Dignity at What Costs…Buffalo Soldiers – Our History, Our Heritage

By Deborah Scott, Director, The Buffalo Soldier Living History Site

The end of the Civil War marked a turning point for many Southern whites and rebel sympathizers due to the loss or decimation of their properties, loss of economic options, and mostly the loss of the hundreds of thousands of men who were killed during the war. They, along with immigrants who were coming to America to also seek new beginnings, created massive expeditions westward following the Homestead Act of 1862. Solo treks and wagon trains of people began their journeys into the vast territories west of the Mississippi River, spurring conflicts with the existing American Indians. Whites largely had choices despite post-war misfortunes, but Blacks, for the most part, were in a state of flux.  

A loosely defined era of Reconstruction had begun in America in 1865 shortly after the Civil War ended, when the nation attempted to rebuild the South and provide freed Blacks with new rights and protections. Slavery in the United States had been ended by law with the 13^th Amendment in 1865. But not until the 14^th amendment was passed in 1868 were members of the Black race (born in or naturalized in the U.S.) considered citizens of the United States. Citizenship for Blacks was still a bridge too far for a huge portion of the United States to accept. White outrage about racial equality and basic human rights for Black people reached a level in the South and elsewhere, bringing a close to the Reconstruction era by 1877. The limited rights and privileges that many Blacks enjoyed during the Reconstruction era came to an end.

Black men – including some who had been enslaved –had served with the Union as members of the United States Colored Troops and proven themselves to be capable soldiers. In 1866, the Army Reorganization Act allowed for the establishment of six all-Black regiments for the U.S. Regular Army, eventually reduced to four:  the 9^th and 10^th Cavalry regiments, along with the 24^th and 25^th Infantry regiments. These soldiers played a critical role in the westward expansion of the United States. They were the men who would eventually be referred to as the Buffalo Soldiers. The true origin of the nickname Buffalo Soldier is uncertain, but there is speculation. One theory is that it was assigned by the Cheyenne because of the similarities in the texture of their hair and that of the buffalo. Another is that a white officer’s wife described the Buffalo Soldiers as “looking like a herd of buffalo when they fearlessly rode in mass.” 

It is important to remember that while Black men were recruited to enlist beginning in 1866, the 14^th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution (defining citizenship and guaranteeing the rights of citizenship) had not been passed into law. One might ask, what compelled former slaves, free Blacks, and former sharecroppers to enlist in the U. S. Army. How desperate did one need to be in order to serve a country that did not yet recognize them as legal citizens?

We can never know the internal strength, fortitude, and courage it took for Black men in the late 19th century to enlist in the military for a country where hundreds of thousands of them had been viewed as nothing more than chattel. One such man was Thomas E. Polk, Sr., who was born free on Maryland’s Eastern Shore in 1860, in the rural, small free Black village of Allen, formerly referred to as a “colored settlement.” His father James Morris Polk was born into slavery and freed when the woman who enslaved him passed away. In 1882, at the age of 21, Thomas forged a path to Baltimore where he enlisted in the U. S. Army. He was not able to read and write, so an X represents his signature on his first five-year contract. From Baltimore, he was likely shipped to Ft. Riley, Kansas, an army hub at that time. He eventually landed at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. From there, he utilized his freshly honed skills to read and write and sent a letter home to his parents. The letter is filled with misspellings and poor grammar, but it is a vast step up from being completely illiterate. He was honorably discharged through Ft. Robinson, Nebraska in early 1887. 

From Nebraska, Polk returned to Allen, but after several months back on the Eastern Shore, where Jim Crow segregation prevailed, Polk decided to reenlist for another five years. He was able to actually sign his second five-year contract. Reenlistments were pretty common for Buffalo Soldiers, given the scarcity of viable employment options in their respective locations. 

Polk was honorably discharged in 1892 through Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. He had served a total of 10 years with the 9^th Cavalry. Within a couple of weeks of completing his second five-year term of service, Thomas started buying parcels of land in Allen along Upper Ferry Road and created a homestead. He also began sharing information with his youngest son, Everett Polk about how he used buffalo chips to start fires for cooking, etc., and about having seen Sitting Bull in captivity. The land purchases made by Thomas remained with his family continuously until 2023 when the Buffalo Soldier Living History Site (a non-profit organization) assumed ownership of the property. It is upon a portion of this historic property that the living history site is being established where the legacy of Thomas E. Polk, Sr. drives the mission of the site along with the broader Buffalo Soldier history. 

Buffalo Soldiers carried the American flag and, among myriad other tasks, escorted white settlers and immigrants across the western territories. The settlers and immigrants were searching for land and opportunities. Such was not the case for Buffalo Soldiers, who faced discrimination on many fronts: at home, from the settlers and immigrants they were charged with escorting, and indeed in the Army. Despite members of their ranks being all Black, their officers were all white. For the Black men who enlisted, serving in the army was indeed a step up from the circumstances that had defined their lives.  No matter how fraught with challenges rooted in their Blackness, enlisting meant serving with humility, countered by a regular paycheck vs. pennies and nickels jingling in their pockets. It also meant medical attention, clothing, a horse, and a weapon with ammunition that they could legally carry. It meant giving up hours of facing the rear end of a mule while trying to bring life to land resistant to yielding. It meant an elevated status in the eyes of family members. No work in their respective communities across numerous states was going to offer such. 

Any endeavor worth pursuing takes time. The board of the Buffalo Soldier Living History Site is taking every possible step to ensure that a visit to the Site will leave an indelible mark in the minds of not only history buffs but all visitors. Breaking ground should take place in spring 2025. Upon completion, there will be a museum, pavilion, and walking trail. Plans for an extension (The Homestead) are being drafted. Updates will be posted on our website: www.polkoutpost.com and/or our Facebook page.