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Great Plains Quarterly Great Plains Studies, Center for

Winter 1997

Black Soldiers At Fort Hays, Kansas, 1867-1869 A Study In Civilian And Military Violence

James N. Leiker University of Kansas

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Leiker, James N., "Black Soldiers At Fort Hays, Kansas, 1867-1869 A Study In Civilian And Military Violence" (1997). Great Plains Quarterly. 1973. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly/1973

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Great Plains Studies, Center for at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Plains Quarterly by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. BLACK SOLDIERS AT FORT HAYS, KANSAS, 1867 .. 1869 A STUDY IN CIVILIAN AND MILITARY VIOLENCE

JAMES N. LEIKER

Historians of the western army contend with opening the West for white settlement. Despite many romanticized myths. Few of those myths, their important functions, uniformed African in recent years, have held the popular con­ Americans continually suffered racism and dis­ sciousness as has that of the army's first black crimination from frontier civilians and even regulars, known as "buffalo soldiers." By now, from some of their own white officers. l the origins of the segregated regiments are For much of this century, both popular cul­ quite familiar. In 1866, with the nation's act­ ture and professional historians overlooked the ing military force having dwindled ro a frac­ buffalo soldiers. The gallant stereotype of pa­ tion of its Civil War size, the Republican triotic, blue-jacketed warriors bringing civili­ Congress encouraged the enlistment of newly zation to the plains failed to accommodate the freed slaves and northern free blacks. Assigned presence of armed blacks. Although scholars to remote western areas, black units played an began to draw public attention toward black instrumental role over the next few decades in soldiers as early as the 1960s, the dedication of a buffalo soldiers monument at Fort Leavenworth in 1992 fully captured the popu­ lar imagination, partly because of Colin Powell's visible involvement. The Leaven­ worth project was accompanied by a veritable explosion of buffalo soldiers commemorations including museum displays, documentaries, James N. Leiker is a doctoral candidate in history at newspaper and journal articles, and reenact­ the University of Kansas. He has published "Voices ment societies. Where once the public imag­ from a Disease Frontier: Kansas and Cholera, 1867" in Kansas History. ined the West only in terms of white soldiers and red Indians, the present fascination repre­ sents a positive step in defining the region as a [GPQ 17 (Winter 1997): 3-171 meeting ground for numerous races and cul­ tures, a step that scholars should applaud.

3 4 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, WINTER 1997

Yet not all have been enthusiastic about Although holding limited options, buffalo sol­ proclaiming buffalo soldiers' contributions to diers' individual reactions to civilian antago­ western conquest. From a Native American nism played a vital role in local race relations. standpoint, lionizing the black regiments to redress historical neglect appears no more just SETTING THE SCENE nor progressive than the Anglo myths that ex­ cluded them. When the U.S. Postmaster Gen­ Fort Hays, located in northwest Kansas, eral announced a commemorative buffalo serves as an example of black agency. Active soldiers stamp in 1994, representatives of the from 1865 to 1889, its garrison protected stage­ American Indian Movement demanded both coach and railway traffic along the Smoky Hill the stamp's withdrawal and a public apology.2 River to Denver.3 Stationed there in the late For all the topic's recent attention, few grasp 1860s, troops from the Thirty-eighth Infantry its frustrating irony: that black males, them­ and Tenth Cavalry (both consisting entirely selves victims of white prejudice, voluntarily of black soldiers) comprised the majority of aided the subjugation of Native peoples for the post's enlisted men up to 1869. Though the benefit of Anglo expansion. This scenario engaged in several Indian battles, the average illustrates the complicated, even paradoxical, black soldier had more reason to fear civilians nature of American race relations. Unfortu­ or even comrades than Indians; more injuries nately, significant questions are overshadowed and killings resulted from altercations in camp by the topic's "contribution" aspects, helping or nearby Hays City than from combat. While to provide a focus for national and racial pride, Fort Hays's troubles were not unique, the un­ a cry of "we were there too." Nor have aca­ usual mingling of a predominantly black mili­ demic historians pursued the more difficult tary with growing numbers of white civilians questions as aggressively as they should. New led to racial violence that mirrored and even Western History, which has debunked many surpassed that in other western communities.4 myths surrounding white occupation and Given Kansas' early reputation among Afri­ shown its catastrophic consequences for mi­ can Americans as a safe haven for freedmen, norities, generally ignores the army's role in such an assertion might seem surprising. After western conquest. Military histories have added all, Kansas had been among the first states to tremendously to knowledge about the subject muster black volunteers into Union service.s but most employ traditional approaches that Even after the Civil War, images of "Bleeding are more event-centered and descriptive than Kansas" and John Brown enhanced the state's analytical and interpretive. prestige among southern blacks as a place of The time appears right for a serious reap­ opportunity and freedom. In the late 1870s, praisal of the army's first black regulars, one thousands of "exodusters"-emigrants fleeing that resists the temptation to cast them either the South after Reconstruction-chose Kansas as villainous enforcers of white oppression or as their destination. While most exodusters heroic subjects of injustice. The former depic­ found only disillusionment in the so-called tion rests on the questionable assumption that "Canaan of the Prairies," active state charity blacks shared whites' racist attitudes toward organizations worked diligently to ease the refu­ Indians; the latter, more common view treats gees' plight.6 In addition, Kansas claimed sev­ them as passive victims, stoically enduring dis­ eral black communities, among them crimination. Both rob the buffalo soldiers of Nicodemus, established in 1877 only fifty miles conscious agency, seeing them not as histori­ northwest of Hays City. If any state could have cal actors but merely as "acted upon." In fact, been expected to tolerate a high population when uniformed blacks entered the hostile ra­ of black soldiers, it should have been Kansas. cial climate of western towns, some acquiesced While the legacies of abolition and the to white racism but others violently resisted. Civil War may have encouraged relative open- BLACK SOLDIERS AT FORT HAYS, KANSAS 5

