854                 The Chronides of Oklahoma
CHARLES RADZI3IINSKI: PATRIOT, EXILE, PIONEER
By Stanley F. Radzyminski*
An historical marker located on U. S. Highway 183 in
Southwestern Oklahoma, two miles north of AAountain Park,
bears this itscription:"
CAMP RAD7.INITSKI
Site 2 Miles West
Established September 19 by four
troops of crack 2nd Car., under
Major Earl Van Dorn. Named In
memory of Lt. Chnrles Rndztminskl,
a former member of thbq Regt.
E. Kirby Smith. Cornelius Van Camp,
Fitzhugh 1,ee, W. R. Rnyall all
served here. Permanent type bnlld.
Ingo never erected: Post abandoned
by Army, Dec. 0. 1851.
A strange turn of events brought the subject of this
story, Charles Radziminski, a Polish Revolutionary        exile,
to a lift of adventure and useful service in his adopted
country.   He took part in the Polish revolution        against
Russia in 1830.31, was interned in       Austrian prisons for
three years, and finally came to TInited States       as  exile
in 1834. He was engaged as a civil engineer in Virginia
and he fought as an officer in the United States Dragoons
during the war with Mexico. As surveyor and later secre-
tary for the United States-Mexienn BoundarR       Commissions,
he crossed. on foot and horseback, hundreds of miles of
harsh terrain in the Southwest.1      He    later   served as an
officer in the old second Cavalry in Texas under Colonel
Robert R. Lee and finally met an untimely death in 1858.
Charles (Karol) Radziminski was born in Warsaw. Po-
land, in 1805 while Europe was in the midst of the Nanoleon-
ie Wars.2 Nothinz is known about his early life in Poland,
his immediate family or details of      experiences in United
States. No diaries or photographs have been found in the
National Archives or other sources. The Radziminski fam-
*Stanley Francis Radyminaki, M.D. Chief Physical Medicine and Re-
habilitation, Veterns Administration. Marion, Indiana, was born in Poland,
and came to the United Slates in 1912. Ile received his A.B. decree from
Western Reserve University, Cleveland. Ohio, 1927: and his M.D. degree
from Loyola University School of Medicine. Chicago, i8inois, 1931. His
war service. U.S. Army 1940.45. Included overseas duty in the South PacifiA
and on Okinawa. He commanded an Army Field Hospital as lieutenant
Colonel Medical Corps.-Ed.
1" Roadside Marker erected by Oklahoma Historical Society, 1950.
I Rev. Francis Bolek. Who is Who in Podish America, (New York, 1943),
s /bid