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Posted on 02/02/2005 2:03:08 AM PST by SAMWolf
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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| Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support. The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer. If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions. We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.
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In the 1840s, westward expansion proceeded at a rapid pace. Promises of wide-open spaces and inexpensive land with rich soil enticed many people in the East to pack up their possessions and head West. As the population of Americans on the West Coast increased, so too did the nation's desire to actually own the land that these Americans were settling. The phrase "Manifest Destiny" was coined to describe the philosophy shared by many that the United States had a divine right to become a transcontinental nation. To that end, the 1840s became a decade of rapid territorial acquisition and expansion.  Dragoon soldiers from Fort Scott participated in many activities that contributed to westward expansion. They provided armed escorts for parties on the Santa Fe and Oregon Trails, surveyed unmapped country, and maintained contact with Plains Indians. Each summer, from 1843-45, several companies of dragoons, including Company A, 1st U.S. Dragoons, from Fort Scott, participated in military expeditions along the overland trails. The purpose of these expeditions was to protect travel and trade along the trails and to keep the Plains Indians at peace. The first of these expeditions took place along the Santa Fe Trail - a trade route between Missouri and Santa Fe - then part of Mexico. The United States Dragoons, organized in 1833, had been charged with protecting the traders along the trail from Indian attacks.  In 1843, trouble erupted along the Santa Fe Trail, not from Indian attacks but from Texans. Ill will existed between Texas and Mexico even before the Texan Revolution of 1836. Prejudice and hatred on both sides, border squabbles and violence continued into the 1840s. In 1843, Texas "freebooters" began attacking Mexican caravans along the trail. One group of Texans murdered Antonio Chavez, a Mexican trader, on American soil. The army apprehended and punished the killers but traders were fearful of further attacks and asked the War Department to furnish a military escort that year from Missouri to Santa Fe. Captain Philip St. George Cooke led five companies of dragoons along the Santa Fe Trail to protect the trade. In route, the dragoons encountered Jacob Snively, who held a commission from Texas to raid Mexican caravans on Mexican soil. Two days prior to their meeting with Cooke, Snively's men had attacked Mexican soldiers, killing several of them and taking their weapons.  Upon their initial encounter, Snively's men and the dragoons were across the Arkansas River from each other. The land north of the river clearly belonged to the United States, but south of the river, U.S. territory only extended west to the 100th meridian. Snively claimed that he was forty miles west of the boundary, but Cooke contended that Snively was on American soil. Therefore, he ordered Fort Scott's dragoons under Captain Terrett, to cross the river and disarm the freebooters. The dragoons left the freebooters only ten guns for defense on their way back to Texas. A rumor persists that the Texans had hidden their own guns and surrendered the previously confiscated Mexican weapons to the dragoons.  The 1843 expedition earned Captain Cooke the undying hatred of the Texans but was successful because it discouraged any further attacks along the Santa Fe Trail that year.
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I've driven through a couple of Apache reservations in New Mexico that were on good, very pretty land. Not at all like the pictures in the movies.
I have a couple of ancestors who were in a mounted infantry regiment during the Civil War, but the fine distinctions between mounted infantry, cavalry and dragoons mostly escape me. Still, in the days before armor, signing on for one of them sounds like the way to go.
Just Curious, why did you post the Blue Star banner on the announcement of our site? We are not affiliated with the Blue Star Banner, although we do list its history on our site. What I have done is created a new means of showing support for troops, veterans and our POW/MIA's. I have tried to upload to the thread our logo, and have had no luck in doing so...can you help me out?
Also, Thank you for adding your name to our site and passing our link along. I do appreciate it, and all that you are doing here.
Do you think it would be appropriate to do a Thread on the history of the Blue Star Banner / Service Star? I know that there are a lot of people who still have not even heard of it. That is why we chose to put a breif history on our site, with a link so that more information can be gathered by those interested.
Have a Great Day!!! God Bless, and I love what you all are doing at the Foxhole.
Jimm
You and I both.
Tonight's show is going to be a real Thriller
Good evening Aeronaut.
Good evening EGC and alfa6.
Nice big flag-o-gram. Thanks PE.
Good evening Mayor.
Evening Feather.
Evening Iris7.
The Apaches were tough, Can't blame the Dragoons for avoiding them.
Thanks Lee Heggy.
Sounds like an interesting project to be involved with.
Evening Grzegorz 246
Free Dixie!!
:-) It sure does.
Great minds.....
LOL!
Evening CT.
I guess anything beats humping the boonies. Why walk when you can ride?
I can take the banner off, tried doing a search for just a plain blue star but didn't have any luck. Let me know the address of your banner is and I'll try to put it in the announcement.
Military police law #7
Never stand when you can sit
Never sit when you can lay down
As long as you're laying down might as well take a nap.
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