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(men vocalizing)

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Downloaded from
YTS.MX

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JERRY LAWSON: This story
is about a group of soldiers

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that made up one segment
of the United States Cavalry.

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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

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To the Indian, this soldier
looked strange and different

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because he wasn't White.

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He was Black.

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Thick woolly hair, strong.

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He sort of reminded the Indian
of the great buffalo,

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so the Indian called
this Black Cavalry soldier

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Buffalo Soldier.

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♪ ♪

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SHELTON JOHNSON:
The Buffalo Soldiers

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were African American troops

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who were
veterans of the Indian Wars.

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Soldiers from the Deep South,

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these men sought
refuge in the military.

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DARRELL MILLNER: The example
that the Buffalo Soldiers

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demonstrated was one
that Black people were proud of.

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LENARD HOWZE: One of the
messages that I share with youth

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is that you have to figure out
and learn where you come from.

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They fought for us.

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(fires)

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MILLNER:
In the Jim Crow era,

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racial oppression was extreme.

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JOHNSON: And a Black man
standing tall

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could have been a dead man.

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QUINTARD TAYLOR:
But Native Americans

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don't necessarily see
the Buffalo Soldiers as heroes.

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JOHNSON: You don't ask
when you are being enlisted,

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"Who am I gonna be fighting?"

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♪ ♪

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TAYLOR: They all came
to the conclusion

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that if you fight
for the country,

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you should be
a full-fledged citizen.

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That's what drove
Buffalo Soldiers to fight

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even knowing
that the United States

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might not honor that promise.

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♪ ♪

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♪ ♪

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♪ ♪

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MILLNER: In the narrative
of American history,

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the West has always been
this mythical and symbolic place

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in which heroic deeds were done.

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And being capable of great deeds

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was not something that society
was willing to admit

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that Black people
were capable of doing.

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And so, as a consequence,
when we tell our stories,

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we leave the Black stories out,

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and the Buffalo Soldiers
were a perfect example of that.

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♪ ♪

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NARRATOR:
Perhaps the best example

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of this crossing-out
of Black stories

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comes from
the Spanish-American War,

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when the U.S. intervened
in the Cuban struggle

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for independence from Spain.

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(explosion echoes)

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The explosion of an American
battleship, the U.S.S. Maine,

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in Havana's harbor
roused public support for war.

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MILLNER: We go to war
with Spain in 1898 to conquer

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Cuba and Puerto Rico,
and eventually, that culminates

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in one of
the most famous battles

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of American military history,
the Battle at San Juan Hill.

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NARRATOR: Black soldiers
make up about 3,000 men,

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or 13% of the
U.S. troops sent to Cuba.

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♪ ♪

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The Spanish-American War
is brief,

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lasting roughly six months,

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but it was enough
to promote the career

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of a little-known
New York City politician

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named Theodore Roosevelt.

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TAYLOR:
Roosevelt was a prima donna.

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He'd never been
in the military before.

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He literally organized the
Rough Riders out of whole cloth

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despite the fact that he had
no military background,

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and he sort of pushed his way in

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to lead the Rough Riders
in Cuba.

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ANTHONY POWELL: We've all heard
the story of Teddy Roosevelt

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charging up San Juan Hill.

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Now the real story.

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They charged up San Juan Hill

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after the 10th Cavalry
had breached the defenses.

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♪ ♪

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NARRATOR: A Black soldier,

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Sergeant George Barry
of the 10th Cavalry,

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planted the flags atop the hill.

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Roosevelt and his men
arrived well after

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the 10th and the 3rd Cavalry,
a White regiment.

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LOUIS BOWMAN (dramatized):
If it had not been for

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the timely aid
of the 10th Cavalry,

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the Rough Riders would
have been exterminated.

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Sergeant Louis Bowman,
10th Cavalry,

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"Tampa Morning Tribune."

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After the battle was over,

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there are all
the official photographs,

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and the photograph
that we most see

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now in classrooms is

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Theodore Roosevelt
standing in the middle

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and his Rough Riders
all around him.

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If you extend
that photograph out,

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then you'll see
the Black soldiers.

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And in a way, that's
a metaphor for what happened

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on San Juan Hill.
(chuckles)

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That it is assumed
that Theodore Roosevelt

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led the Rough Riders up,

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they were the ones
who defeated the Spanish,

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and that broke
the back of Spanish resistance,

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and led to the American victory.

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In fact, it was
a victory that belonged

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as much to the Buffalo Soldiers.

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♪ ♪

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NARRATOR: The now little-known
history of the Buffalo Soldiers

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stretches from
what came to be known

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as the Indian Wars
in the late 19th century

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through the end
of racial segregation

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in the U.S. military
following the Korean War.

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The Buffalo Soldiers
were all-Black cavalry

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and infantry regiments.

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The first part of
the Buffalo Soldiers' story

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takes place in the West,

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as the United States
expanded into Indigenous lands.

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This story is embodied

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by men like Ordnance
Sergeant Moses Williams,

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a Medal of Honor recipient.

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The second part of the
Buffalo Soldiers' story picks up

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as Indigenous people are
being forced onto reservations,

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and the United States
begins engaging

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in military expeditions abroad

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in Cuba,
the Philippines, and Mexico.

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This story is embodied

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by Lieutenant Colonel
Charles Young,

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one of the first Black graduates
of West Point.

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♪ ♪

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MILLNER:
In every American war--

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the American Revolution,
War of 1812, the Civil War--

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all of those have
included large involvements

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of African Americans.

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(guns and cannons firing)

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NARRATOR: When
the Civil War broke out in 1861,

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abolitionist Frederick Douglass

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lobbied the Lincoln
Administration

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to accept Black men
into the Union Army.

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DOUGLASS (dramatized):
Once let the Black man

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get upon his person
the brass letters "U.S.,"

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let him get an eagle
on his button,

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and a musket on his shoulder,
and bullets in his pockets,

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and there is no power on Earth
which can deny

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that he has earned
the right to citizenship.

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NARRATOR: Thousands
of Black men were recruited

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by African American
physician Martin Delany,

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who was commissioned
as a major

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to lead the United States
Colored Troops.

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WOMEN:
♪ Glory, glory, hallelujah ♪

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♪ We are Colored
Yankee soldiers ♪

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♪ Who've enlisted for the war ♪

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♪ We are fighting for Union ♪

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♪ We are fighting for the law ♪

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NARRATOR: By the time the war
ended in 1865,

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40,000 African American
soldiers had died

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to help keep the nation whole.

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WOMEN:
♪ Glory, glory, hallelujah ♪

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♪ Glory, glory ♪

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DELANY (dramatized):
Do you know

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that if it was
not for the Black men,

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this war never would
have been brought to a close

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with success to the Union?

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Major Martin R. Delany, 1865.

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NARRATOR: President Lincoln
agreed, saying,

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"Without the military
help of the Black freedmen,

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the war against the South
could not have been won."

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At the end of the war,

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the United States Colored Troops
were disbanded.

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♪ ♪

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Wartime casualties
had reduced the U.S. Army

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to a fraction
of its former size.

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♪ ♪

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RYAN BOOTH: It isn't until
the end of the Civil War

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that the nation's energy shifts,

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and they're suddenly interested
in Western land and expansion.

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Manifest Destiny, extending
America from shore to shore,

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from sea to sea,
was kind of an official policy,

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but it was also an attitude.

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Most people forget
that we are on lands

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that once had all of
this rich Native American life.

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That there were people
who were living and dying

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and being born on these lands.

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♪ ♪

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NARRATOR: In order for the quest

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for continental expansion
to succeed,

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the Indigenous peoples
who had lived on the land

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for thousands of years
had to be dealt with.

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BOOTH: They're
building these railroads

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through Native homelands,

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which inevitably
creates conflict.

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NARRATOR: "Indian removal,"
as it came to be called,

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required a larger
military force.

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In 1866, Congress authorized
the formation of 30 new units.

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MILLNER:
And that included

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two African American
cavalry units

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and four African American
infantry units.

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POWELL:
Many of the veterans

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of the United States
Colored Troops,

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they would become
the nucleus of the soldiers

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that enlisted in
the six Black regiments

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after the Civil War.

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The economic circumstances are
what's driving things.

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POWELL: For a young
African American man,

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to go into the Army was all
about making money.

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JOHNSON: If you're poor,
if you're a sharecropper's son,

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that $13 a month
sounds pretty good.

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MILLNER:
You have to remember that

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although Blacks were now
newly free--

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slavery had been abolished

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by the adoption
of the 13th Amendment--

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their real condition
in the American South

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had not changed that much.

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They had no property,

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they had no money,

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they had no political power.

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JOHNSON: They come from a
background where it was illegal

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to teach an enslaved
person to read or write.

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If you tried to
vote at that time,

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there were literacy tests that
were there, put in front of you,

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and they were designed

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so that you
would fail that test.

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And if you could
pass the literacy test,

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if you could
pay for the poll tax,

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you had to deal
with outright intimidation

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at the polling place.

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All of these barriers
were put in front of them,

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but which road
was clear and open?

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And that was
the road to enlistment.

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♪ ♪

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POWELL: When I was a kid,
I was very, very lucky

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to have my grandfather

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who had been a Buffalo Soldier.

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His name was
Samuel Nathanial Waller.

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He joined the Army in 1887
and retired in 1927.

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He died in 1979 at 105.

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I asked him one time,
I said, respectfully,

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"How come you served this
racist country for 40 years?"

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♪ ♪

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And my grandfather
told me something

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that it took me
a while to appreciate.

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He said the Army gave him

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the only part of
the American Dream

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that the nation
would let him share in.

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♪ ♪

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The Army offered to them

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something that outside of
its structure didn't exist:

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an opportunity to advance,
an opportunity to grow.

253
00:11:19,333 --> 00:11:22,300
That is why many of them joined.

254
00:11:22,300 --> 00:11:24,166
(people talking in background)

255
00:11:24,166 --> 00:11:27,966
NARRATOR: In October 1866,
in Lake Providence, Louisiana,

256
00:11:27,966 --> 00:11:31,900
dozens of Black men show up
to join the 9th Cavalry.

257
00:11:31,900 --> 00:11:35,266
One of them is
21-year-old Moses Williams.

258
00:11:35,266 --> 00:11:36,400
GREG SHINE:
We don't know much about

259
00:11:36,400 --> 00:11:38,233
Moses Williams' family at all.

260
00:11:38,233 --> 00:11:40,400
And what little
information we have

261
00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:43,400
 
is from his enlistment
papers over the years.

262
00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:44,866
MOSES WILLIAMS (dramatized):
Father and Mother died

263
00:11:44,866 --> 00:11:46,433
when I was an infant.

264
00:11:46,433 --> 00:11:50,100
One brother died of consumption,
one sister of fever.

265
00:11:50,100 --> 00:11:52,100
Moses Williams.

266
00:11:52,966 --> 00:11:54,400
NARRATOR:
What he describes as

267
00:11:54,400 --> 00:11:56,466
"smallpox when I was
20 years old"

268
00:11:56,466 --> 00:11:59,600
left him with almost
zero vision in his left eye,

269
00:11:59,600 --> 00:12:02,200
which makes his later reputation
as a skilled marksman...

270
00:12:02,200 --> 00:12:05,133
(gun fires)
...extraordinary.

271
00:12:05,133 --> 00:12:07,033
When Williams enlisted,

272
00:12:07,033 --> 00:12:08,900
he could not read or write.

273
00:12:08,900 --> 00:12:11,566
Service in the Army
gave Williams the opportunity

274
00:12:11,566 --> 00:12:14,666
to start educating himself.

275
00:12:14,666 --> 00:12:17,333
The soldiers got meals,
they got uniforms,

276
00:12:17,333 --> 00:12:20,266
they got pensions and benefits.

277
00:12:20,266 --> 00:12:22,533
But at that time,
Black soldiers

278
00:12:22,533 --> 00:12:24,400
could only rise as high
as sergeant.

279
00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:26,500
The ranks of
lieutenant and above

280
00:12:26,500 --> 00:12:29,933
were held by White officers.

281
00:12:29,933 --> 00:12:33,033
♪ ♪

282
00:12:33,033 --> 00:12:36,400
In Missouri, another
former slave chooses to enlist

283
00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:39,200
under the assumed
name of William Cathay--

284
00:12:39,200 --> 00:12:41,166
because she was female.

285
00:12:41,166 --> 00:12:44,800
She was born Cathay Williams
in Independence, Missouri,

286
00:12:44,800 --> 00:12:47,400
in September 1844.

