Buffalo Soldiers
After the Civil War a number of African Americans joined the regular U.S. Army, with all of these segregated units serving in the West. The Plains Indians called the Black Calvary “Buffalo Soldiers.” The army created the Ninth and Tenth Calvary and the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth infantry for these African American troops. As early as 1867 three companies of African Americans served in Indian Territory to protect the Indian Nations and maintain peace. In 1880 Buffalo Soldiers were stationed in Fort Sill, Fort Reno, and Fort Supply. Boomers (whites that wanted to open Indian Territory to non-Indian Settlement) began to intrude into future Oklahoma, their removal become one of the Buffalo Soldiers main duties.
Information provided by Larry O'Dell, Historian
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