Call for Cavalry to Protect the Frontier
Oregon and Washington territory officials seek recruits for an expedition against the Snake Indians.
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.
100 Volunteers Wanted for the First Regiment of Oregon Cavalry, to serve three years unless sooner discharged. 100 Dollars Bounty. 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. Total, one hundred enlisted men. The Governor of Oregon, in his proclamation calling for these volunteers, says that they will be needed the coming spring on the frontiers of this State and W. Territory, and for an expedition against the Snake Indians who have long been ravaging, robbing immigrants and murdering our fellow citizens.
“They will be needed the coming spring on the frontiers of this State and W. Territory, and for an expedition against the Snake Indians.”
This notice reflects the violent expansionism of the mid-19th century, where state-sanctioned military units were recruited to clear Indigenous people from lands targeted for white settlement. It marks a period of intense, state-sponsored conflict that fundamentally altered the demographic and political landscape of 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.