287
00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:49,500
MILLNER:
There were few opportunities

288
00:12:49,500 --> 00:12:52,733
for aspiring young Black women
in this time period

289
00:12:52,733 --> 00:12:54,266
beyond marriage,

290
00:12:54,266 --> 00:12:57,466
or beyond domestic service
to White society.

291
00:12:57,466 --> 00:12:59,366
NARRATOR: Once
owned by a wealthy farmer,

292
00:12:59,366 --> 00:13:01,933
Cathay was liberated
by the Union Army,

293
00:13:01,933 --> 00:13:05,566
but pressed into service
as war contraband.

294
00:13:05,566 --> 00:13:07,633
CATHAY WILLIAMS (dramatized):
When the war broke out

295
00:13:07,633 --> 00:13:09,900
and the United States soldiers
came to Jefferson City,

296
00:13:09,900 --> 00:13:13,433
they took me and the other
Colored folk with them.

297
00:13:13,433 --> 00:13:16,433
I did not want to go.

298
00:13:16,433 --> 00:13:20,466
Colonel Benton wanted me
to cook for the officers.

299
00:13:20,466 --> 00:13:23,766
Cathay Williams, 1862.

300
00:13:23,766 --> 00:13:26,866
NARRATOR: The 22-year-old
had no experience as a cook,

301
00:13:26,866 --> 00:13:30,000
and was soon
reassigned to the laundry,

302
00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:31,700
exploited by the Yankees

303
00:13:31,700 --> 00:13:34,900
as she had been
by her former master.

304
00:13:34,900 --> 00:13:39,433
After the war,
used to the military life,

305
00:13:39,433 --> 00:13:41,100
she disguised herself as a man

306
00:13:41,100 --> 00:13:44,533
to enlist in the Regular Army
near St. Louis, Missouri,

307
00:13:44,533 --> 00:13:48,166
on November 15, 1866.

308
00:13:48,166 --> 00:13:50,000
CATHAY WILLIAMS (dramatized):
I wanted to make my own living

309
00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:53,400
and not be dependent
on relations or friends.

310
00:13:53,400 --> 00:13:56,900
How she was able
to get into the infantry,

311
00:13:56,900 --> 00:13:59,700
you know, during that time is
to me still amazing.

312
00:13:59,700 --> 00:14:01,733
NARRATOR:
"William Cathay" passes

313
00:14:01,733 --> 00:14:04,000
a clearly
superficial examination

314
00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:07,066
and is assigned to Company A
of the 38th Infantry.

315
00:14:07,066 --> 00:14:09,766
CATHAY WILLIAMS (dramatized):
I carried my musket

316
00:14:09,766 --> 00:14:12,633
and did guard and other duties
while in the Army.

317
00:14:12,633 --> 00:14:14,466
NARRATOR: During
her two years of service,

318
00:14:14,466 --> 00:14:16,633
Cathay Williams and her unit

319
00:14:16,633 --> 00:14:19,200
march roughly
1,000 miles on foot,

320
00:14:19,200 --> 00:14:20,966
from Fort Harker in Kansas

321
00:14:20,966 --> 00:14:23,633
to Fort Bayard in
New Mexico Territory,

322
00:14:23,633 --> 00:14:26,066
enduring extreme weather,

323
00:14:26,066 --> 00:14:29,833
meager rations,
and primitive living conditions.

324
00:14:29,833 --> 00:14:34,066
The conditions in
which they served was terrible.

325
00:14:34,066 --> 00:14:36,766
You had so many soldiers dying,

326
00:14:36,766 --> 00:14:39,200
so many soldiers being disabled,

327
00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:43,466
because of cholera and
different types of diseases.

328
00:14:43,466 --> 00:14:45,266
NARRATOR: After
several hospitalizations

329
00:14:45,266 --> 00:14:47,800
for rheumatism and neuralgia,

330
00:14:47,800 --> 00:14:51,733
Cathay's sex was finally
discovered by an Army surgeon.

331
00:14:51,733 --> 00:14:55,900
She was discharged
on October 14, 1868.

332
00:14:55,900 --> 00:14:57,433
CATHAY WILLIAMS (dramatized):
The men all wanted

333
00:14:57,433 --> 00:14:58,800
to get rid of me

334
00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:00,833
after they found out
I was a woman.

335
00:15:00,833 --> 00:15:03,833
Some of them acted real bad
to me.

336
00:15:03,833 --> 00:15:05,533
NARRATOR: Upon her discharge,

337
00:15:05,533 --> 00:15:07,233
Cathay Williams
discarded her male disguise

338
00:15:07,233 --> 00:15:09,366
and struck out for Colorado,

339
00:15:09,366 --> 00:15:11,733
where she worked
as a cook and a laundress.

340
00:15:11,733 --> 00:15:14,966
Stricken with
diabetes and neuralgia,

341
00:15:14,966 --> 00:15:19,266
she applied for an Army pension,
but was refused.

342
00:15:19,266 --> 00:15:24,200
Cathay Williams died in
Trinidad, Colorado, in 1893,

343
00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:27,200
at the age of 48.

344
00:15:27,200 --> 00:15:30,233
Final resting place unknown.

345
00:15:30,233 --> 00:15:34,533
♪ ♪

346
00:15:34,533 --> 00:15:37,633
NARRATOR: Of the six new
regiments of Black soldiers

347
00:15:37,633 --> 00:15:41,033
created in 1866,
after the Civil War,

348
00:15:41,033 --> 00:15:42,833
two are ordered to Texas,

349
00:15:42,833 --> 00:15:45,033
one to New Mexico Territory,

350
00:15:45,033 --> 00:15:47,933
and the others to Kansas
and the Indian Territories

351
00:15:47,933 --> 00:15:49,533
in present-day Oklahoma.

352
00:15:49,533 --> 00:15:52,800
Only two are initially stationed
outside the West.

353
00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:55,766
Even those regiments would soon
be posted to the frontier.

354
00:15:55,766 --> 00:16:00,166
The American West was
a very difficult, hostile place

355
00:16:00,166 --> 00:16:02,100
to live at this time,

356
00:16:02,100 --> 00:16:04,500
whether you were
engaging in combat or not.

357
00:16:04,500 --> 00:16:09,133
♪ ♪

358
00:16:09,133 --> 00:16:13,066
NARRATOR: Mexican bandits
and White outlaws

359
00:16:13,066 --> 00:16:16,433
operate freely on both
sides of the Rio Grande.

360
00:16:16,433 --> 00:16:20,600
And bands of Kiowa, Comanche,

361
00:16:20,600 --> 00:16:24,133
and Mescalero Apaches
raid across West Texas.

362
00:16:27,300 --> 00:16:30,366
SHINE: The Buffalo Soldiers
served as a police force,

363
00:16:30,366 --> 00:16:32,633
because it was
literally the Wild West.

364
00:16:34,466 --> 00:16:37,366
NARRATOR: Moses Williams
and the 9th Cavalry

365
00:16:37,366 --> 00:16:40,000
will spend
the next decade in Texas.

366
00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:45,833
They range out on patrol for
as much as a year at a stretch.

367
00:16:45,833 --> 00:16:49,133
But despite their role
in securing the frontier,

368
00:16:49,133 --> 00:16:53,266
many Texas citizens do not
welcome the Buffalo Soldiers.

369
00:16:53,266 --> 00:16:54,766
Think of the irony here.

370
00:16:54,766 --> 00:16:58,033
Black people were being attacked
in East Texas

371
00:16:58,033 --> 00:17:00,933
by Ku Klux Klan types.

372
00:17:00,933 --> 00:17:02,866
Black people in West Texas

373
00:17:02,866 --> 00:17:06,033
are defending Whites
from Native Americans.

374
00:17:06,033 --> 00:17:08,766
MILLNER: The Blacks who had to
coexist

375
00:17:08,766 --> 00:17:11,966
in those Western outposts
would be surrounded by

376
00:17:11,966 --> 00:17:15,200
former Confederates who would
look upon a Black soldier

377
00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:16,733
as not a full human being,

378
00:17:16,733 --> 00:17:18,833
and would not be
willing to treat a Black soldier

379
00:17:18,833 --> 00:17:20,466
the same way that they would
treat a White soldier

380
00:17:20,466 --> 00:17:22,133
or a White citizen.

381
00:17:22,133 --> 00:17:25,400
NARRATOR: When the 9th Cavalry
first arrives in Texas,

382
00:17:25,400 --> 00:17:28,800
a White company commander,
Lieutenant Edward Heyl,

383
00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:30,166
orders several of his men

384
00:17:30,166 --> 00:17:32,133
hung by their wrists
from tree limbs

385
00:17:32,133 --> 00:17:36,433
when they did not respond
quickly enough to his orders.

386
00:17:36,433 --> 00:17:39,100
Heyl's brutality
results in a mutiny.

387
00:17:39,100 --> 00:17:40,866
Two officers are killed,

388
00:17:40,866 --> 00:17:44,000
and several of the soldiers
are court-martialed and jailed.

389
00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:47,366
Heyl gets off with a reprimand.

390
00:17:47,366 --> 00:17:49,966
There's controversy
about how the Buffalo Soldiers

391
00:17:49,966 --> 00:17:52,200
got the name "Buffalo Soldier."

392
00:17:55,100 --> 00:17:56,800
SHINE: As early as 1872,

393
00:17:56,800 --> 00:18:00,833
soldiers' letters reference
the term "Buffalo Soldiers."

394
00:18:00,833 --> 00:18:02,800
FRANCES ROE (dramatized):
The officers say that

395
00:18:02,800 --> 00:18:06,033
the Negroes make good soldiers
and fight like fiends.

396
00:18:06,033 --> 00:18:08,600
The Indians call
them "Buffalo Soldiers,"

397
00:18:08,600 --> 00:18:09,966
because their woolly heads

398
00:18:09,966 --> 00:18:12,033
are so much
like the matted cushion

399
00:18:12,033 --> 00:18:14,433
that is between
the horns of the buffalo.

400
00:18:14,433 --> 00:18:16,366
JOHNSON:
The Plains Indians,

401
00:18:16,366 --> 00:18:19,133
the Lakota, Dakota,
Sioux, the Cheyenne,

402
00:18:19,133 --> 00:18:21,500
they saw these
African American soldiers,

403
00:18:21,500 --> 00:18:23,533
and because of
their ferocity in battle

404
00:18:23,533 --> 00:18:25,233
and the, the texture
of their hair,

405
00:18:25,233 --> 00:18:27,266
they began to call them
"Buffalo Soldiers"

406
00:18:27,266 --> 00:18:28,666
as a term of respect.

407
00:18:28,666 --> 00:18:31,966
The buffalo were incredibly
important.

408
00:18:31,966 --> 00:18:36,900
They were at the heart
of culture for these tribes

409
00:18:36,900 --> 00:18:39,100
along the Great Plains.

410
00:18:39,100 --> 00:18:41,566
NARRATOR:
Another possible explanation

411
00:18:41,566 --> 00:18:45,033
is that the name could have come
from the heavy buffalo robes

412
00:18:45,033 --> 00:18:47,333
that soldiers
wore in the winter.

413
00:18:47,333 --> 00:18:48,866
But regardless of its origins,

414
00:18:48,866 --> 00:18:51,266
the name
"Buffalo Soldiers" stuck.

415
00:18:51,266 --> 00:18:54,333
MILLNER: And so it was the name
that they adopted for themselves

416
00:18:54,333 --> 00:18:57,833
and held with honor
well into the 20th century.

417
00:18:57,833 --> 00:19:03,566
WOMEN:
♪ Buffalo soldiers ♪

418
00:19:03,566 --> 00:19:06,100
NARRATOR:
Soon after his enlistment,

419
00:19:06,100 --> 00:19:09,633
Moses Williams is
promoted to first sergeant.

420
00:19:09,633 --> 00:19:11,333
He would have been both
an adviser

421
00:19:11,333 --> 00:19:13,700
to his commanding officers

422
00:19:13,700 --> 00:19:15,400
and a mentor to men
of lower rank.

423
00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:20,533
SHINE: The role of sergeant was
key in an Army company.

424
00:19:20,533 --> 00:19:23,366
The sergeant not
only helps oversee

425
00:19:23,366 --> 00:19:26,300
the daily
activities of those soldiers,

426
00:19:26,300 --> 00:19:30,133
but also is that conduit
above to the White officers.

427
00:19:30,133 --> 00:19:35,100
SINGERS:
♪ Buffalo soldiers ♪

428
00:19:35,100 --> 00:19:38,933
- ♪ Well, well, well, well ♪
- ♪ Buffalo soldiers ♪

429
00:19:38,933 --> 00:19:41,066
NARRATOR: On May 20th, 1870,

430
00:19:41,066 --> 00:19:44,566
Williams ordered one of his men,
Sergeant Emanuel Stance,

431
00:19:44,566 --> 00:19:48,300
to pursue a group of
Apaches near Fort McKavett.