FIG. 1. Main street, Hays City, Kansas, 1871 . Courtesy of Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka, Kansas.

ness in the state's eastern communities, how­ Understanding the reception of black sol­ ever, isolated locales like Fort Hays initially diers in Hays City first necessitates an exami­ shared little with Lawrence and Leavenworth. nation of the military and social atmosphere at During the black units' peak enlistment in the Fort Hays. As Indian raids diminished by late late 1860s, the new forts and towns truly epito­ 1867, three Tenth Cavalry companies were mized the "frontier," the peripheral edge of recalled for winter rest at Fort Riley, leaving white settlement socially and geographically. Fort Hays largely under the protection of black While "frontier" as an analytical concept has infantry.s Because of its central location and been criticized for its ethnocentric connota­ proximity to the railroad, Fort Hays served as tions, the term retains usefulness for discover­ General Philip Sheridan's administrative head­ ing how racial hatreds were transferred to the quarters and a depot for goods arriving by rail developing region. 7 By examining how the ci­ during the 1868-69 campaign. Although small vilian community perceived and interacted cavalry detachments remained until 1871, in­ with black soldiers, we can draw a clearer pic­ fantry comprised the garrison's majority. Thus, ture of how the black military experience if Fort Hays could claim a "semi-permanent" helped to shape western race relations. black population up to 1869, the Thirty-eighth 6 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, WINTER 1997

FIG. 2. Buffalo soldiers at Fort Hays guarding a U.S . express overland stage coach preparing to depart for Denver. Courtesy of Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka, Kansas.

Infantry fit that role better than the more tran­ fired indiscriminately at anyone-white, black, sient Tenth Cavalry. or Indian-who ventured too close. Lest the Narratives often focus on the cavalry's dra­ frightened infantrymen fire on peaceful Na­ matic offensive campaigns and overlook in­ tive people and provoke conflict, officers or­ fantrymen, who performed the more routine dered them to deal cautiously with anyone who tasks of escorting surveying parties, military approached rather than resorting to gunfire.9 prisoners, and payroll and supply shipments. Black soldiers often are depicted as victims, Infantry also received a disproportionate share thereby emphasizing the army's racial preju­ of kitchen and hospital duties and sanitation dice. Indeed, discrimination did occur; troops detail. Although their activities attracted less frequently suffered abuse by bigoted officers attention, they nonetheless performed hazard­ and received harsher punishments than white ous tasks in isolated groups of four or five that soldiers for disciplinary offenses. The prohibi­ were vulnerable to surprise attacks. Troopers tion against blacks' serving as officers even in knew full well the perils of their work. Com­ their own regiments indicates the army's low plaints reached the fort commander in July initial regard for their abilities. IO Yet deplor­ 1868 about five soldiers from the Thirty-eighth able conditions awaited all of the western assigned to protect railroad water tanks. Housed army's enlisted men, no matter their color. in small shelters with ten-day rations, the troops None would have asserted "equality" as a goal; BLACK SOLDIERS AT FORT HAYS, KANSAS 7

