Military scribble needs a seer or sibyl to read the script

Question

Vernon Ross (line 201) served in the Spanish-American war, enlisted Feb 1901, discharged 1904 to Ft. Grant, A.T. (Arizona Territory?)

Answer 1

I see:

dishonourably discharged at Ft Grant, AT Aug 20, 01

I think it's a Z, not T - the ink on the bottom stroke has faded a bit.
According to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Grant,_Arizona#History

the fort was in the Arizona Territory, abandoned by the army in 1905. Arizona gained statehood in 1912 and it became an industrial school for wayward boys and girls. Too much information, I know

Comments

Donna, there is never TMI on WikiTree. What do you make of the August 20,01, S.O. #70, sept. Colo, Aug 15, 01 Pvt.

August 20, 1901 (he enlisted in Feb 21, 1901)

S.O. ??

Colo - Colorado

---

comparing to the line soldier above him, also a dishonourable discharge, looks like it's

SO #70, Dept. Colo, Aug 15, 01, Pt - private?

Don't know what SO refers to but several soldiers have that written, but each with a unique number. Dept - deported, department - I have no idea. Agree with you that Colo is Colorado. Edited: Looking farther up the page - dept may be departed for (Colorado) as a Private.

Further up the page - discharged "by SO # " - could that mean standing order (ie the rule that each one broke?)

---

SO is most likely a Special Order, pertaining to some individuals, as distinguished from a General Order that would apply to everybody in a particular command.

---

I'm going with Special Order.  I Googled US Army Special Order with no results.  It's OK, we know enough about Vernon.

---

Google military special orders, you'll get an evening's worth of reading material.

Answer 2

I see that he enlisted for 3 years, was originally a fireman, he was placed into the Calvary, and his last date of service was 3/31/99?  Not a misprint.  What happened that it took until August 1901 to remove him from March 1899 when he supposedly enlisted in February 1901?  Even back then the government couldn't keep the records straight.

I see that Special Orders deal with individuals in a personnel capacity, but SO could also mean Standing Order.  Maybe SO 70 is what he violated?

Do we have any militaria people with the secret code here?

Comments

BB Sahm, the 3/31/99 is often misread, it is 3/31/04. All of the records on that page are for 1900 - 04.

So far, I have not found S.O. #?