432
00:19:48,300 --> 00:19:50,300
STANCE (dramatized):
I discovered a party of Indians,

433
00:19:50,300 --> 00:19:51,933
about 20 in number,

434
00:19:51,933 --> 00:19:53,466
making for a couple of
government teams.

435
00:19:53,466 --> 00:19:57,100
They evidently
meant to capture the stock.

436
00:19:57,100 --> 00:20:00,500
I immediately
attacked them by charging them.

437
00:20:00,500 --> 00:20:03,033
SINGER:
♪ How dignified, sanctified ♪

438
00:20:03,033 --> 00:20:05,200
STANCE (dramatized):
I set the Spencers to talking

439
00:20:05,200 --> 00:20:07,233
and whistling about their ears
so lively

440
00:20:07,233 --> 00:20:11,133
that they broke off in confusion
and fled for the hills.

441
00:20:11,133 --> 00:20:14,866
Sergeant Emanuel Stance,
9th Cavalry.

442
00:20:14,866 --> 00:20:17,800
NARRATOR: For
his bravery in this engagement,

443
00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:20,566
Stance became
the first Buffalo Soldier

444
00:20:20,566 --> 00:20:23,700
awarded the Medal of Honor.

445
00:20:23,700 --> 00:20:25,800
♪ ♪

446
00:20:25,800 --> 00:20:27,933
Life at a typical
Army post in the West

447
00:20:27,933 --> 00:20:30,133
would have been
a hub of activity.

448
00:20:30,133 --> 00:20:31,600
♪ ♪

449
00:20:31,600 --> 00:20:35,200
SHINE: The day-to-day work
of African American soldiers

450
00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:40,600
was escorting supply wagons,
helping string telegraph lines,

451
00:20:40,600 --> 00:20:42,900
helping protect parties
that were surveying locations

452
00:20:42,900 --> 00:20:45,100
for railway lines.

453
00:20:45,100 --> 00:20:49,066
Really, the work
that they were doing

454
00:20:49,066 --> 00:20:51,900
was supporting
the American infrastructure

455
00:20:51,900 --> 00:20:54,700
moving west of the Mississippi.

456
00:20:54,700 --> 00:20:57,566
All this expansion
into the American West

457
00:20:57,566 --> 00:21:01,366
is coming at the cost
of displacing Native peoples

458
00:21:01,366 --> 00:21:02,666
and their life ways.

459
00:21:02,666 --> 00:21:04,300
♪ ♪

460
00:21:04,300 --> 00:21:06,933
Who's on the front line
of that conflict?

461
00:21:06,933 --> 00:21:09,500
It's largely
the Buffalo Soldiers.

462
00:21:09,500 --> 00:21:14,033
MILLNER: We look back and
we see two populations of color,

463
00:21:14,033 --> 00:21:18,166
so we assume there would be
some kind of potential alliance.

464
00:21:18,166 --> 00:21:21,266
The Buffalo Soldiers did
not look at the Native Americans

465
00:21:21,266 --> 00:21:23,633
and see another, in quotes,
"Colored population."

466
00:21:23,633 --> 00:21:27,166
They saw a designated enemy.

467
00:21:27,166 --> 00:21:29,933
JOHNSON: You don't ask when
you are being enlisted,

468
00:21:29,933 --> 00:21:31,333
"Who am I gonna be fighting?"

469
00:21:31,333 --> 00:21:34,066
When it came
time to do their duty,

470
00:21:34,066 --> 00:21:36,100
they would do what
they were paid to do.

471
00:21:36,100 --> 00:21:39,133
JOHNSON: They didn't join
to kill Indians.

472
00:21:39,133 --> 00:21:42,800
They joined because
it gave them a sense of respect

473
00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:45,166
to wear the uniform
of the United States,

474
00:21:45,166 --> 00:21:48,333
to potentially sacrifice
their life for the United States

475
00:21:48,333 --> 00:21:50,766
in the hope that
that sacrifice would result

476
00:21:50,766 --> 00:21:55,133
in conditions improving
for their loved ones back home.

477
00:21:55,133 --> 00:21:59,966
BOOTH: On the one hand,
it is a story of great triumph,

478
00:21:59,966 --> 00:22:03,033
but it's also a story
about people being dispossessed.

479
00:22:03,033 --> 00:22:05,133
It's a story about violence.

480
00:22:07,100 --> 00:22:10,400
 
Part of the legacy of
the Indian Wars

481
00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:11,800
is one of total war.

482
00:22:11,800 --> 00:22:16,166
The U.S. Army attempted,
in its own way,

483
00:22:16,166 --> 00:22:19,466
to starve, kill, maim,
do whatever they could

484
00:22:19,466 --> 00:22:22,433
to be able to get
the end that they wanted.

485
00:22:22,433 --> 00:22:24,166
JACOB WILKS (dramatized):
We destroyed

486
00:22:24,166 --> 00:22:26,266
everything in their village.

487
00:22:26,266 --> 00:22:29,033
We found a vast
amount of buffalo robes,

488
00:22:29,033 --> 00:22:31,866
of which each man
made a choice of the best.

489
00:22:31,866 --> 00:22:34,233
The rest we destroyed.

490
00:22:34,233 --> 00:22:39,100
Their tents were made of poles
over which hides were stretched,

491
00:22:39,100 --> 00:22:41,533
and these were all burned.

492
00:22:41,533 --> 00:22:47,733
Sergeant Jacob Wilks,
9th Cavalry, 1874.

493
00:22:48,833 --> 00:22:52,333
NARRATOR: After a decade
in Texas, Moses Williams

494
00:22:52,333 --> 00:22:56,200
and the 9th Cavalry are ordered
to New Mexico Territory.

495
00:22:56,200 --> 00:23:01,066
The Buffalo Soldiers set out to
track down a group of Apaches

496
00:23:01,066 --> 00:23:04,666
led by the charismatic warrior
Victorio.

497
00:23:04,666 --> 00:23:07,700
BOOTH: Victorio is probably
one of the most brilliant

498
00:23:07,700 --> 00:23:09,600
tacticians of the war.

499
00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:12,666
And so he does this
hit and run campaign

500
00:23:12,666 --> 00:23:17,066
across the American Southwest
and into Mexico.

501
00:23:17,066 --> 00:23:18,933
NARRATOR:
The 9th Cavalry pursues Victorio

502
00:23:18,933 --> 00:23:21,666
for more than a year.

503
00:23:21,666 --> 00:23:26,633
In 1880, the 10th Cavalry
joins in the chase.

504
00:23:26,633 --> 00:23:30,400
U.S. and Mexican officials
want to see the Apaches crushed.

505
00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:33,900
NARRATOR: The Mexican army
finally catches up with Victorio

506
00:23:33,900 --> 00:23:36,333
at Tres Castillos.

507
00:23:36,333 --> 00:23:38,966
BOOTH: He ends up being pursued
like a dog.

508
00:23:38,966 --> 00:23:45,466
Ends up dying to try to achieve
freedom for his own people.

509
00:23:45,466 --> 00:23:49,400
♪ ♪

510
00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:51,766
NARRATOR: Forty of Victorio's
followers escaped,

511
00:23:51,766 --> 00:23:54,566
including a respected elder
known to his people

512
00:23:54,566 --> 00:23:58,033
as Kas-Tziden
and to outsiders as Nana.

513
00:23:58,033 --> 00:24:01,366
He was 75 years old
and crippled in one leg.

514
00:24:01,366 --> 00:24:04,033
♪ ♪

515
00:24:04,033 --> 00:24:06,666
NARRATOR:
On August 16th, 1881,

516
00:24:06,666 --> 00:24:08,433
I Company of the 9th Cavalry--

517
00:24:08,433 --> 00:24:11,433
where Moses Williams served
as First Sergeant--

518
00:24:11,433 --> 00:24:15,366
came into contact with Nana's
band in northern New Mexico.

519
00:24:15,366 --> 00:24:17,933
It would prove
to be a pivotal day

520
00:24:17,933 --> 00:24:20,466
in Williams' life and career.

521
00:24:20,466 --> 00:24:24,500
Williams' commanding officer
was Lieutenant George Burnett,

522
00:24:24,500 --> 00:24:29,900
a recent West Point graduate
without much field experience.

523
00:24:29,900 --> 00:24:32,733
So you really have him
looking toward Moses Williams

524
00:24:32,733 --> 00:24:34,033
for support and leadership.

525
00:24:34,033 --> 00:24:36,133
 
NARRATOR:
Burnett describes Williams

526
00:24:36,133 --> 00:24:38,133
and Private Augustus Walley as

527
00:24:38,133 --> 00:24:42,000
"the two men who are
always by me in every danger."

528
00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:44,666
Burnett later
recalled the events of that day.

529
00:24:44,666 --> 00:24:47,233
BURNETT (dramatized): It was
practically a running fight

530
00:24:47,233 --> 00:24:48,733
which continued
for several hours,

531
00:24:48,733 --> 00:24:50,533
and we had driven
the Indians eight to ten miles

532
00:24:50,533 --> 00:24:54,033
into the foothills of
the Cuchillo Negro Mountains

533
00:24:54,033 --> 00:24:56,466
when they made
a final and determined stand.

534
00:24:56,466 --> 00:24:58,266
NARRATOR:
As they attempt to cut off

535
00:24:58,266 --> 00:25:00,066
an Apache retreat
into the mountains,

536
00:25:00,066 --> 00:25:03,666
Sergeant Williams
spots a potential ambush,

537
00:25:03,666 --> 00:25:06,766
an Apache warrior in hiding.

538
00:25:06,766 --> 00:25:08,766
♪ ♪

539
00:25:08,766 --> 00:25:12,133
When Lieutenant Burnett
dismounts and fires,

540
00:25:12,133 --> 00:25:13,933
warriors start
shooting from the ridge.

541
00:25:13,933 --> 00:25:17,966
SHINE: The commanding
lieutenant's horse takes off

542
00:25:17,966 --> 00:25:19,433
and flees to the rear.

543
00:25:19,433 --> 00:25:21,133
BURNETT (dramatized):
Someone started the cry,

544
00:25:21,133 --> 00:25:23,400
"They got the lieutenant,
they got the lieutenant!"

545
00:25:23,400 --> 00:25:26,600
And with this, the whole outfit
proceeded to follow suit.

546
00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:28,600
I called to Sergeant Williams
to go after them

547
00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:30,300
and bring 'em back.

548
00:25:30,300 --> 00:25:34,000
SHINE: Moses Williams goes back
to rally these soldiers

549
00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:35,600
and brought them
back up to the line.

550
00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:38,433
NARRATOR: As
they charge back into battle,

551
00:25:38,433 --> 00:25:41,666
Burnett realizes that three
privates had become stranded.

552
00:25:41,666 --> 00:25:43,533
BURNETT (dramatized):
My attention was attracted

553
00:25:43,533 --> 00:25:45,366
by one of the men
calling to me,

554
00:25:45,366 --> 00:25:48,600
"Lieutenant, please,
for God's sake, don't leave us!

555
00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:50,566
Our lives depend on you!"

556
00:25:50,566 --> 00:25:53,333
Private Walley mounted
and galloped to him,

557
00:25:53,333 --> 00:25:55,533
while myself and
Sergeant Williams were

558
00:25:55,533 --> 00:25:58,400
exposed to the fire of
at least 25 or 30 Indians

559
00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:01,166
without the slightest
shelter whatsoever.

560
00:26:01,166 --> 00:26:04,266
(fires)

561
00:26:06,733 --> 00:26:09,000
SHINE: Moses Williams,
Augustus Walley,

562
00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:10,366
and their commanding officer

563
00:26:10,366 --> 00:26:11,933
bring these soldiers that are
abandoned

564
00:26:11,933 --> 00:26:13,733
to safety in great peril

565
00:26:13,733 --> 00:26:16,933
and almost
the cost of their own lives.

566
00:26:16,933 --> 00:26:20,733
♪ ♪

567
00:26:23,466 --> 00:26:26,000
NARRATOR: While Moses Williams
battled in the Indian Wars,

568
00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:29,533
the first generation of Black
cadets fought discrimination

569
00:26:29,533 --> 00:26:33,866
at the United States
Military Academy at West Point.

570
00:26:34,733 --> 00:26:38,266
One of those first
cadets was Charles Young.

571
00:26:38,266 --> 00:26:41,600
Born into slavery in Kentucky,

572
00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:44,166
Young's parents fled
with their infant son Charles

573
00:26:44,166 --> 00:26:47,533
to Ohio,
and freedom, in 1864.

