Oregon Cavalry Seeks 100 Men for Frontier Service
A recruitment call for the First Regiment of Oregon Cavalry to combat the Snake Indians in Washington Territory.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Wanted: 100 Volunteers for the First Regiment of Oregon Cavalry, to serve three years unless sooner discharged. The company will consist of one Captain, one First, and one Second Lieutenant; one First Sergeant, one Quartermaster Sergeant; one commissary sergeant, five Sergeants, eight Corporals, two Teamsters, two Farriers or blacksmiths, one Saddler, one wagoner, and seventy-eight privates. The Governor of Oregon, in his proclamation calling for these volunteers, says that they will be needed this coming spring on the frontier of this State and Washington Territory, and for an expedition against the Snake Indians who have so long been mercilessly engaged in robbing immigrants and murdering our fellow citizens.
“They will be needed this coming spring on the frontier of this State and Washington Territory, and for an expedition against the Snake Indians.”
This 1863 call for 'volunteers' to secure the frontier against Indigenous resistance highlights the role of localized paramilitary forces in the dispossession of native lands. These historical conflicts continue to shape modern legal debates regarding tribal sovereignty and land rights in the Pacific Northwest.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.