[1][2] Wright was motivated by the fact that there were a total of 700 soldiers and 19 officers in the Pacific Northwest at a time when there were often battles with Native Americans.

[2] Some volunteers joined up, asked to provide their own horse, but were later discharged when the organization failed before Wright was transferred to California.

[2] Lieutenant Colonel Albemarle Cady replaced Wright late in 1861 as United States Army regular troops were returned east for the American Civil War.

[2] To replace those troops, Wright sent volunteers from California to protect Oregon from attacks by Native Americans.

[2] In response, Oregon then commissioned Thomas R. Cornelius in November 1861 as colonel and ordered him to raise ten companies of cavalry troops.