REFERENCE TITLE: Buffalo Soldiers recognition

State of Arizona House of Representatives Forty-eighth Legislature First Regular Session 2007

HCR 2047

Introduced by Representatives Burns J, Alvarez, Campbell CL, McClure, Senators Bee, Landrum Taylor: Arzberger

 

A CONCURRENT resolution

 

Designating 2007 as the year of the Buffalo Soldiers.

 

 

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

 

Whereas, after the Civil War, the United States faced the need for a larger "peacetime military" to occupy the South and protect settlers on the western frontier.  In the summer of 1866, the United States Congress passed legislation establishing a peacetime military; and

Whereas, before the legislation was passed, a hotly debated issue concerned the inclusion of African-Americans in the regular Army.  Some politicians made the then radical suggestion that the Army fully integrate African-Americans into its ranks.  Other politicians wanted the Army to remain white-only.  They eventually agreed to maintain the status quo and continue placing African-American recruits in segregated units.  A provision of the 1866 legislation created six regiments of African-American troops, four infantry and two cavalry, of approximately one thousand men each; and

Whereas, in August 1866, the 9^th and 10^th cavalries were organized.  The 9^th cavalry was in Greenville, Louisiana, with most of the original recruits from near New Orleans and Louisville.  The 10^th cavalry was at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.  Many of the recruits in both units were freed slaves from the north.  The primary mission assigned to these African-American troops was to combat the Native American tribes caught in the westward expansion of the United States and to escort the tribes to the reservations; and

Whereas, the nickname "Buffalo Soldier" was bestowed on the troops by the Native Americans as an attestation to their valor in battle.  The buffalo was a sacred animal to the Native Americans, and they would not bestow its name on the soldiers unless they were worthy adversaries, fighting ferociously to the end and living up to their motto "Ready and Forward".  The proud acceptance of the name "Buffalo Soldier" by the African-American soldiers was a badge of honor and pride for the troops; and

Whereas, the Buffalo Soldiers were sent to the Great Plains along the Rio Grande, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona and Colorado and into the Dakotas.  The duties of the 9^th and 10^th U.S. cavalries included guarding the mail and escorting and guarding stagecoaches, cattle drives, railroad crews and surveyors.  They built roads and telegraph lines, mapped and explored, including mapping vast territories in Arizona and New Mexico marking water holes.  They played a major part in building the west and making it safe for the westward expansion; and

Whereas, in July 1885, the 10^th Cavalry moved west into Arizona.  After arriving, troops of the regiment were dispersed throughout the area to cover as much territory as possible.  These troops were stationed at Whipple Barracks, Fort Grant, Fort Thomas and Fort Apache; and

Whereas, in 1913, the 10^th Cavalry Buffalo Soldiers were sent to Fort Huachuca and remained there for almost twenty years.  They joined General John J. Pershing in the 1916 expedition into Mexico and during World War I, they were assigned the mission of guarding the United States-Mexico border; and

Whereas, Second Lieutenant Henry O. Flipper, a member of the 10^th Cavalry, was the first African-American graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, Class of 1877.  Lieutenant Flipper excelled in Engineering, Law, French and Spanish.  After dismissal from the Army, Henry O. Flipper went on to attain recognition and respect as a surveyor and in 1890, he opened his own civil mining engineering office in Nogales, Arizona. Joseph S. Flipper II, the grand-nephew of Lieutenant Henry O. Flipper, has lived in Phoenix since 1945.  He has had a long and distinguished teaching career and is an active member of the Greater Southern Arizona Area Chapter of the 9^th and 10^th Horse Cavalry Association; and

Whereas, in 1994, the Arizona Legislature passed and the Governor signed House Joint Resolution 2001, designating a portion of state route 90 as the Buffalo Soldier Trail; and

Whereas, on July 25, 1992, General Colin Powell, then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, dedicated the Buffalo Soldiers Monument at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, the birthplace of one of the regiments.  The monument stands as a well-deserved tribute to the soldiers for their continued excellence and contributions to this state and nation over the years.  Despite prejudice in and out of the military and being allocated the worst horses, clothing and equipment, these outstanding individuals earned more Congressional Medals of Honor and had the lowest desertion rate of any unit in the Army.

Therefore

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of Arizona, the Senate concurring:

1.  That the Legislature recognize the State of Arizona as one of the Frontier Homes of the Buffalo Soldier.

2.  That the Legislature recognize the contributions made by the Buffalo Soldiers to this country and state.

3.  That the Legislature designates 2007 as "The year of the Buffalo Soldier".

4.  That the Secretary of State of the State of Arizona transmit copies of this Resolution to the Greater Southern Arizona Area Chapter of the 9^th and 10^th Horse Cavalry Association and to the Arizona Historical Society.