Oklahoma Genealogy and History - presented by Genealogy Trails

Grant County, Oklahoma Military Data

The most famous of all the units fighting in Cuba, the "Rough Riders" was the name given to the First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry under the leadership of Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt resigned his position as Assistant Secretary of the Navy in May 1898 to join the volunteer cavalry. President Theodore Roosevelt wasn't all that keen on Oklahoma statehood, either. Many of his Rough Riders had come from the Twin Territories, and Oklahoma Territory Gov. Frank Franz was a personal friend. But Roosevelt was a Republican, and Oklahoma the state was clearly destined for Democratic domination. Roosevelt dispatched secretary of war and future president William Howard Taft to campaign against ratification of Oklahoma's constitution. Taft called the convention that drafted the unwieldy document "a zoological garden of cranks." The original plan for this unit called for filling it with men from the Indian Territory, New Mexico, Arizona, and Oklahoma. However, once Roosevelt joined the group, it quickly became the place for a mix of troops ranging from Ivy League athletes to glee-club singers to Texas Rangers and Indians.