574
00:26:47,533 --> 00:26:51,433
Young's mother, Arminta, was
one of the rare enslaved people

575
00:26:51,433 --> 00:26:54,133
who had found
a way to educate herself.

576
00:26:54,133 --> 00:26:55,300
BRIAN SHELLUM:
And really was somebody

577
00:26:55,300 --> 00:26:57,033
that passed on to Charles Young

578
00:26:57,033 --> 00:26:59,766
the importance of education
and what an education could do

579
00:26:59,766 --> 00:27:01,300
for a Black person.

580
00:27:01,300 --> 00:27:04,000
NARRATOR: Soon after
their arrival in Ohio,

581
00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:05,433
Young's father, Gabriel,

582
00:27:05,433 --> 00:27:07,400
joined the 5th
Colored Heavy Artillery

583
00:27:07,400 --> 00:27:10,133
and served for a year in
the Civil War.

584
00:27:10,133 --> 00:27:11,433
SHELLUM: He loved the Army

585
00:27:11,433 --> 00:27:13,333
and he loved what it did for
him.

586
00:27:13,333 --> 00:27:16,466
And he passed
that on to his son Charles.

587
00:27:16,466 --> 00:27:18,033
It was one of the major reasons

588
00:27:18,033 --> 00:27:19,700
why Charles Young
went to West Point.

589
00:27:19,700 --> 00:27:24,366
 
NARRATOR: Young is
admitted to West Point in 1884.

590
00:27:25,500 --> 00:27:28,600
SHELLUM: 130 years ago,
when Young attended West Point,

591
00:27:28,600 --> 00:27:30,300
it was a very difficult place.

592
00:27:30,300 --> 00:27:32,533
It was a place that reflected

593
00:27:32,533 --> 00:27:36,000
the Jim Crow norms
of society at the time.

594
00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:38,800
MILLNER: Between 1870 and 1900,

595
00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:41,433
12 Blacks had been admitted
to West Point.

596
00:27:41,433 --> 00:27:45,233
 
But because of
almost unimaginable

597
00:27:45,233 --> 00:27:47,133
harassment and discrimination,

598
00:27:47,133 --> 00:27:49,733
nine of the Blacks
were forced to leave

599
00:27:49,733 --> 00:27:51,266
before they graduated.

600
00:27:51,266 --> 00:27:55,500
POWELL: They had been harassed
by other cadets.

601
00:27:55,500 --> 00:27:58,533
Johnson Whittaker was one.

602
00:27:58,533 --> 00:28:01,766
He was tied up and he was cut.

603
00:28:01,766 --> 00:28:05,866
And they didn't court-martial
the, the cadets that did that.

604
00:28:05,866 --> 00:28:08,933
 
They court-martialed him
because they said he was lying,

605
00:28:08,933 --> 00:28:11,733
and he was
dismissed from the academy.

606
00:28:11,733 --> 00:28:13,933
NARRATOR: While at West Point,
Young has to learn

607
00:28:13,933 --> 00:28:17,533
how to navigate a color line
with the other White cadets.

608
00:28:17,533 --> 00:28:20,900
SHELLUM: It was harder for him
because he was Black.

609
00:28:20,900 --> 00:28:24,166
What he learned from
his struggles at West Point

610
00:28:24,166 --> 00:28:29,600
were lessons that he used later
in life in the officer corps.

611
00:28:29,600 --> 00:28:32,200
JOHNSON: His experience
at West Point was so intense,

612
00:28:32,200 --> 00:28:34,300
so severe, he once said

613
00:28:34,300 --> 00:28:36,966
the worst thing he could
ever wish on an enemy

614
00:28:36,966 --> 00:28:39,933
would be to make them
a cadet at West Point.

615
00:28:39,933 --> 00:28:42,966
 
SHELLUM: Young was
the third Black graduate

616
00:28:42,966 --> 00:28:45,400
of West Point, in 1889,

617
00:28:45,400 --> 00:28:48,766
and he was
the last Black graduate

618
00:28:48,766 --> 00:28:52,300
until 1936,
a period of almost 50 years.

619
00:28:52,300 --> 00:28:53,900
♪ ♪

620
00:28:53,900 --> 00:28:56,600
NARRATOR: Enlisted men
like Moses Williams

621
00:28:56,600 --> 00:28:58,700
did not get a formal education

622
00:28:58,700 --> 00:29:01,900
like the kind Charles Young
received at West Point.

623
00:29:01,900 --> 00:29:06,166
But the Army
needed skilled clerks,

624
00:29:06,166 --> 00:29:07,966
and assigned
its regimental chaplains

625
00:29:07,966 --> 00:29:12,500
to attend to the soldiers'
spiritual and educational needs.

626
00:29:12,500 --> 00:29:15,200
SHINE: Educational opportunities
were really limited

627
00:29:15,200 --> 00:29:16,666
for African American men
at the time,

628
00:29:16,666 --> 00:29:19,566
and so the Army
offered this opportunity.

629
00:29:19,566 --> 00:29:21,933
NARRATOR: With the encouragement
of his regimental chaplain,

630
00:29:21,933 --> 00:29:24,333
Williams studies to
become an ordnance sergeant,

631
00:29:24,333 --> 00:29:27,866
the officer in charge of arms
and ammunition at an Army post.

632
00:29:27,866 --> 00:29:31,700
SHINE: Ordnance sergeants
were not appointed lightly.

633
00:29:31,700 --> 00:29:34,933
It required appointment
by the Secretary of War

634
00:29:34,933 --> 00:29:38,533
after recommendation
from a board of officers.

635
00:29:38,533 --> 00:29:40,466
NARRATOR:
Williams passes the test

636
00:29:40,466 --> 00:29:42,000
and becomes one of the first

637
00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:45,266
Black ordnance sergeants
in 1886.

638
00:29:45,266 --> 00:29:48,133
He then transfers
to the 25th Infantry

639
00:29:48,133 --> 00:29:49,833
to take charge of the ordnance

640
00:29:49,833 --> 00:29:52,633
at Fort Buford in
the Dakota Territory.

641
00:29:52,633 --> 00:29:54,766
It was a remarkable
achievement for a man

642
00:29:54,766 --> 00:29:59,100
who could not read or write
when he joined the Army.

643
00:29:59,100 --> 00:30:00,566
♪ ♪

644
00:30:00,566 --> 00:30:03,300
Three years later, in 1889,

645
00:30:03,300 --> 00:30:06,000
Charles Young
graduates from West Point.

646
00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:08,866
The racial barriers
that he had overcome as a cadet

647
00:30:08,866 --> 00:30:11,200
would shape
the rest of his career.

648
00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:15,400
SHELLUM: The Army was
preoccupied with minimizing

649
00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:19,566
Young's contact with
White troops and White officers.

650
00:30:19,566 --> 00:30:22,400
 
This meant that when
he graduated from West Point,

651
00:30:22,400 --> 00:30:24,200
the Army had one choice:

652
00:30:24,200 --> 00:30:27,366
assign Charles Young to one of
the four Black regiments.

653
00:30:27,366 --> 00:30:29,300
NARRATOR:
Lieutenant Young is assigned

654
00:30:29,300 --> 00:30:32,166
to the 9th Cavalry,
Moses Williams' old unit,

655
00:30:32,166 --> 00:30:34,966
and posted to
Fort Robinson, Nebraska.

656
00:30:34,966 --> 00:30:37,200
SHELLUM: The mission
of the Army had changed

657
00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:39,000
on the Western frontier.

658
00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:42,000
NARRATOR: America's campaign
to usurp Indigenous lands

659
00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:43,633
was almost finished.

660
00:30:43,633 --> 00:30:46,600
Indigenous peoples had
been forced onto reservations,

661
00:30:46,600 --> 00:30:50,166
like the Sioux reservation
north of Fort Robinson,

662
00:30:50,166 --> 00:30:51,966
and the U.S. Army was tasked

663
00:30:51,966 --> 00:30:55,133
with making sure they
didn't leave.

664
00:30:55,133 --> 00:30:58,466
SHELLUM: And these larger posts
like Fort Robinson

665
00:30:58,466 --> 00:31:01,533
were connected by railroad,
by telegraph.

666
00:31:01,533 --> 00:31:04,366
The posts just weren't
isolated like they had been

667
00:31:04,366 --> 00:31:08,066
in the,
in the former frontier time.

668
00:31:08,066 --> 00:31:09,900
NARRATOR: But it was
a lonely life for Young

669
00:31:09,900 --> 00:31:13,066
as a Black officer.
SHELLUM: As an example,

670
00:31:13,066 --> 00:31:16,433
say there was a mandatory
function at the officers' club.

671
00:31:16,433 --> 00:31:18,500
Charles Young would show up,

672
00:31:18,500 --> 00:31:21,466
stay for what he felt was
an appropriate time,

673
00:31:21,466 --> 00:31:24,500
and excuse himself.

674
00:31:24,500 --> 00:31:26,400
He had to stay on his side
of the color line.

675
00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:29,500
JOHNSON: Corporals or privates
that were well beneath his rank

676
00:31:29,500 --> 00:31:31,100
would not necessarily salute him

677
00:31:31,100 --> 00:31:35,166
because that meant
saluting him, a Colored man,

678
00:31:35,166 --> 00:31:36,633
and Euro Americans at that time

679
00:31:36,633 --> 00:31:39,700
did not show deference
to any African American.

680
00:31:39,700 --> 00:31:44,466
NARRATOR: In 1894, the Army
reassigns Lieutenant Young

681
00:31:44,466 --> 00:31:48,366
to Wilberforce University
in Ohio.

682
00:31:48,366 --> 00:31:49,933
SHELLUM:
His mission was to establish

683
00:31:49,933 --> 00:31:53,166
a military training program
for Black officers,

684
00:31:53,166 --> 00:31:55,933
the first one in the country,
at Wilberforce University.

685
00:31:55,933 --> 00:31:59,633
NARRATOR: Unlike his experience
of social isolation in the West,

686
00:31:59,633 --> 00:32:02,000
at Wilberforce,
Young quickly becomes accepted

687
00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:04,933
as part of a
vibrant Black intelligentsia.

688
00:32:04,933 --> 00:32:08,766
SHELLUM: He developed
a friendship with W.E.B. DuBois,

689
00:32:08,766 --> 00:32:11,433
who was assigned as a professor

690
00:32:11,433 --> 00:32:13,766
at Wilberforce University
at the time.

691
00:32:13,766 --> 00:32:17,133
DuBois' biographer
calls it the first genuine

692
00:32:17,133 --> 00:32:21,800
male friendship that DuBois
ever had in his life.

693
00:32:21,800 --> 00:32:24,933
NARRATOR: Young is also reunited
with his mother, Arminta.

694
00:32:24,933 --> 00:32:27,133
He purchases a house
for his family

695
00:32:27,133 --> 00:32:28,933
that he calls Youngsholm,

696
00:32:28,933 --> 00:32:32,766
which would remain a refuge
for the rest of his life.

697
00:32:32,766 --> 00:32:37,433
In 1895,
Moses Williams' final posting

698
00:32:37,433 --> 00:32:39,533
is to Fort Stevens, Oregon,

699
00:32:39,533 --> 00:32:43,833
where the Columbia River
meets the Pacific Ocean.

700
00:32:43,833 --> 00:32:47,833
The old Civil War fort
is being modernized,

701
00:32:47,833 --> 00:32:51,333
and he is the only soldier
still stationed there.

702
00:32:51,333 --> 00:32:53,666
With no soldiers to command,

703
00:32:53,666 --> 00:32:55,466
Williams has one
last battle to fight:

704
00:32:55,466 --> 00:32:59,000
the battle for recognition.

705
00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:02,433
During the summer of 1896,
he receives news

706
00:33:02,433 --> 00:33:05,400
that galvanizes him into action.

707
00:33:05,400 --> 00:33:07,133
SHINE:
Through his correspondence,

708
00:33:07,133 --> 00:33:11,866
he learns that at least one
of his former fellow soldiers

709
00:33:11,866 --> 00:33:15,233
has received the Medal of Honor,

710
00:33:15,233 --> 00:33:19,000
and he realizes, well,
he was in the very same action.

711
00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:21,233
 
NARRATOR:
Private Augustus Walley

712
00:33:21,233 --> 00:33:24,100
and Lieutenant George Burnett
had both been decorated

713
00:33:24,100 --> 00:33:26,433
with the nation's
highest military award

714
00:33:26,433 --> 00:33:28,133
for their bravery during

715
00:33:28,133 --> 00:33:30,233
the Battle of the
Cuchillo Negro Mountains.

