Buffalo Soldiers

Long ago, when our son was a teen-ager, one of his favorite popular singers was Bob Marley.  He especially liked Marley's song about the Buffalo Soldiers and he would listen to it over and over.  At that time I had never heard of the Buffalo Soldiers and had no idea of their impressive history.

But today at Pawnee Park in Junction City, Kansas, we learned much more about these heroes.  They are celebrated in Bob Marley's song and in an impressive monument in downtown Junction City, the home of Ft. Riley military base, but almost no place else.

In the center of the monument stands a larger-than-live bronze statue of an African-American soldier in full military uniform of the late 1880s.  His left hand holds his rifle and his right hand grasps the bridle of his horse, saddled and carrying his bedroll and provisions.

From bronze plaques aroung the perimeter of the memorial we learned much more about the Buffalo Soldiers.  During the Civil War about 180,000 "Colored Troops" fought alongside others for the Union cause.  At war's end they were free and justifiably proud of the role they had played in that military victory.

The following year, Congress authorized the formation at Ft. Levenworth, Kansas of four regiments of African-American soldiers, two infantry units and two cavalry units.  Colonel Benjamin Grierson and Edwin Hatch immediately began recruiting for volunteers to create the 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments, both comprised completely of Negro soldiers.  Racial prejudice at Fort Levenworth was so widespread and intense that in 1875 the cavalry units were moved to Ft. Riley, Kansas, and the infantry units to Louisana and Texas.

Their first active combat service was in the many and various Indian wars.  They fought Apache, Comanche, Lipan, Sioux, Kansa, and other tribes to secure the American West for settlement.  They were officially called the "Negro Cavalry" but it was in these battles that they earned, from their brown-skinned foes, their popular name, "Buffalo Soldiers."  Wikipedia records an incident that explains that name:

In September 1867, Private John Randall of Troop G of the 10th Cavalry Regiment was assigned to escort two civilians on a hunting trip. The hunters suddenly became the hunted when a band of 70 Cheyenne warriors swept down on them. The two civilians quickly fell in the initial attack and Randall's horse was shot out from beneath him. Randall managed to scramble to safety behind a washout under the railroad tracks, where he fended off the attack with only his pistol until help from the nearby camp arrived. The Indians beat a hasty retreat, leaving behind 13 fallen warriors. Private Randall suffered a gunshot wound to his shoulder and 11 lance wounds, but recovered. The Cheyenne quickly spread word of this new type of soldier, "who had fought like a cornered buffalo; who like a buffalo had suffered wound after wound, yet had not died; and who like a buffalo had a thick and shaggy mane of hair."

The name soon was extended beyond the 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments to refer to all African-American soldiers.  The Buffalo Soldiers earned 23 Medals of Honor for their service in the Indian wars.

In addition to pacifying the West, Buffalo Soldiers insured the safety of those laying tracks for the transcontinental railroad, protected riders who carried the mail, and strung miles and miles of telegraph wire thru dangerous wilderness areas.  In the early 1900s, these brave black soldiers patrolled and secured the U.S./Mexican border frtom the raids of Pancho Villa and his "villistas."

Back home at Ft. Riley, however, they and their families were strictly confined to an area of small segregated housing.  An abandoned theater in the area served them as a "blacks only" USO.  Some remember that the uniforms, weapons, equipment, and horses issued to them were often used or inferior.

In the Spanish-American War, Buffalo Soldiers served in Cuba and the Philippines.  They served as the earliest "park rangers" in several of the western national parks before the creation of the National Park Service in 1916. In World War I, the 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments again patrolled the Mexican border where they engaged in combat with Mexican troops and captured many German nationals, preventing them from entering the U.S.  In World War II, they served in North Africa under General Benjamin O. Davis.  In 1944, about a decade before President Harry S. Truman de-segregated the U.S. military, the 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments, the Buffalo Soldiers," were disbanded.

Those who served and their families and friends resolved that this remarkable history of military service by the Buffalo Soldiers would not be forgotten.  Donations from individuals, agencies and businesses funded the creation and construction of this memorial in Pawnee Park "within sight of the racially segregated family housing built by the government for black soldiers and their families."

This memorial insures that the world will remember the Buffalo Soldiers.  In spite of hardships and prejudice, the 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments of the United States Army lived up to their mottos:

Kansas City

We have spent the weekend in Kansas City visiting three of  Bruce's cousins -- two on the Kansas side and one on the Missouri side of Kansas City.

First Church of the Nazarene, State Line Road, Kansas City, Missouri.

It was a special privilege to attend worship on Sunday with the cousin and his wife from Kansas City Missouri. 

