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Frontier U. S. Army and Sportsmen

Thanks for posting these pictures Fred. I note that the display includes some US infantry items. Many people forget the role of the infantry on the frontier, being influenced by Hollywood which concentrates on the US Cavalry (especially the 7th!). In fact there were only 10 regiments of cavalry for much of the late Nineteenth Century, between the end of the Civil War and the start of the Twentieth Century, of which two, 9th and 10th were raised from African Americans (they were both crack regiments, perhaps the best in the army, but also got all the worst postings, for example it was the 9th that fought Geronimo and the Apaches).The slack had to be taken up by the infantry, endlessly plodding the Plains. As in the UK, the US Army was a last resort for the desperate during this period, and post Civil War was much neglected. Financial savings were usually at its expense, and at times the establishment of a US Cavalry troop could fall as low as 40 privates. Civil War equipment and uniforms were used all through the 70's and into the 80's. Hence the loss of half of the 7th Cavalry at Little Big Horn was a major disaster.

Hi Steve, Quite right about the infantry being eclipsed by Hollywood portrayal. I was amazed by the information about the infantry; in one of the displays you can see a photo of a long line of infantry in "bear coats" slogging through deep snow.

The National Cowboy Museum website discusses how badly the Democrats in Congress and the House of Representatives of the 1870s were gutting the military under the guise that Congress was the true defender of the American people. Father of the political cartoon Thomas Nast penned many caricatures about "Our Living Skeleton Standing Army” filled Harper’s Weekly in the early 1870s. You can find examples about 2/3 down the page of this site: LINK

Good comment and all correct. Except that other units fought the Apaches well before the 9th Cav. the 1st Cav, 3rd Cav,4th Cav, 5th cav, 6th Cav,. In fact the 1st Cav. fought the most battles with the Apaches. The 9th came in very late in the Apache Campaigns. As to being posted to the worst posts in Arizona? By the time the 9th got here the forts were larger and more "civilized" so to speak. i.e Ft. Huachuca in SE Arizona. Being in Arizona in 1866-73 in a small primitive post is tough work. Where the 9th and 10th were very good and few people realize is that their disease rate was very low. They were in much better health than other US soldiers and their desertion rate was very, very low when the white rate was always high. the 9th and 10th cav were busy in many other locations in the West.

Thank you for the feature Fred. Some really nice photos. Looks like a nice museum. Thank you, Randy