the military, after all, constituted a system of already crowded and improperly ventilated institutionalized inequality. But that did not barracks. 14 negate the possibility of fair treatment from Constant guard and escort duty, as well as officers who interacted with the men on a daily the transient nature of army life, makes such basis. In fact, at Fort Hays, white commanders apathy seem understandable. Similarly, Fort often became their troops' greatest partisans, Hays' hectic work load left enlisted men little even protecting them from hostile civilians. In time or inclination to attend the post school a macabre way, blacks and whites stationed that taught reading and writing, addition and there achieved a certain degree of equality: subtraction. What leisure time existed was both lived abominably. spent enjoying the benefits of steady pay. Earn­ Fort Hays differed little from most outposts ings ranged from thirteen dollars a month for during its first few months, consisting merely new privates to thirty dollars for noncommis­ of several tents and crude huts. Its isolated sioned officers. Although some men sent money location limited the range of leisure activi­ to families back east, most wages purchased ties-not that much leisure time was avail­ necessities from the post sutler's store or from able. Poor hygiene and sanitation rendered local civilian merchants. A considerable soldiers vulnerable to disease. Beginning in amount ended up in the town's many taverns July 1867, a devastating cholera epidemic and brothels. swept the western forts, striking the black units Drunkenness affected all troops at Fort Hays, especially hard. Cholera killed seven men of including buffalo soldiers. Post records include the Thirty-eighth Infantry that summer but the many accounts of privates charged with ne­ Tenth Cavalry lost more than twenty men, more glecting duty or engaging in disorderly con­ than half the regiment's total number of com­ duct while under the influence of alcohol. bat deaths up to 1918.11 Conditions gradu­ Perhaps because their isolated work made it ally improved after the Union Pacific Railroad easier and more tempting to sneak a drink, the reached Hays in October 1867, particularly Thirty-eighth Infantry seemed particularly because it brought fresh supplies and materi­ prone to such problems. In February 1868 the als for building permanent structures. Yet poor commander placed pickets to arrest all per­ health continued to sap the garrison's strength. sonnel who were intoxicated, created a dis­ Despite their dangerous duties, soldiers ob­ turbance, or lacked passes signed by a superior tained medical treatment more frequently for officer. Typical punishment for drink-related pneumonia and other ailments than for com­ offenses involved a fine, brief incarceration, bat injuries. Gastrointestinal illnesses were es­ or a reduction in rank. 15 pecially common; nearly a third of the post's Why the high frequency of alcohol use? The black soldiers received treatment for diarrhea. 12 combination of disease, separation from fam­ Health officials knew that improved hy­ ily, fear of Indian attack, and generalloneli­ giene and fresh food would decrease these prob­ ness likely inspired many to seek solace from a lems yet found implementing such simple bottle. Frontier racism made intoxication par­ improvements difficult. Quartermasters unsuc­ ticularly dangerous for black soldiers. Since cessfully tried to provide unspoiled meat, the white public perceived the black units as while either insects or neglect doomed the experimental at best, charges of drunkenness post's paltry attempt at growing its own veg­ and immorality could easily taint black regi­ etables. \3 Most enlisted men, regardless of ments' reputations. At Fort Hays, the picket color, cared little for personal cleanliness. guard decreased alcohol-related offenses but Assistant surgeon William Buchannon com­ did not necessarily increase sobriety. When plained that Tenth cavalrymen stacked all getting drunk on the fort became too risky, sol­ their dirty clothes and muddy stable equip­ diers waited until payday and visited taverns ment under the bunks, attracting flies to an in Hays City. This proved dangerous for the 8 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, WINTER 1997 black soldier since he was subject to civilian between the post and nearby Hays City. Town law, not military, and white locals had ex­ merchants provided needed goods and services tremely little patience with unruly armed while the army employed civilian laborers on blacks. construction projects. Likewise, the thousands The violent atmosphere and miserable, dis­ of dollars of army pay spent in Hays City fer­ ease-ridden conditions encouraged many de­ tilized a prosperous local economy. sertions from the frontier military. In 1867 more Beneath this symbiosis lay major currents than 14,000 men deserted the United States of hostility. Hays City resembled other west­ Army, nearly a quarter of its total strength.16 ern communities where violence between sol­ Most deserters disappeared successfully into diers and civilians contributed to the region's civilian populations; the military simply reputation for bloodshed. If Civil War veter­ lacked the time and manpower to pursue run­ ans were praised as heroes, federal regulars, aways. Cavalrymen especially were likely to often immigrants and displaced industrial make clean breaks since they took their horses workers, were often seen as rabble.20 The pro­ and all the army property they could carry, liferation of saloons and brothels that sprang including food, mules, wagons, and firearms. up around every military post offended new Elizabeth Custer described how forty men de­ settlers' puritanical values. 21 In addition, many serted Fort Hays in one night, leaving officers westerners dismissed the federal regulars as fearful that the garrison would soon lack suf­ ineffective Indian fighters, even resenting their ficient protection.17 presence. One Kansan, explaining why the Romanticized works on buffalo soldiers state militia could deal with local hostilities point proudly to their low desertion rates, a more effectively, ridiculed the army's cease­ claim partly supported by statistics from Fort less bugling, alerting enemies as soldiers pre­ Hays. While more than half of the Seventh pared to attack, retreat, awake, or go to bed.22 Cavalry deserted in only one year, a mere four­ Uniformed soldiers frequently elicited jokes teen deserters were reported from Fort Hays' or insults from civilians, not respect. In the black regiments during its first five years. IS Al­ case of a uniformed freedman, reactions could though drunkenness and insubordination were be openly hostile, especially among former common among all enlisted men, desertion Confederates for whom buffalo soldiers pro­ appeared primarily to be a white phenomenon. vided a visible reminder of southern defeat. The dearth of black western settlers, and black These charged emotions played out in the soldiers' distinctive appearance, made it diffi­ chaos of western communities during early cult for potential deserters to blend into years of development. Although scholarship nearby communities. One should not, however, on Kansas cattle towns emphasizes the exag­ discount the more idealistic explanation that geration of violence in popular myth, Hays blacks' group identity and pride discouraged City, established in October 1867 as a Union desertion. Despite its pitfalls, military service Pacific terminus, lay beyond most major cattle offered African American males opportunities trails, and its violence came not from rowdy for self-respect seldom matched in Reconstruc­ Texas cattle drovers but from transients look­ tion America. ing for profits from the railroad. 23 An eastern Desertion rates remained high throughout Kansas newspaper described Hays' citizenry in the post-Civil War period but peaked in unflattering terms: 1871.19 By then Indian resistance in the Hays vicinity had nearly disappeared, even though Gamblers, pimps, prostitutes, and dead the fort remained a valuable transportation beats, run the town, and the most unblush­ depot and winter quarters. As white settlement ing defiance of everything that is decent is increased, a reciprocal relationship developed the prevailing sentiment. One year ago, for BLACK SOLDIERS AT FORT HAYS, KANSAS 9

