Specializing in Western Americana
By the end of the American Civil War almost 180,000 blacks had seen service in the Union army and more than 33,000 had lost their lives. Although the blacks served honorably during the war there were many who doubted that blacks could ever become first-rate soldiers. Following the Civil War the army's authorized strength was reduced to slightly more than 54,000. Congress passed the Act of July 28, 1866, which contained provisions for six black regiments, two cavalry (9th and 10th), and four infantry (38th, 39th, 40th and 41st). This was the same act that created the famous 7th Cavalry Regiment. The black regiments were to be commanded by white officers.
Under the Act of March 3, 1869, the 38th and 41st regiments were consolidated into the 24th Infantry Regiment, and the 39th and 40th regiments were consolidated into the 25th Infantry Regiment. The 9th Cavalry's first commanding officer was Colonel Edward Hatch of Iowa, and the 10th Cavalry's first commander was Colonel Benjamin H. Grierson of Illinois. Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie commanded the 24th Infantry Regiment and Colonel Joseph A. Mower commanded the 25th Infantry.
The term "Buffalo Soldier" was mainly associated with the two black cavalry regiments. While there were many names for the black troopers, many derogatory, the exact origin of the term buffalo soldier is not known. In a letter written by Frances Roe, wife of Lieutenant Fayette W. Roe, 3rd Infantry, in 1873, she described the black soldiers as buffalo soldiers because "their wooly heads are as much like the matted cushion that is between the horns of the buffalo."
For more than 20 years the 9th & 10th Cavalry Regiments campaigned in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and even in the Dakotas. They fought warring Indians, cattle thieves, bandits, outlaws, bootleggers, trespassers and even Mexican military forces. As with all the regiments located in the west, most of the time life was boring, scouting duty being the most exciting of every day events. But even that proved to be both boring and hazardous duty. Combat with the Indians was widely scattered and usually without casualties on either side. The black regiments were able to meet the many challenges of the harsh and unforgiving environment, but could not overcome racial prejudice and discrimination. Mostly treated like second class citizens until they were needed to protect the farmers, merchants and citizens of numerous small towns from Indians and outlaws -- then their presence was welcome -- but only until the crisis had passed.
Agnew, S.C. (editor), Garrisons of the Regular U.S. Army: Arizona, 1851-1899 (Arlington, VA: Council on Abandoned Military Posts, 1974). The purpose of this compilation is to give researchers a means of knowing what units of the Regular U.S. Army were station, and where, within the boundaries of the Territories of New Mexico and Arizona that now comprises the State of Arizona. Softcover in very good condition (light fold mark on front cover). (Item No. 1823) .....................$45.00: Another copy, softcover in very good condition. Limited to 750, copy No. 32. (Item No. 3053) ………………$50.00
Bigelow, Jr., Lt. John, On the Bloody Trail of Geronimo (Los Angeles, CA: Westernlore Press, 1958). Foreword, introduction and notes by Arthur Woodward (signed by Woodward). Bigelow graduated from West Point in 1877 and was assigned to the 10th U.S. Cavalry. Bigelow accounts his experiences in southern Arizona and Mexico against the Apaches during the 1885-1886 campaign. Hardcover in fine condition, no dust jacket. Signed. (Item No. 1113) ....................$36.00
Billington, Monroe Lee, New Mexico's Buffalo Soldiers, 1866-1900 (Niwot, CO: University Press of Colorado, 1991). The author draws from military records, newspaper articles, personal correspondence, and other source materials to create the first comprehensive account of the role of black soldiers in New Mexico Territory. Hardcover in like new condition with a like new dust jacket. First printing. (Item No. 3526) .....................$45.00
