Buffalo Soldiers in Northern Wyoming

Ninth Cavalry Returning through Buffalo Feb. 4, 1891 Courtesy of Wyoming State Archives

On July 28, 1866, the first regiments of African-American soldiers were formed. In 1992, the day was proclaimed Buffalo Soldiers Day by President George Bush to honor the all-black Army regiments for their outstanding legacy of service.

The Patriot Rock, next to the Clearmont Historical Center, was completely finished in July as a way to honor these soldiers. The painting on the rock portrays a group of African-American soldiers, flying the 9th Cavalry banner, with the Power River Breaks Country in the background. But how did the 9th Cavalry contribute to the history of Sheridan County, and Clearmont?

Ira Roadifer, who initiated the idea of a Patriot Rock for Clearmont, says this about why he chose the 9th Cavalry for the painting on the rock.

In 1892, during the Johnson County War, a troop of the Buffalo Soldiers was called in from Fort Robinson, Nebraska, to the rail town of Suggs, Wyoming. The troops arrived via the new railroad, and while there they created “Camp Bettens” despite a hostile local population.

The hostility was evident in an article in the Sept 30, 1892 Northern Wyoming Stinger Newspaper. The headline read, Leave the State: Lieutenant Owen 8th Infantry Fort McKinney, who has been east on furlough passed through town (Huson) yesterday. He gave the Stinger a verbatim copy for the removal of US troops as follows:

“Four of the six troops of the 9th cavalry, encamped there since the first part of last June, to return to their station at Fort Robinson.

Two of the six troops of the 9th will remain at Camp Bettens for the present, and they will be designated by Colonel Biddle.”

The news writer was prejudiced toward the 9th, and at the end of the article he wrote, “The [colored troops] are no more. Now that they have been withdrawn, it might be well to ask Mr. Warren how it occurred that they were stationed here.”

Unfortunately, many people at the time shared the writer’s contempt for these soldiers.

So who were the Buffalo Soldiers?

From 1867 to the early 1890s, segregated regiments made up of colored soldiers served at a variety of posts in the Great Plains region, including Wyoming. The two cavalry regiments were the 9th and 10th, but there were infantry units as well.

The black regiments were composed of black soldiers that were commanded by white commissioned officers and non-commissioned black officers. The first commander of the 9th Cavalry was Edward Hatch, a Medal of Honor recipient.

The first black commissioned officer to lead the Buffalo Soldiers was Lt. Henry O. Flipper, who was also the first black graduate of West Point in 1877.

Black Soldiers of the 9th and 10th Cavalry regiments were garrisoned at Fort Robinson, Nebraska for 18 years. In 1885, the 9th arrived at Fort Robinson and it was their regimental headquarters from 1887 to 1896. The soldiers helped to build much of the new post during the fort’s expansion in 1887.

No one is entirely sure where the name “Buffalo Soldiers” originated, most agree it was coined by the Native Americans that the regiments fought against on the plains. Some say the Indians felt that the soldiers curly black hair resembled the curly hair on a buffalo’s forehead. Another theory is that the black soldiers fought so valiantly and so fiercely that the Indians revered them as they did the buffalo.

The 9th had many engagements with the Native American warriors on the Northern Plains, and an incident reported by the Laramie Weekly Sentinel Newspaper, on Jan. 3, 1891, proved their fighting ability. “A Bee Special from Rushville; At daybreak Tuesday morning thirty Indians belonging to Two-Strikes band tried to capture the provision train of the 9th Cavalry, two miles from Pine Ridge. The Indians were all killed.”

In the winter of 1890-91 the Sioux Ghost Dance movement at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota was seen as a possible precursor of an Indian uprising. One of the key leaders was Spotted Elk, who was on the Army’s list of ‘trouble-making’ chiefs. The army was called in to monitor the possibility volatile situation. The first soldiers sent to Pine Ridge were the 9th Cavalry from Fort Robinson.

