Parade honors 150th anniversary of Buffalo Soldiers

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- For military enthusiasts and history buffs, all eyes were on Houston this week. 150 years ago, America's peacetime Army started six black units to help settlers expand westward. They were known as the Buffalo Soldiers.

On Saturday, there was a parade to honor the 150th anniversary of the Buffalo Soldiers. Groups from as far as California and Atlanta marched from Emancipation Park to the Buffalo Soldiers Museum, the only one of its kind in America.

If the Buffalo Soldiers weren't a part of history, there would be no Houston.

After the Civil War, the U.S. Army created six black units to blaze the trails to the wild west. They escorted settlers, cattle herds and railroad crews. They fought Native American tribes from Montana to Texas and all over the southwest.

From these ranks came the first documented woman in the Army.

They got the name from the Indians for the way they fought and the clothes they wore to keep warm during battle.

"You think of the vast majority of these people were slaves, were property just a year or two years prior. Yet here they are not just as free men, but free men wearing the uniform of the united states. That's amazing," remarked Matt McKinnon.