Selects: Who were the Buffalo Soldiers? | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

hey everybody happy Saturday it's Chuck. here with a Saturday select. selection yeah that works uh this week. I'm going to go with who were the. Buffalo Soldiers uh this from January. 2020 and uh I love my history episodes. that we do and this is one that uh I. really enjoyed doing cuz we dug in. didn't know anything about this topic. and those are always my favorite when I. go and kind of blind and learn a lot so. check it out who were the buffalo.

[Music]. soldiers welcome to stuff you should. know a production of iHeart. [Music]. Radio hey and welcome to the podcast I'm. Josh Clark there's Charles W Action. Jackson Bryant right sure and then. there's Jerry over there The Flash that. makes this stuff you should know that's. right if there's uh one thing people say.

to me is how much I'm like Carl Weathers. sure and how speedy Jerry. is why why do I want to say that Carl. Weathers had one arm in Action. Jackson I don't think that was the case. has he ever had one arm in any of his oh. I think his arm gets pulled off in. Predator okay I'm complaing the two that. sounds about right I saw Predator but. just once like you know when it came out. I saw it within the last 12 months oh.

yeah I think it's even better now as a. grownup oh yeah yeah okay I can really. feel the tension like you're in the. jungle there with everybody it's amazing. have you been singing uh the Buffalo. Soldier song like constantly in your. head despite my best efforts I can't. stop well I looked up the lyrics because. I was just you know I know some of them. uh but I I wanted to kind of see where. exactly he was probably talking about. the soldiers yeah and there were some. kind of on the nose references sure.

mentioned San Juan mentioned San Juan. what else you know fighting for America. fighting on a Ral mhm fighting for. survival sure uh I I always got it wrong. though I thought he said dreadlock. rockstar no he says dreadlock rosta I. know I learned that today dreadlock. Rockstar I've been sing well I thought. he was talking about himself that's. hilarious I was singing it wrong I mean. he was singing about himself no he. singing about the Buffalo Soldiers they. weren't. rostas I guess some of them could have.

been maybe we'll find out anyway I've. been singing for 40 years dreadlock. Rockstar that's pretty great like a dumb. Dum oh that's all right it's pretty. close man and it still makes sense the. ones that don't make sense are the. hilarious ones that just seems like a. very like I don't know. 1991 white college kid thing to sing. dread like rock star yeah dreadlock rock. yeah when you first start listening to. Bob Marley uhhuh okay you ready I'm. ready so we're talking Buffalo Soldiers. and it is not just to Bob Marley song.

it's if anything the Bob Marley song is. kind of like a histo a history lesson. which is kind of interesting a bit um. but the Buffalo Soldiers was the name of. some all black regiments and then. eventually all black soldiers in the. United States fighting in the United. States military that's right from right. after the Civil War all the way up until. I think. 1951 when the last all black regiment. was disbanded and the military was in.

practice desegregated Yeah but when did. you say that happen I think. 1951 okay um but they did not take on. that name till post Civ Civil. War right and at first it wasn't a name. that they took on themselves it was a. name that was given to them and there's. a lot of dispute over where it came from. who's the first to use it that kind of. stuff but it's a really interesting. history and it's not just an interesting. like military history there's a lot of. like terrible tragic irony involved.

there's um. there's this kind of overarching theme. where you can make a case that the. Buffalo Soldiers are the ones who. actually pav the way for desegregation. throughout the entire United States you. can trace a direct line from their. service to desegregation it's pretty. pretty amazing stuff and yet there's. still this kind of um Cloud that hangs. over them historically because of one of. the things that they participate in.

which was the um genocide of Native. Americans at the behest of the white US. Government right because they were. trying to earn a place in uh White. America right and gain some uh status. and Prestige and White America was like. we want you to do something for us first. and we'll still probably not grant you. that respect yeah which is kind of par. for the course from what I understand as. far as military service uh and being. black in America go goes um in the.

Battle of New Orleans the black fallinks. this black regiment ended up pretty cool. name yeah it really is um they ended up. basically winning the battle um against. the British at the Battle of New Orleans. which actually came ironically after the. end of the war of 1812 but it was still. a decisive battle yeah um and they had. been mustered a lot of them from local. plantations by Andrew Jackson and. Jackson had promised them their freedom. if they came and fought and won and they.

came and fought and won and Jackson said. yeah sorry you have to go back to your. plantations I was lying yeah that's not. a surprise yeah but um imagine that and. that was not the first time that that. had happened to him that was pretty much. par for the course while they were. enslaved they would be promised freedom. for fighting and then no after the fact. that's just not it's not going to happen. yeah and you know like we said the. Buffalo Soldiers uh post Civil War were. and we'll we'll get to um.

like their formal designation and their. regiments and stuff like that okay but. there had been uh individuals enlisted. and all the way back to the. Revolutionary War yeah there were you. know black individuals that would go and. fight but they just weren't grouped in. their own regimens the first one was the. black regiment in uh Rhode Island I. think yeah in the Revolutionary War mm. didn't we talk about them in a a short. stuff about um the black Revolutionary. War Fighters and they moved up to Nova.