In The Buffalo Bulletin Newspaper January 8, 1891: Specials from Pine Ridge on Jan. 8 confirm the report of an engagement between General Carr’s command and the Indians on White River. It is believed that no one was killed, though several Indians were wounded. The force in the field under General Miles are composed of the following regiments, 1st, 6th, 7th, (eight companies), and the 9th Cavalry; (several infantry companies were included as well.) “This should mean an actual fighting force of at least 10,000 officers and men, but probably the ranks are far from full and the force does not exceed 8,000 men at the most.

Lieut. Roach, who was sent out Dec. 28 from Oelrichs, SD, with a small detachment of cavalry to locate and bring in a band of Indians under Young-Man-Afraid-of-His-Horses, who were hunting to the Northwest; (he) proceeded to Edgemount,(sic) a station on the Burlington and Missouri railroad. By telegraphing, he located these Indians on the Powder River, 170 miles northwest towards the bad lands. The cavalry command under Col. Sanford, the 9th cavalry, had left the afternoon previous on receipt of the news of the fighting on Powder River. Company E, 17th Infantry, received orders on the evening of Dec. 30, to march at once to the support of Col. Sanford on White River. The company marched from Oelrichs at 7:30 pm and reached the camp on the morning of Dec. 31 at 4 o’clock after the night’s march of twenty-eight miles. Camps were made in a storm of rain and sleet, which continued with snow throughout the day. Last night the temperature fell to about 12 degrees below zero.

After the Plains Indian hostilities were under control, the 9th was sent to various locations, like Buffalo during the Johnson County war, to quell civil disturbances. Many were stationed at Fort McKinney during the mid-1880s, and in 1903 two units were garrisoned at Fort McKenzie in Sheridan.

In an article in the Laramie, Daily Boomerang Friday July 22, 1892: Saint Louis Republic As a stamping ground for Harrison’s Buffalo Soldiers, the new states of Idaho and Wyoming may safely be set down as a howling success. They have had great fun chasing enterprising white pioneer cattle farmers in Wyoming and are now amusing themselves suppressing labor unions in Idaho.

It may be necessary to add that in the lingo of the aboriginal red men of the far west, ‘Buffalo Soldiers’ is the picturesque designation for the colored troops who are supposed on all occasions to “fight nobly.

They not only fought in many battles, but they also had fun.

In the Sept 1, 1910 Wyoming Industrial Journal, Shoshoni, a small advertisement in the Wyoming State Fair Edition reads: 9th Cavalry to be Big Attraction: A great feature of last year was the attendance of the cavalry, and we were pleased to say that we will have the 9th Cavalry with us throughout the entire week of the fair. Daily they will give special programs on maneuvers, drills and such sports as go with a soldiers life.

In the Cheyenne State Leader, May 31, 1910 the headline reads, Indians Scalped the 9th Cavalry Twice “Two one-sided games show complete superiority of the Cheyenne aggregation.”

This was in baseball, however. The Cheyenne Indians baseball team, during the years 1910-1912, were a fully professional baseball team and were regarded as “invincible.” There are many references to the 9th’s baseball team in the early 1900s newspapers.

They also mention the 9th’s musical band. From the Cheyenne, Wyoming Tribune Friday. February 3, 1911: Band Concert By the Entire 9th Cavalry Band of 36 Pieces, at Truckey & Soil’s Department Store. Just think of it, a full brass band to furnish music for a department store. The people of Cheyenne and Ft. Russell can go to Truckey’s and enjoy the highest class music played by one of the best musical organizations in the world, for five hours, from 3 to 5 and 7 to 10, on Saturday, Feb. 4, 1911, and do so in comfort, as there will be seats for all. The first selection was to be the “Chocolate Soldier.”

Whether fighting Indians, quelling civil disturbances, giving band concerts or demonstrations of cavalry skills, the Buffalo Soldiers were soldiers. They did the job they enlisted for, they rode into battle, and took orders, sometimes even unto death.

They deserve a place in the history of Northern Wyoming and the United States, and a day to commemorate their contribution to our history.