Editing Rough Riders (section)

== Last survivors ==
The last three surviving veterans of the regiment were Frank C. Brito, Jesse Langdon, and Ralph Waldo Taylor.

Brito was from [[Las Cruces, New Mexico]]. His father was a [[Yaqui people|Yaqui]] Indian [[stagecoach]] operator. Brito was 21 when he enlisted with his brother in May 1898. He never made it to Cuba, having been a member of H Troop, one of the four left behind in Tampa. He later became a mining engineer and lawman. He died on 22 April 1973, at the age of 96.{{citation needed|date=July 2019}}

Langdon, born in 1881 in what is now [[North Dakota]], "[[hobo]]ed" his way to Washington, D.C., and called on Roosevelt at the Navy Department, reminding him that his father, a veterinarian, had treated Roosevelt's cattle at his Dakota ranch during his ranching days. Roosevelt arranged a railroad ticket for him to San Antonio, where Langdon enlisted in the Rough Riders at age 16. He was the penultimate surviving member of the regiment and the only one to attend the final two reunions, in 1967 and 1968. He died on 29 June 1975, at the age of 94, 26 months after Brito.{{citation needed|date=July 2019}}

Taylor was just 16 years old in 1898 when he lied about his age to enlist in the New York National Guard, serving in Company K of the 71st Infantry Regiment. He died on 15 May 1987, at the age of 105.<ref name="lastrider">{{Cite web |last=Archives |first=L. A. Times |date=1987-05-19 |title=Ralph Waldo Taylor Was 105 : Last of Rough Riders Dies |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-05-19-me-937-story.html |access-date=2023-03-17 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref>