Buffalo soldiers
African American Soldiers Showed great combat skills during Civil War Congress sent regiments to serve in west after war Native Americans called them Buffalo Soldiers – sign of respect
On the frontier Texas discriminated against by settlers and white officers Poor supplies/horses Against the odds – they did a good job
Texas forts Built and renovated dozens of forts Strung thousands of miles of telegraph lines Escorted wagon trains; stagecoaches; cattle herds; railroad crews Opened new roads Mapped vast areas of the West