Celebrating Black History Month: Buffalo Soldiers, first all-black Army regiment

 The Buffalo Soldiers were the first all-black Army regiment established by US Congress in 1866.  During the Civil War, the government formed regiments known as the United States Colored Troops, but they were disbanded in 1865.  The Buffalo Soldiers first participated in wars against the Native Americans, escorting US mail, and bulding roads in the southwestern area and Great Plains regions.  

They participated in two of the largest range wars, battles in the American Old West fought between large cattle rangers against smaller ranchers and farmers who competed for land, water, and livestock. 

Buffalo Soldiers participated in WWI and WWII, but in 1948, President Truman desegrated the US army.  The Buffalo Soldiers were disbanded on December 12, 1951. 

Over its history, more than two dozen soldiers received the Medal of Honor for their service.

Buffalo Soldiers brief history

Celebrating Native American Heritage Month: William Wirt Hastings, first US Representative from Oklahoma

 William Wirt Hastings, born December 31, 1866 in Benton County, Arkansas, moved with his family to the Cherokee Nation, in Indian Territory.  He attended Cherokee tribal school and graduated from Cherokee Male Seminary in 1884.  He graduated from Vanderbilt University in Tennessee in 1889 and began his law practice in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. 

He was first elected to the US House of Representatives, making him the first Native American representative in Congress from Oklahoma. He served for three terms from March 1915 to March 1921.  He was defeated by Alice Mary Robertson in 1920, but re-elected in 1923 and served for five more terms to January 1935.  He did not seek re-election in 1934 and returned to his practice in Tahlequah. 

He passed away in April 1938 in Tahlequah.

Celebrating Native American Heritage Month: William A. Durant, Choctaw, 1st Oklahoma Legislature

William A. Durant, born March 18, 1866 in Indian Territory, in what is now Bryan County, Oklahoma, He became a lawyer and practiced in the courts of Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations, as well as the US federal courts.  He was elected to the legislature of the Choctaw Nation in 1890 and became its speaker in 1891. 

When Oklahoma became a state in 1907, he was elected to the state legislature and served in the first six regular sessions of the Oklahoma Legislature.  He became the only Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives to serve simultaneously as the Speaker of the Choctaw Nation.

Durant was appointed by Franklin Roosevelt in 1937 as Principal Chief of the Choctaw Nation until his death in 1948.

He died in August 1948.   

Celebrating Black History Month: Cathay Williams, first African-American woman to enlist in the US Army

Cathay Williams, born September 1844 in Independence, Missouri, was the first black woman to enlist in the US Army, serving in the American Indian Wars.  Her father was a free man but her mother was a slave, meaning Williams' place in the world was a slave.  At the time, the US Army prohibited women from serving, so Williams enlisted under the false name of William Cathay, passing herself as a man, on November 15, 1866.  She was assigned to the 38th US Infantry Regiment.  After a bout of smallpox, she was hospitalized and a surgeon discovered she was a woman.,  She was discharged by her CO Capt. Charles Clarke, October 14, 1868.

She passed away in Trinidad, Colorado in 1893.