716
00:33:30,233 --> 00:33:31,700
SHINE: At the time,

717
00:33:31,700 --> 00:33:33,800
the way that the
Medal of Honor process worked,

718
00:33:33,800 --> 00:33:36,033
a soldier could self-nominate,

719
00:33:36,033 --> 00:33:38,600
provided that they had
the support

720
00:33:38,600 --> 00:33:40,200
of their commanding officer.

721
00:33:40,200 --> 00:33:42,300
Moses Williams tracks down

722
00:33:42,300 --> 00:33:44,633
his commanding officer,

723
00:33:44,633 --> 00:33:47,700
who had since retired
and was living in Germany,

724
00:33:47,700 --> 00:33:50,500
who writes
a very descriptive letter.

725
00:33:50,500 --> 00:33:51,533
BURNETT (dramatized):
I recommend

726
00:33:51,533 --> 00:33:53,066
Sergeant Moses Williams

727
00:33:53,066 --> 00:33:56,633
for a Medal of Honor
for his coolness, bravery,

728
00:33:56,633 --> 00:33:58,533
and unflinching devotion to duty

729
00:33:58,533 --> 00:34:02,633
in standing by me
in an open exposed position

730
00:34:02,633 --> 00:34:04,966
under heavy fire,
thus enabling me

731
00:34:04,966 --> 00:34:10,466
to undoubtedly save the lives of
at least three of our men.

732
00:34:10,466 --> 00:34:13,300
NARRATOR:
On November 23rd, 1896,

733
00:34:13,300 --> 00:34:16,466
the War Department responded.

734
00:34:16,466 --> 00:34:18,033
MAN (dramatized):
I am instructed

735
00:34:18,033 --> 00:34:20,333
by the Assistant Secretary
of War to transmit to you

736
00:34:20,333 --> 00:34:21,966
the accompanying Medal of Honor,

737
00:34:21,966 --> 00:34:23,966
awarded to you by the
president of the United States

738
00:34:23,966 --> 00:34:28,066
for most distinguished gallantry
in action with hostile Indians

739
00:34:28,066 --> 00:34:31,100
in the foothills of
the Cuchillo Negro Mountains.

740
00:34:31,100 --> 00:34:35,033
NARRATOR: Moses Williams
retires in May 1898

741
00:34:35,033 --> 00:34:38,766
after 37 years
of military service.

742
00:34:38,766 --> 00:34:43,466
He moves to
Fort Vancouver in Washington.

743
00:34:43,466 --> 00:34:47,066
MILLNER: The unfortunate reality
for many Buffalo Soldiers

744
00:34:47,066 --> 00:34:50,833
was that in spite of the kind of
service that they provided,

745
00:34:50,833 --> 00:34:53,700
their fate after their
military service

746
00:34:53,700 --> 00:34:58,233
was generally disastrous.

747
00:34:58,233 --> 00:35:01,466
 
They did not receive
high pay in the military.

748
00:35:01,466 --> 00:35:05,800
They were not able to
take advantage of opportunities

749
00:35:05,800 --> 00:35:08,833
that might have been
available to them as civilians.

750
00:35:08,833 --> 00:35:10,366
So, as a consequence,

751
00:35:10,366 --> 00:35:13,633
once many of their
military careers were over,

752
00:35:13,633 --> 00:35:15,900
they were in
very desperate circumstances.

753
00:35:15,900 --> 00:35:18,733
That was the case for
Moses Williams.

754
00:35:18,733 --> 00:35:21,400
NARRATOR: Moses Williams dies
a year later,

755
00:35:21,400 --> 00:35:24,600
on August 23rd, 1899.

756
00:35:24,600 --> 00:35:26,933
He was buried with
his sharpshooter's badge

757
00:35:26,933 --> 00:35:30,666
at the Vancouver Barracks
Post Cemetery.

758
00:35:33,100 --> 00:35:38,000
♪ ♪

759
00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:42,033
When war breaks out with Spain
in April 1898,

760
00:35:42,033 --> 00:35:45,500
Charles Young is stationed
at Wilberforce University.

761
00:35:45,500 --> 00:35:50,133
SHELLUM: The War Department
wanted officers to stay

762
00:35:50,133 --> 00:35:51,800
at their posts
to train the force,

763
00:35:51,800 --> 00:35:53,133
in case it was a longer war.

764
00:35:53,133 --> 00:35:56,100
NARRATOR:
But the war is over by July.

765
00:35:56,100 --> 00:35:58,833
SHELLUM: So Young wasn't able
to rejoin the 9th Cavalry

766
00:35:58,833 --> 00:36:00,666
to take part in the actions
in Cuba.

767
00:36:00,666 --> 00:36:03,700
NARRATOR: He doesn't get
to witness the charge

768
00:36:03,700 --> 00:36:05,366
of the 10th Cavalry--

769
00:36:05,366 --> 00:36:07,800
followed by Teddy Roosevelt
and the Rough Riders--

770
00:36:07,800 --> 00:36:10,666
on San Juan Hill.

771
00:36:10,666 --> 00:36:13,500
SHELLUM:
During the Spanish-American War,

772
00:36:13,500 --> 00:36:16,300
the United States invaded
the Philippine islands.

773
00:36:16,300 --> 00:36:19,466
We took Puerto Rico,
we took Cuba, we took Guam.

774
00:36:19,466 --> 00:36:22,366
SHELLUM: It was a time
when the president,

775
00:36:22,366 --> 00:36:23,966
the politicians thought,

776
00:36:23,966 --> 00:36:26,400
"Well this is our chance
to establish an empire."

777
00:36:26,400 --> 00:36:29,266
And so that led to the next war
in the Philippine war.

778
00:36:29,266 --> 00:36:30,966
NARRATOR:
Philippine leader Aguinaldo

779
00:36:30,966 --> 00:36:34,566
and his revolutionaries
had fought alongside

780
00:36:34,566 --> 00:36:37,300
the United States against Spain.

781
00:36:37,300 --> 00:36:38,666
They now found themselves

782
00:36:38,666 --> 00:36:41,000
the possession of
a new colonial master.

783
00:36:41,000 --> 00:36:42,766
SHELLUM:
The Filipinos were not happy.

784
00:36:42,766 --> 00:36:47,566
They wanted their own freedom
and they wanted independence.

785
00:36:47,566 --> 00:36:49,800
SHINE: And so you see that war
quickly turning to

786
00:36:49,800 --> 00:36:51,800
what's perceived by
the Filipinos

787
00:36:51,800 --> 00:36:53,600
as a war against
the United States.

788
00:36:53,600 --> 00:36:56,666
♪ ♪

789
00:36:56,666 --> 00:36:58,166
NARRATOR:
African Americans were divided

790
00:36:58,166 --> 00:37:00,033
in response to
the U.S. war in the Philippines.

791
00:37:00,033 --> 00:37:02,433
Ida B. Wells argued that...

792
00:37:02,433 --> 00:37:04,600
WELLS (dramatized):
Negroes should oppose expansion

793
00:37:04,600 --> 00:37:08,766
until the government is able to
protect Negroes at home.

794
00:37:08,766 --> 00:37:10,566
NARRATOR:
Booker T. Washington agreed.

795
00:37:10,566 --> 00:37:12,833
WASHINGTON (dramatized):
The Philippine islands should be

796
00:37:12,833 --> 00:37:14,666
given a chance
to govern themselves.

797
00:37:14,666 --> 00:37:17,466
Until our nation has settled
the Indian and Negro problems,

798
00:37:17,466 --> 00:37:21,566
I do not think we have the right
to assume more social problems.

799
00:37:21,566 --> 00:37:24,100
NARRATOR: But an editorial
in a Black-owned newspaper,

800
00:37:24,100 --> 00:37:27,000
the Indianapolis "Freeman,"
supported the war.

801
00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:28,533
MAN (dramatized):
The Negroes must be taught

802
00:37:28,533 --> 00:37:30,633
that the enemy of
the country is a common enemy,

803
00:37:30,633 --> 00:37:34,533
and that the color of the face
has nothing to do with it.

804
00:37:34,533 --> 00:37:37,400
NARRATOR: The debate among
African Americans in the U.S.

805
00:37:37,400 --> 00:37:41,366
carried over to Black soldiers
on the battlefield.

806
00:37:41,366 --> 00:37:44,400
Filipino insurgents
distributed pamphlets

807
00:37:44,400 --> 00:37:46,733
addressed to
"the Colored American soldier"

808
00:37:46,733 --> 00:37:48,533
encouraging them to desert--

809
00:37:48,533 --> 00:37:50,600
and a small number defected.

810
00:37:50,600 --> 00:37:53,866
POWELL: Soldiers like David
Fagan decided enough was enough,

811
00:37:53,866 --> 00:37:58,633
deserted, and they fought
alongside Filipinos

812
00:37:58,633 --> 00:38:01,566
against their brethren.

813
00:38:01,566 --> 00:38:05,266
Now they lost the war
and they lost their lives.

814
00:38:05,266 --> 00:38:10,900
 
But they did something that is
purely an American principle:

815
00:38:10,900 --> 00:38:14,433
liberty and freedom.

816
00:38:14,433 --> 00:38:16,666
That's why they deserted.

817
00:38:16,666 --> 00:38:20,100
And I think that is
misunderstood by a lot of people

818
00:38:20,100 --> 00:38:24,200
because they, as Black men,

819
00:38:24,200 --> 00:38:26,766
knew how America
treated them at home.

820
00:38:26,766 --> 00:38:34,166
♪ ♪

821
00:38:34,166 --> 00:38:36,833
NARRATOR: Charles Young and
I Company of the 9th Cavalry

822
00:38:36,833 --> 00:38:39,633
arrive in the Philippines
on May 16th, 1901.

823
00:38:39,633 --> 00:38:42,533
Newly promoted to captain,

824
00:38:42,533 --> 00:38:44,766
Young's first mission is
to lead the Buffalo Soldiers

825
00:38:44,766 --> 00:38:47,300
up the Gandara River

826
00:38:47,300 --> 00:38:50,433
to pacify a village
called Blanca Aurora.

827
00:38:50,433 --> 00:38:52,766
SHELLUM:
Young set off with I Troop.

828
00:38:52,766 --> 00:38:54,266
They were in three flatboats

829
00:38:54,266 --> 00:38:56,766
being pulled by
an armed gunboat.

830
00:38:56,766 --> 00:38:59,866
NARRATOR:
One of Captain Young's officers,

831
00:38:59,866 --> 00:39:01,366
Sergeant H.W. Nicholas,

832
00:39:01,366 --> 00:39:04,066
described the mission
in a letter.

833
00:39:04,066 --> 00:39:05,533
NICHOLAS (dramatized):
We were about 12 days

834
00:39:05,533 --> 00:39:08,500
going the 18 miles,
off and on the boats,

835
00:39:08,500 --> 00:39:12,800
fighting our way up the stream
on both sides of the river.

836
00:39:12,800 --> 00:39:15,600
They would fight off one ambush,
get back on the boats.

837
00:39:15,600 --> 00:39:19,233
Tide would go in and out,
and they'd be left high and dry

838
00:39:19,233 --> 00:39:22,466
because the Gandara River
was a tidal river.

839
00:39:22,466 --> 00:39:24,833
NARRATOR:
Drawing close to Blanca Aurora,

840
00:39:24,833 --> 00:39:28,200
Sergeant Nicholas is stranded
on a reef with the supply boats.

841
00:39:28,200 --> 00:39:29,866
NICHOLAS (dramatized):
The insurgents,

842
00:39:29,866 --> 00:39:32,633
seeing my unfortunate position,
began to pour fire at us.

843
00:39:32,633 --> 00:39:34,233
(guns firing)

844
00:39:34,233 --> 00:39:36,433
I had only six men with rifles.

845
00:39:36,433 --> 00:39:40,466
We fought back with
all the courage we had in us.

846
00:39:40,466 --> 00:39:42,666
NARRATOR: Captain Young
had the main body of his force

847
00:39:42,666 --> 00:39:48,333
divided on each side of the
river, fighting his way forward.

848
00:39:48,333 --> 00:39:51,400
NICHOLAS (dramatized):
Upon hearing my volley firing,

849
00:39:51,400 --> 00:39:53,900
he knew that I had
been attacked from the rear.

850
00:39:53,900 --> 00:39:56,033
He rushed back to my
aid and rescue,

851
00:39:56,033 --> 00:39:59,200
drove off the attackers,

852
00:39:59,200 --> 00:40:01,433
and, after the tide came in,

853
00:40:01,433 --> 00:40:05,900
we advanced cautiously along,
arriving at Blanca Aurora.

