In 1941 Black Hills residents could witness a curious mixture of skis, horses, machine guns, snow shoes and soldiers. It all added up to the only cavalry snow troop in America, and was an experimental unit of Ft. Meade's 4th Cavalry. In sub-zero temperatures the horsemen resurrected and improved the winter fighting lessons learned by both Indians and cavalrymen in the 1800s.

    From a winter bivouac near Hanna in the Northern Hills, white-uniformed troopers conducted maneuvers on horseback. Once dismounted they proceeded over the snow on skis or snow shoes. Reports from the time said troopers always advanced in a staggered line to better blend in with the snow.

    By 1941 the days of the classic cavalry charge were long gone. But the army still felt horses had some value in modern warfare. The horse was used as a sort of "all terrain vehicle" and as a mount for scouting units.

    The snow troops of the Black Hills combined traditional horse power with the mechanized variety. Huge semi-trailers were used for transportation behind the lines. Each truck carried eight cavalrymen and eight horses. The troopers were spending more time with scout cars and motorcycles and less time with horses.

    As might be expected the vehicles experienced normal "slipping and sliding" problems on the snowy meadows. These problems were reported in March 4, 1941, article in the Rapid City Journal. The final line of that article reflected this lingering bias for the horse-"But after all it is the man on horse who excels under all conditions of terrain and weather."

10/01/03