Six regiments, raised by an act of Congress on July 28, 1866.
The 9th and 10th Cavalry. The 24th and 25th Infantry. The first peacetime all-Black regiments in the regular U.S. Army — men who had just finished fighting for a country that was still arguing about whether they belonged in it.
They were sent west. They patrolled thousands of miles of frontier, escorted mail and settlers, mapped territory, strung telegraph line, and built the roads that other people would take credit for. They did it on the Army's worst horses and oldest equipment, and they had one of the lowest desertion rates in the entire service.
Some of them later became among the first park rangers in the country. About 500 Buffalo Soldiers patrolled Yosemite, Sequoia, and General Grant in 1899, 1903, and 1904 — evicting timber thieves, fighting fires, and cutting the first trail to the summit of Mount Whitney. In 1903, Captain Charles Young of the 9th Cavalry was named acting superintendent of Sequoia, the first Black man to run a national park. All of it before the National Park Service existed.
The name came from the Plains tribes they fought — a reference, most accounts hold, to their hair and their toughness. It was not given as a compliment or an insult so much as a recognition.
They kept it.
The verified record
Established by an act of Congress on July 28, 1866. Comprised the 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments and the 24th and 25th Infantry Regiments. Served on the western frontier and later in Cuba and the Philippines. Roughly 500 Buffalo Soldiers served as among the nation's first park rangers at Yosemite, Sequoia, and General Grant in 1899, 1903, and 1904; Captain Charles Young became acting superintendent of Sequoia National Park in 1903 — the first African American to hold that post.
Sources: National Park Service; HISTORY.
Front: the charge. Back: the record.
Sleeve: the crown.
Garment-dyed heavyweight black. Built to Endure.