Moments in Time: Stories of New Mexico’s History; The Buffalo Soldiers in New Mexico

When you're under fire and you're laying there and you know you don't want to get up but you know you have to get it because in order to accomplish the mission and in order to save the guy to your left or to your right you got to do your job and that means getting up. That's brave. That's the courage I think those Buffalo soldiers had. The Native Americans found that outnumbered we would not leave the battlefield. We would stand and fight and that represented to them the very most ferocious animal in their life a wounded Buffalo and it was that correlation that brought about the naming of us as the Buffalo soldiers.

When the Civil War was old and white soldiers were able to go back to the job that they have, like it's been happening. So Congress created 10 units and six months back and they sent them out here because when the whole lot out here that time except fights between people next door. Out here it was it was different and the hardships the these men were confronted with brought a new level of understanding and appreciation for what these people had done. They served under the very worst conditions.

They had one of the largest areas to cover in the state and they had to ride horses. People said they did nine miles a day out in the field. They didn't ride out that time. They walked a whole lot of it because it was bad on your sit-on to be in a settlement line. They gave them horses that they was probably getting rid of the key but they they made the most out of it. The Buffalo soldiers were very much involved with a number of other activities. They would build forts, telegraph lines, roads, they escorted stage coaches, cattle drives. There were strikes that they got involved in to settle. They guarded the U.S. men. The White Officer who was a

bird crew, he wasn't going to come any time and buy no groceries. The other issue that we confronted constantly was when, in fact, we went into towns. You had, depending on the location, some real prejudice there and there were significant fights, sometimes shootings and a couple of deaths occurred as a result of the confrontations with the very citizens who we were trying to protect. They didn't want to be told what to do by it but I will bet. So what is that? With the Black Soldier it was really hard so they had to defend themselves and the way they sometimes chose to defend

themselves. Especially if one of their own may have been thrown in jail and beaten up or whatever, they would come from the post with their car beans and their pistols and get in a confrontation with the local towns people. At the same time that prejudice and discrimination could bond them together and they would depend upon each other even more so. They were involved very much with bringing peace to the areas that were literally being controlled by outlaws and renegades.

Well, Victoria was an Apache war chief. All he ever wanted to do was go back to Old Hole, Caliante. He wanted to go home. So, Victoria and his band began to reign against the miners, against farms, against ranchers and the Buffalo soldiers along with white cavalry units were given the mission to chase him down and bring him back. We were involved with a pitch battle with the Apaches. Seeing a wounded Black

trooper in my unit under heavy fire rushed some 200 yards to his aid, put him on my back and brought him back to safety. The very same thing happened with one of our sergeants. The both of us several years later received the medal of honor for that action. They haven't been stationed out here and figured out here the Mexico might have become a state but it won't be a long time ago.

The legacy of the Buffalo soldiers is a legacy of bravery and courage and of doing tough jobs that nobody else would do. They took it from a territory to a state and that is the important thing. I think that all new Mexicans and Americans need to remember. Having soonerization is what caused statehood to come in. You know people say well it's this, this, this, this, not enough. If it's not civilized then they're making a state.