Buffalo Soldier tragedy of 1877
| Buffalo Soldier Tragedy of 1877 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Buffalo Hunters' War | |||||
Caprock Escarpment north of Muchaque Peak | |||||
| |||||
| Belligerents | |||||
| United States | Comanche | ||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||
| Nicolas Merritt Nolan | |||||
| Units involved | |||||
| 10th Cavalry | |||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||
| 4 soldiers and 1 buffalo hunter dead | |||||
The Buffalo Soldier Tragedy of 1877, also known as the Staked Plains Horror, occurred when a combined force of Buffalo Soldier troops of the United States Army 10th Cavalry and local buffalo hunters wandered for five days in the Llano Estacado region of northwest Texas and eastern New Mexico during July of a drought year, where four soldiers and one buffalo hunter died.
News of the ongoing event and speculation reached East Coast newspapers via telegraphy, where it was erroneously reported that the expedition had been massacred. Later, after the remainder of the group returned from the Llano, the same newspapers declared them "back from the dead."