the joke of the thing, they elected a prosti­ Black soldiers did not behave like passive tute as one of the School Board, and an­ victims of prejudice. The same group cohe­ other Street Commissioner. How it is to be sion that discouraged black desertions encour­ expected black or white soldiers will act aged a search for vengeance when a soldier any other way when they get a taste of the was wronged or insulted. White troops shared lightning poison vended there is a mystery the feud mentality that characterized fort-town to us. We hope the authorities of the State relations; if an individual returned to the post will incur no expense in protecting any such bruised or bloodied, comrades shielded him a class as runs Hays City.24 from discovery until they could get revenge on his assailants. 28 For buffalo soldiers, how­ Observers did not exaggerate the town's hor­ ever, the drive to retaliate appeared especially rific level of violence; from 1867 to 1874, strong. During a national age of violent rac­ Hays City saw more than thirty recorded homi­ ism, the army's black frontiersmen upheld the cides. 25 During periods of ineffective civilian doctrine of "eye for an eye." Their refusal to law enforcement, black troops served as the tolerate abuse certainly deserves a measure of town guard. In late 1867, a visitor recorded admiration, but their actions ultimately in­ that: tensified white prejudice, creating a cycle of hatred that resembled an ongoing blood feud. Hays City is really under martial law, the town being policed by soldiers from the fort; THE FIRST VIOLENT ENCOUNTER and, what makes it trebly obnoxious to some, the soldiers are colored. They certainly have The first violent encounter, initiated by the credit, however, of maintaining quiet townspeople, illustrates how officers generally and general good order throughout the day sided with their men. Prior to the picket and night: that is, quiet for a frontier town.26 guard's establishment in February 1868, post commanders had to deal with the habitual Actually, the presence of federal regulars ex­ problem of troops leaving the fort without per­ acerbated more violence than it prevented. mission. On 21 December 1867, a small de­ Nearly half of all homicides up to 1874, thir­ tail was sent to retrieve all those absent teen, resulted from altercations between sol­ without leave, most of whom were imbibing diers and civiliansY in civilian saloons. Privates Charles Allen, Considering the color of the troops in­ Thirty-eighth Company E, and John Wash­ volved, a problem arises in trying to separate ington, Tenth Cavalry Company I, demanded "racial" violence from the larger pattern of ci­ admittance to an establishment where AWOL vilian-military violence everywhere, regardless soldiers reportedly languished. When they of race. Simply because an episode involved a were refused, Allen began beating the door black participant did not mean it had racial with his weapon. The saloonkeeper, Matthew causes. The key distinction rests on whether an "Red" Flinn, fired several shots, killing Allen incident originated from some discriminatory and severely wounding Washington. The behavior based on skin color. By that criteria, town guard, Allen's fellow infantrymen, im­ not all violence involving blacks duri:ng Hays mediately began searching for Flinn. Later City's first three years can be classified as "ra­ the same evening a local named Cornelius cial." But the Fort Hays experience certainly Doyle accosted Corporal Albert E. Cropper, shows a hardening of white opinions toward Thirty-eighth Company G, cursing him and armed African Americans, reflected not only shouting that "any damned nigger soldiers in the callous actions of local toughs but in hunting Red" would be killed. The argument how state newspapers reported such activity. ended when Doyle apparently attempted to 10 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, WINTER 1997

FIG. 3. Passersby view the bodies of Private George Sumner and Private Peter Welsh the morning after they had been killed in Hays City by their comrade Private David Roberts, 6 September 1873. All were from the white Sixth Cavalry. The bodies were removed by an ambulance from the fort and Roberts was convicted of manslaughter. The viewers seem inured to the violent climate. Courtesy of Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka, Kansas.

draw his pistol and Cropper fatally shot him left the county and later was located near with his rifle. 29 Leavenworth.31 While Allen's death produced no great up­ Whether Cropper really acted in self-de­ roar, talk immediately filled the streets about fense cannot decisively be determined from lynching Cropper. Civilian newspapers de­ the disparate accounts, even though his record scribed Doyle's shooting far differently than shows no history of similar trouble. 32 Yet the the official military report. The Hays City Rail­ fact that disparate accounts exist at all reveals way Advance claimed Doyle gave Cropper no how differently the civilian and military com­ "provocation whatever," a charge repeated by munities perceived the incident. Already sus­ a Hays resident in a hearsay letter to the picious of the patrol guard, residents now Lawrence Tribune. 30 Following his arrest and thought the army had protected a murderer. preliminary hearing, Cropper was transferred To prevent further hostility, Ovenshine with­ to the post guardhouse for his own protection. drew the patrol and returned Hays City to the Meanwhile, fort commander Captain Samuel jurisdiction of civil law, the inefficiency of Ovenshine had arranged with county authori­ which only contributed to Cropper's eventual ties to offer a reward for Red Flinn, who had acquittal. By the time the District Court re- BLACK SOLDIERS AT FORT HAYS, KANSAS 11 convened after a six-month hiatus, only one eighth Infantry, Company E, and at least two, witness to Doyle's shooting remained in the Watkins and Ponder, had enlisted together in county, and Cropper's case was dismissed for Nashville and spent detached service away lack of suitable jurors.33 from the post, protecting railroad camps.37 Later The killings of Allen and Doyle com­ that evening, the trio invaded the shop of a menced years of hostility between the fort and black civilian barber named John White. Hid­ town. While Cropper awaited trial, minor con­ ing from the men's rage while they drunkenly flicts between black soldiers and white smashed his shop, White heard the troops boast townsfolk continued through 1868, the same that they planned to get revenge for the deaths year Hays City came under control of an orga­ of their comrades by killing the next white man nized vigilante group. The vigilance commit­ they saw. Wandering into the street, the trio tee visited perceived troublemakers and opened fire on a Union Pacific watchman ordered them to leave town. Despite their named J ames Hayes, a ci tizen of Leaven worth. stated purpose of establishing peace, vigilan­ Shot in the stomach, his spine severed, Hayes tes only increased local violence; thirteen lived until the following morning, describing documented murders occurred in 1869, the his assailants only as "two niggers."38 town's peak year for homicides.34 While most Evidence against Barnes, Watkins, and Pon­ eastetn Kansas newspapers denounced the situ­ der would have been extremely meager with­ ation, at least one, the Lawrence Tribune, partly out John White's testimony. Accompanied by defended vigilante activity by declaring that the county sheriff and a federal marshal on J anu­ lax law enforcement required citizens to pro­ ary 6, White identified the three out of a line­ tect themselves. In recalling the army's protec­ up of the entire garrison, explaining the tion of the "murderer" Cropper, the writer vandalism to his shop and their stated intent to implied the committee's real purpose was to kill a white person. The barber's testimony defend the community from black soldiers.35 placed the post commander, Lieutenant Colo­ In a state known for its supposed racial liberal­ nel Anderson N elson, in a precarious position. ity, press coverage of events in Hays City par­ Authorities insisted Nelson release the three alleled what Democratic newspapers said about to civilian custody rather than placing them Southern race relations: armed, aggressive under military protection like Cropper. Besides blacks, protected by a disliked federal mili­ the resentment such an action would generate tary, posed threats to public safety. The among his troops, Nelson must have known Leavenworth Daily Commercial even likened the about the defendants' tenuous safety in a Hays violence to southern "black outrages" provoked jail cell, especially with the vigilance com­ by Radical Republicans.36 Attitudes became mittee in operation. With tensions between even more "Confederate sounding" after a soldiers and civilians running high, Nelson murder by black soldiers in early 1869 led to decided on a conciliatory gesture and permit­ one of Kansas' few known racial lynchings. ted county police to assume custody of the pri­ vates, who were arraigned later that day before LEADING TO A LYNCHING a justice of the peace and placed under over­ night guard. Civilian and military accounts concur that Luke Barnes, Lee Watkins, and James Pon­ the events of 5 to 7 January began when Pri­ der never saw their case brought to trial. Dur­ vates Luke Barnes, Lee Watkins, and James ing the evening of 6-7 January, a mob stormed Ponder were refused admission into a local the jail, overpowered the guards, and seized brothel. Prostitutes, in Hays at least, rarely dis­ the prisoners from their cells. One account re­ criminated on skin color, so more than likely ported the mob's size as between seventy-five the men's disruptive behavior prompted the and one hundred, all with masks or darkened refusal. All three belonged to the Thirty- faces. The vigilantes hanged the men from the 12 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, WINTER 1997

FIG. 4. This railroad trestle over Big Creek is the bridge from which the soldiers from Fort Hays Thirty-eighth Infantry were lynched in January 1869. Known locally as "Hangman's Bridge," this wooden structure was later replaced by a steel bridge. Courtesy of Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka, Kansas.

ties of a railroad bridge half a mile west of parties, as they sloshed around extensively town. Union Pacific employees discovered brandishing their Springfield rifles, and their bodies the next morning. threatening vengeance on the whites. Eastern Kansas newspapers, long contemp­ The men and brethren appear to be rather tuous of Hays City's vigilante tradition, sud­ airy out on the plains, ... Let us have denly applauded the lynching. In James Hayes' peaceP9 hometown of Leavenworth, the Daily Commer­ cial delighted in providing a detailed and hear­ The likelihood that Barnes, Watkins, and Pon­ say version of the hanging: der would have been convicted and executed anyway illustrates this incident's strong racist Sometime during the night the vigilantes motives. Hays City's high number of homi­ released the mokes from prison and indulged cides shows remarkable tolerance for vio­ them in a dance in mid-air, in which they lence-except when perpetrated by blacks. executed a treble shuffle, something of a Rather than simply hanging three killers, the novelty in negro breakdowns which are lynching issued a statement that racial norms chiefly remarkable for merely a double concerning troublesome blacks would be en­ shuffle. No doubt existed of the guilt of the forced illegally if necessary. BLACK SOLDIERS AT FORT HAYS, KANSAS 13

