DAHLQUIST CYCLEWORKS
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    • American Bicycles >
      • 1890s Columbus Bicycle
      • 1892-93 Stover
      • 1893 Elliott Hickory
      • More American Bicycles >
        • 1895 Columbia Model 45 C.A. Fudge
        • 1895 Gormully & Jeffery Rambler No. 12
        • Patee Track Bicycle
        • 1895 Patee Gents'
        • 1895 Patee Ladies' Loop Frame
        • 1895 Sterling (As Ridden by Bobby Walthour)
        • 1896 Buffalo Soldier Bicycle
        • 1897 American-Made Humber Roadster
        • 1897 Crescent No. 9
        • 1899 Sterling Shaft-Drive
        • 1899 Monarch
        • 1900 Gormully & Jeffery American Bicycle Co. Rambler
        • 1902 Columbia Model 92
        • 1902 Sears Kenwood
      • Some More American Bicycles >
        • Teddy Roosevelt 1904 Campaign Bicycle
        • 1907 Cruso Double Bar Semi-Racer
        • 1908 Tribune Blue Streak Racer
        • 1909 Sears Peerless
        • 1912 Elgin King
        • 1914 Crown
        • 1915 Sears Chief Motorbike
        • 1915 Truss Frame
        • 1916 Mead Ranger Coaster Brake Special
        • 1919 Haverford Black Beauty 'Pacer' Arch Bar
        • Tyger's 1918 Mead Racer
        • 1918 Columbia Military Model
        • 1920s Mead Ranger Motorbike
        • 1923 Mead Racer
      • Even More American Bicycles >
        • 1923 Iver Johnson Model 90
        • 1926 Columbia 50th Anniversary Motorbike
        • Supplee Hardware Suhaco Special Crown Wannabe
        • 1920s/30s Greyhound Semi-Racer
        • Marshall Field Tricycle
        • 1930s/40s Drysdale Special Track
        • 1936 Schwinn Liberty First Generation Klunker
        • 1936/37 Iver Johnson Model 90
        • 1937 Schwinn Paramount Track
        • 1938 Shelby Hiawatha Airflo Rat Rod
        • 1939 Mead Ranger
        • 1939 Schwinn Superior Sports-Tourist
        • 1939 Shelby Airflo
        • 1940s Schwinn New World (Admiral) Track
      • Additional American Bicycles >
        • 1943 Dayton Military Bicycle
        • 1949 Schwinn Paramount Sports-Tourist
        • 1954 Mead Ranger/Schwinn New World
        • 1956 Schwinn Paramount Sports-Tourist
        • Mead Coventry Flyer
        • 1972 Schwinn Super Sport Custom Coffee Bike
        • 1983 Trek 850
        • 1985 Schwinn Voyageur Custom
      • Further American Bicycles >
        • French Gray Mead Crusader
        • Napoleon and Josephine
        • 1987 Schwinn Paramountain
        • Iver Johnson Lightweight Touring Mens' & Ladies'
        • Schwinn Paramount Tricycle
        • Tyger's Teesdale
      • Extra American Bicycles >
        • 1983 Moulton-Made John Howard
        • 1986 Schwinn Sierra
        • 1986 Schwinn Mirada Mixte
        • 1992 Schwinn Paramount S.A.S.S. Buell Mountain Bike
        • 1997 Rivendell Road Standard
        • 1981 Jeffrey Bock Light Touring
        • 1981 Trek 950
        • 9/11 Yellow Schwinn Tribute Bike
        • 2017 Rivendell Appaloosa
    • American Balloon-Tire Bicycles >
      • 1935 Schwinn Excelsior Double-Diamond Clunker
      • 1940s Schwinn Excelsior Clunker
      • Scotty Bandito Cowboy Bike
      • Roadmaster Rat Rod
  • Austrian Bicycles
    • 1948 Norwegian Styria
  • Belgian Bicycles
    • 1930s Delfa
    • 1940s Sieber
    • 1950s Jean Aerts
  • British Bicycles
    • 1895 Humber Path Racer
    • 1897 Humber Tandem
    • 1907 Full-Nickel BSA Path Racer
    • 1910 Raleigh Superbe Cross Frame
    • 1911 New Hudson Imperial
    • Unique & Unity Juvenile Bicycle
    • WWI Humber British Army Postal Service Bicycle
    • 1920s Hercules
    • 1920s New Hudson Cross Frame
