Randolph B. Marcy

Randolph B. Marcy (1812–1887) was an American army officer and explorer. A West Point graduate from Massachusetts, he spent decades on the frontier, explored the Red River of Texas to its source in 1852, and in the Utah expedition of 1857 led a winter march through the mountains to New Mexico for supplies that became famous for its hardship. The Prairie Traveler, which he wrote for the War Department in 1859, was the standard guide for emigrants crossing the plains. In the Civil War he served as chief of staff to his son-in-law George B. McClellan and later became Inspector General of the Army.