On this day in 1914, a month after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife by a Serbian nationalist, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, marking the start of World War I.
The United States wouldn't enter the war until April 1917. That was when local military assembly points like Fort Logan were activated. The war only lasted another year and a half.
Fort Logan was built in the 1880s to protect Denver as the turmoil of white settlement in the state began to wane. It became a recruit depot in 1909.
A little more history from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs page on what is now Fort Logan National Cemetery at 4400 W. Kenyon Ave., Denver:
"Although 340 acres of land were added to the fort in 1908, by 1909 Fort Logan was reduced to a recruiting depot. This remained its sole function until 1922 when the 38th Infantry was garrisoned at what locals sometimes referred to as 'Fort Forgotten.' Despite a brief resurgence of activity in the 1930s and early 1940s, Fort Logan closed in May 1946. In 1960, much of the land was deeded to the State of Colorado to establish a state hospital that still operates as the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Fort Logan. On March 10, 1950, Congress authorized the use of military lands at Fort Logan as a national cemetery, but limited the size to no more than 160 acres. Since that time, the cemetery has expanded from the original 160 acres to 214 acres."
