a great archipelago, far beyond the lines assumed in the Monroe doctrine, ex-
pressed in American traditions or expounded in the most ambitious teaching of
national leaders. As an aggressive, far-reaching world power, this step of the
great American republic was its first, which is destined to become historical as
pioneering tremendous world influences ; or, in the event of not being followed
by other steps in the same course, as an epoch of delimitation, which shall more
forcefully than ever center American energies upon the western hemisphere.
Performed with marked success, the national service of the Second Oregon Volunteer Infantry secured the hearty approval of commanding officials and the people at large. Promptness of response, adaptation to field conditions, steady courage and alacrity of spirit in action, long marches under high temperatures with short rations, amid multiplying human ailments, commanded the praise which was given few volunteer organizations. The rank and file possessed a fiber of such fortitude and strength, a spirit of such vigor and individual initia- tive, that the enlisted man was well likened to the ideal of citizen soldiery. Com- pared with certain eastern commands during the same war, and especially the senseless advertising sought by certain eastern states commanders, the long, patient service of the Oregon command, extending beyond the period by months of the primary enlistment, was an example more creditable to national honor than a thousand rough rider histories.
When President McKinley announced that war with Spain had begun, there were 21 militia companies in Oregon, and one battery of light artillery. The First Regiment, Col. O. Summers, commanding, was stationed at Portland ; the Second Regiment, Col. George O'Yoran, in the Willamette valley and southwest Oregon ; the First Battalion in eastern Oregon ; and the independent companies were scattered without distinct designations.
Brig.-Gen. Charles F. Beebe, who had been in command of the Oregon brigade for many years, and had in fact, by his indefatigable work of organizing, drill- ing and instructing the raw militia, made up an efifective fighting force ready for any emergency, deserves in a large measure, the credit of the splendid record made by the Oregon soldiers in the Philippines.
Col. James J. Jackson, U. S. A. retired, had been for five years military in- structor for the Oregon National Guard, and the most effective worker for that discipline which is attained by regulars.
When the president's request reached Oregon for but one regiment of in- fantry, the problem was not how to raise the troops, but how to select them. Most of the guard companies had been near the maximum footing of 60 mem- bers, and when trouble was scented, every company filled at once. Selecting a regimental complement of officers from two regiments and a battalion, and se- lecting 1,200 men from 21 companies, with three times that many more clamoring to enter the service, necessitated a fixed policy. Governor Lord determined to maintain the guard organization so far as possible, while merging his forces into one regimental command. This meant elimination of several junior officers and the brigade staflf, but preserved the working machinery of field and line.
Orders were issued by the governor April 25th for the troops to assemble in Portland at once. The First Regiment was commanded to assemble in the Portland armory May 2. General Beebe established the mustering camp on the Irvington racetrack enclosure, placing Lieut. -Col. C. U. Gantenbein in charge. This camp was surveyed, laid out in military fashion, and completed by April 29th. April 30th, troops began arriving in Portland from the Willamette valley and eastern Oregon. May 3d, the First Regiment moved from the armory to the mustering grounds, and by May 4th, nine days after the assembly order was issued by the governor, more than fourteen hundred men were in camp, armed, equipped, clothed and ready for field service.
Consolidation of the companies, selecting the regimental commander and staflf, and deciding upon line officers was carried out with barely any deviation from the rule of seniority. Col. O. Summers, the senior colonel of the brigade,
