When you picture the beginnings of off-road cycling, you might imagine riders experimenting with modified bicycles on rugged trails during the 20th century. But decades before the modern mountain bike existed, a remarkable group of Black U.S. Army soldiers was already putting bicycles through an extraordinary off-road test.

In the 1890s, members of the U.S. Army’s 25th Infantry Regiment, one of the regiments commonly known as the Buffalo Soldiers, formed an experimental bicycle unit at Fort Missoula, Montana. They rode hundreds and eventually thousands of miles across terrain that would challenge plenty of modern cyclists: mountains, mud, sand, rocks, ruts, streams, snow, and primitive roads.

They weren’t riding mountain bikes, and they weren’t mountain biking in the modern recreational sense. But their story represents a fascinating early chapter in American off-road cycling history, and an impressive demonstration of just how capable a bicycle could be when pavement disappeared.

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Who Were the Buffalo Soldiers?

The term “Buffalo Soldiers” became associated with Black U.S. Army regiments formed after the Civil War, including the 9th and 10th Cavalry and the 24th and 25th Infantry. These soldiers served throughout the American West and elsewhere while facing racial discrimination both within American society and the military system in which they served.

Their history is also complicated. Buffalo Soldiers participated in the U.S. government’s westward expansion and military campaigns involving Native American peoples, making their broader legacy one that historians continue to examine from multiple perspectives. One particularly unusual chapter in that history began when the Army wondered whether a relatively new piece of technology might have military potential: the bicycle.

The Army’s Great Bicycle Experiment

By the late 19th century, bicycles had exploded in popularity. Militaries around the world began wondering whether bicycles could transport soldiers and messages more quickly and inexpensively than horses in certain situations. In 1896, the U.S. Army authorized the creation of the 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps at Fort Missoula.

Led by Lieutenant James A. Moss, the experimental unit consisted primarily of Black enlisted soldiers from the 25th Infantry. The question they were trying to answer was fairly straightforward: Could soldiers effectively travel long distances by bicycle? Answering it would require far more than riding around a military post.

Their Bicycles Were Nothing Like Modern Mountain Bikes

Today’s mountain bikes can feature sophisticated suspension systems, hydraulic disc brakes, wide handlebars, tubeless tires, lightweight materials, and tires specifically engineered to grip loose terrain. The Buffalo Soldiers had none of those advantages. The bicycles used by the corps were specially equipped to carry military supplies, and the soldiers traveled with equipment that included food, clothing, tents, blankets, cooking equipment, tools, repair supplies, rifles, ammunition, and spare bicycle parts.

Imagine tackling a long backcountry ride without modern suspension, modern brakes, GPS navigation, technical riding apparel, or today’s purpose-built mountain bike tires—and then adding military equipment to the load. Suddenly your weekend trail ride doesn’t sound quite so bad.

First Came the Test Rides

Before attempting their most famous expedition, the Bicycle Corps completed shorter experimental journeys. In 1896, the riders completed a 126-mile trip from Fort Missoula to Lake McDonald and back. Later that year, they undertook a much more ambitious journey to Yellowstone National Park and back, covering roughly 800 miles.

These weren’t smooth recreational bike paths. The soldiers encountered mountainous terrain and difficult riding conditions along the way. Lieutenant Moss concluded that the trips had demonstrated the practicality of bicycles for military travel even through mountainous country.

Then Came the Really Big Ride

In 1897, the Army approved an even more ambitious experiment. The Bicycle Corps would travel from Fort Missoula, Montana, all the way to St. Louis, Missouri. Twenty soldiers set out on June 14, 1897, accompanied by Lieutenant Moss, an Army surgeon, and a newspaper correspondent and photographer who documented the expedition. The journey covered approximately 1,900 miles. And conditions were anything but easy.

They Rode Through Conditions Mountain Bikers Know Well

Descriptions of the Bicycle Corps’ expeditions sound surprisingly familiar to anyone who has spent time riding off pavement.

The riders encountered:

• Mud
• Sand
• Rocks
• Deep ruts
• Water crossings
• Steep hills
• Mountainous terrain
• Rain
• Snow
• Mechanical failures

When conditions became impossible to ride, the soldiers sometimes had to push or carry their heavily loaded bicycles. In other words, they discovered something mountain bikers still know today: sometimes “riding your bike” involves a surprising amount of walking beside your bike.