    • Hercules NFS & Humber Messenger Bicycle
    • More British Bicycles >
      • 1930s Royal Enfield Roadster
      • 1930s Special Sunbeam
      • 1932 Royal Sunbeam
      • Humber Bermuda
      • 1936 Hetchins Brilliant No. 2
      • 1940s Maclean Featherweight
      • Robin Hood Camping Bicycle
      • 1947 Humber Roadster
      • 1947 Raleigh Loop Frame
      • 1949 Paris Tour de France
    • Even More British Bicycles >
      • Bicycle Institute of America Mystery Racer
      • The Double Bar Humber Number
      • 1952 Humber Sports
      • 1952 Carlton Silver Clubman
      • 1967 Marshall Field Raleigh 5 Speed Sprint
      • 1970s Bob Jackson
      • Ephgrave No. 1
      • Dahlquist Cycleworks Delivery
      • Teens Era BSA Path Racer
  • Canadian Bicycles
    • 1926 CCM Motor Bicycle
    • 1940s CCM Flyer Track Bicycle
    • 1976 Marinoni "Quebec" Special
  • Chinese Bicycles
    • Tiananmen Square Tribute Bicycle "Forever"
  • Dutch Bicycles
    • Netherlands Raleigh City Bike
    • Netherlands Raleigh Prestige
  • French Bicycles
    • 1903 Peugeot Roadster
    • 1903-1910 Tour de France Racer
    • 1910/Teens J.B. Louvet Truss Frame Racing Bicycle
    • 1920s L' Automotion
    • Automoto Champion du Monde
    • Bobet's Bicycle
    • 1961 Rene Herse Touring
    • Bobet Cyclo-Pedia Touring Bicycle
    • Blue Bobet
    • 1955 Peugeot PHX-10
    • 1960s/70s Peugeot UO-8 Juvenile
    • Motobecane Wine Bike
  • German Bicycles
    • 1939 Durkopp Track Bicycle
    • 1940 Achilles Gents & Ladies Roadsters
    • 1940s/50s Durkopp Diana Sport
    • 1940s/50s Durkopp Diana Loop Frame
    • Repurposed WWII German Military
  • Italian Bicycles
    • Bianchi Military Bicycle
    • 1940s Bottecchia
    • 1941 Legnano Tipo Campione Del Mondo
    • 1949 Gloria Garibaldina Extra
    • More Italian Bicycles >
      • 1950s Fausto Coppi
      • 1950s Legnano Tipo Roma Track Bicycle
      • Gino Bartali Team Bike
      • 1961 Bianchi Specialissima - T. Johnson's
    • Even More Italian Bicycles >
      • 1961 Olmo Special
      • 1961 Bianchi Rekord
      • Early 1960s Legnano Gran Premio
      • 1950s Legnano Tipo Roma Road Bicycle
  • Italian Bicycles II
    • 1967 Torpado
    • 1970s Eddie Merckx Colnago
    • 1970-71 Pogliaghi Italcorse
    • 1974 Carlsbad CA Masi Gran Criterium
    • 1976 Pogliaghi Selection
  • Japanese Bicycles
    • Miyata Mister
    • Kyokurei Post-War Roadster
    • Post War Maruto Deluxe "High Class" Roadster
    • 1960s Five Speed Fujicycle
    • 1973 Schwinn World Voyageur
    • 1973 Fuji S-10-S Special Racer
    • 1974 Schwinn Voyageur II
    • 1985 Fuji Opus III
    • 1987 Team Fuji Funny Bike
    • 1987 Bridgestone T 700 Atlantis Prototype
    • 1988 Team Fuji Time Trial
  • Klunker Bicycles
    • Klunker Dan
  • Swedish Bicycles
    • 1930s/40s Hermes
    • 1947 Crescent Roadster
  • Scottish Bikes
    • 1959 Flying Scot
  • Poetry
    • A bientot mon ami
    • Bicycle Haiku
    • Bicycle at Rest
    • Bill Harley and Major Taylor
    • Four Sunflowers
    • ​Mile-a-Minute Murphy
    • Neruda: Wrong on Bicycles
    • Tribute to Tyger
    • On a Mountain Road in Virginia
    • More Poetry >
      • Forever Bicycles
      • The Humber Chainring
      • What I'll See on that Bicycle Ride
      • 1940
      • The Aging Athlete Reinvents Himself for John Howard
  • Events
    • 6/11/2022 Dream Team Presentation
    • 7/19/22 25th Anniversary
    • 8/26/222 Auburn Vintage Bike Show
    • I Sold My Rat Rod
    • John Howard Visits Missouri
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1896 Buffalo Soldier Bicycle

