JEFFERSON CITY, MO, JULY 6, 2022 – To commemorate the 125th anniversary of the historic ride of the 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps, the Missouri State Parks, in partnership with Lincoln University of Missouri and the Greater Los Angeles Area Chapter of the 9th-10th Horse Cavalry Association, will host a series of events that tell the little-known story of the corps and its amazing accomplishments. The locations of the events follow the historic route the soldiers rode through northern Missouri, and include:
- Big Lake State Park on Sunday, July 17
- General John J. Pershing Boyhood Home State Historic Site on Tuesday, July 19
- Jude’s Square in Monroe City on Thursday, July 21
- Missouri History Museum in Forest Park in St. Louis on Sunday, July 24
Planned activities at each of the events include bike rodeos and activities for kids, live music, historic demonstrations, exhibits of the route and riders, programs and presenters, as well as welcoming Erick Cedeño, the Bicycle Nomad, to each destination as he reenacts the journey.
In June of 1897, the 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps, an all-Black army regiment known as the “Buffalo Soldiers,” embarked on a 1,900-mile, 41-day bicycle ride from Fort Missoula in Montana to Forest Park in St. Louis, as part of an experiment by the U.S. Army to test the effectiveness of using bicycles for troop movement. The route for this experiment closely followed the Northern Pacific and Burlington railroads through Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska and Missouri.
Nicknamed the Iron Riders because of the heavy one-speed bicycles they pedaled and for their iron-hard constitutions, the soldiers experienced conditions along the route that would have daunted even the most avid of modern-day cyclists – severe weather and extreme heat, food and water shortages, illness from contaminated water, and racism and hostility from local residents. In spite of these challenges, the Iron Riders successfully reached Forest Park, their final destination, on July 24, 1897, and were welcomed by a cheering crowd.
Information about the historic ride and the anniversary events can be found at mostateparks.com/ironriders.
For more information on state parks and historic sites, visit mostateparks.com. Missouri State Parks is a division of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.