The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-05-21
TORREY'S ROUGH RIDERS
. SUPERB EQUIPMENT
Tho Regiment WIN Be Typicaliy West
ern, but win Lack the Long
Haired Bad Men-Sketch
OF the Leader.
Special Dispatch to the Standard.

Special Dispatch to the Standard.
Cheyenne. Wyo.. May 20.-The work Of
organizing the End regiment Of volun-
teer cavalry. to be composed Of from
ttersmen from the Northwest, is being
carried on in a most systematic and ex-
peditious manner by the colonel of the
regiment. Jay L. Torrey. and before the
close of the present week the full regi-
ment of 1000 rough riders will be at the
Fort Russell barracks here, fully armed
and equipped for service.
The regiment will be made up Of ad-
venturous spirits. and will contain a
greater variety of experiences than any
aggregation of military men ever
formed. All will be frontiersmen,
horsemen n marksmen. They will not
all be cowboys, for among the recruits
are lawyers, physicians, prospectors,
mining men, mining engineers, herds
men and preachers, but all are dis
tinctively western men, with sunburned
faces and the spirit of independence and
ability to take care of themselves that
Is peculiar to life in the West. The
Western character omitted from the
ranks of this regiment is the long-haired
type of bad man who Is a coward at
heart, and has no place in a regiment of
men who will fight In the open
The End regiment will be made up
of men from Colorado, Utah, Nevada,
Idaho and Wyoming, the troops appor-
toned to the various states being two
from Colorado, one from Nevada, one
from Utah, one from Idaho and seven
from Wyoming. The troops in Colorado,
Utah, Idaho and Nevada have already
been fully organized and equipped, n
passed a preliminary medical ex-
animation. They are now all en- route
a. Als. sxw a-1 nvsI ~ - HAHa h1r
Wednesday. The seven troops from
Wyoming have been recruited and will
also reach here early this week. The
applications for enlistment have been
double the number that can be taken.
There have been hundreds of applica-
tions for enlistment from Eastern states,
and Colonel Torrey states that he could
have filled his regiment before leaving
Washington with bright young fellows
from the states east of the Mississippi
river. None will be taken from states
other than those named in the orders
authorizing the regiment.
The equipment Of the regiment will
be superb. In the beginning Colonel
Torrey was ambitious to have a dis
tinctive uniform. On investigation he
found that every hat factory in the
country had orders for six months
ahead. The clothing factories were I'm
the same condition. He therefore de-
cided to take the uniform furnished by
the government. 1t was thought at first
that the cowboy saddle, with his high
pommel and cantle, would be used. 1t
was found that it would take six months
to supply the regiment with such sad
dies, hence the regulation government
cavalry saddle will be used. In arms,
the regiment will have the improved
magazine Krag-Jorgensen carbine and
45-calber Colts revolvers with the short
barrel. No sabers will be used.
Great attention is being paid to the
question of mounts. A board of experts
comprised OF Captain C. A. Varnum,
9TH u. S. cavalry; Lieutenant Stocked,
9Th u. S. cavalry, and Percy S. Hoyt,
a local horseman of great experience, is
selecting horses from the best stock in
Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and Idaho.
The board is not limited as to price and
is paying $110 per head for its selec-
tions.
The specifications established by the
board call for horses about Is hands
high; weight, about 1000 pounds; color,
bay, black, chestnut or brown; gentle
under the saddle and with no vicious
habits. Preference is given horses
owned by recruits. OF the animals Of
fered not more than 5 per cent. are ac-
cepted. The cowboy has, in many in
stances, a mistaken idea of the require
IlClllo VI a tdNaby hoioNs Oh thS
roundup he has usually a string of
from 10 to 20 horses and rides reckless
ly and without giving his horse care
or attention. His idea of a gentle horse
is one that cannot puck him off. A
cowboy recruit offered his horse to the
purchasing board this morning. rs he
gentle and without vicious habits?" was
asked. Yes, plumb gentle" was the
reply. We'll, get on him n ride"
he was instructed. He got on him n
for 10 minute there was a scene of high
bucking n furious pitching which
would make a Wild West show tame in
comparison. Rejected" said the horse
board. What for?" queried the cow
boy; h didn't throw me-; / call him
a plumb gentle hoss."
On the question of horses Colonel Tor
rey says: MY judgment is that the
horse we use will be so effective and
durable that it will establish the group
of states in which they are bought as
the market of the world for cavalry
horses"
A pack train is being made up for the
regiment at st. Louis. The mules will
be picked from a bunch of 1000 and
will be a class which will keep up with
the cavalry in it's most rapid move
ments. No wagons will be used, and
the regiment will be effective for serv-
ice in the Philippines or Cuba.
Colonel Torrey. who will lead the
regiment. is a young man of intense
energy and perseverance. He has a ca
pacity for work almost u~neQualed, and
the result is showing up in the syste-
manner in which his regiment Is
together from the scattered
of the great area in which 1t is
organized. Colonel Torrey was
captain for several years at the
state university under Major
Of the regular army. After
he held a commission in the
with the Missouri National Guards,
afterwards was assistant adjutant
of the staff of the commander
Of the eastern military district of Mis-
souri,. Fol a number of years he has
been the owner and manager of the
Embar cattle outfit in the Big Horn
basin in this state. A large percentage
Of he cowboys of the West have
worked for him, and all are active re-