Burton, Art T., Black, Buckskin, and Blue: African-American Scouts and Soldiers on the Western Frontier (Austin, TX: Eakin Press, 1999). An in-depth look at blacks who were scouts and soldiers on the U.S. western frontier during the 19th and 20th centuries. Hardcover in like new condition with a like new dust jacket. (Item No. 3454) ................$30.00
Carroll, John M. (editor), The Black Military Experience in the American West (New York, NY: Liveright Publishing Corp., 1971). The history of the 9th & 10th Cavalry and the 24th & 25th Infantry Regiments is recorded and documented -- beginning with Estevanico, the black Conquistador, and York, the black man who accompanied Lewis and Clark on their famous expedition, up through the final cavalry charge in the Battle of the Yaqui Indians in Arizona in 1918. Hardcover in like new condition with a fine to very fine dust jacket and stored in a custom slip case. This is a presentation copy, No. 195 of 300, signed by Carroll. Very scarce. (Item No. 3197) .....................$350.00; Another copy, hardcover in very fine condition with a fine dust jacket and stored in a custom slip case. This is a presentation copy, No. 70 of 300, inscribed by Carroll to Mike Koury. (Item No. 0141) .........$350.00
Carroll, John M. (editor), Buffalo Soldiers West (Fort Collins, CO: The Old Army Press, 1971). A pictorial view of the black cavalryman's role in the opening of the West. More than 50 original drawings by many of the great Western artists including Lorence Bjorklund, Bill Chappell, Harold Bugbee, Jose Cisneros, Nick Eggenhofer, Joe Grandee, Chuck Kemper, J.K. Ralston, Stanley M. Long, Frederic Remington, Ace Powell, William Reusswig and Paul Rossi. Hardcover in like new condition with a like new dust jacket. (Item No. 3359) .........................$120.00
Cashin, Herschel V., Under Fire with the Tenth U.S. Cavalry (Niwot, CO: University Press of Colorado, 1993). The 10th Cavalry was to have a long and distinguished history of military service, playing a major role in the Indian campaigns of the American West and in the Spanish-American War. Hardcover in fine condition with a fine dust jacket. (Item No. 1699) ...................$33.00
Davidson, Homer K., Black Jack Davidson: A Cavalry Commander on the Western Frontier (Glendale, CA: The Arthur H. Clark Co., 1974). Frontier forts were his home through most of his 35 years of service. With both white and black troopers, his organization of the 7th Cavalry, and commands of the 2nd and 10th Cavalry Regiments, he saw duty at such posts as Forts Leavenworth, Fillmore, Buchanan, Tejon, Custer and Camp Supply. Hardcover in very good to fine condition with a fair to good dust jacket (long repaired tear). (Item No. 1292) ...............$45.00: Another copy, hardcover in fine condition with a fine dust jacket. (Item No. 3154) .....................$65.00
Hargrove, Hondon B., Black Union Soldiers in the Civil War (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 1988). Provides the story of the organization and recruitment of colored regiments during the Civil War. Eventually 166 regiments were organized, trained and sent to the various fields of battle. Hardcover in fine condition, no dust jacket. (Item No. 3910) .................$55.00
Kenner, Charles L., Buffalo Soldiers and Officers of the Ninth Cavalry 1867-1898 (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1999). The author's detailed biographies of officers and enlisted men describe the passions, aspirations, and conflicts that both bound blacks and whites together and pulled them apart. Hardcover in like new condition with a like new dust jacket. Signed. (Item No. 3462) ...............$35.00
Leckie, William H., The Buffalo Soldiers: A Narrative of the Negro Cavalry in the West (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1967). Negro soldiers who wished to remain in the army following the Civil War were organized into the 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments -- and their service in controlling Indians on the Great Plains during the next 20 years was as invaluable as it was unpraised. Hardcover in fine condition with a fine dust jacket, 1993 printing. (Item No. 1535) ..........$28.00; Another copy, hardcover in like new condition with a like new dust jacket, 2003 printing. Revised edition. (Item No. 3369) ...............$30.00