Scotia we definitely did did we mhm uh. so the grabster put this uh a lot of. this together for us which was a big. help and it's important to look at what. was going on after the Civil War and. this unique set of circumstances that. were created uh that kind of led to. these regiments being formed yeah which. was uh about 12,000 maybe a little bit. more black veteran soldiers from the. Civil War all of a sudden needed jobs. and they were soldiers at this point so.

they were like you know I I'll keep. doing this this could be my career right. like give us a job yeah uh in. reconstruction in the South they needed. federal troops um they needed white. federal troops well yeah so was probably. not a good idea to send uh black troops. for to oversee reconstruction so to. occupy the South can you imagine no it. would not have been oh my God so they. sent white troops of course but that. created a vacuum elsewhere where they. could use and utilize these black troops. right um there were 4 million slaves.

that were now free and uh edzard a guess. that you know let's say a million one. and a half million of these were adult. males that were ready to go and serve. and fight if need be MH and then we were. going west and we knew that there were. Native Americans out there that were not. going to go easily uh there was Mexico. looming on the horizon as potential. conflict right and because they were. sending white soldiers to the South.

uh they needed people to go out west and. kind of you know keep the peace in a way. and take care of business in another way. or you remove Native Americans forcibly. from their ancestral land that's right. so um on July 28th 1866 Congress did. something really surprising they said. we've got all these kind of expansionist. ideas we've got the South that we need. to occupy we need a bigger Army yeah. we're going to raise a huge peacetime. Army and not only that we're going to. form some all black regiments we're.

going to let black people um enlist for. the first time ever as peacetime. soldiers yeah and partially because they. just needed people and partially because. they thought these black veterans that. fought in the Civil War for the union. they should be rewarded with jobs. exactly so for the first time the. federal government didn't reneg on the. offer of something better after having. served and fought that's right as a. soldier so there was a big deal in just.

having you know allowing um soldiers. black soldiers to enlist during peace. time but the fact that they could enlist. meant that they could become officers as. well which meant West Point was open to. Black um soldiers for the first time. which was a huge deal yeah um in 18 so. in 1866 is when they expanded the Army. just a few years later they wanted to. shrink the Army a little bit so they. Consolidated a bunch of uh regiments. down to 25 and the original I think it.

was six yeah uh four infantry and two. Cavalry were now shrunk down and. combined into the ninth cavalary the. 10th uh Cavalry I'm saying both Calvary. and Cavalry sure just covering all your. bases even though only one of them is. correct and that's Cavalry uh the 24th. Infantry and the 25th Infantry right and. the fact that they survived this. downsizing of the army cuz Congress went. we we need a big army oh it's too big.

let's get rid of some some Soldiers the. fact that all black regiments survived. is really miraculous because in that. downsizing decree a few years later it. wasn't um it wasn't included like and we. still need to keep black regiments in. intact right um and William tumsa. Sherman was no great friend to the black. man by any stretch of the imagination. and he was in charge of downsizing these. troops and yet he knew enough that there. were Congress people congressmen in.

Congress who had created the black. regiments in the first place that they. would not be very happy if he just. dissolved them so he kept them intact. and actually just went from six to four. yeah and it it's interesting because it. was peace time you know during wartime. especially back then it was really. pretty easy to get people to sign up and. volunteer and fight for whatever side. they were on yeah but in peace time they. found that they could get the cream of. the crop of black soldiers. because they didn't have as much.

opportunity so they could really be. picky and get these really like super. capable Fighters whereas on the other. side uh during peace time it was harder. to get white soldiers that were as. capable because they had much more. opportunities to do other things Beyond. like hey I got nothing going on I'll. send it for the Army right exactly and. in the Army too um there's a lot of. mythologizing about um you know how the. black regiments were treated related to. White regiments as well and it seems. like um some historians have shown if.

you trace the supply lines the black. regiment's got the same shoty and then. increasingly better supplies as the. white regiments at the same time and in. the Army you had just. opportunities um that just weren't. afforded to you outside like the. opportunity to make money you know and. have savings and a pension um things. that you could you could kind of Bank on. a future with that that was just not not. part of of the black experience of of.

black men back then right you know uh I. think that's a very. robust setup and more oh oh we're still. doing setup no that's beyond like that's. why I said and more okay but I think. what I'm trying to say is it's a great. time for a break okay yeah yeah all. right we'll be right back and we'll talk. a little. bit about how this name came to be right. after. [Music]. this.