854
00:40:07,500 --> 00:40:10,633
NARRATOR: Previous missions
to Blanca Aurora had failed,

855
00:40:10,633 --> 00:40:12,200
and many U.S. commanders

856
00:40:12,200 --> 00:40:14,700
resorted to scorched-earth
tactics in their fight

857
00:40:14,700 --> 00:40:16,600
against the Filipino guerrillas.

858
00:40:16,600 --> 00:40:19,200
Charles Young understood
guerrilla warfare.

859
00:40:19,200 --> 00:40:21,200
He pacified the village
peacefully.

860
00:40:21,200 --> 00:40:23,966
He gave them
security and supplies,

861
00:40:23,966 --> 00:40:26,200
kind of separated them
from the insurgents.

862
00:40:26,200 --> 00:40:28,966
NARRATOR: Young's deft touch
was so successful

863
00:40:28,966 --> 00:40:31,233
that his commanding officer
promised I Company

864
00:40:31,233 --> 00:40:33,733
a plum assignment after the war.

865
00:40:33,733 --> 00:40:36,666
SHELLUM: So they got duty in the
beautiful city of San Francisco

866
00:40:36,666 --> 00:40:39,033
as a reward for their good
service in the Philippines.

867
00:40:39,033 --> 00:40:41,533
NARRATOR:
Charles Young and I Company

868
00:40:41,533 --> 00:40:44,166
serve for another year
in the Philippines

869
00:40:44,166 --> 00:40:46,833
and fight in the decisive
Batangas campaign

870
00:40:46,833 --> 00:40:48,400
against General Malvar.

871
00:40:48,400 --> 00:40:51,900
The Filipinos will not achieve
their independence

872
00:40:51,900 --> 00:40:55,100
for another 44 years.

873
00:40:57,066 --> 00:41:01,233
In 1903, shortly after
Charles Young and I Company

874
00:41:01,233 --> 00:41:03,066
returned to the United States,

875
00:41:03,066 --> 00:41:05,566
President Roosevelt
visited San Francisco.

876
00:41:05,566 --> 00:41:07,133
SHELLUM: San Francisco
planned a big parade

877
00:41:07,133 --> 00:41:08,900
down Market Street,

878
00:41:08,900 --> 00:41:16,100
and Young was selected to lead
two troops of the 9th Cavalry

879
00:41:16,100 --> 00:41:17,700
as the honor guard for
the president.

880
00:41:17,700 --> 00:41:19,733
NARRATOR: It was the first time
that Black troops

881
00:41:19,733 --> 00:41:23,666
had been included in
a presidential honor guard.

882
00:41:23,666 --> 00:41:25,533
SHELLUM: There were
some troopers in the 9th Cavalry

883
00:41:25,533 --> 00:41:28,233
at the time who had
charged up San Juan Hill

884
00:41:28,233 --> 00:41:33,066
with Teddy Roosevelt,
so he knew them well.

885
00:41:33,066 --> 00:41:36,166
NARRATOR:
After Roosevelt's visit,

886
00:41:36,166 --> 00:41:38,866
Young and two companies
of the 9th Cavalry

887
00:41:38,866 --> 00:41:41,100
are dispatched
to Sequoia National Park.

888
00:41:41,100 --> 00:41:42,733
POWELL:
Charles Young was the first

889
00:41:42,733 --> 00:41:46,466
African American superintendent
of a national park,

890
00:41:46,466 --> 00:41:48,866
and that was
Sequoia National Park.

891
00:41:48,866 --> 00:41:52,466
NARRATOR: Sequoia had
only been established in 1890.

892
00:41:52,466 --> 00:41:55,133
In the fledgling days
of the National Park System,

893
00:41:55,133 --> 00:41:58,066
U.S. Army troops
served as park rangers.

894
00:41:58,066 --> 00:41:59,300
POWELL: They would send troops

895
00:41:59,300 --> 00:42:01,366
to the various national parks

896
00:42:01,366 --> 00:42:04,933
to make sure
that people didn't homestead

897
00:42:04,933 --> 00:42:07,800
or people were not poaching.

898
00:42:07,800 --> 00:42:10,500
JOHNSON: Charles Young
has many accomplishments.

899
00:42:10,500 --> 00:42:12,766
Building the first road
to the top of Mount Whitney,

900
00:42:12,766 --> 00:42:14,700
the highest mountain in
the United States,

901
00:42:14,700 --> 00:42:16,366
that's incredibly significant.

902
00:42:16,366 --> 00:42:19,766
But under his supervision,
the first usable wagon road

903
00:42:19,766 --> 00:42:22,300
 
into Sequoia's Giant Forest
was completed,

904
00:42:22,300 --> 00:42:25,366
and more work was done in
the summer of 1903

905
00:42:25,366 --> 00:42:29,066
than all the other
preceding years combined.

906
00:42:29,066 --> 00:42:31,766
NARRATOR:
During that summer in Sequoia,

907
00:42:31,766 --> 00:42:34,366
Young begins courting Ada Mills,

908
00:42:34,366 --> 00:42:38,400
whom he soon marries
in a small, private ceremony.

909
00:42:38,400 --> 00:42:40,233
♪ ♪

910
00:42:40,233 --> 00:42:42,933
SHELLUM:
Ada Young brought some stability

911
00:42:42,933 --> 00:42:44,566
to the life of a bachelor.

912
00:42:44,566 --> 00:42:47,833
Young was 40 years old
at the time, she was 24,

913
00:42:47,833 --> 00:42:49,600
but she was well educated.

914
00:42:49,600 --> 00:42:52,100
She was a good match for
Charles Young.

915
00:42:52,100 --> 00:42:54,600
NARRATOR:
Officers like Captain Young

916
00:42:54,600 --> 00:42:57,533
had long been allowed to
bring their wives to postings.

917
00:42:57,533 --> 00:42:59,533
Starting in
the late 19th century,

918
00:42:59,533 --> 00:43:02,133
enlisted men could
bring their families, too.

919
00:43:02,133 --> 00:43:03,766
TAYLOR:
And so there now are communities

920
00:43:03,766 --> 00:43:08,266
that develop around
these Buffalo Soldier outposts.

921
00:43:08,266 --> 00:43:10,766
NARRATOR:
The Buffalo Soldiers were often

922
00:43:10,766 --> 00:43:12,033
some of the first Black people

923
00:43:12,033 --> 00:43:14,000
in predominantly
White settlements.

924
00:43:14,000 --> 00:43:16,400
This created the opportunity

925
00:43:16,400 --> 00:43:18,833
for connection
across communities.

926
00:43:18,833 --> 00:43:23,233
As Charles Young argued in
an impassioned speech in 1903...

927
00:43:23,233 --> 00:43:24,666
CHARLES YOUNG (dramatized):
We are part and parcel

928
00:43:24,666 --> 00:43:27,566
of the body politic of the
United States.

929
00:43:27,566 --> 00:43:30,700
All we ask is a White
man's chance.

930
00:43:30,700 --> 00:43:33,333
Will you give it?

931
00:43:33,333 --> 00:43:36,400
NARRATOR: Perhaps
the most notorious incident

932
00:43:36,400 --> 00:43:39,533
of racial injustice
involving the Buffalo Soldiers

933
00:43:39,533 --> 00:43:42,366
occurred in the summer of 1906,

934
00:43:42,366 --> 00:43:45,000
when the First Battalion
of the 25th Infantry

935
00:43:45,000 --> 00:43:47,466
transferred to
Brownsville, Texas.

936
00:43:47,466 --> 00:43:49,533
On the night of August 13th,

937
00:43:49,533 --> 00:43:52,933
shots rang out and
a White bartender was killed.

938
00:43:52,933 --> 00:43:56,233
Locals claim that they witnessed
Black soldiers firing weapons.

939
00:43:56,233 --> 00:43:57,700
White officers attested

940
00:43:57,700 --> 00:43:59,733
that the soldiers had been
in the barracks

941
00:43:59,733 --> 00:44:01,633
and none of their weapons
had been fired.

942
00:44:01,633 --> 00:44:03,066
TAYLOR:
But because they were Black,

943
00:44:03,066 --> 00:44:04,833
they were all going to pay.

944
00:44:04,833 --> 00:44:08,300
POWELL:
167 African American soldiers

945
00:44:08,300 --> 00:44:10,933
were discharged without honor

946
00:44:10,933 --> 00:44:13,700
for a crime that they didn't do.

947
00:44:13,700 --> 00:44:15,400
QUINTARD:
Many of those soldiers

948
00:44:15,400 --> 00:44:18,066
had served with distinction
for 20 years.

949
00:44:18,066 --> 00:44:19,366
NARRATOR:
One of those soldiers

950
00:44:19,366 --> 00:44:21,333
was First Sergeant
Mingo Sanders,

951
00:44:21,333 --> 00:44:23,933
who was partially blinded
during his service in Cuba,

952
00:44:23,933 --> 00:44:26,466
and whose commanding officer
called Sanders

953
00:44:26,466 --> 00:44:31,200
"the best non-commissioned
officer I have ever known."

954
00:44:31,200 --> 00:44:32,766
POWELL:
It was Theodore Roosevelt

955
00:44:32,766 --> 00:44:36,366
who ordered this
25th Infantry discharged

956
00:44:36,366 --> 00:44:37,766
after the Brownsville affair.

957
00:44:37,766 --> 00:44:39,533
NARRATOR:
The African American community,

958
00:44:39,533 --> 00:44:42,266
which had supported
Republicans since the Civil War,

959
00:44:42,266 --> 00:44:46,066
was outraged,
but Roosevelt refused to budge.

960
00:44:46,066 --> 00:44:48,266
POWELL:
All of the evidence showed

961
00:44:48,266 --> 00:44:50,300
that these men were innocent,

962
00:44:50,300 --> 00:44:53,366
but because
Roosevelt wanted to make sure

963
00:44:53,366 --> 00:44:59,100
that his Southern, you know,
constituency was okay,

964
00:44:59,100 --> 00:45:00,466
that's what he did to those men.

965
00:45:00,466 --> 00:45:02,533
NARRATOR: Charles Young faced

966
00:45:02,533 --> 00:45:04,566
a more subtle form of
discrimination

967
00:45:04,566 --> 00:45:06,966
as a Black officer
in a White officer corps.

968
00:45:06,966 --> 00:45:11,166
SHELLUM: The Army was
preoccupied with keeping Young

969
00:45:11,166 --> 00:45:12,933
in what they felt were

970
00:45:12,933 --> 00:45:15,933
appropriate assignments
for a Black officer.

971
00:45:15,933 --> 00:45:20,866
As Charles Young rose in rank
to captain, major,

972
00:45:20,866 --> 00:45:23,600
this became
an increasing problem.

973
00:45:23,600 --> 00:45:26,700
NARRATOR: In 1904,
the Army solved this problem

974
00:45:26,700 --> 00:45:29,833
by assigning Captain Young
as military attaché

975
00:45:29,833 --> 00:45:32,300
to Haiti and the
Dominican Republic.

976
00:45:32,300 --> 00:45:34,266
He served for three years,

977
00:45:34,266 --> 00:45:36,566
gathering intelligence
to help the U.S. plan

978
00:45:36,566 --> 00:45:39,566
for a possible military
intervention on the island.

979
00:45:39,566 --> 00:45:43,033
By 1912,
the Army had assigned Young

980
00:45:43,033 --> 00:45:45,666
as military attaché to Liberia,

981
00:45:45,666 --> 00:45:48,866
a West African country
founded in 1822

982
00:45:48,866 --> 00:45:52,466
by free and formerly enslaved
Black Americans.

983
00:45:52,466 --> 00:45:54,766
The descendants
of these founders

984
00:45:54,766 --> 00:45:57,400
called themselves
Americo-Liberians,

985
00:45:57,400 --> 00:46:01,366
and ruled over
a large Indigenous population.

986
00:46:01,366 --> 00:46:03,433
SHELLUM:
Can you imagine, in 1912,

987
00:46:03,433 --> 00:46:08,333
you're a Black man
and you're going back to Africa,

988
00:46:08,333 --> 00:46:10,233
and he finds
this upside-down world

989
00:46:10,233 --> 00:46:13,500
where former African Americans
have gone

990
00:46:13,500 --> 00:46:16,133
and they've kind of
reproduced plantations,

991
00:46:16,133 --> 00:46:19,966
and they're treating their own
Indigenous people terribly--

992
00:46:19,966 --> 00:46:22,866
as slaves, practically.

993
00:46:22,866 --> 00:46:24,333
NARRATOR:
Young's mission was to train

994
00:46:24,333 --> 00:46:25,933
the Liberian Frontier Force,

995
00:46:25,933 --> 00:46:28,633
which was drawn
from the Indigenous people.

