BUFFALO SOLDIERS IN ALASKA

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BUFFALO SOLDIERS IN ALASKA??

When one hears or sees the words “Buffalo Soldiers”  visions of black cavalry soldiers mounted on their horses in pursuit of Indians into the western United States. Those visions are about to be expanded because in reality there were more than cavalry. several infantry regiments were Buffalo Soldiers in the United States Army that most people have forgotten. Again a mostly unknown fact is that Fort Myer welcomed the Buffalo Soldiers twice.   Major General Guy Vernor Henry brought the 9th Cavalry to Fort Myer in 1891.  The 10th Cavalry  Squadron K, Machine Gun Troop was stationed at Fort Myer from 1930 until 1949.

What units were buffalo soldiers in?

The units were identified as the 9th and 10th cavalry and the 38th, 39th, 40th, and 41st infantry regiments. The four infantry regiments were later reorganized to form the 24th and 25th infantry regiments. These fighting men represented the first Black professional soldiers in a peacetime army.

Company L of the 24th Infantry Heads to Dyea, Alaska Territory

In May of 1899, the United States Army sent Buffalo Soldiers, the black soldiers of Company L of the 24th Infantry, to Dyea, Alaska Territory. The Klondike Gold Rush had brought hordes of gold rushers up the Lynn Canal to the tiny ports at Dyea and Skagway. The two lawless boomtowns sprang out of nowhere, and the Army sent troops to bring order.

National Park Service Chronicles

Buffalo soldiers in Alaska
It was the NPS that provides insight into the Alaska occupation which became the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park.  For the Buffalo Soldiers of the 24t Infantry Regiment, Company L remained on duty for three years.  The fifty men kept the peace while the Gold Rush was ongoing.
Buffalo soldiers in Alaska

SOMEONE SHOULD WRITE A BOOK!

Someone did!

Noted author Brian G. Shellum who wrote the book  —

Black Officer in a Buffalo Soldier Regiment: The Military Career of Charles Young  and several more books, wrote the recently available,  Buffalo Soldiers in Alaska

BUY THE BOOK

ABOUT THE BOOK:

The town of Skagway was born in 1897 after its population quintupled in under a year due to the Klondike gold rush. Balanced on the edge of anarchy, the U.S. Army stationed Company L, a unit of Buffalo Soldiers, there near the end of the gold rush. Buffalo Soldiers in Alaska tells the story of these African American soldiers who kept the peace during a volatile period in America’s resource-rich North. It is a fascinating tale that features white officers and Black soldiers safeguarding U.S. territory, supporting the civil authorities, protecting Native Americans, fighting natural disasters, and serving proudly in America’s last frontier.

Despite the discipline and contributions of soldiers who served honorably, Skagway exhibited the era’s persistent racism and maintained a clear color line. However, these Black Regulars carried out their complex and sometimes contradictory mission with a combination of professionalism and restraint that earned the grudging respect of the independently-minded citizens of Alaska. The company used the popular sport of baseball to connect with the white citizens of Skagway and in the process gained some measure of acceptance. Though the soldiers left little trace in Skagway, a few remained after their enlistments and achieved success and recognition after settling in other parts of Alaska.

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