Buffalo Soldiers-whence the name

[Paul Johnston]

Poncas?

Paul Johnston
On Monday, September 19, 2005, at 10:29  PM, Sam Clements wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail
> header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Sam Clements <SClements at NEO.RR.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Buffalo Soldiers-whence the name
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Just to add some factual info to the discussion, the Indians mentioned
> in
> the 1868 article were
>
> "There were about 5000 Pawnees, Omahas, Winnegagoes, and Pxxxxx?, all
> encamped and on the hunt together.--"
>
> I can't tell you what the last tribe mentioned is.  The print is poor.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Sam Clements" <SClements at NEO.RR.COM>
> To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Sent: Monday, September 19, 2005 9:46 PM
> Subject: Buffalo Soldiers-whence the name
>
>
> From today's Washington Post, the death of the oldest living Buffalo
> Soldier, Mark Matthews, 111.
>
> "Sgt. Matthews, who also was the oldest Buffalo Soldier, was heir to a
> proud
> military heritage that originated with the black soldiers who fought in
> the
> Indian wars on the Western frontier. Historians say that the Cheyenne,
> Kiowa
> and Apache tribes bestowed the appellation because the soldiers' black,
> curly hair reminded them of a buffalo's mane."
>
> I found a cite from Newspaperarchive,  the _Hillsdale(MI) Standard_  25
> August 1868 which described a meeting of 5000 Indians all joined for a
> hunt.
>
> "At the head of the command was what they call Buffalo soldiers,
> carrying a
> long stick trimmed with fancy feathers, ribbons, cloths, &c, called the
> "Buffalo stick," and no one is allowed to go ahead of that."
>
> But a cite from 1886 says the Indian "facetiously" called the "colored"
> troops this.
>
> So, why did the Indians bestow the name, which they had evidently had
> for
> their own,  on the "colored" troops?  And, if so, why?  If the name
> actually
> came  from another source, what was it.
>
> Sam Clements