[Music]. so there's a lot in here about how this. name came to be right but uh I think we. condense it um we can condense it to. just a couple of versions uh one of. which was that the name may have come. from the Native Americans as sort of an.

honor like they're Brave and they fight. they're like Fierce like the Buffalo and. like Sasha Fierce I don't know what that. is that's like Beyonce's weird Alias. really why do stars when you get to this. enormous huge Point decide to create an. alter ego that is always not good Chris. Gaines yes learn the lesson from Chris. Gaines yeah who else has done that I. feel it doesn't matter Chris Gaines is. some Stardust certainly worked Captain.

Fantastic worked fine Chris Gaines. negates all those no I agree okay I. didn't know that uh Beyonce very. shortlived really mhm and what was the. Persona was it like really different I. guess she was fierce I don't know I just. heard her name a couple of times Well. Beyonce's Fierce though right right you. don't need an ultra ego Beyonce you're. Fierce enough you don't want to go too. much fiercer you should be her manager I. should you know All the Right Moves so. that is uh that is one of the stories.

was that it was a honor a name of Honor. from the Native Americans but this to me. sounds like it might have been just. something kind of cooked up in history. books or it just kind of converted into. that maybe the um smithsonia Museum of. African-American history says yeah that. stands as popular lore that's one um. example another is basically there's two. competing ones and that is that the. Native Americans did give this name to. the the black soldiers but that they.

were referring to the uh wooliness of. the black solders hair compared to white. soldiers hair and that if you look. between the horns of a buffalo that kind. of like tupe almost that the Buffalo is. wearing Bears a vague resemblance to it. and that's where it initially came from. yeah and there's like direct evidence. from letters and stuff of the time of. this um whether or not it was true or. not it was it was at least down in print. as being the reason yeah but we don't. know for sure uh and we don't.

know for sure how they felt about the. name other than it seems like as time. went on they kind of embraced the name. right as a. designation um and in one case there was. one troop that did use a bison uh on a. patch on their uniform but then bison. were used on other patches on uniforms. of white soldiers too oh I think it was. strictly black regiments oh really just. later ones that weren't the 9th 10th. 24th or 25th oh gotcha that that was my. interpretation of okay but but yeah by. the time I think 1911 is when that first.

patch appears but so by the time 1911. rolls around the black regiments had um. had totally like taken on Buffalo. Soldier as a a name of Honor yeah and. and Ed points out and I think it's fair. it's easy now in 2020 to look back at um. two uh two ethnic groups that were you. know kept under the thumb of the white. man and say that oh you know the Native. Americans respected them as fierce figh. ERS and the black soldiers respected the.

Native Americans but that's probably. retroactive um revisionist revisionist. history because you know there were. plenty of cases where uh the Buffalo. Soldiers referred to them as you know. Savages and one case of one soldier you. know going as a a costume party dressed. up in I guess what you would call a red. face oh yeah and uh so yeah it seems. like that's sort of cooked up these days. like they really had much respect for. one another right during their battles.

but I don't know if that's the case no. but you can understand how that would. how people would want to do that sure. you know because I mean the the sending. African-American soldiers out to remove. Native Americans from their. land with violence yeah at the behest of. white people it's not a good story no. it's a terrible story yeah it takes a. bad story it makes it worse and then at. the same time um there's a real silver. lining to it there's that good story.

that like black soldiers served as. Heroes for the black community in. America as a whole at a time when they. really needed some black Heroes you know. and the Jim Crow South was really. starting to to solidify um so it's not. like an all bad story but it's. definitely not an all good story either. so people want like a nice storybook. ending for sure which is surely where. that came from yeah I think so so should. we talk a little bit about um what they. did. yeah their service record yeah when they.

were um first assembled in I think the. late to Mid. 1860s um they were almost immediately. moved out to the frontier Kansas then. Texas New Mexico um and pushing further. and further west as their work was. increasingly successful yeah and usually. under the command of white officers yeah. um it was not looked at as some great. assignment if you were a white officer. uh to go west and command one of the.

Buffalo Soldier regiments yeah it would. have been like being stationed in Alaska. or something like that Alaska's great. although some some white commanding. officers did rise to the occasion yeah. and had a lot of great things to say. about the soldiers too for sure some of. them definitely did not rise to the. occasion and actually went the other way. right you know yeah and you mentioned. West Point uh this was a huge deal. because like you said now uh these young. men could go uh attend West Point and.

come out officers upon entry into the. army uhhuh uh there were quite a few. cases one was uh a man named Henry. flipper he was the first black graduate. of West Point in 1877 came out his. second lieutenant in the 10th Cal uh. Cavalry and was basically set up with a. court Marshal there was a case where. there was some uh he was put in charge. of a quartermaster safe to like guard it. basically and and take charge of it. money becomes missing he uh kind of.

freaks out and lies about it uh it's. kind of all evidence pointed to the fact. that he didn't take the money but he did. lie about how did he where what did he. lie about then I couldn't find I think. that the initial money was missing at. all maybe or I'm not really sure got but. it looks like it was a setup he was. acquitted of the main charge even back. then yeah and was found guilty of an. added charge of conduct un becoming of. an officer the lying part right uh and. was dis Miss from the Army which even. back then was an overblown sentence.

