It was an awesome sight, that regiment of Mounted Riflemen slowly
marching up the Oregon Trail, already crowded with gold seekers and
their animals in 1849. In May of that year five companies of men
and 171 supply wagons started from Fort Leavenworth on a
five-month, two-thousand-mile march that would take them to Fort
Vancouver. After distinguished service in the Mexican War, the
rifle regiment had mustered out and then reorganized for the
purpose of establishing and garrisoning forts along the Oregon
Trail.
"The March of the Mounted Riflemen," first published in 1940, is
important as the only complete record of one of the longest marches
ever made. Most of the book is devoted to the journal of the
quartermaster, Major Osborne Cross, which describes the experience
of recruits unprepared for such an undertaking. There were numerous
desertions among the soldiers and teamsters, who were faced with a
cholera epidemic and the heavy loss of horses and mules in poor
grazing country, but for those who finally crossed the Cascades
there was pleasure in spectacular scenery and interest in dealing
with friendly Indians. Included is the journal of George Gibbs, a
civilian artist and naturalist who accompanied the marchers, and a
report by Colonel William Wing Loring, the commanding officer
Together, these primary documents offer valuable information about
the Oregon Trail and the great emigration of 1849.
General
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