Rough Riders Reunion

Calling all descendants of the Rough Riders, the First Regiment of the United States Cavalry Volunteers, who fought in the 1898 Spanish-American War: The Suffolk County Department of Parks, Recreation, and Conservation is planning a September reunion at Camp Wikoff in Montauk, where the Rough Riders camped after returning from Cuba almost 100 years ago.

The reunion is part of the county's centennial celebration of the war, which was sparked by Spanish policies in Cuba at the time. The Rough Riders were organized largely by Theodore Roosevelt, who was a lieutenant colonel when he and his Rough Riders arrived in Montauk aboard the transport Miami on Aug. 14, 1898.

Camp Wikoff

According to historical accounts, the Rough Riders consisted mostly of ranchers and cowboys from the west, with a few adventurous easterners thrown in. Due to transportation difficulties, the cavalry regiment abandoned their horses in Florida and fought largely on foot in Cuba. Their most publicized and famous of skirmishes was the Battle at San Juan Hill.

At the end of the war, the Rough Riders and other troops pitched their tents at Camp Wikoff, a 5,000-acre area on Great Plain and North Neck, named after a colonel killed during the war. When the Rough Riders arrived here, "First the[y] . . . cheered themselves hoarse for their leader, then the crowd along the shore broke into a thunderous roar for the men from Santiago," according to Jeannette Edwards Rattray's "Montauk: Three Centuries of Romance, Sport and Adventure."

Brought Illness

Many of the 29,500 men who came to Montauk on their return to the United States brought with them yellow fever and typhoid and were quarantined here, but according to Mrs. Rattray's book only 263 died here.

The Rough Riders were eventually disbanded in Montauk, where the name lingers on at the Rough Riders Landing Condominiums on Edgemere Road.

Any descendants - and anyone who knows or has any information about a descendant - have been asked to call the Parks Department or write to it at P.O. Box 144, West Sayville 11796. The department is also interested in borrowing memorabilia and artifacts to display at Third House, which was the headquarters of Camp Wikoff, during its centennial celebration.