The military played a crucial role in the exploration and settlement of the Freedom's Frontier National Heritage Area region. Expeditions to explore the territory, including Lewis & Clark in 1804-1806 and Pike in 1806-1807, were military expeditions. The military set up posts, Fort Osage in 1808 and Fort Leavenworth in 1827 first among them, to maintain order in the outer U.S. boundaries. As pioneers moved westward through Kansas on the historic trails, so did the military.
As Kansas opened for settlement and tensions flared into the Missouri-Kansas Border War and Civil War, the military again played a big role in the Freedom's Frontier region.
- 1855 Harris-Kearney House and Westport Historical Society
- 1st Kansas Colored Infantry Civil War Monument
- African-American Quilt Museum & Textile Academy (Marla Quilts, Inc.)
- American Flight Museum
- Bates County Museum
- Battle of Island Mound State Historic Site
- Baxter Springs Heritage Center & Museum
- Burlingame Schuyler Museum
- Bushwhacker Museum
- Concordia Area Museum and Historical Society
- Dole Institute of Politics/Dole Archives
- Eudora Community Museum
- Excelsior Springs Museum & Archives
- Fort Larned National Historic Site
- Fort Osage National Historic Landmark
- Fort Riley Museums
- Fort Scott National Historic Site
- Franklin County Records and Research Center
- Frontier Army Museum
- Geary County Historical Society & Museum
- Glacial Hills Scenic Byway
- Historic Higginsville Museum and Depot
- Historic Topeka Cemetery
- Humboldt Civil War Tour
- John Wornall House Museum
- Johnson County Historic Courthouse Museum
- Kansas City Public Library - Missouri Valley Special Collection
- Kansas Museum of History
- Kansas State Capitol
- Kenneth Spencer Research Library, The University of Kansas
- Lawrence Public Library
- Leavenworth County Historical Society & Carroll Mansion Museum
- Leonard H. Axe Library at Pittsburg State University
- Little House on the Prairie Museum
- Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes
- McClure Archives and University Museum
- Miami County Historical Museum
- Mine Creek Battlefield State Historic Site
- Missouri State Capitol
- Mount Mitchell Heritage Prairie
- Mount Mora Cemetery
- Museum of Kansas National Guard
- National Archives at Kansas City
- National World War I Museum and Memorial
- Olathe Historical Society
- Old Depot Museum
- Patee House Museum
- Pea Ridge National Military Park
- Ray County Historical Society Museum and Genealogical Library
- Raytown Historical Society and Museum
- Shawnee Indian Mission State Historic Site
- Springfield National Cemetery
- St. Joseph Visitors Center
- Territorial Capital Museum
- Wilson's Creek National Battlefield