RETALIATION FOR LYNCHING Clearly an act of revenge, Butler's murder illustrates the complicity of white military au­ Unlike other racial lynchings, however, the thorities. Tired of incessant attacks on the January 1869 episode involved United States army's men and property, white officers will­ soldiers, not usually known for meekness in ingly sided with black troops in using Butler as the face of violence. Troops of the Thirty­ an example, frustrating any designation of the eighth Infantry performed the unpleasant task violence as purely racial. A Hays citizen sum­ of retrieving their comrades' bodies and pre­ marized the situation: "There has been for some paring them for burial.4o Rather than intimi­ time much unpleasant feeling existing between dating soldiers, the lynching only enraged both the authorities of Hays City and Ft. Hays, com­ the officers and enlisted men. Lieutenant Colo­ menced by the hanging of the three negro sol­ nel Nelson, whose disastrous decision had diers by the Vig's ... "43 Indeed, the bad blood placed the three within vigilante reach, re­ between fort and town transcended race, re­ sponded with his own retaliatory measures. On flecting a larger pattern of antipathy charac­ 14 January Nelson se!lt a Thirty-eighth detach­ terizing civilian-military relations. In April, ment into Hays City to arrest all persons out during the Nineteenth Kansas Cavalry's sta­ after curfew. Black soldiers raided a ballroom tion at Fort Hays, white troops congregated and arrested fifty-one people, jailing them over­ nightly in Hays City, engaging in brawls and night at the fort guardhouse. Nelson later wrote shootings with locals. As both the size and num­ Governor J ames Harvey that because of the ber of violent episodes increased, large gangs rumored plots against his men, he intended to of black and white soldiers marched the streets close the saloons and livery stables and even armed en masse. Meanwhile, fort officials exer­ declare martial law if necessary,41 cised little control over the troops' nightly so­ Such drastic steps became unnecessary as a journs.44 short-lived calm ensued following the lynch­ ing. In late January, rustlers stole several head SHOOTOUT AND RAMPAGE of livestock from the post herd. The troops­ their tempers running high-blamed locals for In May 1869 two years of animosity cli­ the theft. On 6 February Tom Butler, a white maxed in an armed confrontation that shared ex-quartermaster's employee who had been many features with modern race riots. Newspa­ fired on suspicion of stealing, left town fol­ pers claimed that black soldiers planned to lowing the Union Pacific tracks east. When a burn Hays City to the ground, a possibility in mule was reported missing the next day, offi­ the wake of the lynching. Yet because the cials dispatched a search party which consisted troops had just been paid and drunkenness and of the quartermaster and post surgeon, a civil­ fighting often accompanied receipt of wages, ian detective and numerous employees, and it appears the violence began with the alco­ ten soldiers from the Thirty-eighth Infantry. hol. According to admittedly biased civilian Tracking and cornering Butler at a water tank, sources, several black infantrymen tried to the group choked him with a rope until he con­ break into a brothel from which they earlier fessed to participation in a rustling gang. The had been refused admission. A scuffle began, party then divided, with fort officials and em­ with troops lining up in battle formation and ployees in one group and the black troops opening fire into nearby homes and businesses. escorting Butler in another. Likely recalling Townspeople returned the fire, shooting from their friends' treatment a month earlier, the doors and windows and exchanging more than soldiers shot Butler and left his corpse in an four hundred shots in about half an hour.45 abandoned house. The mule he supposedly At this point, fort officials finally took de­ had stolen turned up wandering a few miles cisive action, dispatching soldiers from the from the fortY Fifth Cavalry to quell the disturbance and or- 14 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, WINTER 1997 dering all infantrymen back to the post.46 As of conflict. In late April and early May, the white cavalrymen attempted to break up the Thirty-eighth companies relocated to new as­ melee, several residents embarked on a ram­ signments on the Mexican border, leaving Fort page against Hays City's few black civilians. Hays with fewer than a hundred troops by sum­ Vigilante ruffians ordered all black families mer of 1869.50 Even so, the community's repu­ out of town and murdered two African Ameri­ tation for bloodshed continued, with friction can barbers. Of the newspapers that reported between soldiers and civilians remaining a con­ the atrocities, only the Kansas Daily Common­ stant. In 1871, a saloon brawl involving white wealth voiced contempt for the deed: troops escalated into gunfire, resulting in the death of the county sheriff. 51 Hays City has added another laurel to its One should not isolate racial tensions from garland of infamy. The other night-after their larger social context and exaggerate their the affray-a full account of which appeared importance over other causes of violence. Yet in our special dispatches-was ended and the buffalo soldiers' presence did produce long­ the soldiers had been withdrawn, a party of lasting hostility toward the black population. roughs deliberately hunted down and mur­ As the Daily Tribune stated, "Hays City seems dered two peaceful and unoffending bar­ to have many of the same ideas that unrecon­ bers, who were citizens of the town, and as structed rebels have, to wit: that negroes have quiet and harmless men as it afforded. Hon­ no rights which a white man is bound to re­ est and decent men will want for language spect."52 Following their eviction in May 1869, to express their indignation at this brutal some black families were permitted to return, and cowardly outrage.47 a decision most later regretted. In March 1871, four residents were arraigned for invading the Apparently, the two barbers became the only home of an elderly black woman and raping fatalities during the evening's chaos. The post her. Whites expressed disgust that the men were surgeon recorded no gunfire injuries but news­ arrested on the word of "colored people." Fear­ papers reported six wounded civilians, includ­ ing for their safety, the fort commander per­ ing a U.S. Deputy Marshal, and a white trooper mitted all black families to relocate into from the Seventh Cavalry.48 dugouts on the post for protection, with troops While the events of 3 May definitely had once again sent into town to restore order.53 racial motivations, classifying them as a "race The 1869 lynching and other such episodes riot" is not quite accurate, occurring as they firmly established the area's reputation as an did during a period of vigilante activity. In its unsafe place for African Americans. An ob­ coverage of the incident, the Commonwealth server in 1909 commented on the community's even pointed out that not all the discord de­ white homogeneity: rived from blacks' or even the military's prox­ imity: no negro has ever ventured to make Hays a place of residence. An occasional straggler ... it is certain that human life and limbs has worked a few days in town, but the his­ are altogether too unsafe in that locality. tory of the place has appealed too strongly Every trifling dispute is settled by an instan­ to his imagination for him to remain.54 taneous appeal to the pistol or the knife. All things considered, Hays City is one of CONCLUSION the best places to move away from that can be found upon the globe.49 Fort Hays's predominantly black garrison and its hostile relationship with citizens in Hays Buffalo soldiers proved a contributing but City provides an example of how civilian/mili­ not determinative factor in the town's history tary social interaction helped to transfer racial BLACK SOLDIERS AT FORT HAYS, KANSAS 15 hatreds to the newly conquered region. The Carroll's edited collection, The Black Military Ex­ years from 1867 to 1869 saw African Ameri­ perience in the American West (New York: Liveright Publishing Corporation, 1971) also provide valu­ cans' introduction to regular army life, the be­ able descriptive information. For more recent works ginning of a twenty-year process in which they that deal with black soldiers' reception in civilian would forcibly help to seize western lands from communities and their relationships with white of­ American Indians. Prejudice always remained ficers, see Monroe Lee Billington, New Mexico's a factor in their lives but as the Hays City ex­ Buffalo Soldiers, 1866-1900 (N iwot: University Press of Colorado, 1991), and Frank N. Schubert's Buf­ perience indicates, their active involvement falo Soldiers, Braves, and the Brass (Shippensburg, in a local cycle of hatred obscured whatever Pennsylvania: White Mane Publishing Company, achievements whites might have recognized 1993 ). and intensified racist paranoia. 