It wasn’t until after the Civil War that Black soldiers could enlist in the U.S. Army as more than volunteers. These men enlisted for five years and were paid a salary of $13 per month. For many, this represented a personal dignity: they earned a steady salary and the chance to be treated with greater respect.
In 1869, the U.S. Army restructured the troops. This included consolidating Black troops into two cavalry units and two infantry units. Led by white officers, their main tasks were to capture cattle rustlers and thieves; protect settlers, stagecoaches, wagon trains and railroad crews along the Western front.
These men were Buffalo Soldiers: African-American soldiers who mainly served on the Western frontier in 1866, after Congress passed the Army Organization Act.
No one knows for certain why the Native Americans dubbed the troops “buffalo soldiers.” One theory claims it was because the soldiers’ dark, curly hair resembled the fur of a buffalo; another is the soldiers fought so valiantly and fiercely that Native Americans respected them as they did the mighty buffalo.
No matter the reason, Shelton Johnson, born in 1958, a park ranger with the U.S. National Park Service, makes it his business to continue to educate others by retracing the legacy of the Buffalo Soldiers in National Parks. In his mind, there is no greater story.
Johnson is dedicated to introducing people of color to the national parks and connecting them to the natural world. One of the great losses to African culture from slavery, he says, “was the loss of kinship with the Earth.” He is known for his research and publications on the assignments of the 24th Infantry Regiment and the 9th Cavalry Regiment to protect the new national parks in California’s Sierra Nevada.
Growing up in Detroit’s inner-city, Johnson could only dream of mountains and parks. His only connection with nature and its wildlife came through television. While attending the University of Michigan, he applied for a seasonal worker’s position at Yellowstone National Park because he thought it would be the perfect place to write.
On disembarking the bus in Gardiner, Mont., Johnson recalls: “(As) I was stepping down onto the ground, there was a bison, a 2,000-pound animal walking by…. I looked up at the driver and I said, ‘Does this happen all the time?’ And he looked at me and said, ‘All the time.’ And I said to myself: ‘I have arrived.’”
It was after Johnson discovered a worn photo of buffalo soldiers who had patrolled Yosemite that he began connecting their stories to the national parks. He travels to public schools across America and has even located descendants of the soldiers.
“I can’t forget that little Black kid in Detroit,” said Johnson, now 60. “And I can’t not think of the other kids, just like me in Detroit, Oakland, Watts…. How do I let them know … that we, too, have a place here? … Every time I go to work and put the uniform on, I think about them.”
Tamara Shiloh
Tamara Shiloh has published the first two books in her historical fiction chapter book series,
Just Imagine…What If There Were No Black People in the World is about African American inventors, scientists and other notable Black people in history. The two books are
Jaxon’s Magical Adventure with Black Inventors and Scientists and
Jaxon and Kevin’s Black History Trip Downtown. Tamara Shiloh has also written a book a picture book for Scholastic,
Cameron Teaches Black History, that will be available in June, 2022.
Tamara Shiloh’s other writing experiences include: writing the Black History column for the Post Newspaper in the Bay area, Creator and Instruction of the black History Class for Educators a professional development class for teachers and her non-profit offers a free Black History literacy/STEM/Podcast class for kids 3d – 8th grade which also includes the Let’s Go Learn Reading and Essence and tutorial program. She is also the owner of the Multicultural Bookstore and Gifts, in Richmond, California,
Previously in her early life she was the /Editor-in-Chief of
Desert Diamonds Magazine, highlighting the accomplishments of minority women in Nevada; assisting with the creation, design and writing of a Los Angeles-based, herbal magazine entitled
Herbal Essence; editorial contribution to
Homes of Color; Editor-in-Chief of
Black Insight Magazine, the first digital, interactive magazine for African Americans; profile creations for sports figures on the now defunct PublicFigure.com; newsletters for various businesses and organizations; and her own Las Vegas community newsletter,
Tween Time News, a monthly publication highlighting music entertainment in the various venues of Las Vegas.
She is a member of:
- Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI)
- Richmond Chamber of Commerce
- Point Richmond Business Association
- National Association of Professional Women (NAPW)
- Independent Book Publishers Association (IPBA)
- California Writers Club-Berkeley & Marin
- Richmond CA Kiwanis
- Richmond CA Rotary
- Bay Area Girls Club
Tamara Shiloh, a native of Northern California, has two adult children, one grandson and four great-grand sons. She resides in Point Richmond, CA with her husband, Ernest.
www.multiculturalbookstore.com
