The Texas Heritage Trails Program (THTP) is a major part of the Texas Historical Commission’s award-winning heritage tourism initiative. The Buffalo Soldiers’ Virtual Tour

Project is supported in part by a grant from the Texas Historical Commission’s Texas Heritage Trails Program.

During the drought of July, 1877, 40 ‘Buffalo Soldiers’ of the Tenth Cavalry, Company A commanded by Captain Nicholas Nolan and joined by a group of 22 bison hunters with their guide José Tafoya, struck out from their Double Lakes camp in Lynn County, Texas. The mission was charged with pursuing a Kwahada Comanche band who had escaped from Fort Sill, Oklahoma. The band was searching for food and accused of raiding the bison hunter camps, stealing horses and supplies.

Captain Nolan’s group was ill-prepared for the drought conditions when they hastily left Double Lakes. This resulted in 86 hours without water and the eventual death of four soldiers, 23 military horses and 4 pack mules.

The ‘Buffalo Soldier’ tragedy marks the final clashes between the hunter-gatherer tribes who followed the buffalo herds and the first Euro-American settlers who attempted to establish homesteads on the Llano Estacado. With the decimation of free-roaming buffalo herds by the millions, the life-giving resource for the Native Americans vanished and changed the patterns of settlement.

Geocaching is a method that makes use of GPS (Global Positioning Systems) for tracking the latitude and longitude of specific geographic locations. Geocaching makes use of the GPS technology for organizing “treasure hunts” that can be enjoyed by interested individuals, families, and groups to locate specific sites where “treasures” have either been placed or to observe specific points of interest in the natural environment.

As explained on the official Geocaching website (http://www.geocaching.com/), “geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. Geocaching is enjoyed by people from all age groups, with a strong sense of community and support for the environment”.

The Cochran County Historical Commission, with the collaboration of the Bailey, Hockley, Lubbock, Lynn, and Terry County Historical Commissions and the Texas Plains Trail Region, have implemented this innovative 21st century internet and GPS technology—Geocaching—to trace the route taken by the 19th century Buffalo Soldier Lost Troop Expedition of 1877. For more information, visit the BSE 1877 Virtual Tour at:

GEOCACHING

Cabinet card portrait of an African American “buffalo soldier,” likely a member of the Ninth U. S. Cavalry troop, about 1890.

The BUFFALO SOLDIER TRAGEDY

of 1877

The BUFFALO SOLDIER TRAGEDY

of 1877

For thousands of years humans crossed the mid-section of the Llano Estacado leaving trails that followed the draws and spring-fed lakes. There were no permanent settlements until the late 19th century when the advent of the windmill and barbed wire began to make the southern regions of the Great Plains a place for permanent habitation.

The Texas’ Last Frontier Museum presents the story, not only of those who chose to make this their home, but also shares stories about the Indians, explorers, cibolores, comancheros, military and settlers who passed this way. Texas’ Last Frontier Museum is a tribute to all those who etched these trails into the earth in search of water. Texas’ LasT FronTier MuseuM

108 Southwest 1st. St.Morton, Texas 79346(806) 266-0638

Monday 2 p.m.- 5 p.m.Thursday 2 p.m. - 4 p.m.Contact: Dorothy Barker (806) 266-5484

Texas’ LasT FronTier HeriTage CeLebraTion and

buFFaLo soLdier enCampmenT:4TH saTurday

in June eaCH year, morTon, Tx.CoCHran CounTy park

Contact the Texas’ Last Frontier Museum for details.

The annuaLreenacTMenT oF The

BuFFaLo soLdier Tragedy in MorTon, Texas

cochran County

BuFFaLo soLdiers naTionaL MuseuM

The primary objectives of the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum and Heritage Center are to preserve, promote and perpetuate the history, tradition and outstanding contributions of the Buffalo Soldiers toward the develop-

ment and defense of the United States of America.

www.buffalosoldiermuseum.com

Brochure and VirTuaL Tour design By

carMa inTernaTionaL

Cultural and Architectural Resource Management Assoc.

www.carMapreserVaTion.coM

Photos courtesy of Cochran County Historical Commission

www.carMapreserVaTion.coM/Bse1877

www.carMapreserVaTion.coM/Bse1877

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Crossing the Llano Begins Here...Nicholas Merritt Nolan (March 10, 1835–October 24, 1883) the commander of Troop A 10th Cavalry from Fort Concho, along with First Lieutenant Charles L. Cooper, led 40 enlisted men in an unsuccessful

pursuit of a Kwahada Comanche Band across the drought stricken Llano Estacado. A group of 22 buffalo hunters and José Tafoya, a trail guide, joined the soldiers.

