In the summer of 1897, 20 U.S. Black Army infantrymen cycled 1,900 miles on state-of-the-art geared motorcycles from Fort Missoula, Montana, to St. Louis. The army ordered a grueling expedition to see if the soldiers could form a bicycle corps. Newspapers he described their progress as they pedaled 50 miles a day through mud and sand, through the snowy mountains of Montana and the blazing plains of Nebraska. The 41-day endeavor was somewhat of a forgotten military history until Erick Cedeño, a long-distance cyclist and model living in Santa Monica, California, recreated it last June on the a hundred and twenty fifth anniversary of the expedition.
“I’ve all the time been fascinated by history,” said Cedeño, 49, who has spent years collecting photos and documents related to the infantrymen and their journey. About 10 years ago, on a motorbike trip from Miami to New York, he decided he desired to learn more in regards to the history of endurance cycling. His curiosity led him to the twenty fifth Bicycle Corps.
“It was the primary time I saw a black man from that era traveling by bicycle,” he said, referring to historical photos of soldiers on bicycles.
The soldiers were a part of the twenty fifth Infantry Regiment, one in every of the African-American units whose members were also often called the Buffalo Troopers. Led by 20 chosen men, joined by a health care provider and journalist, Lieutenant James Moss, fascinated by bicycles, proposed the formation of a bicycle corps. Lieutenant Moss, who was white, had graduated last in his class from West Point (United States Military Academy), just three years before the expedition.
“Most people didn’t wish to work west of the Mississippi,” Cedeño said. “So west of Mississippi, he was last at school. And more often than not west of the Mississippi, you needed to work with African American troops.”
It was these soldiers who performed a rare feat in each black history and the history of cycling – one which Mr. Cedeño dropped at latest attention by following their bike paths and telling their stories. I spoke to him about it in February after he gave a lecture on travel on the Discovery Club, a members-only association in New York.
The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
You recreated this journey. What were the ups and downs for you?
I began the expedition at 5:30 within the morning on June 14, 2022, exactly on the time and day of the departure of the soldiers. It was 42 degrees once I rode in Montana, which is pretty cold for somebody who lives in Southern California. It was windy, but there was no snow, which they managed. It was really hot within the lower plains of Nebraska, about 105, 106 degrees almost each day. Fortunately for me, I wasn’t on a military expedition, so I used to be in a position to take my shirt off. Every 10 miles I’d go to the food market and ask if I could go into the fridge for a beer. I ate snacks within the beer cooler. The people were so great. When I told people what I used to be doing, they said, “Yes, please, whatever you would like!” The soldiers had no approach to enter the beer fridge. They also rode in uniforms and carried heavy machine guns on their backs. These guys were almost superheroes, you already know, superpowered.
Tell me a bit about bicycles.
At the time, they’d the most recent bike, the 1897 Special Spalding, which cost about $75, which was a whole lot of money for a motorbike on the time. Spalding donated the bikes within the hope that the Army would buy more if successful. So single speed. In 1886, bicycles had wood wheels and no chain guards. In 1897, they saw that “if we undergo the snow and rain, we’ll need to change the wood wheels to steel ones and add a sequence guard.” what did they do.
How did they manage to feed and hydrate?
There was a water problem that began after they crossed Wyoming into South Dakota. They drank some polluted water and a few of them got sick. No matter what happened, they’d to maneuver on. There were times after they drove almost 50 miles without water. They had bacon, flour, coffee, which were dropped off at drop-off points near the railroad every 100 miles. Along the best way, they bought meat and eggs from farmers.
The racist response to the boys increased as they moved east and south. Why was it a lot easier to be a Negro in Montana back then?
I do not know if it was higher. I mean, they still needed to take care of racism there, but they were a part of the community and so they did a lot for the community that folks realized they’d to indicate them respect. The twenty fifth Infantry Regiment was stationed there performing military tasks, comparable to helping to revive order during miners’ strikes.
They encountered increasing racism as they moved further east and south, especially in Missouri. But after they got to St. Louis, greater than 10,000 people showed as much as have fun. About 300 cyclists rode the previous couple of kilometers with them. It made me comfortable.
What happened to the body? You learned that a minimum of one in every of the boys – a mechanic – was buried in an unmarked grave.
The Army never made a corps, though I heard they tried them in Poland and India. In 1898, some Buffalo soldiers were sent to fight within the Spanish War in Cuba. Some returned to Missoula, Mont. Some were sent to Brownsville, Texas. In 1906 it existed incident where the Black soldiers were wrongly blamed. They were released by local law enforcement, but Teddy Roosevelt released them anyway. First Sergeant Mingo Sanders, the oldest rider within the expedition, was nearing retirement. I saw a letter to the president begging him to not be fired. But he was. It hurt me so much.
This is barely 41 years after captivity where a few of their fathers, their moms, were enslaved. And for the primary time they’d a job. They felt a part of society. They felt we were equal. They are fighting for this country. They just got here from the war. We have the names of 20 riders. These men are someone’s grandparents, someone’s great-grandparents. They don’t understand how indignant they were. I would like everyone to know.
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