THE MARCH OF THE MOUNTED RIFLEMEN. FIRST UNITED STATES MILITARY EXPEDITION TO TRAVEL THE FULL LENGTH OF THE OREGON TRAIL FROM FORT LEAVENWORTH TO FORT VANCOUVER MAY TO OCTOBER, 1849, AS RECORDED IN THE JOURNALS OF MAJOR OSBORNE CROSS AND GEORGE GIBBS AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT OF COLONEL LORING.

First edition. 8vo. Dark blue cloth, 380 pp., frontis. [portrait of Major Osborne Cross], preface, introduction, illustrated, plates, portraits, teg, bibliography, index. AHC 251 says, "Congress authorized the Mounted Riflemen to establish military posts along the Oregon Trail in 1846, but the expedition was delayed for three years. The three primary accounts of the journey are gathered together in this work to present differing viewpoints. Gibbs was a civilian, and offers a contrasting perspective from Cross and Loring on the execution of the expedition." "In May of 1849 five companies of men and 171 supply wagons started fromFort 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. This book 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."A fine, bright copy. As New with plain unprinted dust jacket, as issued.…