Distinctly Montana Magazine

19 w w w. d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m St. Louis. Moss claimed that this route would permit a thorough test of the durability and practicality of the bicycle as a means of transportation for troops, as well as hopefully keep them out of the worst of the mud they might encounter. He would cache sup- plies every 100 miles along the route, ensuring that they either averaged 50 miles per day or go hungry—which, as it turned out, they ended doing several times. With everything set, the Bicycle Corps pedaled out of Fort Missoula for St. Louis at 5:30 a.m. on Monday, June 14, 1897. That day the Daily Missoulian ran the headline: "Off for St. Louis: Twenty-fifth Infantry Bi-Cycle Corps Takes Up Its Long March." The article called it "one of the most important journeys ever taken out of Missoula." When the Bicycle Corps reached Mis- soula they rode through town in an impressive, double-file for- mation as people lined the streets to cheer them on their way. Little did they know the magnitude of the struggles that awaited them. What they were about to endure to accomplish their mis- sion would be the stuff that legends are made of. Barely two hours out of Missoula, Mother Nature started serv- ing them up a near constant diet of wind and rain, again turning roads into avenues of mud. In fact, it would rain 13 out of the first 15 days. At the top of the pass they were met with driving sleet and two inches of snow. On the east side of the Divide they had to deal with swarms of voracious mosquitoes along with the everpresent mud. Along the way the mud forced them to choose the railroad bed for several miles. However, new crossties had just been placed, and the spaces between them had not yet been filled in. At each end of the crossties, earth, rocks, and old ties were piled up, forcing them inside the tracks. The constant jar of riding over this torn-up track was brutal. Boos reported that the men were nearly jolted to pieces from this section. South of Billings the soil turned into a clay-gumbo which forced frequent dismounts where the men had to either push or carry their bikes up and down the muddy, sticky mountainsides. They were forced to stop again and again to cut the caked mud from their wheels. Their slow progress meant food had to be ra- tioned in order to make it to the next cache, now adding hun- ger to the list of misfortunes. Boos wrote, "We were wet, cold and hungry, and a more jaded set of men never existed." They www.blacktieskis.com | 406-995-3372 | info@blacktiebigsky.com Aspen/Snowmass • Banff • BIG SKY/MOONLIGHT Boone, NC • Breckenridge/Keystone Crested Butte • Jackson Hole • Mammoth North Lake Tahoe • Park City/Deer Valley Schweitzer • South Lake Tahoe • Steamboat • Telluride Tremblant • Vail • Whistler • Whitefish, MT • Winter Park FREE DELIVERY, CUSTOM FITTING, AND UNPARALLELED SERVICE WORLD-CLASS EQUIPMENT, DELIVERED TO YOU. USE COUPON CODE DISTMT24 AND RECEIVE 20% OFF ALL SEASON LONG! N O R T H A M E R I C A' S L A R G E S T N O R T H A M E R I C A' S L A R G E S T BEST SKI RENTALS IN MONTANA IN-ROOM FITTING SLOPE-SIDE SERVICE COMPLIMENTARY RETURN 2022-24 of B E ST M O N TA N A A S V O T E D B Y R E A D E R S O F Y E A R S WO N W I N N E R ! HE SUMMED UP THE REACTION OF THE CORPS: "SOLDIERS DELIGHTED WITH THE TRIP—TREATED ROYALLY EVERYWHERE—THOUGHT THE SIGHTS GRAND."

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