From the Office of the Right Worshipful Grand Lecturer
REMEMBERING THE BUFFALO SOLDIERS AND THEIR ROLE IN THE EXPANSION OF FREEMASONRY FOR PRINCE HALL MASONS
WHEREAS, the courageous Black men that formed the 9th Calvary regiment was activated at Greenville , LA and the 10th Calvary was activated at Fort Leavenworth , KS . in September, 1866. Recruits were made of former slaves, freemen and veterans of the civil war. The pay for enlisted men was $13.00 per month with food, clothing shelter and medical care provided.
WHEREAS, all line officers were White men and many resented Blacks being soldiers in a peacetime Army even in segregated units.
WHEREAS, these Units fought campaigns against hostile American Indian tribes on the Western Frontier that ran from Montana to Texas into Mexico through New Mexico and Arizona. Some troops of the 9th and 10th Cavalries fought in Cuba or San Quan Hill with Colonel an later President Theodore Roosevelt and his Rough Riders.
WHEREAS, when not engaged in campaigns, the Buffalo Soldiers built forts and roads, located and guarded water holes, erected telegraph lines, escorted wagon trains and cattle drives and protected stage coaches and routes for mail runs.
WHEREAS, this courageous Unit of cavalrymen were given their name by the Indians in the Plains because they recognized the similarity between the instinct of a cornered buffalo on the plains that would fight ferociously and these Black cavalrymen who would engaged in spirited fight with courage and stamina. As the buffalo was sacred to the American Indians, the Buffalo Soldiers were held in high regard for their traits as fighting men and labeled as such.
WHEREAS, Buffalo Soldiers earned 24 Medals of Honor during the Indian Wars, the highest honor a Military man can receive.
WHEREAS, for many years the 9th and 10th Calvary Regiments, 34th and 25th infantry Regiments were the only military units the Black man could join. Volunteers had to wait for someone to retire or die to fill the vacancies.
WHEREAS, the Buffalo Soldiers cease to exist during World War II after the creation of the 2nd Cavalry Division that were filled with draftees. This Division after completion of basic and combat training was assigned o duty guarding the Mexican border areas and then North Africa in 1944.
WHEREAS, the War Department decided this unit should be inactivated in North Africa and converted to Service and Port units presenting another shock to the Black Men in the Regular Army. The Black men serving in the 2nd Cavalry Division of the Army felt they deserved better from a nation that they had so proudly served while protecting the westward march of our American civilization.
WHEREAS, the Black Buffalo Soldiers and Black veterans alike have proudly served this nation since its founding during the Revolutionary War and that the founder of Freemasonry for Men of Color, Prince Hall, and 14 other men of Color fought in the Revolutionary War and provided an undisputed record of loyalty and patriotism that laid the foundation for the legitimate inclusion of African Americans as equal Citizens of this great country.
WHEREAS, in recognition that without this resplendent history and courageous service of Black soldiers in this country's history there would likely not have evolved Prince Hall and the formation of African Lodge No. 459 nor any of the 48 Grand Lodges within the U.S., no Niagara Movement, no NAACP, no civil rights movement; no Jt. Chief of Staff in the personage of General Colin Powell and no U.S. President Barack Obama, as Commander in Chief.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, the 91st Annual Conference of Grand Masters assembled in Boston, MA on this 14th Day of May,2010 due hereby proclaim and adopt this resolution unanimously as a lasting tribute to the early history of Black Soldiers and veterans alike in the formation of this country;
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, the 91st Annual Conference of Grand Masters does gratefully acknowledge the courageous efforts of the Buffalo Soldiers in particular for their formidable role in the expansion of American civilization aCross the old west and for their vital role in the expansion of freemasonry for Prince Hall Masons on the issuance of a Charter to Eureka Lodge #135, F. & A.M.., that was issued to a Buffalo Soldiers Unit stationed at Ft. Apache, Arizona Territory in 1890 and the charter then carried to Ft. Buford, N.D. by a Buffalo Soldiers Unit.
