Key Takeaways
Beginning in the 1890s, all-Black regiments, the Buffalo Soldiers, took on the role of patrolling the first national parks.
Their duties included stopping poachers, building trails, putting out fires, and serving as escorts for President Theodore Roosevelt.
Captain Charles Young made history in 1903 as the first Black national park superintendent at Sequoia National Park.

When you think of the Buffalo Soldiers—troops in the U.S. Army's former all-Black regiments—you might picture men who fought during the Spanish-American War and World War I, for example.

But African American troops in the late 1800s and early 1900s also had duties supporting westward expansion. For instance, they served in military campaigns against Native American nations during the Indian Wars, protected settlers, and built key infrastructure such as roads, forts, and telegraph lines, as well as ensured the safety of mail routes.

Beginning in the 1890s, members of all-Black regiments took on another important role: patrolling the country's first national parks. Despite widespread racism and discrimination from Army officers and government officials, these brave men’s service as park authorities helped to preserve the nation's parks for future generations.

If your family history includes connections to one of the U.S. Army’s all-Black regiments, Ancestry® may help you uncover your family's ties to one of the U.S. national parks.

Members of the U.S. Army 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps stationed at Fort Missoula, 1897, Wikimedia Commons

Buffalo Soldiers as Wilderness Guardians

The U.S. Army had been patrolling and improving national parks since 1886, when Congress brought in troops to help manage Yellowstone National Park. In 1899, the first Black soldiers arrived in Yosemite National Park to take on the role of park rangers.

For three years—1899, 1903, and 1904—Buffalo Soldiers protected some of the most spectacular wilderness areas in the United States: Yosemite, Sequoia, and General Grant National Parks. Later, they went on to serve in Glacier National Park and Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. For a month in 1910, Company K of the 25th Infantry successfully put out a 100,000-acre wildfire in Glacier National Park. While at Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, in 1915, the 25th Infantry's Company E built a 30-mile trail on Mauna Loa using only sledgehammers and gunny sacks.

Nine rangers pose in Yosemite Valley Meadow, Yosemite National Park, 1915, Wikimedia Commons

How Did Buffalo Soldiers Protect Yosemite?

In 1899, a group of 25 Buffalo Soldiers of the 24th Infantry arrived in Yosemite National Park under the leadership of Lieutenant W.H. McMasters. For battle-wary veterans of the 1898 Spanish-American War and the Philippine-American War, California's beautiful mountains and valleys were likely a welcome change of pace.

Mounted on horseback, Buffalo Soldiers were tasked for several months with patrolling the vast park wilderness and stopping poachers, illegal grazing, and vandals. They also maintained the existing trails and roads, ensuring visitors could get in by horse or wagon.

Troops K and L of the 9th Cavalry returned to Yosemite in 1903 under the command of acting superintendent Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Garrard. During this visit, they established substations throughout the park, which allowed them to patrol 26,000 miles of path and catch poachers more easily. The soldiers were so efficient that only a single herd of sheep got into the park illegally. When President Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir made their legendary camping trip to the park in May 1903, Buffalo Soldiers served as escorts.

During the Buffalo Soldiers' 1904 summer in Yosemite, Major John Bigelow, Jr. and men from the 9th Cavalry built and repaired more than 36 miles of trails, patrolled 10,943 miles, and put out two significant fires. They also constructed an arboretum, a botanical garden, and a marked nature trail—the first of its kind in the national park system.

What Did Buffalo Soldiers Do in Sequoia National Park?

In June 1903, Captain Charles Young and Troops I and M of the 9th Cavalry arrived in Sequoia National Park for the summer season. Charles Young made history that year as the first Black national park superintendent when he was appointed the acting superintendent of Sequoia National Park.

Under Young's leadership, which also extended to General Grant National Park, the Buffalo Soldiers repaired 18 miles of trails in five days, deterred poachers, and stopped illegal sheep grazing at the base of Mt. Whitney.

Captain Charles Young, 9th Cavalry, Acting Superintendent of Sequoia National Park, 1903, Wikimedia Commons

The Buffalo Soldiers' biggest project here was extending the park road. Other Army groups had taken three summers to build the first five miles; with Young in charge, crews doubled that distance in just a few months. By mid-August, soldiers drove the first wagon to the Giant Forest and on to Moro Rock.

Meanwhile, Young negotiated with people who owned private parcels within the park, convincing more than a dozen landowners to sell their land to the government. This action helped to preserve more than 9,000 giant sequoias.

The next summer, Troops A and B of the 9th Cavalry came to Sequoia National Park under the command of Captain George F. Hamilton. They continued the work of Captain Young and cemented the positive legacy of Black park rangers in the local community.

Uncovering Buffalo Soldiers Stories Today

The U.S. Army ended its service in the national parks in 1916 with the establishment of the National Park Service (NPS)—including a system of civilian park rangers—under the auspices of the Department of the Interior. Since then, the Buffalo Soldiers’ work has become little more than a footnote in history.

The National Park Service is now working to highlight Buffalo Soldiers’ involvement in protecting the nation’s national parks. In the March 2019 Buffalo Soldiers Study, the Secretary of the Interior recommended a comprehensive strategy to improve knowledge and education about this fascinating period.

Currently, park rangers and curators at 20 park units use a combination of talks, ranger-led programs, and other initiatives to introduce and honor the legacy of the Buffalo Soldiers. At Yosemite, for example, ranger Shelton Johnson used historic park ledgers to create the podcast A Buffalo Soldier Speaks. Each episode brings the Black soldiers' stories to life from the perspective of real-life Buffalo Soldier, Elizy Boman.

Discovering Buffalo Soldier Ancestors in National Parks

Although the Buffalo Soldiers' time in the national parks was short, Ancestry record collections may help you find out if your ancestors spent time as park rangers. Look for their names in the monthly returns from the 9th and 10th Cavalry units from 1866-1916 and the returns from military posts from 1806-1916.

To see if your family might have connections to the Buffalo Soldiers and national parks, sign up for a free trial of Ancestry.

Sources
https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/2566191a63434ed092fcfd0f11ea46ef/original
https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/c360a425-da1f-426b-84df-bb6c661a0c2d/original
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https://npshistory.com/brochures/buffalo-soldiers-2015.pdf
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https://www.nps.gov/havo/learn/news/20240207-nr-buffalo-soldier-video.htm
https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/glac2/chap5.htm
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https://www.nps.gov/prsf/learn/historyculture/patrolling-sequoia-national-park.htm
https://www.nps.gov/seki/learn/historyculture/young.htm
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/buffalosoldiers/education.htm
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/buffalosoldiers/upload/BUSO_SRS_508b.pdf
https://www.nps.gov/yose/learn/historyculture/buffalo-soldiers.htm
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https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-army-saved-our-national-parks-180956840/
Image 1: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Buffalo_Soldiers_with_bicycles_pose_on_Minerva_Terrace,_Yellowstone_National_Park.jpg
Image 2: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Members_of_the_U.S._Army_25th_Infantry_Bicycle_Corps_stationed_at_Fort_Missoula,_1897.webp
Image 3: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HPC-000581.jpg_(2e89b9ca07f84f78b0729bc45687a183).jpg
Image 4: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Captain_Charles_Young,_9th_Cavalry,_Acting_Superintendent_of_Sequoia_National_Park_(2371cf1606774e7889f5aba6c3a53dac).jpg

Buffalo Soldiers and U.S. National Parks