 During the bicycle craze that was sweeping the world in the 1880s-1890s, army leaders in several European nations, including Great Britain, Germany, and France, began experimenting with the military potential that these wheeled vehicles might have. In 1892, members of the Connecticut National Guard First Signal Corps began using bicycles as a means of transmitting information that was faster than walking and less expensive than using a horse. In 1895, a young Second Lieutenant by the name of James L. Moss, assigned to the Twenty-fifth U.S. Infantry Regiment, an all-black unit with white officers that was stationed at Fort Missoula, Montana.  Moss, a bicycle enthusiast himself, received permission from the head of the U.S. Army to organize the Twenty-fifth Infantry Bicycle Corps, the first unit of its kind in the country, to test the practicality of the bicycle for military use in mountainous terrain. Moss hoped to demonstrate that cycling could be an effective way to move troops, send dispatches, and conduct reconnaissance--especially foot soldiers who often had no access to horses. Moss never believed that the bicycle would ever, or could ever, replace the horse. Instead, he argued that the bicycle and the horse each had specific advantages and that a modern, up-to-date army should have both.​

Lt. Moss was allowed to establish the Bicycle Corps with the understanding that the bicycles would have to be provided to the Army at no charge. Moss contacted A.G. Spalding & Co. of Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts and its owner, in the hope of securing a lucrative government contract, agreed to those terms and supplied the specially modified Spalding bicycles for the Bicycle Corps’ use. 

The Bicycle Corps made its first major excursion in 1896, when Lt. Moss and eight men departed from Fort Missoula on a 24-day, 791-mile trek from Fort Missoula to Yellowstone National Park and back. The wheels of the1896 Spaldings, with their wooden rims, proved to be particularly prone to damage, both from water and by the pounding the bikes received when the Corps was forced to ride over railroad ties when roads were impassable.

In 1897, Lt. Moss embarked on a more ambitious journey: a trip from Fort Missoula to St. Louis, Missouri, a one-way trek of 1,900 miles that would take 41 days to complete. (The men returned to Montana by train.) The size of the Bicycle Corps had been expanded to twenty-two men, all of whom would be riding redesigned Spalding bicycles, which at the suggestion of Lt. Moss, had been fitted with steel rims and fully enclosed chain cases. All the bicycles used by the Buffalo Soldiers were returned to the company upon completion of the experiments, and today no original military Spalding is known to have survived.

The bicycle pictured here is my attempt to replicate the bicycle that was used by Lt. Moss and his men on their trip to Yellowstone in 1896. My bike is an 1895/96 Crescent, made by Western Wheel Works, and for all intents and purposes it is a dead ringer for an 1896 Spalding. Features include a leather frame case specially made by my friends Steve Stangl and Stanley Bonjour. Strapped to the handlebars is a bedroll with a shelter half tent and poles, and an 1894 bugle that I have owned for many years (I swapped a set of poker chips for it when I was ten or eleven years of age). A tin drinking cup is strapped beneath the saddle for easy access.