compared to the similar charges of white. officers right you the Army at the time. he could have gotten his discharge. changed to honorable discharge but the. Army apparently didn't have any. procedure to do that so it was up to the. commanderin-chief Chester A Arthur uh to. decide yay or nay and he just for he. just let it pass by right but he so um. Lieutenant was he a lieutenant second. Lieutenant second Lieutenant flipper. when to his grave saying that he was.

innocent and um he in the 90s I think. 1998 Bill Clinton finally pardoned him. Billy boy he did and Clinton that ghoul. ordered him exhumed and reburied with. full military honors oh interesting but. they suspect that Clinton just wanted to. see what the body looked like come. on he said let's do this right yeah he. probably did say that so there were. another couple of cases John Hanks Al.

Alexander and Charles young uh they were. West Point grads early on they went on. to lead these uh. regiments and uh that's not to say that. at West Point it was smooth Salin of. course right you know they had a very. hard time there and still persevered. yeah extraordinarily um Ed points out. that in the Tuskegee Airman episode to I. think we talked about how the um those. guys who went through West Point had or. the military academy had just an awful. time of it too yeah I mean that.

happened I mean it probably still. happens to some degree sure but I mean I. read the Lord's of discipline I did too. and saw the movie I don't know if I saw. the movie or not and that was what year. was that set that was it's probably 60s. was it I don't remember what was the. problem with that guy he just was soft. or something wasn't it he like was was a. um uh he had. feelings you know I don't remember I. haven't seen it in a long time yeah but.

um that was the Citadel not West Point. which is Navy I think right Air Force. Marines I'm not sure what the Citadel is. National Guard I don't know Cub Scouts. yes it was Cub Scouts Citadel famous Cub. Scout break spirit so uh these regiments. had about a thousand troops and. officers but. um they were constantly under Supply. yeah and like you said earlier it's.

there's no evidence that they were. intentionally under supplied no but it's. a myth that they were yeah but kind of. everyone out west was because it takes a. long time to get stuff out there and a. lot of those old Civil War weapons and. equipment were pretty shoddy anyway yeah. plus I mean it's not really easy to come. by water in the New Mexico desert where. you're fighting the Cheyenne or the. Apache um like so you have horses that. need water too because you're a Cavalry. unit um and the horses were break down. was a really bad time as they were.

moving further and further west because. we tend to think of the United States. military like in the terms of today this. just incredibly well-oiled. logistical Juggernaut sure that was not. the case after the Civil War as a matter. of fact until I believe the. Spanish-American War the United States. military was looked upon internationally. as kind of like a not not not the best. around oh yeah certainly not the best. toit the logist. we didn't have that kind of stuff down.

you didn't hear it from me but right. exactly but um and this is you know the. the army that these guys were enlisted. in yeah so they were dealing with an. army that was not was Finding its feet. and then also on the frontier of the. United States at a time when they're. protecting the people building the. railroads so there's not even the. railroads out there yet one of their. jobs was to protect railroad uh workers. mail carriers people who were on cattle.

drives yeah um these were the the jobs. they were tasked with uh well they were. also fighting like we said in what was. known as the Indian Wars uh including. some of the some of the big ones I think. we need to do a a big old episode on the. Indian Wars yeah yeah let's do it. Wounded Knee yeah uh the White River War. yeah I'd never heard of that one I I. looked it up the war is not a term for. most of these it should be Massacre no. straight up massacres yeah although.

here's the other thing too this is. really easy for guys like us to do. especially in retrospect is um what's. called like mythologizing the noble. savage right where the where we kind of. make it seem like the Indians were just. the people who you know kind of meekly. accepted their fate and were just rolled. over by the US government through this. Westward Expansion that's not the case. in almost every case the further we got. the fierce of the fighting got they.

pushed back for sure they engaged in. massacres that included killing uh women. and children and. non-combatants um both sides did so it's. not like the the Native Americans were. just innocent of of Bloodshed right but. it's important to remember that they. were they were defending their lands. from Invaders they were the insurgents. in that so there's like a certain amount. of um moral Higher Ground that they. afforded just for being in that position.

right you know oh for sure but it's just. that's the thing that's why I've always. been fascinated about history is like. it's never just you know black and white. yeah there's so much Nuance that gets. overlooked especially if you were raised. in like you know public schools in. America exactly not a lot of nuance. going on white people swooped in and. everything was great exactly so by the. 1890s the Indian Wars ended um the. reservations popped up uh or they were. just flat out massacred like you said or.

imprisoned and this is when the Buffalo. Soldiers started uh taking part in some. of the land disputes out west with white. settlers yeah uh the removal of the the. Sooners in Oklahoma that's huge it is. huge cuz all of a sudden black regiments. show up and they're like you you might. be white but you need to get out of here. because you didn't follow the rules. that's right that's a huge change from a. decade or so before when like those. people would have been enslaved in the. south right it's it's a big deal uh what. else you mentioned San Juan from uh the.

