By PAUL FATTIG

George Franzi figures he was born at least a century too late.

Too late to ride with Company B of the 1st U.S. Cavalry when it left a dusty trail in the mountains and valleys of Southern Oregon in the late 1800s.

"Oh, I would have loved it," said the Eagle Point resident, then added, "Guess I was 100, 130 years too late."

But Franzi, 45, will get his chance Sunday as a part of a cavalry re-enactment program during the annual opening day of the Fort Klamath Museum, about 30 miles north of Klamath Falls along Highway 62.

Franzi is part of a seven-member Rogue Valley group that re-enacts the life and times of Company B, 1st U.S. Cavalry. When they hit the saddle, Franzi, who served as a captain in the regular Army, becomes the sergeant major charged with keeping his troops squared away.

"We're not out to glorify the cavalry, charging around with sabers," cautioned member Mike Coughlin, 56, a retired banker who lives in Ashland.

"We want to portray history, the way it was, good or bad," he added.

Company B, 1st U.S. Cavalry was selected because it was part of the oldest cavalry unit in the U.S. Army, Franzi said, adding it actually served in the Klamath Basin in the late 1860s.

"It's interesting to see the interchange of ideas when they get together," said C.M. RedWing Barnett, a local artist of Cherokee ancestry who is spokeswoman for the group. "There is so much to learn by being involved in this."

Sunday will likely be the first time cavalry units have returned to the fort since it closed in 1893, said Pat McMillan, director of the Klamath County Museum.

The property was sold to become part of a ranch after the fort closed, she said, adding that the parcel containing the fort was later donated to the county for preservation purposes.

"This is being staged for education purposes so people, particularly children, can get some idea of what it was like," she said.

The event, dubbed a "living history exhibit," begins at 9 a.m. with a cavalry demonstration. Other events continue through 5 p.m.

Visitors will be charged $1 each. "Re-enactors" from as far away as Portland and Sacramento are expected to participate, according to Tom Cooley of the Living History Association of Oregon.

Like Franzi, most cavalry troopers will wear a replica of the uniform they would have worn more than a century ago: long black cavalry boots, cavalry spurs, light blue wool pants with their telltale yellow stripes, dark blue shirt, cavalry belt, wide-brim hat with yellow tassel, wide suspenders, saber and white leather gloves.

"Everybody in the unit wears wool pants but one guy -- he can't because he's allergic," Franzi said.

The local group mustered last fall with the help of folks like Coughlin, the company quartermaster whose real-life duties would have included supplying the troops. He has been studying cavalry history since 1957.

"It takes a while to get everything you need," said Coughlin, a Marine Corps veteran. "Not counting your pistol, rifle or horse, you got about $2,000 in equipment."

Most of the gear has long been lost in time, but it would have likely been too small for today's adults, Coughlin said.

"The average weight of a cavalry trooper was 140 pounds," he said, noting that the equipment weighed maybe 100 pounds.

"A lot of stuff we have we make ourselves," Franzi said, noting that includes everything from bridles to clothes.

But Franzi, a longtime horseman who works for a chain-link-fence supply company in Central Point, rides astride an original 1885 McClellan saddle.

He also carries an authentic .45-70 caliber 1878 Springfield known as a cavalry carbine. The cap and ball .44 caliber pistol is a replica.

Last month, the group began field maneuvers, re-enacting the activities of the cavalry.

"We saddle up and ride out," Franzi said. "We move tactically. We got people responsible for our flank and front. We have two guys designated as scouts."

They travel light, carrying only a bedroll to sleep in.

"This is strictly about history," Coughlin reiterated. "The cavalry did not fight on horses the way people think they did. There were very few charges.

"The carbines were so short -- 28 inches -- they weren't very accurate," he added. "The Indians feared the infantry far more. They saw infantry, they ran. They saw the cavalry, they hid and shot them."

Franzi agreed. Real life didn't square with the Hollywood version, he noted.

"If we can't carry it on the horse, we don't use it," he said. "We even wrap our food in paper, instead of Glad Wrap or plastic bags.

"The cavalry had a hard life," he added.