S. BROWN, CO. F, 3RD I, 1859 - SIGNATURE ROCK, BOISE CITY, OK:

S. Brown, Co. F, 3rd I, 1859, Signature Rock, Boise City, Oklahoma. Photograph Peter Faris, 12 June 2006. 

Close-up of signature, S. Brown, Co. F, 3rd I, 1859, Signature Rock, Boise City, Oklahoma. Photograph Peter Faris, 12 June 2006.

Back in 2006 I visited a ranch outside of Boise City in the panhandle of western Oklahoma which has a cliff covered with old inscriptions from the Santa Fe Trail. One that interested me is “S. Brown, Co. F, 3d I, 1859,” which I take to refer to Company F of the 3^rd Infantry Regiment. 

The 3^rd Infantry Regiment was the U. S. Army’s first Regiment, founded in 1784, and is the oldest currently active regiment in the Regular Army. They fought in the Mexican War, after which they were assigned to New Mexico Territory. “From 1856 to 1860 the regiment served in New Mexico where it fought the Navajo Indian tribe.” (Wikipedia)

Fort Defiance, New Mexico Territory (now Arizona). Illustration Seth Eastman, 1873.

The encyclopedic, 475 page compendium of the Navajo wars and fighting by Frank McNitt (1972) provides only a few mentions of the 3rd Infantry Division, with only one mention of Company F (in 1851), and no S. Brown listed. It mentions "Lieutenant Henry B. Schroeder's Company F, Third Infantry" as being part of the garrison of Fort Defiance. (McNitt 1972:199)

Navajo family with loom. Near Old Fort Defiance, New Mexico. Albumen print photograph, 1873, public domain.

The U.S. Army Center of Military History records the following information for the 3rd during 1858. "1858 - Janyary 1 to February 11; scout against Kiowa Indians in neighborhood of Manzana; Company F, March to September; Mormon Expedition into Utah; Companies A, E and R, May 30; engagement with Navajo Indians at Ewell's hay camp near Fort Defiance; detachments of B and G. September, October and November; campaign against Navahos; engagements; September 19 to 24, Canyon de Chelly; Company G; September 25, Laguna Negra, Company B; October 1, Bear Springs, Company B; October 10 Rancho de los Anagones, Company G; November 9 near Fort Defiance, Company F." (U.S. Army Center of Military History) Their record, however, does not mention company F in 1859, it does come up again in 1860 at Fort Defiance.

During this March to September period in 1858, a confrontation accurred which is known as the Mormon Expedition. The Mormon Expedition, also known as the Utah War "or the Mormon Rebellion was an armed confrontation between Mormon settlers in the Utah Territory and the armed forces of the U.S. government. The confrontation lasted from May 1857 to July 1858. There were some casualties, most of which were non-Mormon civilians. The was had no notable military battles." (Wikipedia)

So, with the 3rd Infantry Regiment based at Fort Defiance, New Mexico, from 1856 to 1860, how did a member of the 3rd put his name on Signature Rock in Western Oklahoma in 1859. I can only assume that our S. Brown was on his way back to the States when he passed through Oklahoma, headed East on the Santa Fe Trail which passes right by that location. Was he discharged from military service, or was he sent back to deliver dispatches? I shall probably never know, but he has led me on a fascinating journey trying to trace him down.

NOTE: Some images in this posting were retrieved from the internet with a search for public domain photographs. If any of these images are not intended to be public domain, I apologize, and will happily provide the picture credits if the owner will contact me with them. For further information on these reports you should read the original reports at the sites listed below.

REFERENCES:

U. S. Army Center of Military History, Third Regiment of Military, https://history.army.mil/books/R&H/R&H-3IN.htm, accessed 12 December 2021.

McNitt, Frank, 1972, Navajo Wars: Military Campaigns, Slave Raids, and Reprisals, University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque

Wikipedia, 3^rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3rd_https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3rd_U.S._Infantry_Regiment_(The_Old_Guard)#1815_to_1861, accessed 13 December 2021.

Wikipedia, Utah War, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_War, accessed 12 December 2021.