The Ravalli Republican. [volume] (Stevensville, Mont.) 1894-1899, 1897-05-26
THE WHEEL IN TIE ARMY.
The Proposed Trip Of Lieut.. Moss and
Men from Missoula to ST. Louis.

The Proposed Trip Of Lieut.. Moss and
Men from Missoula to St. Louis.
| There is at the Planters Hotel,
says the St. Louis Star, a bronZcd
Second Lieutenant in the United
States, hardly more than boy-tall,
slender, smooth faced, with decp-sct,
earnest gray cycs-upon whose
shoulders rests the grave responsible
lty Of deciding the fate of the bcy
Gle rs an implement OF war.
The young man is Lieut.. James A.
Moss Of the Twenty Infantry,
U. s. A., a colored regiment. He is
about to undertake special mission
Of the greatest Importance by order
of Gen. Miles. About June /, in
command Of twenty colorcd soldiers,
he will start from Fort Missoula to
ride on bicycles, to St. Louis, a dis
tance Of nearly 1000 across the
toughest, rockiest country anywhere
in the United States, for the trip
means crossing the main divide Of
the Rocky Mountains. w..
The trip will be made with scien-
tihc attention to detail: and the most
elaborate preparations are now being
made for it, in order that when
Lieut.. Mess makes his report to the
war department the information in
the report may be used as basis for
deciding whether it would be adyis-
able to form Il bicycle corps us aregu-
lar department. Of the army.
! Lieut.. Moss is not inexperienced i'm
the use Of the wheel in the army.
He probably knows more about it
than any other man living in this
country.
lie has already led one wheeling
expedition from Fort Missoula,
Ms,ntana, to Fort Yellowstone and
return, a distance of 500 miles, over
the main divide Of the Rocky noun
tains. This was done last summer,
and although he did not have the ad-
vantage Of experience and the best
equipments, the result showed con-
clusiyely that the bicycle in the army
is d possibility. The trip this sum-
mer is for the purpose Of proving it's
desrability and practicability. Lieut..
Moss believes implicitly that these
will be proven.
''Last season." said, he to Il Star
reporter, II started with eight sol
diers from Fort Missoul;t and rode to
Fort Yellowstone and return, 500
miles, in twenty days, spending five
days loafny around Yellowstone
Park. That wasn't such bad time,
considering everything - inexpcri-
ence,. not the best wheels, and such
like drawbacks. Each of my men
carried arms, ammunition, shelter
tent, and ratiOns, and the cook had
a heavier load. The total weight OF
himself, his wheel and his baggage
was 2G0 pounds. The men were all
negroes 1t seems peculiar that /,
who was born and reared within
sound Of the surf Of the Gulf OF
Mexico, in an atmosphere Of white
supremacy, should be commanding
colored troops. I have some pictures
here that are eloquent Of the harG
bimcs We had"
Lieut.. Moss showed collection OF
snap shot pictures showing himself
and his eight whcelmen troopers ir
all manner of difficult situations
climbing mountains, crossing sandy
plains, mcnding smash ups and Wad
ing through rivers. One picture
showed the men walking down a 45-
degree mountain side.
'That was one Of our greatest
difficulties. In fact, | may say tho
greatest. We found it harder te
keep our wheels from running away
with us down steep incIincs than We
did pushing them up
"Our tires were the ordinary kind
and we had q great deal of trouble
with them They nearly drove me
crazy with pnnctures, and, what was
worse, rottcnness, which caused them
to burst. Once we struck some
sticky gumbo mud, and had to stor
for two days and take our wheels en-.
tirely apart to clean them.
'St. Louis will be the objective
point Of our trip this summer. This
time we will start very much better
equipped for the test, and l expect
it to be a snccess. General Miles be-
liavcs, also, that it will succeed
You know he is an enthusiast on tho