GMR

GMR may refer to:

Green Mountain

Green Mountain is a common name for "The Peak", the highest point on Ascension Island, which has gained some fame for claims that it is one of very few large-scale artificial forests.

History and vegetation

Many early 19th-century accounts, including Charles Darwin's (July 1836), described the volcanic island as barren with very few plants, some of them endemic to the island, not to be found anywhere else. Scientists estimate the island's native vascular plants to be between 25 and 30 species, 10 of them endemic to Ascension (Ashmole 2000, Gray et al. 2005). This impoverished flora is a consequence of the age of the island (only 1 million years old) and isolation (over 1,500 kilometres (930 mi) - from any major landmass). Then, in 1843, the British plant collector Joseph Dalton Hooker visited the island with Sir James Clark Ross's Antarctica expedition. Hooker proposed a plan to plant the island with vegetation to attempt to increase rainfall and make life more bearable for the garrison that was stationed there (see Duffey 1964). Crucially he saw the appointment of a farm superintendent as being the key to success.

Mountain Rangers

Mountain Rangers was the nickname of an Oregon militia regiment formed in during the American Civil War. A mounted unit, the Mountain Rangers were officially Company A, 1st Regiment, 1st Brigade, Oregon State Militia.

During the Civil War the State of Oregon organized militias to replace the Federal troops who had been recalled for the war. Organized on May 18, 1863 in Ashland, the Mountain Rangers were organized as an independent military company, the only one in Southern Oregon. The men approved a constitution and bylaws, and elected their officers and NCO's. They agreed to buy military fatigue caps, furnish their own horses and wear grey shirts and blue overalls. Officers wore U. S. military uniforms. For the Fourth of July, the Mountain Rangers ordered new uniforms with matching dark blue coats and pants. Jackson County officials rented a saloon in Ashland to serve as an armory for weapons and ammunition supplied by the state.

The Rangers were primarily a marching and social organization with many of the region's leading citizens in the ranks. Prominent Oregon pioneer Abel Helman served as captain. A highlight for the Oregon militiamen was the Military Ball at the Ashland Hotel on Jan. 8, 1864, in celebration of the anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans.