Buffalo Soldiers

PRIVATE TATE
BUFFALO SOLDIER

Walter Tate was born nearby in 1854. He enlisted as a private on 6 May 1879 at Fort Concho (present-day San Angelo), Texas, in Company M, 10^th Regiment, U. S. Cavalry. Tate and those who served with him on the western frontier defended settlements, livestock, the U.S. mail, and stage routes from bandits, cattle thieves, and Mexican revolutionaries. The Indians called Tate and other soldiers of color "Buffalo Soldiers" because of their dark curly hair, endurance, and strength, claiming that these attributes reminded them of their much-prized buffaloes. Tate was discharged on 5 May 1884. This buffalo soldier died in Westmoreland County in 1933.

Lewis Carter, Private 25th Inf. Born in Westmoreland County, VA; Height 5' 10", Black hair and eyes, brown complexion; discharged from Company I, 10th Cavalry January 3, 1887; aligned to Company G, 25th Infantry with third enlistment at age 32, Washington, D. C., February 2, 1887; Arrived Ft. Snelling, MN, April 1, 1887. In Troop I of the 10^th Cavalry stationed at Bonita Canyon Camp, AZ. June 30, 1886

Richard Johnson, brother to Armistead Tasker Johnson, served in the 10^th Regiment, U. S. Cavalry in Texas, Kansas and the Indian Territory, from 1874 through 1883.