California State Military
DepartmentCalifornia State Military
DepartmentOther or Official Titles: San Bernardino Rough and Ready Cavalry, First Division.
First Brigade
Location: San Bernardino, San Bernardino County
Mustered in: December 22, 1855
Commanding Officers
- D. M. Taft, Captain, Elected December 22, 1855
- H. C. Rolfe, First Lieutenant, Elected December 22, 1855
San Bernardino was the first home of the Mormans in California. When the Morman Battalion returned to Salt Lake City after the Mexican War, they carried back visions of a new home. A colony came out in 1851 and purchased the San Bernardino ranch property. A town was established in 1853, .which was a mile square and laid out in Babylonian style; the streets were given good Mormon names, and a miniature Salt Lake was made.(1) A fort was built inside the town limits where many of the families lived for a while as a protection from the Indians. After a time, the fort was torn down and the logs and material were used for other buildings. When the Indians saw that the residents had given up the protection of the fort, they began to annoy the unprotected people, and in 1855 it was deemed necessary by the residents to organize a military company. A Military Notice was duly posted, stating that D. M. Thomas, County Judge, had appointed H. C. Rolfe on December 10, 1855, to call a meeting of those persons who wished to become members of a "volunteer or independent company of cavalry, to organize the same according to law. Saturday, December 22, 1855, was the date set for the meeting which was to be held at the City School House at two o'clock P. M. This notice was dated December 11, 1855. and carried a footnote, "N.B. Every volunteer is requested to attend without fail, signed H. C. Rolfe."
The minutes of the meeting gave the names of the fifteen elected commissioned and non-commissioned officers. After the election the company was designated as the San Bernardino Rough and Ready Cavalry. A committee of five were appointed to draft a Constitution and By-Laws. and to report at an adjourned meeting: The Tally Sheet for the election was filed with the Adjutant General's Office with the organization paper and the meeting notice. D. M. Thomas, the County Judge, attested to the veracity of the foregoing papers on January 16, 1856. In comparing the list of officers against the list of residents of Fort San Bernardino, it was found that Captain Taft and three of his non-commissioned,officers had been housed in the Fort and several of the other names checked with the family names of these same residents. It is evident that this company was located within the colony of the Mormans as only those of their own faith were allowed to reside within their town limits. The greater number of the Morman settlers returned to Salt Lake when there was threatened trouble between Brigham Young's followers and the Federal Government in 1857.
A History of San Bernardino.County relates that in 1855 a volunteer company was organized under Captain Andrew Lytle (San Bernardino Rangers) to punish the Indians of the San Gorgonio Pass for depredations. A corps of men under First Lieutenant Rolfe (San Bernardino Rough and Ready Cavalry) were encamped for some time at the Weaver Ranch during this Indian War.(2)
Many volunteer companies were organized
in these early days when the immediate district was in the throes
of Indian hostilities. As there was no record of other activities
of the San Bernardino Rough and Ready Company of Cavalry, it is
evident that they were soon disbanded after a short existence.
(1) Ingersoll's Century Annals of San Bernardino County, L. A. Ingersoll, Los Angeles, 1904, page 142
(2) Ingersoll's Century Annals of San
Bernardino County, L. A. Ingersoll, Los Angeles, 1904, page
153.
1. Name of Unit: San Bernardino Rough & Ready Cavalry . Item No.: B3412-3
2. Military Unit Designation: 1st Brigade, 1st Division
3. Date of Organization: Dec. 22, 1855
5. Inclusive dates of units papers: 1855
6. Geographical Location or Locations: San Bernardino City & County
7. Records Series Descriptions:
8. Miscellaneous: "San Bernardino was the first home of the Mormons in California. A colony came out in 1851 and purchased the San Bernardino ranch property A town was laid out in 1853... It is evident that this company was located within the colony of the Mormons as only those of their own faith were allowed to reside within their town limits. The greater number of Mormon settlers returned to Salt Lake when there was threatened trouble between Brigham Young's followers and the Federal Government in 1857." Outline History of the California National Guard, Vol. 1, pp. 121-122.
Posted 27 December 2008
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