Buffalo Soldiers Day

Las Cruces City Councilor Johana Bencomo, left, and Mayor Ken Miyagishima, right, honored guests at the Las Cruces City Council’s Aug. 7 regular meeting, issuing a proclamation declaring July 28, 2023, as Buffalo Soldiers Day in Las Cruces. Staff Sgt. (ret.) Harold Morris, dressed in historic Buffalo Soldier attire, accepts the proclamation, mirroring the day set aside nationally in 1992 to honor Buffalo Soldiers. Joining Morris are Janice Jones, longtime City of Las Cruces employee, and Jo Ann Jones, Sgt. Morris’ sister. Morris, who served in the United States Army, including tours of duty in Vietnam, portrays a Buffalo Soldier in honor of the African American soldiers who served in six regiments of the U.S. Army beginning in 1866. Nicknamed Buffalo Soldiers by the Lakota Indians, Morris said, Black soldiers in the Army’s 9^th and 10^th cavalries protected settlers in the American West, serving at Fort Selden north of Las Cruces and many other frontier forts.