By John Langellier

In 1866, the United States Congress passed an Act to reorganize the United States Army.  This legislation authorized six regiments (two of cavalry and four of infantry) to be manned by African Americans.

But it was not until the spring of 1885 that Black troops reported for duty in today’s Arizona. That was when the Tenth U.S. Cavalry Regiment moved from the Department of Texas to the Department of Arizona under Colonel Benjamin F. Grierson.  Fort Whipple, on the eastern fringe of Prescott, was to serve as regimental headquarters for Grierson, his staff, the Tenth’s band and Troop B.

When the African American garrison took up their new post, Prescott residents learned from their local paper that these cavalrymen showed “no disposition to rival the legendary ‘Bloody Fourteenth Infantry,’ a unit manned by white soldiers who previously had been garrisoned at Whipple.

Instead, the troopers of the Tenth Cavalry were “well-behaved and as soldierly looking set of men that have ever been stationed at Whipple.”  In fact, it was reported the men of the Tenth spent “less money on ardent spirits than any other troops stationed at Whipple.”

A Tenth US Cavalry trooper poses with three Apache Indian scouts (Courtesy Sharlot Hall Museum Call Number MIL-202p. Reuse only with permission).

Before long the troopers became a regular fixture in the area, spending their meager pay in Prescott stores, playing baseball against the local civilian team, or staging free concerts for the community.

Over the decades, the Tenth’s bandsmen had developed an impressive library of musical scores and gained a reputation for excellence—little wonder given the fact that Colonel Grierson had been a music teacher in early life.  These martial music makers marched in the May 1885 Decoration Day observances (now known as Memorial Day) “to decorate the graves of comrades who lie buried in the Citizens, Masonic and military [Fort Whipple] cemeteries” and also would do so the next year.  During June 1885, they likewise performed a “Promenade Concert . . . under the auspices of the Prescott Rifles at the new City Hall.”  Tickets were available for gentlemen and ladies at $2.00 each.

Such popular performances prompted the Prescott paper to exhort, “The excellent band of the Tenth Cavalry would confer a favor on the citizens of Prescott by following the example of the musicians of the Third [Cavalry] by giving a weekly concert in the Court House Plaza.”

It is not clear from existing sources whether this suggestion was acted on, although near the end of their stay at Fort Whipple the band evidently did play for Troop B before the troopers departed for San Carlos Arizona in May 1886.  To commemorate this event the troopers held a farewell dance prior to taking their departure.

The band soon transferred to another Arizona post as well.  With their relocation, this brief episode in Prescott history came to an end, but not so for the African Americans who once were garrisoned in the area.

In fact, the Tenth Cavalry would participate in the final campaign against Geronimo, and in so doing attracted the attention of an up-and-coming young artist named Frederic Remington.  The former Yale student turned early-day embedded reporter left the comforts of the East to ride alongside troopers of the Tenth in remote, rugged Arizona Territory.

Remington’s illustrations and an article titled “A Scout with the Buffalo Soldiers” appeared in 1889 exposing a large national audience and even European readers to the exploits of these tough troopers who fought for their country and simultaneously against rampant racism of the era.

Remington went on to fame as one of the frontier’s finest artists.  Indeed, many of his works continued to represent Black soldiers whom he had come to know during his trips to Arizona as a budding illustrator.

Today, the Fort Whipple Museum at the Bob Stump Veterans Affairs Medical Center preserves some of the Buffalo Soldiers’ story in a special display.  The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and closed on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.  Admission is by donation.

(Days Past is a collaborative project of the Sharlot Hall Museum and the Prescott Corral of Westerners, International (www.prescottcorral.org). The public is encouraged to submit articles for Days Past consideration. Please contact Assistant Archivist, Scott Anderson, at SHM Archives 928-445-3122 or via email at archivesrequest@sharlothallmuseum.org for information.)