If you are interested in learning more about the Twenty-fifth Infantry Bicycle Corps, I recommend the following: George Niels Sorensen, Iron Riders: Story of the 1890s Fort Missoula Buffalo Soldiers Bicycle Corps, 2000; and Wes Hardin, Wheeling Through Yellowstone: A History of Early Bicycling in America’s First National Park,” Montana The Magazine of Western History, Vol. 64, No. 1, Spring 2014. 
NOTE: In the 1890s, members of the Twenty-fifth Infantry would not have been referred to as “Buffalo Soldiers.” That term was first given to black troopers of the black U.S. Tenth Cavalry by Cheyenne warriors out of respect for their fighting ability. Although “buffalo soldier” has since become a generic term to describe any African American soldier serving in the West, the members of the Twenty-fifth Infantry at Fort Missoula were referred to as “colored soldiers” or “colored regulars.” 
Equipment Carried by the Buffalo Soldiers
Picture
​Fully loaded each bicycle carried fifty-nine pounds of gear, "a rolling anvil," as described by a contemporary writer. In the display case pictured above I have assembled a few of the "necessaries" carried by Lt. Moss and the buffalo soldier in the frame case and/or the haversack attached to the front of the bike.

Starting at 12 o'clock, the equipment is as follows:
 "Bicycle No. 40" straight razor with bicycle racers etched in the blade
a Kempfe Star safety razor with lithographed tin case for extra blades (safety razors first appeared in the 1880's)
campaign shaving brush
pocket mirror
shaving soap

(Top Right):
Lt. Moss' master ink bottle, traveling inkwell, and quill pen
bone hair comb
bone and boar bristle toothbrush (ouch)
Dr. Graves' tooth powder

For fun around the evening campfire (lower right):
"Bicycle" playing cards
Jews' harp
briar pipe with windcap and horn stem

"Poet Cigar" gutta percha match safe
brass pipe tamper
Durham pipe tobacco
bone dice
harmonica

6 o'clock:
banjo oiler
spoke wrench
pump
tire gauge
adjustable wrench
sewing kit for single tube tires
adjustable spoke wrench
vulcanizing solution
"5 Minute Vulcanizer"
chain tool
screwdrivers
Hartford Tire repair kit with rim cement and rubber patches

Top left:
Camphor pills
Jamaica Ginger
Epsom Salts
Quinine pills
Indian Root Pills (In the late 1890's many if not most disease was attributed to "impurities of the blood"

