Indeed, careful observers here will note that we've reported the 148th as basically mustering out twice. . . once in New York, and once at Ft. D. A. Russell outside of Cheyenne. We think we figured out the origin of that confusion, however. The Camp Mills event was the one that released the unit from the Army's rolls, and the Cheyenne one was the one in which the artillerymen were discharged.
That latter date was taken from a source we were relying on, but contained an error.
Battery F of the 148th wasn't home until this day.
For some reason Battery F had been delayed in returning home and just made it on July 3, something I hadn't run across before. And upon arriving the men of Battery F were the subject of a big July 3 celebration welcoming their return to the state in Cheyenne.
Company F was entirely from the northern part of the state. So not only were they the seeming last of the National Guardsmen to return home, they had further to go to get all the way home as well.
While celebrations were going on in Wyoming, riots were going on in Bisbee Arizona.
The riot started off as a confrontation between a while military policeman of the U.S. Army and black cavalrymen of the 10th Cavalry. The town already had a marked racially tense atmosphere in which strong racial prejudices against Hispanics and Asians were highly exhibited. In spite of this, black cavalrymen from the 10th Cavalry from nearby Ft. Huachuca did frequent the town.
As with many towns near Army posts, the town had military policemen in it on frequent occasion and it was just such a confrontation that escalated into a riot. What exactly occurred is not clear, but the main participants in the event seem to have been white policemen and black cavalrymen.
While there were serious injuries they did not prevent the 10th Cavalry from participating in the Independence Day march the following day.
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