Cavalry Stables

Red brick stables building with gray slate roof as they are today.

Quick Facts

Amenities

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Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits

Each of the five cavalry stables built in 1914 were capable of housing 102 horse friends, enough for an entire company. In addition to the stables, there was a paddock, blacksmith shop and barracks that stood on the hill.

The horse cavalry was phased out of the military after WWI, and the stables were eventually adapted for use as a K-9 Corps facility and a veterinary hospital.

Buffalo Soldiers

In 1866, Congress decreed that African Americans would be allowed to enlist in the Regular Army. Four segregated regiments were quickly created. These units, the 9th and 10th Cavalry and the 24th and 25th Infantry, became known as the Buffalo Soldiers. The origin of the moniker is debated, but it likely came from the Cheyenne. Accounts contained in letters talk of the Cheyenne likening the hair of the black soldiers to buffalo fur. The comparison to the buffalo was intended as honorific by the Cheyenne and was received as such by the soldiers.

After serving in Cuba, the Philippines and Hawaii during the Philippine American and Spanish American wars, the Buffalo Soldiers returned stateside and were garrisoned at the Presidio in San Francisco in 1903.

Colonel Charles Young

During their stay in California, Buffalo Soldiers patrolled Yosemite and Sequoia national parks in the Sierras during summer seasons. Their commanding officer, Colonel Charles Young, earned the distinction of being the first African American Park Superintendent as he led his troops to build roads and trails, and protect and manage the park. This is only one of his many accomplishments. His long and distinguished career as a commissioned officer in the United States Army made him a popular figure of his time and a role model for generations of new leaders.