1896 Buffalo Soldier Bicycle ©Daniel Dahlquist
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  • Home
  • Bicycle Stories
    • Story of America in 2 Bicycles
  • American Bicycles
    • American Bicycles >
      • 1890s Columbus Bicycle
      • 1892-93 Stover
      • 1893 Elliott Hickory
      • More American Bicycles >
        • 1895 Columbia Model 45 C.A. Fudge
        • 1895 Gormully & Jeffery Rambler No. 12
        • Patee Track Bicycle
        • 1895 Patee Gents'
        • 1895 Patee Ladies' Loop Frame
        • 1895 Sterling (As Ridden by Bobby Walthour)
        • 1896 Buffalo Soldier Bicycle
        • 1897 American-Made Humber Roadster
        • 1897 Crescent No. 9
        • 1899 Sterling Shaft-Drive
        • 1899 Monarch
        • 1900 Gormully & Jeffery American Bicycle Co. Rambler
        • 1902 Columbia Model 92
        • 1902 Sears Kenwood
      • Some More American Bicycles >
        • Teddy Roosevelt 1904 Campaign Bicycle
        • 1907 Cruso Double Bar Semi-Racer
        • 1908 Tribune Blue Streak Racer
        • 1909 Sears Peerless
        • 1912 Elgin King
        • 1914 Crown
        • 1915 Sears Chief Motorbike
        • 1915 Truss Frame
        • 1916 Mead Ranger Coaster Brake Special
        • 1919 Haverford Black Beauty 'Pacer' Arch Bar
        • Tyger's 1918 Mead Racer
        • 1918 Columbia Military Model
        • 1920s Mead Ranger Motorbike
        • 1923 Mead Racer
      • Even More American Bicycles >
        • 1923 Iver Johnson Model 90
        • 1926 Columbia 50th Anniversary Motorbike
        • Supplee Hardware Suhaco Special Crown Wannabe
        • 1920s/30s Greyhound Semi-Racer
        • Marshall Field Tricycle
        • 1930s/40s Drysdale Special Track
        • 1936 Schwinn Liberty First Generation Klunker
        • 1936/37 Iver Johnson Model 90
        • 1937 Schwinn Paramount Track
        • 1938 Shelby Hiawatha Airflo Rat Rod
        • 1939 Mead Ranger
        • 1939 Schwinn Superior Sports-Tourist
        • 1939 Shelby Airflo
        • 1940s Schwinn New World (Admiral) Track
      • Additional American Bicycles >
        • 1943 Dayton Military Bicycle
        • 1949 Schwinn Paramount Sports-Tourist
        • 1954 Mead Ranger/Schwinn New World
        • 1956 Schwinn Paramount Sports-Tourist
        • Mead Coventry Flyer
        • 1972 Schwinn Super Sport Custom Coffee Bike
        • 1983 Trek 850
        • 1985 Schwinn Voyageur Custom
      • Further American Bicycles >
        • French Gray Mead Crusader
        • Napoleon and Josephine
        • 1987 Schwinn Paramountain
        • Iver Johnson Lightweight Touring Mens' & Ladies'
        • Schwinn Paramount Tricycle
        • Tyger's Teesdale
      • Extra American Bicycles >
        • 1983 Moulton-Made John Howard
        • 1986 Schwinn Sierra
        • 1986 Schwinn Mirada Mixte
        • 1992 Schwinn Paramount S.A.S.S. Buell Mountain Bike
        • 1997 Rivendell Road Standard
        • 1981 Jeffrey Bock Light Touring
        • 1981 Trek 950
        • 9/11 Yellow Schwinn Tribute Bike
        • 2017 Rivendell Appaloosa
    • American Balloon-Tire Bicycles >
      • 1935 Schwinn Excelsior Double-Diamond Clunker
      • 1940s Schwinn Excelsior Clunker
      • Scotty Bandito Cowboy Bike
      • Roadmaster Rat Rod
  • Austrian Bicycles
    • 1948 Norwegian Styria
  • Belgian Bicycles
    • 1930s Delfa
    • 1940s Sieber
    • 1950s Jean Aerts
  • British Bicycles
    • 1895 Humber Path Racer
    • 1897 Humber Tandem
    • 1907 Full-Nickel BSA Path Racer
    • 1910 Raleigh Superbe Cross Frame
    • 1911 New Hudson Imperial
    • Unique & Unity Juvenile Bicycle
