Quote Originally Posted by carl View Post
Kearny's Army of the West averaged about 20 miles a day on the trek from Fort Leavenworth to Bent's fort.

It occurs to me that the various American forces fighting in the Mexican-American war all had to walk to work over many types of terrain, mountains, deserts, forests and plains. It might be useful to look at their rates of travel.
Standard US Marine requirement is a battalion to move 24 miles in eight hours with field marching pack, flak jacket, helmet, T/O weapon...approximately 55- 60 lbs and no ammo. Many foot sore Marines the next day...basic load of ammo and you can hit 75 lbs real quick. If I were you I would look at Lewis and Clark...different terrain, different modes, water, foot, horse...and google maps has it all layed out by journal entry.
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UT...570313&t=h&z=4