 

Family ties are important to us and this has been a great weekend.  One of the benefits of living full-time in the RV is the opportunity we have to visit family and friends in many parts of the country.

The State of Missouri

Lake Allamon at Wallace State Park, Cameron, Missouri

Canadian Geese at Wallace State Park, Cameron, Missouri

Missouri Musings

Home of Mark Twain, Jesse James,

Harry S. Truman,

and the pony express.

Site of a national compromise

that did not prevent

the Civil War.

Wide rolling prairies dotted with

massive cylinders of hay.

Molded by two mighty rivers,

it launched thousands

migrating west

into the unknown frontier.

25 Aug 2011

National Frontier Trails Museum, Independence, Missouri

Independence, Missouri, was the principal"jumping off" point for all three of the major western trails -- the Santa Fe Trail, the Oregon Trail, and the California Trail.   Although Independence was a frontier village of just several hundred people it was the place where wagons were purchased, loaded, and organized into trains for the trip west.

Today we enjoyed a visit to the National Frontier Trails Museum in Independence, Missouri.  Here we saw a video and many displays which recall the saga of what is believed to be the greatest voluntary, overland mass migration in the history of the world -- the overland migrations across the American West during the 19th century.

Covered wagons in seemingly endless trains carried households to the West.

An emigrant wagon with the average 10-by-4-foot bed could not hold very much.  Foodstuffs headed the list and were chosen according to what would keep without spoiling.   Cooking utensils, clothing, bedding, weaponry, tools, and spare equipment rounded out the inventory of essentials for emigrants'  survival.   "Nice-to-haves" included those things not essential for survival but helpful to have on hand like medicines and bandages, tallow, lanterns, spy glasses, scissors and sewing notions.  Luxuries would be the last things to pack and the first things to throw out when the oxen began to tire.

This reconstructed "store" in the museum represents one of the places

where the emigrants went to buy provisions for their trip.

The blacksmith shop was also essential in outfitting

the emigrants for their westward journey.

Despite the dangers of the journey, crossing swollen rivers, facing massive buffalo herds, possible Indian attacks, crossing wide expanses of desert and rugged mountains, historians report that an estimated 90% of those who began the journey west reached their destinations.

Hannibal, Missouri

Last night we stayed at the Mark Twain Cave Campgrounds,

one mile south of Hannibal, Missouri.
The cave was well-known to the young Mark Twain
and became the subject of later stories.
Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher were lost in this subterranean labyrinth.
Tom and Huck found a treasure in the cave.
Injun Joe was trapped in the cave and died.

We had visited the Mark Twain boyhood home in 2006,

so this year we did not schedule time to go there again.

We did enjoy an evening walk and a view of the Mississippi River.

Illinois

ILLINOIS

Home of cities, large and small,

but flat as a table,

Laden with fields of corn, soybeans and hay;

Dotted with prosperous farms and grain elevators;

Criss-crossed by lush forests and

lovely rivers and streams.

Breadbasket near the heart of the nation;

Helping to feed the stomachs of the world.

This grain elevator near the intersection of Hwy 78 and I-74 at Brimfield, Illinois

is the subject of many paintings, watercolors, and sketches seen in art displays

in the Galesville and Peoria areas of Illinois.

Bishop Hill, Illinois

Today we visited the  Clay and Fiber Fest at Bishop Hill, a small village in Illinois.

Numerous vendors displayed their wares in tents on the lawn

as well as in more permanent displays indoors.

The official Bishop Hill website discribes the history of the colony as follows:
          "In 1846, a group of Swedish immigrants seeking religious freedom left their native land under the guidance of their charismatic spiritual leader, Erik Jansson. The site for their new utopia, later called Bishop Hill, was described to them as a “land of plenty, brimming with milk and honey,” and they struggled to make it so. These Janssonists built a successful communal society based on economic and religious principles. Many of the structures erected during this building campaign still exist. The colony grew and flourished for fifteen years before disbanding in 1861.
          "Today Bishop Hill is a quiet country village where the charm and character of the original colony has survived the test of time. Bishop Hill is a National Landmark Village, listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and it is an Illinois State Historic Site." http://www.bishophill.com/

The Colony Administration Building was build in 1856.

It now houses an art gallery in the basement and guest rooms upstairs.

The Colony Steeple Building erected in 1854

is now the location of a museum.

The Colony Church was built in 1848.

Visitors can still see the worship room as well as numerous

displays about the life of the utopian community.

Of course, the day would not have been complete without a tasty lunch at the bakery

which was built in 1864 as Mrs. Smith's Boarding House.