the Bob Marley song yeah that's that was. when they entered the National stage for. the first time yeah fighting in Kuba and. Puerto Rico yeah it's very confusing. they fought at the Battle of San Juan. Hill in Cuba and the battle for S Juan. in Puerto Rico that's right under the. 10th regimen M under the command of a. guy named General John persing yes who. you might be familiar with is known as. blackjack persing the famous World War I. General yeah I had heard I knew I had.

heard of him he was named Blackjack. because he was in command of the black. regiments the 10th Cavalry and I mean I. think in the first world war he was a. little less um willing to stand up and. like advocate for them but by the time. World War II came around he was okay so. I didn't hear about the World War II. part but that was a pretty big betrayal. in World War I because he led the 10th. Cavalry up San Juan Hill in Cuba um. along with the Rough Riders along with. white uh infantry the the this battle.

was one of the first ones right before. the turn of the 20th century yeah um. where there were if you were standing. back like looking at this battle there's. black guys there's white guys there's. black guys on horses there's Spanish. people coming down here like there's all. these people but the the black um. soldiers and the white soldiers were. were intermingling fighting together. side by side yeah and they won and Teddy. Roosevelt said it was all me I I won the. Battle of of Cuba San Juan in Cuba sure.

but historians say actually no these. black regiments specifically the 10th. Cavalry really won this battle in the. Spanish American war down in Cuba and it. was huge it put the Buffalo Soldiers on. the map yeah for really the first time. ever in the American popular. Consciousness and like um black families. around America like you could go into. their dining room and there'd be a print. of like like a painting of the battle of. San Juan with the Buffalo Soldiers.

storming the hill like um one historian. put it that they were there that. Generations Jack Jackie Robinson and Joe. Lewis like they were the heroes like I. was saying they were the heroes at a. time when Jim Crow laws were really. coming into into Force at a really. really uh Bleak time for Black America. all of a sudden there's these Buffalo. Soldiers that basically helped win the. Spanish American war fighting alongside. white soldiers too and being equal in. that respect and that's why you'll see.

all those statues right next to Teddy. Roosevelt's statu exactly. exactly and you know what I may have. made up that part about General persing. advocating moral World War II now that I. think about it oh well that was I didn't. get to the Betrayal thing Chuck so when. World War I roll rolled around he was in. charge of I think basically everybody in. Europe and he turned his back on his. black regiment yeah and all black. soldiers and basically said no you guys. fight in your own regiment so we don't. want you fighting side by side and but.

the French were like hey come fight with. us we'll uh we'll command you that. reminded me the French were also the. first ones to recognize officially the. Native American code talkers even before. the United States did oh I remember that. and they also used black aviators in. World War I too so up with the French. historically speaking right there's a. t-shirt they gave us those fries sure. and that bread you mean Freedom fries. uh-huh Freedom Bread I feel like I'm. talking a lot oh yeah am I I mean no.

more than usual okay Freedom Bread so in. World War II uh the Buffalo Soldier. units were used a lot um a lot of times. though they were not on the front lines. they were uh stuck to administrative and. support duties um but they did join in. combat here and there uh in on both uh. the theaters and the war um you mostly. toward toward the end of World War II um. but it was you know a lot of this a lot.

of the good that you see coming out of. what the Buffalo Soldiers did was. foundation work and groundw work for. desegregating the military for uh. showing that these guys are just the. same as white soldiers they're uh just. as capable uh they fight just as bravely. um and it really kind of laid that. groundwork for the desegregation after. the war yes like a direct line for it. it's weird but. basically a way to put it is that the.

White America said okay all right if you. uh we'll we'll give you a shot you go. out and and serve in battle and let's. see what you what you can do and then. maybe we'll see what we we'll see from. there and just by G being given that one. opportunity to to show that they could. do things that were presumed they. couldn't like act bravely and fight um. and be a good soldier that was like you. know good at being a soldier they proved.

that all of these myths about how black. people couldn't do these things were. wrong and that kind of thing opens up. some people's eyes to okay well what. else do I think about black people that. are wrong and it's weird to think about. because on a in on a um on a social. level that that's what it takes that. that people's minds can be changed like. that but historically speaking in. retrospect like that's how it happens. yeah you know like one Prejudice is.

tested and then all of a sudden other. prejudices start falling away slowly. yeah kind of kind of falling over like. dominoes totally very very slowly though. yeah unfortunately like dominoes you can. only picture falling fast do that in. slowmo it's almost a terrible analogy. almost so uh it's crazy to think but um. even though desegregation happened uh. long before this it takes a while for. that to fully happen right and they were. Buffalo Soldier units in the Korean War.

