Post Eleven: Roy Baker Paper Build Out

In my quest to build out on the Roy Baker Inquest Paper, I desire to examine the effects the peacetime army had on Roy Baker, Fort D. A. Russell and Army life in general. I began my research with Ray Swider to examine the logs from Fort D. A. Russell to determine who was on guard duty the night Roy Baker was killed. A search of the Old Army Section of the National Archives resulted in no guard log is listed as a holding there. There were general instructions/orders to the guard issued by the Commanding Officer (Col Mizner) or his Adjutant from the 1878-1883 time frame. But these were not the daily log that would have recorded who was on guard duty the night Roy Baker was killed.

A subsequent trip to the Archives examining general correspondence, revealed a report by the Post Adjutant, First Lieutenant Ruhler to the Commanding Officer Colonel Mizner. The subject of was statisics and other information relative to desertion of enlisted personnel at Fort D. A. Russell. In this four page report the Post Adjutant recorded the number of enlisted who deserted by company during the fiscal years ending on 30 June 1887, 1888, and1889. Basically it shows a high number of enlisted deserters during those years. It also compares the enlistment statistics of those who signed up at the depots with those who enlisted at the post itself. Those who enlisted from the depots had a 27% desertion rate compared with those who enlisted on post that had a 53% desertion rate.

The report provides explanation of the desertions in the geographical location of Fort D. A. Russell. The remote location, the harsh climate forcing men indoors without adequate exercise and the lack of opportunities for activities such as fishing, hunting and swimming compound the enlisted men's dissatisfaction with the fort. It goes further to state that even with a high number of passes and furloughs issued to the men(higher than other posts in the Army) to go to the nearby town of Cheyenne, desertion is still a problem. It concludes with a basic assumption that some men who desert will desert at any location regardless of circumstances and army administrative efforts to contain them. I will bring this copied report to class on Monday to present and give to the archive blog.

Another aspect of my report is to examine any moral efforts to address the "recreational activities" of Army soldiers with prostitution. If it appears that I am going beyond what is reasonable in my build out, I will remain with efforts to address peacetime problems with its soldiers at Fort D. A. Russell.