Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 3.djvu/134

124 At the same time the long delayed Mounted Rifle Regiment, commanded by Brev. Col. W. W. Loring, was on its way from Fort Leavenworth to Oregon. It arrived, as much of it as was left by desertion, deaths, and detachments, in October. This regiment, when it left Fort Leavenworth, numbered six hundred men, thirty-one commissioned officers, some women and children, with guides, agents, helpers and teamsters a large number. There were one hundred and sixty-one wagons in the train, one thousand and two hundred mules, and seven hundred horses. For all these men and animals subsistence had to be carried.

At Laramie a post was established and provisioned. At or near Fort Hall a cantonment was erected and also partially provisioned. Owing to the failure to arrive on time of a supply train from the Willamette under Lieutenant Hawkins, Colonel Loring's command, which had pushed on to meet it, was reduced nearly to the point of starvation, Hawkins having taken the southern route and missed making the rendezvous. When the regiment reached The Dalles many of the men were barefoot and their horses too weak to carry them. In such sorry plight were the Oregon Riflemen who, in Mexico, had covered themselves with glory. At The Dalles they found no better means of transportation than mackinaw boats, canoes, and a yawl or two. Several men were drowned in attempting to run the Cascade rapids on a raft. Those who crossed the Cascade Mountains by the Mount Hood road with the wagons and the herds suffered severe hardships. Forest fires, steep hills, worn-out and perishing stock, all conspired to add to their miserable condition. The teamsters were not men bred to the service, but adventurers picked up at Leavenworth who were seeking opportunities to get to the California gold mines. The regiment also was largely recruited from