Buffalo Soldiers ride into ElDo

CEDAR COUNTY LIBRARY PRESENTS HISTORY OF 9TH AND 10TH CALVARY DIVISIONS – When William Cathey enlisted in the U.S. Army right after the Civil War, the young recently freed soldier made the months long trek from the Jefferson Barracks at St. Louis to New Mexico. At Bayard, New Mexico illness finally overtook the young soldier and it was discovered that William Cathey was actually Cathey Williams, the first woman to enlist in the US Army. Since women weren’t allowed to be in the army, she was immediately discharged.
Donna M. Madison as Cathey Williams was the first presenter at the Buffalo Soldier event held at the Civic Center on Wed., March 23. The presentations were centered around the Buffalo Soldier but also told the history of blacks in the service of their country. John W. Bruce and Sgt Lloyd Stevens were also presenters.
On July 28, 1966, a group of WWII Veterans met for their monthly meeting. That meeting was exactly 100 years to the day that a congressional order to establish six all black units to serve in the U.S. peacetime army was enacted. Those veterans organized and chartered in the state of Missouri the Greater KC-Leavenworth Area Buffalo Soldiers now known as the Alexander/Madison Chapter KC Area Buffalo Soldiers. There are 41 chapters in the United States and one in Germany.
Find out more about the Buffalo Soldiers at www.BuffaloSoldiersKC.org.