996
00:46:28,633 --> 00:46:32,633
He was assisted by three other
Black U.S. Army officers.

997
00:46:32,633 --> 00:46:34,566
SHELLUM: At first,
he was all behind the mission.

998
00:46:34,566 --> 00:46:36,633
But over the three years
he was there,

999
00:46:36,633 --> 00:46:40,933
he began to doubt the motives
of the Americo-Liberians

1000
00:46:40,933 --> 00:46:44,100
who were trying to
suppress the Indigenous people.

1001
00:46:44,100 --> 00:46:45,666
NARRATOR: Liberia in 1912

1002
00:46:45,666 --> 00:46:47,666
was a dangerous place
for Westerners.

1003
00:46:47,666 --> 00:46:49,733
SHELLUM: Bad food, bad water.

1004
00:46:49,733 --> 00:46:52,633
There was one U.S.-trained
doctor in the whole country.

1005
00:46:52,633 --> 00:46:54,300
NARRATOR:
Young had brought his wife, Ada,

1006
00:46:54,300 --> 00:46:56,500
and their two young children
to the post,

1007
00:46:56,500 --> 00:46:58,233
but they had to be evacuated

1008
00:46:58,233 --> 00:47:00,866
due to the lack of safe water
and food.

1009
00:47:00,866 --> 00:47:05,533
Young develops blackwater fever,
a malignant form of malaria,

1010
00:47:05,533 --> 00:47:10,700
which will come back
to haunt him later in life.

1011
00:47:10,700 --> 00:47:16,733
In 1916, Charles Young
and the Buffalo Soldiers

1012
00:47:16,733 --> 00:47:21,700
fight in the last great
cavalry campaign in the West.

1013
00:47:21,700 --> 00:47:23,433
MILLNER:
Pancho Villa was a warlord

1014
00:47:23,433 --> 00:47:26,066
in Northern Mexico
at the turn of the 20th century.

1015
00:47:26,066 --> 00:47:28,733
And our relationship
with our southern neighbor

1016
00:47:28,733 --> 00:47:30,400
was probably
even more tumultuous

1017
00:47:30,400 --> 00:47:32,866
than the one we're experiencing

1018
00:47:32,866 --> 00:47:34,266
in this generation.

1019
00:47:34,266 --> 00:47:37,700
NARRATOR: Villa's bandits
raided Columbus, New Mexico,

1020
00:47:37,700 --> 00:47:41,133
and shot up the town,
killing 18 Americans.

1021
00:47:41,133 --> 00:47:45,000
SHELLUM: And the United States
was not happy about that.

1022
00:47:45,000 --> 00:47:47,133
MILLNER:
And so they sent an expedition

1023
00:47:47,133 --> 00:47:49,966
that at its height
reached 10,000 American soldiers

1024
00:47:49,966 --> 00:47:52,866
into Northern Mexico.

1025
00:47:52,866 --> 00:47:55,433
NARRATOR: Charles Young
had been promoted to major

1026
00:47:55,433 --> 00:47:57,033
while stationed in Liberia.

1027
00:47:57,033 --> 00:48:01,833
The Army transfers Major Young
to the 10th Cavalry

1028
00:48:01,833 --> 00:48:03,333
to serve under
General Jack Pershing

1029
00:48:03,333 --> 00:48:06,000
in the Punitive Expedition.

1030
00:48:06,000 --> 00:48:08,166
Early in the expedition,

1031
00:48:08,166 --> 00:48:10,333
on April 1st, 1916,

1032
00:48:10,333 --> 00:48:12,300
Major Young and the 10th Cavalry

1033
00:48:12,300 --> 00:48:14,000
surprise a group of
150 Villistas

1034
00:48:14,000 --> 00:48:18,433
near the outskirts
of Agua Caliente.

1035
00:48:18,433 --> 00:48:20,600
SHELLUM:
Young had three cavalry troops

1036
00:48:20,600 --> 00:48:21,966
and a machine gun troop.

1037
00:48:21,966 --> 00:48:23,466
NARRATOR:
The troopers of the 10th Cavalry

1038
00:48:23,466 --> 00:48:25,033
dismount and attack,

1039
00:48:25,033 --> 00:48:29,200
forcing the Villistas
to retreat behind a ridge.

1040
00:48:29,200 --> 00:48:32,633
SHELLUM: So Young used
the machine gun troop

1041
00:48:32,633 --> 00:48:35,566
as covering fire
to pin down the enemy force,

1042
00:48:35,566 --> 00:48:38,233
and he just overwhelmed them.

1043
00:48:38,233 --> 00:48:43,633
NARRATOR: Under covering fire
from the machine gun troop,

1044
00:48:43,633 --> 00:48:45,866
Young directs
a flanking maneuver,

1045
00:48:45,866 --> 00:48:49,833
forcing the Villistas
to retreat in disorder.

1046
00:48:49,833 --> 00:48:52,133
Young then leads
a pursuit of the Villistas

1047
00:48:52,133 --> 00:48:53,700
in a running battle

1048
00:48:53,700 --> 00:48:57,533
until his men and horses
are overcome by exhaustion.

1049
00:48:57,533 --> 00:49:02,833
♪ ♪

1050
00:49:02,833 --> 00:49:04,766
It's the first time that
I know of

1051
00:49:04,766 --> 00:49:09,066
that Americans used
machine guns in covering fire,

1052
00:49:09,066 --> 00:49:12,366
 
and it caught the eye of
General Pershing.

1053
00:49:12,366 --> 00:49:14,466
(cannon blast)

1054
00:49:14,466 --> 00:49:16,133
The Punitive Expedition saw

1055
00:49:16,133 --> 00:49:18,866
the advent of a lot of
what we know as

1056
00:49:18,866 --> 00:49:21,100
modern warfare
beyond machine guns.

1057
00:49:21,100 --> 00:49:26,100
It was the first use of trucks
for transporting supplies.

1058
00:49:26,100 --> 00:49:29,000
It was also the first use
of aircraft

1059
00:49:29,000 --> 00:49:32,566
used as reconnaissance and to
carry messages back and forth.

1060
00:49:32,566 --> 00:49:36,766
So it kind of signaled
the end of cavalry

1061
00:49:36,766 --> 00:49:41,366
and a new era
of mechanized modern warfare.

1062
00:49:41,366 --> 00:49:44,966
NARRATOR: Despite a spirited
campaign-- at one point,

1063
00:49:44,966 --> 00:49:47,200
the 10th Cavalry
even disguised themselves

1064
00:49:47,200 --> 00:49:49,300
as Mexican bandits--

1065
00:49:49,300 --> 00:49:51,333
after nearly a year in Mexico,

1066
00:49:51,333 --> 00:49:53,600
the U.S. Army gives up
the chase.

1067
00:49:53,600 --> 00:49:58,366
They never found Pancho Villa.

1068
00:49:58,366 --> 00:50:01,966
But Major Young receives high
praise from General Pershing.

1069
00:50:01,966 --> 00:50:04,200
Young is promoted
to lieutenant colonel,

1070
00:50:04,200 --> 00:50:07,000
and Pershing puts Young
on his list of officers

1071
00:50:07,000 --> 00:50:09,966
to command future brigades
during World War I.

1072
00:50:09,966 --> 00:50:12,033
SHELLUM: He was one of the best
cavalry officers

1073
00:50:12,033 --> 00:50:13,733
in the Army at the time.

1074
00:50:13,733 --> 00:50:18,233
Charles Young was slated
to become a brigadier general.

1075
00:50:18,233 --> 00:50:21,866
They couldn't have him
in command of a division.

1076
00:50:21,866 --> 00:50:24,700
SHELLUM: If he was used
in Europe the way he wanted to,

1077
00:50:24,700 --> 00:50:26,733
he would have been
commanding Black troops,

1078
00:50:26,733 --> 00:50:30,100
but led by White officers.

1079
00:50:30,100 --> 00:50:33,566
White lieutenant colonels,
White majors,

1080
00:50:33,566 --> 00:50:36,166
White captains,
White lieutenants.

1081
00:50:36,166 --> 00:50:39,533
And at the time, that was a
problem for the War Department.

1082
00:50:39,533 --> 00:50:41,066
NARRATOR:
A medical examination board

1083
00:50:41,066 --> 00:50:43,166
found that Young had
a range of health problems

1084
00:50:43,166 --> 00:50:45,500
related to his long service
in the Army.

1085
00:50:45,500 --> 00:50:47,300
SHELLUM:
He was about 52 years old.

1086
00:50:47,300 --> 00:50:50,633
He'd spent a lifetime as
a cavalry officer in the saddle,

1087
00:50:50,633 --> 00:50:52,566
and he had blood in his urine.

1088
00:50:52,566 --> 00:50:54,600
He'd had blackwater fever,

1089
00:50:54,600 --> 00:50:57,966
and that was
working on his kidneys.

1090
00:50:57,966 --> 00:50:59,766
NARRATOR:
But due to Young's abilities

1091
00:50:59,766 --> 00:51:01,900
and the Army's need
for the coming war in Europe,

1092
00:51:01,900 --> 00:51:03,500
another promotion board
recommends

1093
00:51:03,500 --> 00:51:06,033
that the medical problems
be waived.

1094
00:51:06,033 --> 00:51:08,466
SHELLUM: That recommendation
went forward to Washington,

1095
00:51:08,466 --> 00:51:10,866
so then it became
a political decision.

1096
00:51:10,866 --> 00:51:12,333
MILLNER:
President Woodrow Wilson,

1097
00:51:12,333 --> 00:51:14,633
who was the first
Southern Democrat

1098
00:51:14,633 --> 00:51:17,533
elected to the White House
since the Civil War,

1099
00:51:17,533 --> 00:51:20,366
simply arranged it so that

1100
00:51:20,366 --> 00:51:22,400
Charles Young was retired

1101
00:51:22,400 --> 00:51:25,933
before he could assume that
kind of position of command.

1102
00:51:25,933 --> 00:51:29,900
Clearly, it was a, it was
a racially motivated decision,

1103
00:51:29,900 --> 00:51:33,533
politically motivated,
influenced by

1104
00:51:33,533 --> 00:51:38,033
the racism of President Wilson
and Secretary of War Baker.

1105
00:51:38,033 --> 00:51:40,400
NARRATOR:
Young makes one last attempt

1106
00:51:40,400 --> 00:51:42,333
to prove that he is fit
to serve.

1107
00:51:42,333 --> 00:51:45,333
SHELLUM: He saddled up
his favorite horse, Blacksmith,

1108
00:51:45,333 --> 00:51:48,800
and decided he was going to
prove his fitness

1109
00:51:48,800 --> 00:51:52,333
by riding from his home
in Wilberforce, Ohio,

1110
00:51:52,333 --> 00:51:55,833
to the steps of the War
Department in Washington, D.C.

1111
00:51:55,833 --> 00:51:59,566
NARRATOR: Young rides
nearly 500 miles over two weeks.

1112
00:51:59,566 --> 00:52:01,533
Despite wearing
his Army uniform,

1113
00:52:01,533 --> 00:52:03,166
he is sometimes refused service

1114
00:52:03,166 --> 00:52:06,166
at White-owned hotels
along the way.

1115
00:52:06,166 --> 00:52:08,966
By the time Young
arrives in Washington, D.C.,

1116
00:52:08,966 --> 00:52:12,066
his ride has been covered
extensively in the press,

1117
00:52:12,066 --> 00:52:14,466
putting pressure on
Secretary of War Baker

1118
00:52:14,466 --> 00:52:16,100
to reverse his decision.

1119
00:52:16,100 --> 00:52:18,766
SHELLUM: And Baker essentially
promised him a command

1120
00:52:18,766 --> 00:52:20,366
if he'd go away.

1121
00:52:20,366 --> 00:52:24,200
Young took him to his word,
and he went back to Ohio,

1122
00:52:24,200 --> 00:52:26,100
and Baker never carried through
with his promise.

1123
00:52:26,100 --> 00:52:30,866
NARRATOR: Young never got to
serve in World War I.

1124
00:52:30,866 --> 00:52:33,166
SHELLUM: To show
the hypocrisy of the U.S. Army,

1125
00:52:33,166 --> 00:52:36,166
they recalled him to
active duty after the war,

1126
00:52:36,166 --> 00:52:38,266
and asked him to
go back to Liberia.

1127
00:52:38,266 --> 00:52:41,833
NARRATOR: As Young's old friend
W.E.B. DuBois asked...

