-Press Now (St. Joseph, MO). Originally published by Manhattan Mercury (Manhattan, KS), September 28, 2023. https://www.newspressnow.com/news/regional_news/kansas/american-as-apple-pie-volunteers-carry-on-a-fort-riley-tradition/article_e9a5578b-1fdb-51b1-9b5d-b8847c74f34a.html.

Strehle, Ashley. “Volunteers Use Libby Custer’s ‘Secret Recipe’ during Pie-Making Marathon.” U. S. Army. September 16, 2009. https://www.army.mil/article/27444/volunteers_use_libby_custers_secret_recipe_during_pie_making_marathon.