McChristian, Douglas C. (editor), Garrison Tangles in the Friendless Tenth (Mattituck, NY: J.M. Carroll & Co., 1985). The journal of First Lieutenant John Bigelow, Jr., Fort Davis, Texas, in 1884 -1885. Wraps, 86 pages, in very fine condition. (Item No. 2803E) .............$30.00
Muller, William G., The Twenty Fourth Infantry: Past and Present (Fort Collins, CO: The Old Army Press, 1972). The 24th Infantry Regiment was organized under the Act of March 3, 1869, which consolidated the 38th and 41st Infantry Regiments. Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie became the first commander of the 24th Infantry. The 24th Infantry was mainly assigned to the Trans-Pecos area of Texas and was involved in the Apache Wars under different leaderships from Victorio to Geronimo. Hardcover in very fine condition, no dust jacket. (Item No. 1349) ................$45.00
Nankivell, John H., The History of the Twenty-Fifth Regiment United States Infantry 1869-1926 (Fort Collins, CO: The Old Army Press, 1972). The 25th Infantry Regiment was organized under the Act of March 3, 1869, which consolidated the 39th and 40th Infantry Regiments. Colonel Joseph A. Mower became the first commander of the 15th Infantry. The 25th Infantry was an all black regiment with white officers and was very active in the Comanche Indian Wars of Texas and participated in the crucial incident at Pine ridge, South Dakota in 1890-91. Later the regiment saw action in Cuba and in the Philippines. Hardcover in very good to fine condition, no dust jacket. (Item No. 1067) .........$45.00
Place, Marian T., Rifles and War Bonnets: Negro Cavalry in the West (New York, NY: Ives Washburn, Inc., 1970). The 9th and 10th Cavalry made up of Negro soldiers with white officers, campaigned from 1867-1891 in the Great Plains, along the Rio Grande, in Colorado, in what is now New Mexico and Arizona, and finally in Dakotas to make these areas safe for settlers. Hardcover in very fine condition with a very fine dust jacket. (Item No. 3438) ............$20.00
Schubert, Frank N., Black Valor: Buffalo Soldiers and the Medal of Honor, 1870-1898 (Wilmington, DE: A Scholarly Resources Inc. Imprint, 1997). Remarkable stories are told in this collected biography of the buffalo soldiers who were presented with the Medal of Honor. Hardcover in like new condition with a like new dust jacket. (Item No. 3420) .............$25.00
Schubert, Frank N., Buffalo Soldiers, Braves and the Brass (Shippensburg, PA: White Mane Publishing Co., Inc., 1993). The history of Fort Robinson, Nebraska is much more than a record of battles. The post was a community whose residents -- officers with their wives and children, married enlisted men and their families, and the single men in thee barracks -- lived in close physical proximity but under substantially different conditions. Hardcover in like new condition with a like new dust jacket. Signed. (Item No. 3445) .............$35.00
Schubert, Frank N., Voices of the Buffalo Soldier (Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press, 2003). Drawing of a wide variety of periodicals, military records, and letters, the book covers such key topics as the legislative origin of the inclusion of black soldiers in the army, the campaigns in which the Buffalo Soldiers fought, their daily lives and interactions with white communities, the few black chaplains and line officers who were permitted to serve, and the bravery of some Buffalo Soldier heroes. Hardcover in like new condition with a like new dust jacket. (Item No. 3280) ...............$26.00
White, David A. (editor), News of the Plains and Rockies 1803-1865 (Spokane, WA: The Author H. Clark Co., 1996-2001). A series of nine volumes covering the news stories from the Great Plains – contains more than 4,000 pages and 168 original narratives reprinted from Charles L. Camp’s and Henry R. Wagner’s The Plains and the Rockies, a Bibliography of Original Narratives of Travel and Adventure 1800-1865. All nine volumes are hardcover in new condition, no dust jackets as issued. (Item No. 2184) Was $550.00 for the set of nine books -- Special .....................$425.00
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