Every year since the 1850s settlers came by the tens of thousands and staked their claim to land already home to Native Americans. These settlers simply built their rough houses, plowed up the grasslands, and began fencing off the plains. We probably don’t need to convince you that this sort of neighborly behavior caused a lot of conflicts between the two groups. Caught in the conflict were the men like Emanuel Stance and other soldiers whose job it was to keep the peace.  When outlaws robbed a stage coach the Buffalo Soldiers were among those sent to apprehend the fugitives. When settlers headed west it was the enlisted men of the U.S. Army who built forts that served as stopping points and safe havens. When a hostile band of Comanche, Sioux,  or Cheyenne Indians attacked a settlement or farm the U.S. Army was sent out to protect the settlers and drive off the attackers. On more than one occasion the men of the 9th and 10th Calvary were sent out on a search and rescue mission. Take the following story for example.

 

One day in April, 1870, the 9th Calvary who had been given the task of rounding up a band of Apache who had been fighting with settlers near Fort McKavett, Texas. These men soon found themselves facing a much greater enemy. But rather than turning back, their commander, Emanuel Stance, gave the order to charge straight into death. This unexpected move caused the Apache to break formation and flee. For their bravery, Stance received the Congressional Medal of Honor.  Stance was one of eighteen African-Americans to receive this high honor during their service in the Indian Wars.

 

Despite their contribution to opening the west to American settlement, the black men of the so-called Buffalo regiments found themselves in a weird position. Racism was far too commonplace and racial segregation in post-Civil War America was becoming a way of life in many states. Even though they served their country like any other soldier black servicemen found themselves assigned to the most difficult tasks with rifles and horses that were inferior to those issued to white soldiers. Often black soldiers were forbidden from using facilities in the forts they helped to build.

 

To be a black man in the U.S. Army meant having to work harder than anyone else to prove the racists wrong. Colonel Benjamin Grierson, a white officer of the 10th Calvary, often went to bat for the soldiers under his command. He constantly complained to the Army about the poor treatment his soldiers received. He even complained about their official name “The 10th Colored Calvary”.  Instead, Grierson demanded that they be called simply the Tenth Calvary.

 

The men of the 9th and 10th Calvary often faced hostility from the white population they were protecting. In 1870, a white settler shot and killed Private Boston Henry who was stationed in Fort McKavett, Texas. After the murderer was captured an all-white jury found him not guilty. Racism reared its ugly head again in 1881 when Private William Watkins was shot in the head by a white rancher for refusing to sing.  Again, an all-white jury found him not guilty.

 

To us modern folks it seems ironic that a people so long oppressed by American society took part in a chapter of history that denied Indians their land, freedom, and culture. But it might be more helpful to forget about seeing history along purely racial lines. History is complicated; the Buffalo soldiers were tasked with protecting settlers both black and white. They also helped to remove illegal settlers in Indian Territory (aka Oklahoma) known as Boomers. Among the tens of thousands of Boomers were hundreds of black families looking to take advantage of the situation and force their way on to land that they were forbidden by U.S. law from settling. But one thing is certain, the Buffalo soldiers served their country throughout many important conflicts such as the Spanish-American War and World War I, World War II up until the 1950s when the entire U.S. Army was integrated.