1128
00:52:41,833 --> 00:52:43,166
DUBOIS (dramatized): If
Charles Young's blood pressure

1129
00:52:43,166 --> 00:52:45,133
was too high for him
to go to France,

1130
00:52:45,133 --> 00:52:47,333
why was it not too
high for him to be sent

1131
00:52:47,333 --> 00:52:51,566
to even more arduous duty
in the swamps of West Africa?

1132
00:52:51,566 --> 00:52:53,333
Essentially,
they were sending Young

1133
00:52:53,333 --> 00:52:56,766
back to Liberia to die.

1134
00:52:56,766 --> 00:53:00,500
Young loved the Army so much,
he couldn't say no.

1135
00:53:00,500 --> 00:53:03,233
NARRATOR: Young was on a mission
to the interior of Nigeria

1136
00:53:03,233 --> 00:53:06,866
when he was struck again
by blackwater fever.

1137
00:53:06,866 --> 00:53:09,600
He showed up at a hospital
in Lagos, Nigeria,

1138
00:53:09,600 --> 00:53:11,500
in terrible shape,

1139
00:53:11,500 --> 00:53:15,700
and died on January 8th, 1922.

1140
00:53:15,700 --> 00:53:17,000
SHELLUM: Ada Young
wrote letter after letter

1141
00:53:17,000 --> 00:53:18,600
to the War Department saying

1142
00:53:18,600 --> 00:53:20,133
that she wanted
Charles Young's body

1143
00:53:20,133 --> 00:53:22,566
brought back to
the United States.

1144
00:53:22,566 --> 00:53:24,333
NARRATOR:
A year after his death,

1145
00:53:24,333 --> 00:53:27,700
Young's body was disinterred
and brought to Washington, D.C.

1146
00:53:27,700 --> 00:53:28,966
SHELLUM:
Black citizens lined the streets

1147
00:53:28,966 --> 00:53:31,366
to get one last look

1148
00:53:31,366 --> 00:53:34,666
at Charles Young's casket
as it rode by,

1149
00:53:34,666 --> 00:53:37,833
trailed by a cavalryman's horse

1150
00:53:37,833 --> 00:53:40,933
with boots in
the stirrups backward,

1151
00:53:40,933 --> 00:53:43,766
as is tradition
for a cavalry commander.

1152
00:53:43,766 --> 00:53:46,366
NARRATOR: Charles Young
was finally laid to rest

1153
00:53:46,366 --> 00:53:48,100
with full military honors

1154
00:53:48,100 --> 00:53:51,433
at Arlington National Cemetery.

1155
00:53:51,433 --> 00:53:55,233
Although never officially
called "Buffalo Soldiers,"

1156
00:53:55,233 --> 00:53:58,566
Black troops served bravely
in segregated regiments

1157
00:53:58,566 --> 00:54:01,900
in World War I and World War II.

1158
00:54:01,900 --> 00:54:04,500
The Army's policy
of racial segregation

1159
00:54:04,500 --> 00:54:07,100
finally ended in July 1948,

1160
00:54:07,100 --> 00:54:10,433
when President Harry S. Truman
signed an executive order

1161
00:54:10,433 --> 00:54:14,900
abolishing racial discrimination
in the U.S. Armed Forces,

1162
00:54:14,900 --> 00:54:16,833
but this did not
really go into effect

1163
00:54:16,833 --> 00:54:18,966
until after the Korean War.

1164
00:54:18,966 --> 00:54:21,900
Black and White soldiers
did not fight

1165
00:54:21,900 --> 00:54:25,133
in integrated units until
the Vietnam War.

1166
00:54:25,133 --> 00:54:28,300
And it wasn't until 1972
that Dorsie Willis,

1167
00:54:28,300 --> 00:54:31,300
the last surviving member
of the Brownsville affair,

1168
00:54:31,300 --> 00:54:36,766
was pardoned by President Nixon
and given $25,000 in back pay.

1169
00:54:36,766 --> 00:54:40,966
By then,
Willis was 87 years old.

1170
00:54:45,733 --> 00:54:47,700
(whinnying)

1171
00:54:47,700 --> 00:54:50,866
Hey! Settle down!

1172
00:54:50,866 --> 00:54:53,233
NARRATOR: The legacy
of the Buffalo Soldiers

1173
00:54:53,233 --> 00:54:55,966
is being kept alive
in Seattle, Washington,

1174
00:54:55,966 --> 00:54:57,666
and throughout the country.

1175
00:54:57,666 --> 00:55:00,033
HOWZE: My grandfather
was an original Buffalo Soldier.

1176
00:55:00,033 --> 00:55:03,133
My father was one
of the primary founders

1177
00:55:03,133 --> 00:55:05,533
of this organization,
Buffalo Soldiers of Seattle.

1178
00:55:05,533 --> 00:55:07,066
(reverse signal beeping)

1179
00:55:07,066 --> 00:55:09,366
So, on a level of pride,

1180
00:55:09,366 --> 00:55:11,200
it just allows me to

1181
00:55:11,200 --> 00:55:12,766
continuously share the legacy

1182
00:55:12,766 --> 00:55:14,966
that my family has developed

1183
00:55:14,966 --> 00:55:16,566
around not only

1184
00:55:16,566 --> 00:55:17,966
the Buffalo Soldiers of Seattle,

1185
00:55:17,966 --> 00:55:19,933
but also just
the Buffalo Soldiers in general.

1186
00:55:19,933 --> 00:55:23,066
This is P.J.

1187
00:55:23,066 --> 00:55:24,300
This is my
favorite horse right here.

1188
00:55:24,300 --> 00:55:25,666
(chuckles)

1189
00:55:25,666 --> 00:55:28,566
We have our marching drills,
our rifling drills.

1190
00:55:28,566 --> 00:55:30,533
We have an hour of reading,

1191
00:55:30,533 --> 00:55:33,566
so studying for
Buffalo Soldiers' history.

1192
00:55:33,566 --> 00:55:38,000
♪ ♪

1193
00:55:38,000 --> 00:55:41,166
They fought for us.

1194
00:55:41,166 --> 00:55:45,500
HOWZE: Today we're going to do
a couple events.

1195
00:55:45,500 --> 00:55:48,833
We'll be doing pony rides,
a living history display,

1196
00:55:48,833 --> 00:55:51,266
and then some mounted drills
also.

1197
00:55:51,266 --> 00:55:55,466
The kids that know me from being
an inner-urban individual,

1198
00:55:55,466 --> 00:55:57,333
and then they see me
in my cowboy gear,

1199
00:55:57,333 --> 00:55:58,600
they're just blown away.

1200
00:55:58,600 --> 00:56:02,033
Lotta times they don't even
recognize me.

1201
00:56:02,033 --> 00:56:03,900
One of the messages
that I share with youth

1202
00:56:03,900 --> 00:56:06,600
is that you have to figure out
and learn where you come from.

1203
00:56:06,600 --> 00:56:10,300
Once I figured out and realized
who my lineage was,

1204
00:56:10,300 --> 00:56:12,200
it helped me
to start to understand

1205
00:56:12,200 --> 00:56:15,700
how I need to present myself
and who I am as a man.

1206
00:56:15,700 --> 00:56:18,433
POWELL: The average American

1207
00:56:18,433 --> 00:56:21,200
doesn't know much about
the history

1208
00:56:21,200 --> 00:56:25,266
of the African American soldier
because they were left out.

1209
00:56:25,266 --> 00:56:28,500
♪ ♪

1210
00:56:28,500 --> 00:56:30,466
JOHNSON: Telling the story
of the Buffalo Soldiers

1211
00:56:30,466 --> 00:56:34,066
is a means of re-establishing
that which was already there.

1212
00:56:34,066 --> 00:56:36,300
It's making history ring true.

1213
00:56:36,300 --> 00:56:38,633
MILLNER:
When we tell the whole story,

1214
00:56:38,633 --> 00:56:41,433
we see the ways in which Blacks
in every generation,

1215
00:56:41,433 --> 00:56:43,400
in every period of
American history,

1216
00:56:43,400 --> 00:56:47,366
have been intimate and important
parts of American development.

1217
00:56:47,366 --> 00:56:50,033
SHELLUM: The Buffalo Soldiers
paid the price

1218
00:56:50,033 --> 00:56:53,566
for another generation of

1219
00:56:53,566 --> 00:56:55,900
Black enlisted men
and Black officers

1220
00:56:55,900 --> 00:56:59,200
to serve in World War I
and World War II.

1221
00:56:59,200 --> 00:57:01,533
We had the first
Black brigadier general

1222
00:57:01,533 --> 00:57:03,133
in Benjamin O. Davis, Sr.

1223
00:57:03,133 --> 00:57:06,466
We have a Black
secretary of defense today.

1224
00:57:06,466 --> 00:57:10,033
NARRATOR: In 1991, in Moses
Williams' final resting place

1225
00:57:10,033 --> 00:57:12,166
of Vancouver, Washington,

1226
00:57:12,166 --> 00:57:14,400
General Colin Powell
dedicated a monument to Williams

1227
00:57:14,400 --> 00:57:17,366
and three other
Medal of Honor recipients.

1228
00:57:17,366 --> 00:57:19,166
I have been fortunate in that

1229
00:57:19,166 --> 00:57:21,600
for the entire time
that I have been in the Army,

1230
00:57:21,600 --> 00:57:23,966
the Army has been committed
to equal opportunity,

1231
00:57:23,966 --> 00:57:27,933
and the very serious racial
barriers had been knocked down

1232
00:57:27,933 --> 00:57:30,633
by people who came along
before me.

1233
00:57:30,633 --> 00:57:32,166
JOHNSON: The Buffalo Soldiers
had the challenge

1234
00:57:32,166 --> 00:57:34,433
of always fighting
on two fronts:

1235
00:57:34,433 --> 00:57:35,833
fighting the enemy

1236
00:57:35,833 --> 00:57:37,366
that the commanding officers
said you're fighting,

1237
00:57:37,366 --> 00:57:39,033
and then fighting
the commanding officers,

1238
00:57:39,033 --> 00:57:40,633
who didn't think that they
were even worthy

1239
00:57:40,633 --> 00:57:41,966
of wearing the uniform.

1240
00:57:41,966 --> 00:57:43,433
TAYLOR:
They are very much part of

1241
00:57:43,433 --> 00:57:45,866
what we would now call
the struggle for rights.

1242
00:57:45,866 --> 00:57:47,566
Their very being,

1243
00:57:47,566 --> 00:57:50,700
and sometimes their challenging
of racial injustice,

1244
00:57:50,700 --> 00:57:55,066
is reflective of their being
part of that larger struggle.

1245
00:57:55,066 --> 00:57:58,033
NARRATOR: And that struggle
continues today.

1246
00:58:01,400 --> 00:58:04,666
♪ ♪

1247
00:58:04,666 --> 00:58:07,466
GEORDAN NEWBILL:
We say African American history,

1248
00:58:07,466 --> 00:58:10,400
but we gotta get out of that--
it's American history.

1249
00:58:10,400 --> 00:58:12,200
You know? It is.

1250
00:58:12,200 --> 00:58:13,866
(crowd cheering and applauding)

1251
00:58:13,866 --> 00:58:16,533
♪ ♪

1252
00:58:21,033 --> 00:58:23,466
MAN:
♪ Left, right, left, right ♪

1253
00:58:23,466 --> 00:58:25,466
♪ Left, right, left, right ♪

1254
00:58:25,466 --> 00:58:29,366
♪ Buffalo soldiers ♪
♪ Left, right, left, right ♪

1255
00:58:29,366 --> 00:58:32,500
♪ Buffalo soldiers ♪

1256
00:58:32,500 --> 00:58:36,766
♪ Left, right, left, right ♪
♪ Buffalo soldiers ♪

1257
00:58:36,766 --> 00:58:41,300
♪ Buffalo soldiers ♪
♪ Left, right, left, right ♪

1258
00:58:41,300 --> 00:58:45,966
♪ Buffalo soldiers ♪

1259
00:58:45,966 --> 00:58:49,233
♪ Right, left, right ♪
♪ Explorers and mountaineers ♪

1260
00:58:49,233 --> 00:58:53,533
♪ Have you been
praised for your bravery ♪

1261
00:58:53,533 --> 00:58:57,400
♪ As you gallantly
rode your steed? ♪

1262
00:58:57,400 --> 00:59:01,833
♪ Caravaning sanctuaries with
your bodies ♪

1263
00:59:01,833 --> 00:59:04,933
♪ There's no fear
from the fire within ♪

1264
00:59:04,933 --> 00:59:10,200
♪ Building trails with the rest
of us to follow ♪

1265
00:59:10,200 --> 00:59:14,366
♪ ♪