Buffalo Soldiers originally were members of the 10th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army, formed on September 21, 1866, at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
Starting in 1866, Buffalo Soldiers serving in Yosemite National Park and nearby Sequoia National Park, helped evict poachers and timber thieves, and extinguish forest fires. They also helped to complete the first usable road into Giant Forest and the first trail to the top of Mt. Whitney in Sequoia National Park in 1903. Mt Whitney is the tallest peak in the contiguous United States.
Another major accomplishment by the Buffalo Soldiers is the building of an arboretum in Yosemite National Park near the south fork of the Merced River in 1904.
References:
- National Parks Services. 2019. “Buffalo Soldiers.”
Photo:
- Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints Division, The New York Public Library. “Troopers of the 10th Cavalry, encamped near Chloride during the Apache campaign.” New York Public Library Digital Collections.