Frederick Funston was born in New Carlisle, Ohio to Edward H. Funston and Ann Eliza Mitchell Funston and grew up near Iola, Kansas. By the early 1890s he had participated in scientific expeditions in the Dakota Badlands, in Alaska along the Klondike and Yukon Rivers, and in Death Valley in the Mojave Desert of California.

In 1896, Funston joined Cuban forces fighting for independence from Spain. Raising in their ranks from captain of artillery to lieutenant colonel, he was sent back to the United States in 1898 due to catching malaria. While back in the United States, Funston met Eda Blankart, and after a brief courtship, they were married.

When the United States declared war against Spain in 1898, Funston was appointed colonel of the 20th Kansas Volunteer Infantry and led the regiment to the Philippines. His second-in-command was Major Wilder Stevens Metcalf (1855-1935) of Lawrence, Kansas. The regiment was mustered out in October 1898. During his time leading the 20th, Funston was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor and promoted to the rank of Brigadier General Volunteers.

In December 1899, Funston returned to the Philippines and led a small unit of American soldiers and Macabebe and Filipino scouts in the capture of Emilio Aguinaldo at Palowan, Luzon. Due to this feat, Funston was promoted to Brigadier General of the Regular Army in June 1901, becoming the youngest general in the army at the age of 35. After the war, Funston continued to serve in the army, providing aid after the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco and commanding troops at the Texas-Mexico border in 1914 against Pancho Villa. In 1914 Funston was made a Major General.

Funston died of a heart attack in February 1917 before he could lead American Expeditionary Forces into Europe in World War I.

[Information retrieved from Kansapedia, "Frederick Funston," at https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/frederick-funston/12060.]