TACOMA -- Former Buffalo Soldier, Trooper William Jones, died on December 3, 2009, at the age of 91. As part of his estate, he left the former Champions Plumbing & Pipe property to provide a new home for the Buffalo Soldiers Museum. Located at 1940 S. Wilkerson in Tacoma, it is situated on the edge of the Downtown Museum District.

According to his daughter, Jackie Jones-Hook, who currently serves as the director of the private museum, “The collection contains military artifacts, an extensive library of books, articles and DVDs from her father’s military career with the 10th Cavalry – the Buffalo Horse Cavalry.” The Tacoma museum is only one of two museums dedicated to the Buffalo Soldiers in the nation, the other being the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum in Houston. The museum’s goals are to educate children as well as visitors to Tacoma about the soldiers’ rightful place in American military history.

So, just who were the Buffalo Soldiers? Although more than 180,000 Negro soldiers served in the Union Army during the Civil War, in 1866 Congress passed legislation establishing two cavalry and four infantry regiments, whose enlisted men were comprised mainly of African-Americans. The majority of the new recruits had served in all-Negro units during the war and some were freed slaves from the South. The mounted regiments were the 9th and 10th Cavalries, soon nicknamed Buffalo Soldiers by the Cheyenne and Comanche Indians. Until the early 1890s the Buffalo Soldiers constituted 20 percent of all cavalry forces on the American frontier.

The 9th and 10th Cavalries’ service in subduing Mexican revolutionaries, hostile Native Americans, outlaws, comancheros and rustlers was as invaluable as it was unrecognized. Their work was also accomplished over some of the most rugged and inhospitable country in North America. A list of their adversaries reads like a “Who’s Who” of the American West. The legends included such notorious western fugitives as Geronimo, Sitting Bull, Victorio, Lone Wolf, Billy the Kid and Pancho Villa.

Lesser known, but equally important, the Buffalo Soldiers explored and mapped vast areas of the southwest and strung hundreds of miles of telegraph lines. They built and repaired frontier outposts around which future towns and cities sprang to life. Without the protection provided by the 9th and 10th Cavalries, crews building the ever-expanding transcontinental railroads were at the mercy of outlaws and hostile Indians. The Buffalo Soldiers consistently received some of the worst assignments the Army had to offer. They also faced fierce prejudice to both the colors of their Union uniforms and their skin by many of the citizens of the post-civil war frontier towns. Despite these adversaries, the troopers of the 9th and 10th Cavalries developed into two of the most effective and distinguished fighting units in the U.S. Army.

The Buffalo Soldiers fought through both World Wars with honor and served valiantly in Europe and the South Pacific. The 9th and 10th Cavalries were disbanded as troop strength was reduced in post-war 1947 but before President Truman integrated the Armed Forces in 1948.

School groups and others interested in visiting the non-profit 9th and 10th Horse Cavalry Museum should contact Jackie Jones-Hook through her e-mail address, JJoneshook@aol.com, or the museum’s phone number, 253-272-4257, to schedule a tour. After reorganization and updating of the physical plant, Jones-Hook is planning a grand re-opening/fundraiser for the museum near Veterans Day in November 2012. For up-to-date news on the museum’s activities or for becoming a volunteer, interested parties may contact Jones-Hook to be added to the e-mail list.

Buffalo Soldier history excerpted from the Web site (www.imh.org) for the International Museum of the Horse in Lexington, KY.