Buffalo Soldiers honored by historic marker

Elizabeth Murray
Burlington Free Press

Correction: The Buffalo Soldiers were a troop formed in 1860s through an act passed by U.S. Congress. An earlier version of the story misstated how they were formed.

COLCHESTER - A new historic marker commemorates an African-American regiment of the U.S. Army that was based at Fort Ethan Allen in the early 1900s. 

Members of chapters of the Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club from Massachusetts and Connecticut and Curtiss Reed of the Vermont Partnership for Fairness and Diversity pose with a new historic marker honoring the Buffalo Soldiers in Fort Ethan Allen in Colchester on Sunday, July 2, 2017.

The marker, which honors the U.S. Army 10th Cavalry Buffalo Soldiers, was inaugurated Sunday morning outside Elly-Long Music Center. The spot is one of almost two dozen sites on the Vermont African American Heritage Trail. 

Curtiss Reed, the executive director of the Vermont Partnership for Fairness and Diversity, said the purpose of the Vermont African American Heritage Trail is to promote tourism in Vermont for people of color and to celebrate black history in the state.

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About a dozen members the Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club from chapters in Springfield, Massachusetts, and Hartford, Connecticut, were present for the commemoration. They wore gold and black shirts and vests bearing "Buffalo Soldiers." President of the chapter Richard Gardner said the group, which has more than 120 chapters throughout the U.S., honors the history and legacy of the Buffalo Soldiers. 

 "Our mission statement is to give back to the community," Gardner said. He added that members of the group were honored to be in Vermont at the commemoration and planned to visit other historic sites on their way back south. The motorcycle group was given a police escort after the ceremony as they headed toward a lunch reception in downtown Burlington.

Members of the Springfield, Massachusetts chapter of the Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club look through a pamphlet before a ceremony inaugurating a new Vermont historic marker for the Vermont African American Heritage Trail at Fort Ethan Allen in Colchester on Sunday, July 2, 2017.

Steve Cook, of the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing, also attended the ceremony Sunday morning.

The Buffalo Soldiers were a troop commissioned in the 1860s through an act passed by U.S. Congress, according to an article on the National Archives website.

"They were pretty much a group of African-American soldiers that had their own troops who worked with substandard conditions but prevailed," Gardner said. "They were given the name 'Buffalo Soldiers' because of their fighting spirit and their curly hair, like the buffalo, by the (Native Americans)." 

The 10th Cavalry Buffalo Soldiers were stationed at Fort Ethan Allen in Colchester from 1909 to 1913, according to the historic marker. During the commemoration, St. Michael's College history professor Doug Slaybaugh spoke about the different buildings in the fort that housed the soldiers and the way the soldiers lived. 

A new historic marker on the Vermont African American Heritage Trail commemorates the Buffalo Soldiers and their time at Fort Ethan Allen in Colchester.

"From what I understand, the assignment to Vermont to Fort Ethan Allen was considered kind of a luxury assignment, at least by comparison to the kind of working conditions the Buffalo Soldiers had had before," Slaybaugh said. "They often were forced to build their own housing, living in tents, living off the land in some cases. Very grueling conditions. By comparison, they had a roof over their heads here, they had three meals a day."

Reed, of the Vermont Partnership for Fairness and Diversity, said he hopes people of color will begin to view Vermont as a destination for both history and recreation because of the heritage trail. He said these people may discover recreational experiences, such as skiing, hiking and other activities, after visiting the heritage sites.  

"Those historic markers really sort of ... say to visitors that the black experience was not localized in one place, but in fact were found all over the state," Reed said.

He added, "Not everyone knows this is a great place to visit, particularly folks of color. ... We're trying to make Vermont the destination, or a most desirable destination for folks of color."

Richard Gardner, left, president of the Springfield, Massachusetts chapter of the Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club, and Curtiss Reed, executive director of the Vermont Partnership for Fairness and Diversity, speak during a historic marker commemoration in Fort Ethan Allen in Colchester on Sunday, July 2, 2017.

Contact Elizabeth Murray at 651-4835 or emurray@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LizMurrayBFP.