yep all black units in the Korean War. there was a but it was 1948 I think that. Truman signed this act desegregating the. military yeah and I think it was uh took. three more years 1951 was when the final. uh final one was disbanded the 27th. right but that's why I was saying you. could trace a direct line of. desegregation from the military because. that was the first chance that Black. America had to show that could be. treated equally and that it could act. equally yeah um and they showed that and.

it led to desegregation in the military. and then 3 years after the actual in. practice desegregation of military. regiments there was the Brown versus. Board of Education yeah ruling which not. in practice but in theory desegregated. schools right so it went Army schools. and then eventually socially it just. kept going yeah but it was because of. the Buffalo Soldiers in in their service.

directly undisputedly oh yeah I mean. it's crazy to think as late as the. Korean War though some of those units. were still fighting because when I think. of mash it doesn't feel modern but it. doesn't feel. like Buffalo Soldier territory right. yeah Buffalo Soldiers you think of like. 19th century American West not 1950s. Korea no you don't think of Hawkeye and. his Jin. still uh I guess it was one black. character on Mash with a very. unfortunate name but we won't talk about.

that I'm not familiar oh good I don't. remember uh all right well I think we. should take a break and come back and. talk about what is to me okay uh one of. the cooler aspects of this whole story. The Bob Marley song no we'll be right. [Music]. back.

all right we're back uh and we're going. to talk about what I think is one of the. coolest little Parts here of this whole. story which I never knew if you've ever. been to SEO National Park or Yos. National Park or some other national. parks out west M and you're hiking a. trail or driving down a road uh you. might have the Buffalo Soldiers to thank. for that trail and those roads yeah uh.

they and it's one of their their. highlight achievements to me is once we. established the national parks Teddy. Roosevelt again yeah build statues of. him right um You had to enforce this. stuff cuz this was the first time we. were like wait a minute this is. protected land you can't just come in. here and take the timber or hunt you. know the animals like right there are. rules now you set up like you set aside. grazing land you set aside National Park. Libertarians they take issue with that. kind of thing and you need to have.

Buffalo Soldiers to fight them off. that's right so from 1891 to 1913 about. 25 years or so these uh some of these. black regiments were essentially the. first Park Rangers yeah they didn't have. that name at the time um but they kept. the poachers at Bay uh stopped the. illegal grazing and the timber thieves. uh they fought wildfires yeah I didn't. get a chance to like really look into. this but I wonder what 193 Wildfire. fighting was like I'll bet it was real.

dicey Bucket Brigade stuff probably like. 2020 firefighting is dicey Wildfire. fighting but 100 years ago man I'll bet. it was I can't imagine good Lord uh but. like I said with the trails and stuff a. lot of uh some of the more significant. trails and Roads some of the buildings. yeah some of the older cabins they were. built and constructed by Buffalo. Soldiers which is just super cool yeah. so if you find a building in yusim or. seoa National Park Parks that's from. 1891 to 1913 yes then it was probably.

built by Buffalo Soldiers or hiking a. trail yeah this is all just super cool. yeah it is pretty cool they also rode. bicycles uh around the place too which. is kind of neat yeah yeah um so Chuck. The Last Buffalo Soldier and I mean like. original Buffalo Soldier uh Mark. Matthews he died on September 6 2005 he. was interred at Arlington National. Cemetery he was 111 years old and he. actually fought under General persing in.

the 10th Cavalry uh on the hunt for. Poncho via oh yeah yeah think uh I don't. know if we mentioned that how many. Medals of Honor were there 23 I saw 23. the national museum of uh. African-American history says 18 I'm. going to go with them all right. somewhere between 18 and 23 let's say. that yeah so you know the I guess the. moral of the story is that they did. provide this um direct line to. desegregation not only through the Army.

but like you're saying all through. America but sadly a lot of them did exit. the military um some of them did have a. little uh higher status and a leg to. stand on right many of them didn't uh. there there was a study of lynchings in. the US that found that black military. veterans were targeted uh and lynched. more than non-veteran black people with. the idea uh that it was a real threat. and uh the racist white South for a. black man to leave the army with some.

Rank and some status feeling good guns. feeling good about himself don't forget. in the Tulsa Massacre episode it was the. World War I vets who are like uh no. we're going to go defend this boy from. being lynched right with guns they. showed up with guns I think um there I. remember in the Black Panther episode. too um they they traced a direct line of. this um this sense of like you need to. defend yourself and protect yourself. with Firearms they trace that directly.

to World War I veterans oh yeah yeah so. there is some a a a terrible logic to. that I guess yeah for sure uh there was. also a terrible um Senator and governor. of Mississippi named James uh vardeman. who was just straight up white. supremacist like no matter how you slice. it you could have just said senator from. Mississippi in 1917 uh sure uh. he he spoke to the US Senate and he. really kind of crystallizes how they.

felt about uh black veterans in 1917 on. the senate floor he said once you. impress the Negro with the fact that he. is defending the flag and inflate his un. tortured uh soul with military heirs his. political rights must be respected um. and he wasn't saying like and that's. great yeah so let's respect that yeah. this was a a warning basically right and. he was uh over over over uh looked he.