    • WWI Humber British Army Postal Service Bicycle
    • 1920s Hercules
    • 1920s New Hudson Cross Frame
    • Hercules NFS & Humber Messenger Bicycle
    • More British Bicycles >
      • 1930s Royal Enfield Roadster
      • 1930s Special Sunbeam
      • 1932 Royal Sunbeam
      • Humber Bermuda
      • 1936 Hetchins Brilliant No. 2
      • 1940s Maclean Featherweight
      • Robin Hood Camping Bicycle
      • 1947 Humber Roadster
      • 1947 Raleigh Loop Frame
      • 1949 Paris Tour de France
    • Even More British Bicycles >
      • Bicycle Institute of America Mystery Racer
      • The Double Bar Humber Number
      • 1952 Humber Sports
      • 1952 Carlton Silver Clubman
      • 1967 Marshall Field Raleigh 5 Speed Sprint
      • 1970s Bob Jackson
      • Ephgrave No. 1
      • Dahlquist Cycleworks Delivery
      • Teens Era BSA Path Racer
  • Canadian Bicycles
    • 1926 CCM Motor Bicycle
    • 1940s CCM Flyer Track Bicycle
    • 1976 Marinoni "Quebec" Special
  • Chinese Bicycles
    • Tiananmen Square Tribute Bicycle "Forever"
  • Dutch Bicycles
    • Netherlands Raleigh City Bike
    • Netherlands Raleigh Prestige
  • French Bicycles
    • 1903 Peugeot Roadster
    • 1903-1910 Tour de France Racer
    • 1910/Teens J.B. Louvet Truss Frame Racing Bicycle
    • 1920s L' Automotion
    • Automoto Champion du Monde
    • Bobet's Bicycle
    • 1961 Rene Herse Touring
    • Bobet Cyclo-Pedia Touring Bicycle
    • Blue Bobet
    • 1955 Peugeot PHX-10
    • 1960s/70s Peugeot UO-8 Juvenile
    • Motobecane Wine Bike
  • German Bicycles
    • 1939 Durkopp Track Bicycle
    • 1940 Achilles Gents & Ladies Roadsters
    • 1940s/50s Durkopp Diana Sport
    • 1940s/50s Durkopp Diana Loop Frame
    • Repurposed WWII German Military
  • Italian Bicycles
    • Bianchi Military Bicycle
    • 1940s Bottecchia
    • 1941 Legnano Tipo Campione Del Mondo
    • 1949 Gloria Garibaldina Extra
    • More Italian Bicycles >
      • 1950s Fausto Coppi
      • 1950s Legnano Tipo Roma Track Bicycle
      • Gino Bartali Team Bike
      • 1961 Bianchi Specialissima - T. Johnson's
    • Even More Italian Bicycles >
      • 1961 Olmo Special
      • 1961 Bianchi Rekord
      • Early 1960s Legnano Gran Premio
      • 1950s Legnano Tipo Roma Road Bicycle
  • Italian Bicycles II
    • 1967 Torpado
    • 1970s Eddie Merckx Colnago
    • 1970-71 Pogliaghi Italcorse
    • 1974 Carlsbad CA Masi Gran Criterium
    • 1976 Pogliaghi Selection
  • Japanese Bicycles
    • Miyata Mister
    • Kyokurei Post-War Roadster
    • Post War Maruto Deluxe "High Class" Roadster
    • 1960s Five Speed Fujicycle
    • 1973 Schwinn World Voyageur
    • 1973 Fuji S-10-S Special Racer
    • 1974 Schwinn Voyageur II
    • 1985 Fuji Opus III
    • 1987 Team Fuji Funny Bike
    • 1987 Bridgestone T 700 Atlantis Prototype
    • 1988 Team Fuji Time Trial
  • Klunker Bicycles
    • Klunker Dan
  • Swedish Bicycles
    • 1930s/40s Hermes
    • 1947 Crescent Roadster
  • Scottish Bikes
    • 1959 Flying Scot
  • Poetry
    • A bientot mon ami
    • Bicycle Haiku
    • Bicycle at Rest
    • Bill Harley and Major Taylor
    • Four Sunflowers
    • ​Mile-a-Minute Murphy
    • Neruda: Wrong on Bicycles
    • Tribute to Tyger
    • On a Mountain Road in Virginia
    • More Poetry >
      • Forever Bicycles
      • The Humber Chainring
      • What I'll See on that Bicycle Ride
      • 1940
      • The Aging Athlete Reinvents Himself for John Howard
  • Events
    • 6/11/2022 Dream Team Presentation
    • 7/19/22 25th Anniversary
    • 8/26/222 Auburn Vintage Bike Show
    • I Sold My Rat Rod
    • John Howard Visits Missouri
  • About
  • Contact