Buffalo Soldiers

Page last updated 09/29/2011

This list was compiled with the assistance of the stalwart keyers/arbitrators of Buffalo Soldiers returns on the US Military Records forum  (ancestry.com World Archives Project).  Big shoutouts to mabnightowl, johnnowlin60, kgawne66, scrapma1, rrnatsch, for sharing their resources, and I sincerely hope I didn't forget anyone!

It is important to note that these tools should only be used to deciphering information and handwriting, not for correcting it. As keyers and arbitrators in the WAP project, we're entering data from historical documents.  We're not charged with correcting what was written, we're charged with documenting what was written.  Making assumptions that we know more than the person who was there and actually wrote the document will lead to misinformation.

The purpose of this list of links is to assist folks who are working on the WAP Buffalo Soldiers project as keyers or arbitrators of data records. You can learn more about the project by clicking on the link above. If you'd like to volunteer for this (or any other) keying project, you don't have to have a paid membership at ancestry.com, but you do need to be a registered user. We will not asnwer questions about Buffalo Soldiers WAP Keying project here.  Please use the appropriate forum for any questions.

Mary Ann (mabnightowl) put together a GREAT how-to image for keying Buffalo Soldier returns for WAP. UPDATED to new tool 8/15/2010!!

NEW RESOURCE:  A Facebook Group has been started for WAP keyers (not Buffalo Soldiers-specific, but useful)

Lists- people (enlisted, officers, troops, regiments, etc)

1. West Point cadets from the 1870 era 
2. U.S. Army, Register of Enlistments, 1798-1914
3. Smith's First Directory of Oklahoma Territory - Active Military Personnel (1890 census extracts, etc
4. Buffalo Soldiers Of New Mexico - 1880 census extraction of Buffalo Soldiers (new link) 
5. Officers and Enlisted Men of the 9th United States Cavalry Regiment - 1910
6. ROSTER - 9th UNITED STATES VOLUNTEER INFANTRY 1898 to 1899
7. 10th Cavalry Roster - Spanish American War 1898 
8. Fort Davis
9. Enlisted 9th Cav buried at Ft. Bayard; NM
10. Buffalo Soldiers Buried at Fort Bayard, MN (slightly longer list)  (NEW)
11. Buffalo Soldiers from the 9th & 10th buried at Fort Bayard (alphabetized list) (NEW)
12. Roster of Officers of the 9th and 10th United States Cavalry Regiments - July 28, 1866 (NEW)

LISTS - locations (forts, camps, barracks, ships)

1. Place Names in the US
2. Alphabetical list to (some of the) US Forts (clickable links):
3. "Indian Era" Forts
4. 9th Cavalry and Fort Naco, Ariz
5. Kansas Forts: Western US Army Frontier Forts
6. North American Forts - List of forts with very brief historical notes.
7. Western N. America (note that there are links to updated info, but it has not all been incorporated into the original site)
8. Wikipedia - List of United States Army installations
9. Burial Registers for Military Posts, Camps, and Stations, 1768-1921 (some narrative at the begining)
10. Frontier and Colonial Forts of the United States
11. Links to Old West Forts and Towns
12. ZC (Ship) Files - Navy Department Library - list of ship names, useful particularly for working on documents from Philippines
13. Towns of the USA 
14. Ghost Towns  (warning, midi file starts when page loads, just a little annoying)
15. Colorado Places by County
16. List of Forts in Philippines (Wiki) (NEW)
17. US Military Bases in Philippines Over Time (NEW)
18. Utah Forts of the Old West (NEW)

Useful Books

1. PDF format downloadable book, "Biographical register of the officers and graduates of the U. S. Military academy, from 1802 to 1867. Rev. ed., with a supplement continuing the register of graduates to January 1, 1879"  - Mary Ann says, "Using the search tool once you download it, you can find even some of the hardest officers to locate (though likely not ALL!)"
2. THE TENTH REGIMENT OF CAVALRY. By LIEUTENANT JOHN BIGELOW, JR., U. S. A., R. Q. M. TENTH CAVALRY.
3. Army wives on the American frontier: living by the bugles By Anne Bruner Eales
4. Biographical register of the officers and ..., Volume 1, Pages 92-5115
5. Don's Google Book List - A great list of useful books
6. Internet Text Archive
7. Domestic United States Military Facilities of the First World War 1917-1919 By Robert Swanson

Narratives

1. THE NINTH REGIMENT OF CAVALRY
2. Chronicles of Oklahoma -Volume 2, No. 4 December, 1924 THE NINETEENTH KANSAS CAVALRY IN THE WASHITA CAMPAIGN
3. The Fort Arbuckle Collection
4. Kansas Historical Quarterly - The Military Post as a Factor in the Frontier Defense of Kansas, 1865-1869
5. VisionQuest: Buffalo Soldiers of History  - includes unit histories showing names and places
6. Buffalo Soldiers Buffalo Soldiers and Indian Wars
7. Wikipedia on Buffalo Soldiers
8. Forgotten American History Page - narratives histories of 9th & 10th Cavalry, 25th & 24th Infantry, and much more from 1866 to 1944 (WARNING: includes a VERY ANNOYING pointer animation)
9. History of 10th Cavalry 1866-1921 - a downloadable, digitized book
10. 1878 Adobe Barracks, Fort Robinson Nebraska - downloadable, digitized book
11. Brief History  - 2 page narrative on Buffalo Soldiers
12. Invisible Men: Buffalo Soldiers of the Sierra Nevada
13. The 28th Cavalry: The U.S. Army’s Last Horse Cavalry Regiment
14. Buffalo Soldiers at San Juan Hill - US Army History
15. THE TENTH REGIMENT OF CAVALRY - US Army History
16. TWENTY-FIFTH REGIMENT OF INFANTRY - US Army History
17. Legends of Kansas 
18. Utah Forts of the Old West (NEW)

Handwriting tools

1. Deciphering Old Handwriting - From a genealogy course taught by Sabina J. Murray
2. Commonly Confused Letters in Old Handwriting and Script
3. Basic Handwriting Tip: The Long S
4. Reading Old Handwriting
5. Image Analyzer (free software)
6. Irfanview Image Analyzer - you can make notes on this one (NEW)

Other  

1. MAP: The Trans-Mississippi West
2. Historical Maps of the US
3. Fort Huachuca with photos
4. Ft Huachuca Timeline (post commanders, etc.)
5. Nationwide veteran gravesite locator - can be helpful to find someone on your image you can't decipher too well
6. Mary Ann (mabnightowl) put together a GREAT how-to image for keying Buffalo Soldier returns for WAP (link updated 8/15/2010 to new tool)
7. Various Buffalo Soldiers links, several actually helpful
8. Map - Indian Territory
9. Timeline: US Army - African Americans in the US Army (very minimal info, really basic stuff)
10. General Order #143 - May 27, 1863 (regarding the organization of African American troops)
11. MAP with names "Western Indian Wars 1860-1890, battles, army posts, and the general location of tribes" (NEW)
12. MAP: New Mexico Map 1895 (NEW)
13. MAP: Texas Frontier Forts 1849-1852 (new)
14. MAP: Texas Frontier Forts 1852-1862 (new)
15. MAP: Texas After the Civil War (new)