African-American 'Buffalo Soldiers' protected national parks before rangers

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http://missoulian.com/lifestyles/territory/african-american-buffalo-soldiers-protected-national-parks-before-rangers/article_a53fe0ba-2833-11e1-b6b9-001871e3ce6c.html

A.B. Coe, Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives

These soldiers from the 10th Cavalry served as escorts to Gen. Wesley Merritt’s party.
They are pictured here in 1894 having lunch at a recreation camp in St. Mary.

WEST GLACIER - An often overlooked aspect of Glacier National Park's history is that its
earliest stewards were segregated black army regiments created during the Civil War and
whose members came to be known as "Buffalo Soldiers."

Before the National Park Service was created in 1916, military troops bore responsibility
for patrolling federal lands, and the black regiments took turns marching into Glacier,
Yellowstone, Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks.

"The African-American troops known as the Buffalo Soldiers played a central role in protecting
our national parks. They were, in fact, our national parks' first guardians," said Alan Spears,
a legislative representative for the National Parks Conservation Association.

Despite their prominent role in protecting the federal lands, a dearth of information exists about
Buffalo Soldiers in the national parks, and earlier this year Spears helped lobby support for the
regiments in the National Parks Study Act, which will help determine how the soldiers' story
should be represented within the National Park System.

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