Houston Hosting National Buffalo Soldiers Convention This Week

Media Contact: Luis Padilla, TPWD, (512) 844-3526 icle__media__contact">Media Contact: Luis Padilla, TPWD, (512) 844-3526 or luis.padilla@tpwd.texas.gov; Tia “Broadway” Winston, Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club (803) 381-1620 or Broadwaybsmc@hotmail.com

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HOUSTON – More than 1,500 members of a national Buffalo Soldiers organization will convene this week to celebrate 15 years of service and to commemorate Texas legislative action in 1999 that pays homes to the African-American soldiers who helped settle the West. The National Association of Buffalo Soldiers and Troopers Motorcycle Club will meet July 23-27 at the Westin Galleria Hotel.

The annual conference kicks off on Thursday with a free Buffalo Soldier Fest for youngsters, featuring representatives of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Buffalo Soldiers Heritage & Outreach Program and Buffalo Soldier National Museum in Houston. There will be living history presentations and children can play traditional games, learn how to track animals,

The highlight of the meeting will be a Buffalo Soldier Capitol Salute at 9 a.m., Saturday, in the Westin Galleria Ballroom commemorating the passage of Senate Bill 1457 that designated July as Texas Buffalo Soldier Heritage Month. It is free and open to the public. Following the ceremony, police will escort motorcycle club riders to Mancuso Harley Davidson, where more than $5,000 will be donated to a local charity.

Buffalo Soldiers were African-American troops enlisted after the Civil War to escort settlers, cattle herds and railroad crews during the nation’s movement westward. The 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments conducted campaigns against American Indian tribes on a western frontier that extended from Montana in the Northwest to Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. Through the era of the Indian Wars, approximately 20 percent of the U.S. Cavalry troopers were black and fought over 177 engagements. Their combat prowess, bravery, tenaciousness and presence on the battlefield inspired the Indians to call them "Buffalo Soldiers."

For more information about the convention, contact: Tia “Broadway” Winston, Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club central frontier public affairs officer at Broadwaybsmc@hotmail.com or (803) 381-1620.