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Mechanical Problems Were Part of the Adventure

Modern mountain bikers carry multitools, tire plugs, spare tubes, pumps, and chain links because mechanical failures are always possible in the backcountry. The Bicycle Corps faced the same basic problem more than a century ago. One of the soldiers, Private John Findley, had previously worked in a bicycle factory and served as the group’s mechanic. The unit carried tools and spare bicycle components so they could make repairs during the journey. That self-sufficiency was essential. There wasn’t exactly a bike shop waiting around the next bend.

They Successfully Reached St. Louis

After weeks of punishing travel, the Bicycle Corps arrived in St. Louis on July 24, 1897. Their arrival became a major public event, with a huge crowd gathering to welcome the riders. Lieutenant Moss reported that the journey had tested the soldiers’ physical endurance, courage, and determination. His final assessment was that the bicycle’s durability and practicality for military purposes had been thoroughly tested under almost every condition except actual combat. From an experimental standpoint, the riders had demonstrated something remarkable: bicycles could transport people and equipment over enormous distances and extremely difficult terrain.

So Why Didn’t the Army Adopt the Bicycle?

The Bicycle Corps’ success didn’t lead to a permanent bicycle force. Plans for additional experiments were proposed, including a much larger bicycle unit and another long-distance expedition, but military priorities soon changed. The Spanish-American War began in 1898, and the 25th Infantry was sent to Cuba.

Meanwhile, rapidly developing motorized transportation offered the military another solution to the same problem. Trucks and other vehicles could eventually transport larger numbers of soldiers and supplies much more efficiently. The Army’s bicycle experiment faded into history.

Did the Buffalo Soldiers Invent Mountain Biking?

No, but that’s where an important distinction comes in.

Modern mountain biking developed much later, and the Buffalo Soldiers were conducting military transportation experiments rather than participating in a recreational sport called mountain biking. Their bicycles also weren’t “mountain bikes” in the modern technical sense.

However, their rides demonstrated many of the qualities we now associate with off-road and adventure cycling:

• Riding bicycles across rugged natural terrain
• Crossing mountain ranges
• Managing traction on mud, sand, rocks, and rough surfaces
• Carrying supplies over long distances
• Performing trailside repairs
• Adapting riding technique to changing terrain
• Combining endurance with self-sufficient backcountry travel

Those similarities make the Bicycle Corps an especially fascinating part of the much broader history that eventually led to today’s world of off-road cycling.

The Connection May Be Even Stronger to Bikepacking

If their adventures resemble any modern cycling discipline particularly closely, it may be bikepacking. Bikepacking combines long-distance cycling with self-supported travel, often over a mixture of dirt roads, trails, gravel, and pavement while carrying camping equipment, food, tools, and other supplies on the bicycle.

That’s remarkably similar to what the Bicycle Corps was doing in the 1890s—except their “packing list” also included military equipment. The technology has changed enormously, but the fundamental challenge would be instantly recognizable to a modern adventure cyclist: carry what you need and keep yourself and your bicycle moving across whatever terrain comes next.

Why Their Story Matters to Cyclists Today

The history of cycling is much longer than any single inventor, location, or moment. The Buffalo Soldiers’ Bicycle Corps reminds us that people were experimenting with bicycles in demanding off-road environments long before purpose-built mountain bikes appeared. It also adds an important chapter of Black history to America’s cycling story.

These soldiers weren’t simply taking a leisurely bicycle tour. They were participating in a military experiment, carrying substantial equipment across thousands of miles while navigating primitive roads, difficult weather, mechanical problems, and the racial realities of late-19th-century America. Their achievement deserves to be remembered on its own terms.

From the Iron Riders to Today’s Trail Riders

More than a century separates the 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps from today’s mountain bikers. The equipment would be almost unrecognizable, but some aspects of riding haven’t changed much. A difficult climb is still a difficult climb. Mud can still stop a bike in its tracks. Mechanical problems still happen at the worst possible moment. Long rides still require endurance, planning, problem-solving, and determination. And sometimes the only solution is to get off the bike, push for a while, and keep moving forward.

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Final Thoughts

The Buffalo Soldiers of the 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps didn’t invent the modern sport of mountain biking, but their remarkable expeditions deserve a place in the larger story of off-road cycling. In 1896 and 1897, these riders demonstrated that bicycles could travel astonishing distances through mountains, mud, sand, rocks, water, snow, and terrain that bicycles of their era were never specifically designed to conquer.

Today, we have suspension, disc brakes, lightweight frames, advanced tires, GPS navigation, and more than a century of bicycle innovation helping us tackle the trail. The Buffalo Soldiers had considerably less. And they rode roughly 1,900 miles anyway.

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