THis mission was a pivoTaL momenT in THe Turn oF evenTs THaT FoLLowed in 1870’s wesT Texas. The Buffalo Soldier Tragedy Took pLaCe on THe FinaL FronTier oF ConFLiCT beTween THe seTTLers, THe us miLiTary and THe naTive ameriCans.

July 30, 1877 — At 4:00 a.m., the expedition arrived at Double Lakes, having endured an 86-hour trek without water. According to Nolan’s final report on the expedition, 23 government horses and four pack mules perished, two soldiers died and two others were missing and presumed dead.

tHE stORy Of tHE BuffAlO sOldIER

tRAGEdy

July 25, 1877 - At Double Lakes in Lynn County, TX the buffalo soldiers and hunters set up camp. Where there had been plenty of water two years prior, now the men had to dig for water. Only a small quantity of alkali water was obtained.

July 28, 1877 — Captain Nolan decided to head back to Double Lakes in Lynn County in search of water. The expedition traveled northeast to Maple, TX. A disagreement arose between Captain Nolan and the buffalo hunters. The hunters headed to Silver Lake and had water that night, while Nolan headed southeast to near present day Levelland, TX, where he made camp. To survive, the soldiers turned to drinking their animals’ urine and eventually, the blood of their dying horses.

July 27, 1877 —The expedition followed the Comanches’ trail on the north side of the sandhills of Sulfur Draw in Hockley and Cochran counties. They then crossed into New Mexico, turned northeast and that night camped at a small hill rising some 50 feet above the surrounding area (now “Buffalo Soldier Hill”). The Troop had travelled about 55 miles that day without water when they stopped to make camp. Prostrate from the heat, men and animals began to suffer dehydration.

A stack of buffalo hides at a Dodge City hide yard. Commercial buffalo hunters slaughtered the animals by the thousands and left their carcasses to rot on the Plains. Photo courtesy of the Kansas State Historical Society.

Buffalo Soldiers, Company D, 9th Cavalry, as portrayed by Co. H of the 10th, New Buffalo Soldiers, photo courtesy Bureau of Land Management.

July 29, 1877 — “We left our resting place about 11 o’clock on the night of July 29 and marched until 10:00 the next morning, when due to the intense heat, our famished condition and hunger (for although we had plenty of food with us, not one bite could we swallow), one by one we lay down on the open prairie and endeavored to obtain such relief as one could find from a woolen blanket thrown over a small mesquite bush.This our fourth day without water was dreadful. Instead of having with us the forty rational men who left camp with us, our party now consisted of eighteen mad men.” Lt. Charles L. Cooper’s Letter to his Father from Fort Concho, TX, August 30, 1877

Map based on original by Michael Harter, p. 83, The Buffalo Soldier Tragedy of 1877 by Paul H. Carlson (College Station, TX, Texas A & M University Press, 2003).

July 26, 1877 —The buffalo hunters’ guide sighted the Comanches leaving Rich Lake in Terry County, TX. The unprepared expedition left Double Lakes in pursuit. The Comanches carefully led them on a zigzag trail away from water holes. The expedition had found no water during this day and made dry camp near Meadow, TX that evening.

Buffalo Soldiers’ Memorial Stones and Texas State Historical Marker Morton Cemetery. Photo courtesy of The Texas’ Last Frontier Museum, Morton, Texas.

As the last chief of the Kwahada Comanche Indians, Quanah Parker led the Kwahada assault on Adobe Walls in 1874 and subsequently played a pivotal role in the BSE of 1877. Parker served as the liaison between the Comanche Indians who were struggling to maintain their traditional way of life, but were being forced to reservation life due to the pressures of Euro-settlement on the Plains. Photo courtesy of the Kansas State Historical Society.

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