2. Vernon Bellecourt, "The glorification of Buf­ Whether black soldiers' participation in an falo Soldiers raises racial divisions between blacks, Indians," Indian Country Today, 4 May 1994, 5(A). occupying army deserves praise or criticism, of 3. For general information on Fort Hays, see Leo course, remains a matter of individual perspec­ Oliva, Fort Hays, Frontier Army Post, 1865-1889 tive and moral judgment, an arena in which (Topeka: Kansas State Historical Society, 1980). the historian can claim no particular author­ Robert M. Utley's Frontier Regulars: The United ity. Yet if history teaches any lesson, it is that States Army and the Indian, 1866-1891 (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1973) provides a thor­ one group's pride may be another's tragedy. As ough discussion of the late 1860s campaigns. Vernon Bellecourt has asked "Which do we 4. Studies of the buffalo soldiers' impact on lo­ value more, a wildly bastardized fable of cal race relations commonly focus on specific forts progress and equality, or truth? Justice is the and communities. For useful examples, see Monroe act of conscious, informed human beings."55 In Lee Billington, "Black Soldiers at Fort Selden, New Mexico, 1866-1891, " New Mexico Historical Review the recent rush to reveal the buffalo soldiers' 62 (1987): 65-80; Thomas R. Buecker, "Confron­ past, historians should not forget the dual im­ tation at Sturgis: An Episode in Civil-Military Race portance of understanding their legacy, lest new Relations, 1885," South Dakota History 14 (Fall myths be created similar to those that once 1984): 238-61; Michael J. Clark, "Improbable Am­ depicted white soldiers like Custer as heroes. bassadors: Black Soldiers at Fort Douglas, 1896-99," Utah Historical Quarterly 46 (1978): 282-301; and Furthermore, the buffalo soldiers existed not Ronald G. Coleman, "The Buffalo Soldiers: Guard­ only as enlistees in the fight against Indians ians of the Uintah Frontier, 1886-1901," Utah His­ but as actors in a complex theatre of negotia­ torical Quarterly 47 (1979): 421-39. tions framed by civilian whites' racism and the 5. Dudley Taylor Cornish, "Kansas Negro Regi­ usual conflicts between army and civilians in ments in the Civil War," Kansas Historical Quar­ terly 20 (May 1953): 417-29. For a more detailed a garrison town. Just as ethnocentric interpre­ discussion of the black volunteers, see Cornish, The tations once regarded black history as insig­ Sable Arm: Black Troops in the Union Army, 1861- nificant, romanticizing the buffalo soldiers' 1865 (Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1956); experience not only perpetuates distortion, but and Joseph T. Glatthaar, Forged In Battle: The Civil it also robs them of the right to be judged not War Alliance of Black Soldiers and White Officers (New York: The Free Press, 1990). as representatives of an entire race but as hu­ 6. Robert Athearn, In Search of Canaan: Black man beings capable of human error. Migration to Kansas, 1879-80, (Lawrence: Univer­ sity Press of Kansas, 1978); and Nell Irvin Painter, NOTES Exodusters: Black Migration to Kansas after Recon­ struction, (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1977). 1. For an overview of the black cavalry's official 7. For discussion of the frontier concept, see duties, William H. Leckie's The Buffalo Soldiers: A Patricia Nelson Limerick, Clyde A. Milner II, and Narrative of the Negro Cavalry in the West (Norman: Charles E. Rankin, eds., Trails: TowardaNew West­ University of Oklahoma Press, 1967) has become a ern History (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, classic. Arlen L. Fowler's The Black Infantry in the 1991). West, 1869-1891 (Westport, Connecticut: Green­ 8. December 1867 monthly returns show Com­ wood Publishing Corporation, 1971) and John M. panies E and G, Thirty-eighth Infantry, and Com- 16 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, WINTER 1997 panies F and I, Tenth Cavalry, to be present. Of the 23. For the myth of violence, see Robert R. 435 enlisted men, 285 belonged to black regiments. Dykstra, The Cattle Towns (Lincoln: University of Headquarters, Tenth Cavalry, Special Order No. Nebraska Press, 1966). For a more recent revision­ 139, Fort Riley, Kansas, 26 November 1867, Letters ist example, see Ty Cashion's "{Gun)Smoke Gets Received (LR), Fort Hays (FH), National Archives in Your Eyes: A Revisionist Look at Violent Fort Microfilm Publication (NAMP), T -837, roll 5; and Griffin," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 99 (July Post Returns, Fort Hays, December 1867, Adjutant 1995): 81-94. General's Office (AGO), Record Group (RG) 94, 24. Junction City Weekly Union, 8 May 1869. NAMP, roll 3. 25. James D. Drees, "The Hays City Vigilante 9. Brevet Major E.A. Belger to Major John Yard, Period, 1868-1869," (Master's thesis, Fort Hays Tenth Cavalry, Post Commander of Fort Hays, 16 State University, 1983), pp. 105-07. July 1868, LR, FH, NAMP, T-713, roll5. 26. Kansas Daily Tribune, 26 November 1867. 10. Descriptions of prejudice are available in 27. Drees, "Hays City Vigilante Period" (note 25 Billington, New Mexico's Buffalo Soldiers (note 1 above), p. 8. above), pp. 181-201, and Arlen L. Fowler, The Black 28. Elizabeth Custer, Following the Guidon (New Infantry in the West (note 1 above), pp. 114-39. York: Harper and Brothers, 1890), p. 155. Jack D. Foner's The United States Soldier Between 29. Captain Samuel Ovenshine, Fifth Infantry, Two Wars: Army Life and Reforms, 1865-1898, Post Commander, FH, to Brevet Captain M. (New York: Humanities Press, 1970), pp. 127-47, Howard, Fort Harker, 2 February 1868, Letters Sent describes army and civilian attitudes toward the black (LS), FH, NA, RG 393 (Continental Commands), units and attempts to replace them with integrated Part 5; Atchison Daily Free Press, 4 January 1868 regiments. (quoted). 11. James N. Leiker, "Voices from a Disease Fron­ 30. Kansas Daily Tribune, 25 December 1867; tier: Kansans and Cholera, 1867," Kansas History Railway Advance, 24 December 1867. 17 (Winter 1995): 236-53; and Roman Powers and 31. Ovenshine to J. M. Soule, Esq., Justice ofthe Gene Younger, "Cholera on the Plains: The Epi­ Peace, andJ. E. Walker, Pres. of Ellis Co. Board of demic of 1867 in Kansas," Kansas Historical Quar­ Commissioners, 30 January 1868, LS, FH, NA, RG terly 37 (1971): 351-93; Post Returns, FH, July and 393, Continental Commands, Part 5; Ovenshine August 1867, AGO, RG 94, NAMP, roll 3; Major to Howard (note 29 above). Edward Glass, ed., The History of the Tenth Cavalry 32. Muster rolls show Cropper as born in Balti­ (Fort Collins: The Old Army Press, 1972), p. 95. more, aged 21 at time of enlistment in May 1867, 12. Monthly Registers of the Sick and Wounded, and having been promoted to Corporal within six FH, NAMP, T-713. Dysentery, rheumatism, bron­ months. He was discharged in 1870 at expiration of chitis, syphilis, and gonorrhea were also prevalent. service and re-enlisted twice, joining the Ninth 13. Oliva, Fort Hays (note 3 above), p. 57. Cavalry in 1875. Enlistment records describe his 14. Report of William Buchannon, Assistant character as "excellent." Unit Muster Rolls, Thirty­ Surgeon, 14 July 1868, Monthly Surgeon's Reports, eighth Infantry, Company G, 1868, RG 94, NA; FH, NAMP, T-837, roll 3. and Enlistment Papers, RG 94, NA. 15. General Order No.8, 21 February 1868, Gen­ 33. Railway Advance, 24 December 1867; Kansas eral Orders, FH, NAMP, T-713, roll 20. Daily Tribune, 10 January 1869. 16. For discussion of army desertion rates in the 34. Drees, "Hays City Vigilante Period" (note 25 post-Civil War period and their causes, see Foner, above), p. 8. Of many local histories of Hays City's United States Soldier (note 10 above), pp. 6-10, 222- "gunfighter period," this provides the most thor­ 24. ough discussion of vigilante violence and its causes. 1 7. Elizabeth Bacon Custer , Tenting on the Plains 35. Kansas Daily Tribune, 10 January 1869. (New York: Charles L. Webster and Co., 1887), 36. The Leavenworth Daily Commercial, 9 Janu­ p.695. This edition is not to be confused with the ary 1869. 1895 abridged version which contains no reference 37. Information on Barnes, Watkins, and Pon­ to the forty deserters. der was obtained from Unit Muster Rolls, Thirty­ 18. Monthly Post Returns, FH, 1866-71, AGO, eighth Infantry, Company E, 1868-69, NA, RG 94. RG94,NAMP. 38. Lt. Col. Anderson Nelson, Fifth Infantry, 19. Foner, United States Soldier (note 10 above), Post Commander, FH, to Governor James Harvey, pp.222-23. 18 January 1869. LS, FH, NA, RG 393, Part 5. This 20. For public perceptions of federal regulars, see contains the first official mention of the lynching ibid., pp. 59-75. by military personnel but since Nelson did not elabo­ 21. Billington, New Mexico's Buffalo Soldiers rate, detailed information in this and the following (note 1 above), pp. 181-82. paragraphs derives from civilian newspapers. The 22. Leavenworth Daily Conservative, 10 July 1867. Leavenworth Times and Conservative, 9 January BLACK SOLDIERS AT FORT HAYS, KANSAS 17

