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The Buffalo Soldier Tragedy of 1877. By Paul H. Carlson. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2003. ISBN 1-58544-253-4. Maps. Illustrations. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Pp. xiv, 177. $24.95.
On 10 July 1877, approximately forty soldiers of the U.S. Tenth Cavalry set out from Fort Concho, Texas, on what was deemed to be a routine pursuit of a small band of Comanches who had left their Indian Territory reservation and were roaming the Texas Panhandle. The soldiers apprehended no Indians, but along with twenty-two buffalo hunters who joined them near Muchaque Peak, they became lost on the vast plains of the Llano Estacado. During the four-day ordeal, without water and beneath a broiling sun, four troopers died, one went insane, one went missing, and several left the command. The buffalo hunters also departed following a dispute with Captain Nicholas Nolan on what route to follow. A subsequent convening of a court martial board led to convictions and harsh prison terms for four...