they didn't listen to him no ultimately. because they did continue having black. soldiers as soldiers and eventually. desegregated which led to desegregation. In America which is pretty great that's. right I would love to hear from some. current African-American military. personnel because I I want to know what. the current sort of uh temperature as as. an active service. person oh what the racism's like in the. military yeah sure I'm sure you know.

there'll be different versions of that. story MH uh depending on who you're in. contact with and what your particular. like platoon is like yeah I wonder. though because the military is like some. kind of weird Similac. of American society it is I wonder if. it's more racist or less racist I think. there's a chance you could go either way. I mean my guess is less you know my uh. like I said my brother-in-law before and. is a marine and pretty high up you could.

say and every time I've been on these. Marine bases a lot and it all seems like. they're all sort of you know got that. thinking that group think going on like. we're we're just Marines like none of us. are a color we're green well I've seen. full metal jacket right and there are a. lot of RAC of stuff in there no I'm sure. okay yeah could go either way it could. go either way I would like to hear um. that as well I'd also like to hear from. any Native American listeners to know.

what what they were taught about Buffalo. solders too what was passed down within. the different tribes yeah cuz they. contacted all sorts of different tribes. from the the Lakota Sue up in the north. down to the Apaches in New Mexico and. Mexico yeah um yeah teach us everyone. yeah we'll we'll read them on listener. mail uh if you want to know more about. Buffalo Soldiers there's a lot of really. great stuff to read uh and you can't. really go wrong with a guy named Frank. Schubert who is a scholar of them of.

Buffalo Soldiers and he's got a lot of. articles on the web and I believe some. books too um and since I said Frank. Schubert it's time for listener mail oh. no it's not oh that's right you know. what it's time for hit him Chuck it is. time for. administrative. details so uh we haven't done this in a. little while if you're new to the show. administrative details is where we take.

a couple of minutes we're going to do. this on this episode in the next you got. that straight to read out uh some thank. yous tell them Chuck for some of the. kindnesses that people throw our way. that's right whether they be uh physical. totems like what t-shirts and buttons. and okay to confectionaries like cookies. and pastries and cheeses I like that uh. what I did not do on this one and I feel. bad cuz you probably did is write down. all the names of all the postcards and. letters uh I wrote down the ones that I.

I yeah I think I've got basically. everybody and we should say we almost. always miss somebody yeah or a few so if. we don't say your name and you've not. been thanked on a previous. administrative detail please get in. touch with us so we can correct that. that's right and if you have a letter or. a postcard that is on my desk uh I'll. include those in the next batch because. now I feel bad bam all right let's go. through these oh and there's also some. people who I don't have names for but we. do have the item so you can also write. in and be like that was me that's right.

for example the very nice person who. gave us almond cookies and whiskey cake. at our Orlando show oh that's right our. live show in Orlando don't remember or. don't have the name of who gave us that. but thank you for him uh Katie from. Davis California sent us some uh cool. little notebooks uh they they were. little notebooks like um schemes was. like the title of one of them you can. write down your schemes band names just. sort of fun names on the coverage of.

these notebooks thanks a lot a huge huge. thanks as always to our good friends. Hillary and Mike loar and their good. friends the people at Flathead like. cheese for all the cheese that's right. Flathead like cheese is Far and Away my. favorite cheese in the world it's good. cheese they make very good cheese you. guys cannot go wrong just go get some. Flathead Lake cheese and you'll love it. yeah a lot of uh I don't know if they. specialize in guda but we seemen to be. on the Gudda mailing list they make a. hopped guda that is my favorite have you.

had it oh yeah oh my gosh it's yum it. has hops in it I know like it's a beer. but it's cheese uh and while we're on. the loar uh Hillary and Mike and Coupe. um I just got this today they sent us. aprons yeah word butcher yeah aprons. that is so appropriate so it's a knife. going into the lettering of a word. butcher because I don't know if you guys. know this but we are well known to. mispronounce everything yeah to butt.

your words I knew you're were going to. do that so uh uh smati from France sent. us a tea card with some l two marats tea. attached thank you smti yeah uh Jess F. sent us his game that he designed. philosophy the game or better yet drunk. philosophy nice that's a great name uh. Katie Barnes from the Barnes made Soap. Company for the wonderful soap all of. them are really good but I strongly. recommend the Autumn fig and the Mariner.

brine bar good stuff oh you can head. over to Barnes made b a r NES m a. d.com for some of Katie soaps uh Becky. in France uh sent us planetary coasters. that she made in her studio is uh seid. studio.com that is c p he d studio.com. if you want some planetary coasters they. are pretty Spacey and awesome Uh Kevin.