1869, provided a very brusque summation. The Carter to Captain Sam Ovenshine, 3 May 1869, Leavenworth Daily Commercial, 9 and 12 January LS, FH, NA, RG 393, Part 5. 1869, delivered the most factual details but also the 47. Kansas Daily Commonwealth, 6 May 1869, most editorial comment, praising civilian law offic­ reprinted in Junction City Weekly Union, 8 May ers' handling of the matter. Though the papers vary 1869. in their reporting, all agree, including The Kansas 48. Kansas Daily Commonwealth, 4 May 1869; Daily Tribune, 10 January 1869, on the points pre­ The Leavenworth Daily Times and Conservative, 4 sented here. May 1869; Kansas Daily Tribune, 8 May 1869; and 39. The Leavenworth Daily Commercial, 9 Janu­ Monthly Register of the Sick and Wounded, May ary 1869. 1869, FH, NAMP, T-837, ro1l3A. 40. Kansas Daily Tribune, 10 January 1869. 49. Kansas Daily Commonwealth, 4 May 1869. 41. The Leavenworth Times and Conservative, 16 50. Post Returns, April 1869, FH, NAMP, T- January 1869; Nelson to Harvey, (note 38 above). 713, roll 20. 42. Kansas Daily Tribune, 19 February 1869. 51. White Cloud Chief, 27 July 1871. 43. Ibid. 52. Kansas Daily Tribune, 8 May 1869. 44. Drees, "Hays City Vigilante Period" (note 25 53. Major George Gibson to Acting Assistant above), p. 42. Adjutant General, Headquarters, Department of the 45. Both the Leavenworth Times and Conserva­ Missouri, Fort Leavenworth, 4 and 5 March 1871, tive, 4 May 1869, and Kansas Daily Tribune, 8 May LS, FH, NA, RG 393, Part 5. 1869, claimed the blacks had a predetermined plan 54. James Beach, "Old Fort Hays," Kansas His­ to burn the town. torical Collections 11 (1909-10): 580. 46. First Lieutenant Mason Carter to Captain J. 55. Bellecourt, "Glorification of Buffalo Soldiers" W. Clous, Thirty-Eighth Infantry, 3 May 1869; and (note 2 above), p. 5{A).