FRONT AND CENTER
Buffalo Soldiers legacy lands Fort Stanton and Fort Union on Reconstruction Era network
Buffalo Soldiers, African American troops in cavalry and infantry regiments formed in the 19th century for service on the American frontier, were a force to reckon with in New Mexico.
They battled Apaches, Comanches, Kiowa, Utes and outlaws, played a hand in the Colfax County and Lincoln County wars, constructed military buildings, repaired roads, strung telegraph wires and forged the way for equal rights in New Mexico and everywhere they served.
Buffalo Soldiers in the 9th U.S. Calvary were stationed at Fort Stanton in Lincoln County and Fort Union in Mora County, as well as other New Mexico frontier installations.
“Fort Stanton was a Black community, one of the most important Black historic sites in New Mexico,” said Oliver Horn, regional manager of the Lincoln and Fort Stanton historic sites. “A number of these men from the 9th were involved in the founding of Blackdom, (a black community) between Roswell and Artesia.”
Fort Stanton Historic Site and Fort Union National Monument are among five entities added this month to the Department of the Interior’s Reconstruction Era National Historic Network in commemoration of Black History Month.
The other three are the 1838 Black Metropolis, a digital project that explores the lives of 19th century Black Philadelphians; the Buffalo Soldiers Museum at Fort Lawton, Washington; and the Dark Branch Descendants Association in North Carolina, devoted to the narratives and experiences of African Americans living along the Lower Cape Fear River during slavery and Reconstruction.
There are now 107 listings
in 28 states in the Reconstruction Era network. They include schools, museums, churches, organizations and multiple national parks, all of which honor in some way the legacy and achievements of the Black community.
It was the presence and contribution of Buffalo Soldiers at Fort Stanton and Fort Union that landed those sites on the list.
“My hope is this will bring light to more stories of the fort,” said Bill Barley, chief of interpretation at Fort Union. “This was a very diverse fort. There were soldiers here from China, Germany and Denmark. There were Chinese servants here at Fort Union. Before the Civil War, there were African American slaves here who served as household servants for officers.”
Exceptional courage
The 9th U.S. Cavalry was transferred from Texas to New Mexico in 1876. By some accounts, soldiers in the 9th Cavalry and other Black regiments were named Buffalo Soldiers by American Indian tribes because their appearance and formidable nature reminded Native peoples of bison.
And Buffalo Soldiers could indeed be daunting. There were a half dozen or so Medals of Honor awarded to troops at Fort Union, and all of these most esteemed of military medals went to 9th Cavalry Buffalo Soldiers. Here are a few examples:
Sgt. John Denny received the Medal of Honor in 1879 for rescuing a comrade while being fired on by Apaches while in steep and difficult canyon terrain.
Sgt. George Jordan was awarded the medal, also in 1879, for defending civilians under Apache attack.
And Sgt. Thomas Shaw was honored with the medal in 1881 for displaying exceptional courage while outnumbered more than 2 to 1 by Apache warriors.
“The 9th Cavalry was engaged in nine different campaigns — most of them against one band or the other of Apaches — while at Fort Union,” Barley said.
Barley and Horn said Black soldiers were subjected to discrimination and worse.
“In south Texas they were dealing with all kinds of groups and with racial violence,” Horn said. He said that was not as prevalent in New Mexico, but it did happen.
“In 1877 in Lincoln, a Black soldier was shot by a recent immigrant from Alabama,” Horn said. “The 9th Cavalry out of Fort Stanton joined with law enforcement and hunted the guy down, but he escaped and joined an outlaw gang.”
He said troopers from the 9th and law enforcement then caught up with and captured the whole gang.
“The only one of that gang that got killed was the guy who shot the Black soldier,” Horn said. “He was killed while trying to escape.”
Strike up the band
Fort Stanton Historic Site encompasses 240 acres.
“It was the only (New Mexico) fort built out of sandstone, not adobe like the rest of them,” Horn said. “The buildings did not dissolve away.”
He said members of the 9th Cavalry constructed Fort Stanton’s laundress quarters in 1876, and that building still stands.
“It is one of the few surviving structures directly associated with Buffalo Soldiers in New Mexico,” Horn said.
Ninth Cavalry Buffalo Soldiers provided many essential services in frontier New Mexico, but it may well be that among some elements the 9th was best known for its regimental band, stationed at Fort Union.
“The band was based at Fort Union, but it went to all the forts where companies of the 9th were stationed,” Horn said. “It was like a goodwill tour for the unit.”
Ninth Cavalry Band members were soon in demand throughout the territory to play for not only military ceremonies but for weddings and holidays. According to the Fort Union National Monument website, the band performed in Santa Fe during President Rutherford B. Hayes’ visit to that city in 1880.
Fort Union was decommissioned in 1891 and Fort Stanton in 1896.
Today, the remnants of Fort Union’s adobe walls stand along the well-worn Santa Fe Trail, while Fort Stanton’s wellpreserved 12-building parade ground looks much as it did in the middle of the 19th century.
But both remain to tell their stories in their own fashion. And this month, due to the recognition bestowed by the Department of the Interior, the story of the Buffalo Soldiers is front and center.