by Brandon Gonzales.
Having been shaped for thousands of years by many different Indigenous nations, and more recently by non-Indigenous settlers, the San Luis Valley (SLV) has always been a crossroads of different cultures and traditions. The Fort Garland Museum is showcasing a sliver of the region’s unique human history with their newest exhibit, Buffalo Soldiers: reVision. The exhibit draws from the work of 8 artists to explore the legacy that the “Buffalo Soldiers” left on the SLV and its peoples during American western expansion.
For some background, the Buffalo Soldiers were six Black cavalry regiments that were established by Congress in 1866 after the end of the American Civil War. Many of these soldiers had been formerly enslaved, and joining the military was one of the few opportunities for them to provide for themselves and their families in a post-slavery America. These regiments were stationed in the western states and territories to aid the American military in protecting pioneers and settlers moving west from attacks from Indigenous nations across the Plains. These soldiers were given the nickname “Buffalo Soldiers” by the local Indigenous population, who thought that their intense fighting style and dark, curly hair resembled the nature and coat of a buffalo.
The regiment of Buffalo Soldiers located at Fort Garland was the 9th Cavalry, stationed at the fort from 1875-1879. During this period, the soldiers there were mostly used to enforce treaties between the United States and the Indigenous peoples in the area, primarily Ute tribes native to southern Colorado. This era was marked by widespread violence and displacement of local Indigenous peoples from their land and way of life.
While the soldiers only spent a short period of time at the fort, their legacy remains, making them a unique focal point for the new exhibit.
Buffalo Soldiers: reVision is an exhibit of artistic creations that presents history through art, including prints and poetry. Collaboration between the staff and historians at the Fort Garland Museum, History Colorado and eight artists from across the United States brought the exhibit to life. Museum Director, Eric Carpio, explained that the purpose of the exhibit was to dive deep into some of the complicated history behind American expansion in the West, beyond what we would read in a textbook. History is more than dates and timelines, and reVision provides the opportunity to meditate on the thoughts, feelings and emotions of this period in American history.
“What does it mean when you take soldiers who face their own discrimination and prejudice and place them on the front lines of violence against other marginalized populations, and what are the issues that come out of that? For us, it’s the opportunity to engage in this conversation in a different way than what we have in the past,” shared Carpio.
Race is certainly one of the topics the exhibit takes on. Popular Westerns traditionally viewed the settling of the American West as a fight between the Anglo pioneers pursuing Manifest Destiny, and the Native Americans who called this land home for time immemorial. Mexicans and Hispanos were often showcased as side characters or another obstacle to Anglo settlement, and African Americans were typically written out of this history altogether. For example, Carpio shared the story of John Taylor, a Buffalo Soldier, who married a Ute woman named Kitty Cloud. Taylor spoke numerous languages and aided the American government as an official. “Because his is a Colorado story, [John Taylor] becomes an interesting vehicle in which to explore these interracial dynamics in the West,” Carpio noted. Taylor’s story needs to be known.
Carpio’s favorite aspect to the exhibit has been its development and the collaboration that took place between the eight artists, those at the museum and History Colorado. “It’s a multi-ethnic, multi-gender artist team.
Very few of our artists had any background of the Buffalo Soldiers, and so we spent 12-18 months learning together, speaking with scholars, sharing information and the conversations that emerged were rich.” All of the artwork for this exhibit was created exclusively for this project and will remain with the museum. Carpio said this exhibit is core, meaning for the time being there is no end date for the exhibit.
Looking towards the future at the Fort Garland Museum, Carpio said “We are really excited! Next summer from June-August 2025, we will be hosting a Smithsonian traveling exhibit called Why We Serve that explores the history of Native American military service from the Revolutionary War through modern day service.”
This exhibit will offer many different displays, as well as video content, all spotlighting the contributions of Native men and women and efforts to defend the freedoms of all people.
With such exhibits as Buffalo Soldiers: reVision and the coming Why We Serve, there is much to look forward to from the Fort Garland Museum, especially in spotlighting stories from marginalized communities and their impacts on southern Colorado and the San Luis Valley.
For more information on the reVision exhibit and the Fort Garland Museum, stop by the museum, or visit the website at www.historycolorado.org/exhibit/buffalo-soldiers-revision and www.historycolorado.org/fort-garland-museum-cultural-center.