Stockade, Stables, and Buffalo Soldiers: Philippines War Tour

Buffalo Soldiers en-route to the Philippines, 1900.

The red brick building to your right was the Main Post guardhouse and stockade. During the Philippine war years the stockade, or jail, was kept busy detaining soldiers caught taking absents without leave, participating in barroom brawls, or any number of other offenses.

The March 1900 San Francisco Call reported:

"The number of military convicts who have evaded the vigilance of their guards and taken French leave within the past few weeks has been unusually large. The climax was reached when a prisoner, who was working in the quarry at the mortar battery about two miles beyond the Presidio, disappeared Friday accompanied by the sentinel detailed to guard him. Colonel Eskridge yesterday ordered that all guards hereafter be armed with repeating shotguns loaded with buckshot. The ordnance department at once issued twenty of these weapons. Hereafter, if a prisoner attempts to escape he will take big chances, as buckshot is much more effective in bringing down a runaway than a rifle bullet."

In October 1902, the 3rd Squadron of the famed 9th Cavalry "Buffalo Soldiers" arrived for duty at the Presidio; the first time an African American unit was assigned here. On arrival, the soldiers were dismayed to find that their horses were placed in the new flimsy shed stables located in the damp marshy flats below the bluff in front of you. They immediately applied for stables located on top of the bluff, in the area in front of you, only to be refused. This refusal was probably due to the better stables already being assigned to another cavalry unit rather than discrimination against the black troopers.

Four troops of the 9th Cavalry served at the Presidio for the next two years. During the summer of 1903, they patrolled Yosemite and Sequoia national parks. They also performed numerous drills and exercises that entertained the citizens of San Francisco.

The San Francisco Call published this account in the spring of 1904:

"The 9th cavalry troops have been in the field every day, except Saturdays and Sundays, for several hours, and the result is shown by the fine display the squadron made yesterday. They were put through a pretty stiff drill, and when they dashed across the big field under full gallop with the bright guidons waving in the morning breeze, they presented a stunning appearance. Following the main drill came the pitching of the Sibley tents. In less than five minutes every tent was up. What had been a plain, smooth, clear field could now house a small army of men. At the conclusion the bugles sounded recall and the troopers galloped off the field to the stables. The day was absolutely perfect"

In May of 1903, two of the 9th Cavalry troops had the special honor of serving as Theodore Roosevelt's presidential escort during his two-day visit to San Francisco, the first time black troops had been asked to do so.

The San Francisco Call reported:

"As President Roosevelt emerged from the train depot he was greeted by hearty cheering from citizens who pressed against the wire cable on each side of the thoroughfare. The soldiers of the Ninth Cavalry presented sabers and the band stationed at the corner played enlivening music."

In the afternoon, five thousand people gathered at the Baker Street entrance of Golden Gate Park to see President Roosevelt break ground for a monument to the late President McKinley. They waited patiently for the President to arrive and when he put in an appearance, escorted by the Ninth Cavalry, he was greeted enthusiastically.