Buffalo Soldier Heritage Day

Fort Concho, with the San Angelo Chapter of the NAACP, will host the annual Buffalo Soldier

Heritage Day at the fort’s Stables Hall on Henry O. Flipper Street on Sunday, February 27, from 2-4 pm.

The program is free to all; light refreshments will be available. Masks are not required and seating will

be arranged in a socially distant manner.

Speakers will cover several topics including the story of Henry O. Flipper, the first African-American

graduate of West Point who served briefly at Fort Concho. Also, the first Buffalo Soldier units at Fort

Concho and their members who were awarded the Medal of Honor will be covered. Lastly, there will be

a major announcement regarding a Buffalo Soldier Memorial in San Angelo.

At the end of the formal program, guests are welcome to assemble on the Parade Ground, and soldiers

from Goodfellow AFB and the Fort Concho Living History Program will retire the colors and fire an artillery salute.

Buffalo Soldiers, African American soldiers of the regular army after the Civil War, served mostly west of

the Mississippi. Native Americans of the Great Plains gave them the buffalo soldiers’ nickname as they

thought troops’ matted hair and courage reminded them of their sacred buffalo. Units of all four Buffalo

Soldier regiments served at Fort Concho from 1869-1885 with the most famous unit, the 10th Cavalry,

having its headquarters at the fort from 1875-1882. Over Fort Concho’s twenty-two active years the

Buffalo Soldiers comprised half of the post’s enlisted men.