reuter gave us Basil Hayden and bullet. Rye you remember that at our show at the. Bell House oh yes and even wrapped them. up as Christmas presents that's right. which is just lovely thanks a lot Kevin. and funny enough at the show somebody. asked us like what our what like drink. we would want to have on a desert island. if we could only have one and both of us. were saying gin drinks and he was like. well I I guess I guess wrong with the. basil ha the bullet I was like no dude. you you nailed it we're all inclusive uh.

our Buddy Van Nostra and I feel like he. sent us more than this so if you have. something else let us know yeah uh we. just hung out with him and his uh. wonderful wife Leah yes uh in Seattle. they sent us he sent us some records. some awesome records Smurfs Disco Duck. Lawrence Welk and uh John Denver the. John Denver Muppets Christmas and you. know what um van nostrin gave us books. before and one of them was about uh oh I. can't say yet cuz that oh really cuz the. live show is not out but he gave us a.

book about the live show years ago and I. never got around to reading it oh that's. right they reminded me after the show. they're like uh you know we sent you. that book you dummy oh yeah I said I'll. have to read it now uh will and Katie. Len Lee sent us coffee from coffee by. Design so nice delish uh let's see. Nicole Collins uh do doctor of. osteopathy sent us a copy of her book. Insight which is on. Vision like real vision and the miracle. that is Vision so check it out Insight I.

thought you going to say do doctor of. metal I I I was um delivered by a do and. one of the things they do is they adjust. you like you're a baby and they adjust. you like a chiropractor when you're born. I was born breech so the do adjusted me. in reverse order and apparently everyone. in the delivery room gave him a golf. clap afterward and you wait W your hand. and said thank you everyone yeah thank. you I have a taste for this Applause. thing fart gurgled fart uh Indigo proof.

from Portland uh sent me a gift. certificate for one free denim repair. nice cuz I complained about my Levis. blown out so they said send me those. jeans and we'll fix them for you y. That's Indigo proof in where else do. they fix jeans Portland Oregon uh that. is a jean fix in town for sure I've got. a a super old one from not this past. October but the October before last.

Chuck wow do you remember Kathy with a K. Tosh at I believe our Phoenix show or. our Salt Lake City show one of the two. what you talking about gave us. lassos real live lassos rope and rope. and she said go on YouTube and learn how. to lasso now yeah and I have yet to do. that but I still have my lasso so thanks. a lot Kathy appreciate you to yeah it's. not only cool to cuz I will try and. learn that one day but it looks cool. hanging on a wall for sure you know and. also I think Kathy is a postal worker so. hopefully she dug our um our going.

postal episode I haven't heard from her. that's right email us Kathy and let know. how we did I have a correction to read. but I'll just wait for listener mail for. that one oh yeah that was think that was. me that was my bad was it just you I. think so somebody else made it seem like. it was me too um how many more should we. do for this one I let's do three more. okay Anna Parker uh she is a painter and. muralist uh who did this lovely painting. of uh my three dogs two of which are now.

dearly departed oh but it's very very. sweet and uh speaking of which you can. find those her work at Sweet te. mural.com oh yes very nice uh let's see. um Lance Roper who's my boy from Toledo. who uh is from actual coffee and Toledo. sent me some really good coffee so check. out actual coffee and Toledo actual. coffee yes uh Betty eply s voodoo dolls. of us oh I want to know who made that.

great those are so cool they are yeah. they're like really uh cute and they're. Laden with little Easter eggs like of. I'm holding all kinds of crazy things. that all relate to shows I'm holding a. magic mushroom really yeah well that's. from a show um but they had no pins we. should point out so they weren't uh. voodo dolls that were out to harm us no. uh her son Josh introduced her to the. Show and her husband wait to. so thanks Betty yeah Momo's riding my. foot on mine too oh really yeah that's.

very cute uh let's see um the wooden egg. and Special Egg coasters Sy ysk egg. coasters from the very kind people at. Good Egg world yeah yeah all right I got. one more for this uh dish okay Adam. Peterson this was a really cool gift he. sent us two bottles of Coca-Cola from. the very last run of returnable bottles. that Coca-Cola ever did oh wow uh they. were small family run bottler in Winona. Minnesota and he said his in-laws had.

run it since 1932 so these were the last. run of returnables that came off the. line and they're even stamped with their. little family bottler name and. everything oh that's really cool very. cool uh all right last one this one came. from the Toronto show guy named Phil. Bowen gave us each a prosthetic eye oh. man that's one of the best ever one of. the best gifts either one of us has ever. gotten Co so thanks a lot for our. prosthetic eyes Phil we still have them. I think there's a picture of us wearing.

them too yeah okay uh if you want to get. in touch with us just to say hi or to. send us something it doesn't matter you. can go on to stuffy should know.com and. follow our Social Links there I think. and uh as always you can send us an. email wrap it up spank it on the bottom. and send it off to stuff podcast. iheartradio.com. [Music]. stuff you should know is a production of. iHeart radio for more podcasts my heart. radio visit the iHeart Radio app Apple. podcasts or wherever you listen to your.

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