Nebraska lawmakers have tweaked a provision in the proposed budget providing $20-million dollars for improvements at Fort Robinson State Park by earmarking $2-million to honor the Buffalo Soldiers, the Black soldiers once stationed there.
Omaha Senator Justin Wayne, one of the Unicameral’s two Black members, told his colleagues yesterday that he recently toured the former military base with several other senators and was surprised by how little there was about the Buffalo Soldiers.
Wayne said the only thing he could find about the 9th and 10th Cavalry and their service at Fort Robinson from 1885-1907 was a plaque, and that there needs to be more to honor the significant history of the all-Black regiments.
Fellow Omaha Senator Terrell McKinney, the Legislature’s other Black member, was also part of the visit to Fort Robinson and called the story of the Buffalo Soldiers “rich history that will lift up our state.”
McKinney said many people don’t realize there are Black people in Nebraska, much less aware of the role that Buffalo Soldiers played in the history of Fort Robinson, which was an active military post from 1874 to 1947.