Buffilo Solders

In the years immediately following the Civil War, thousands of former slaves moved westward, hoping to find new opportunities for employment. Among the opportunities open to young black men was serving with the United States Army. In 1866, the United States Congress authorized the creation of six regular Army regiments to be staffed entirely by black soldiers. By 1869, these regiments were decreased by two. Black men were given the choice of enlisting with the Ninth or Tenth Cavalry or the Twenty-fourth or Twenty-fifth Infantry. It is these regiments that would eventually be dubbed the Buffalo Soldiers (Katz 1996).

The term Buffalo Soldiers was bestowed by the Plains Indians, who were the soldiers' enemies. Despite their enmity, however, the name reveals the respect many Native Americans accorded to the black soldiers. The Indians had high regard for the courage and valor shown by the black men in combat.

This paper argues that the Buffalo Soldiers played a crucial, though often overlooked role in the history of westward expansion. By protecting settlers, the Buffalo Soldiers paved the way for the settlement of the west and the creation of the United States. By showing courage on the battlefield, the Buffalo Soldiers also challenged prevailing misconceptions about black people. In doing so, they contributed to the establishment of multicultural societies in the West and by extension, in the rest of the United States.

The Buffalo Soldiers initially came into being because during the late 19th century, the United States Military supported segregation. Black freemen thus could not serve along with the white soldiers. Thus, the Buffalo Soldiers were tasked with building forts which were often reserved only for white soldiers. In Forth Concho, the Buffalo Soldiers were housed in separate rooms. However, historians like Stanford L. Davis (1999) argue that the realities of military life would have forced these soldiers to come into contact with one another, during activities like meals, maneuvers or training. In this way, Davis argues that the presence of the Buffalo Soldiers in military establishments would have laid a foundation for challenging many white soldiers' prejudices against black people.

Like their white counterparts, the primary duties of the Buffalo Soldiers were to provide protection for white settlers within their areas, and to escort those settlers who were headed further west. During this time, more than 40 percent of the cavalry soldiers engaged in the Indian Wars were of African descent. From 1866 to 1912, 23 Buffalo