Black, Buckskin, and Blue: African American Scouts and Soldiers on the Western Frontier. - Review - book review

Black, Buckskin, and Blue: African American Scouts and Soldiers on the Western Frontier by Art T. Burton Eakin Press, 1999, $24.95, ISBN 1-57168-295-3

Art T. Burton tracks the movement of adventurous African American men across the country's West before paved roads crisscrossed the nation's plains. His love of the subject is obvious and his meticulous research unearths multi-layered details of their journeys. His strong foundation of facts allows thoughts to emerge that ought to surface as we revisit this brushed-over era of African American history inextricably entangled with America's history.

Burton's book points toward another way out of slavery; there was the Underground Railroad that went north and there were trails that lead west, beyond the Mississippi River. Most of those trails were marked and fought for by soldiers of African descent. Unfortunately, in the African's route to freedom and acceptance he often trespassed through the homelands of Native Americans. They were pitted against each other, reluctant enemies and mutual admirers.

It's deplorable that African American talents for tracking, languages, horseback riding and marksmanship were co-opted and misused.

This book is a valuable record of the history, the lives and the choices of African American frontiersmen. All of their battles were not glorious and righteous, but some were. The others raise questions that should be asked and answered. To date, African Americans have received scant mention in the annals of the American West. But now, with Burton's Black, Buckskin, and Blue, we are introduced to these men of the American West whose stories have faded into the past like a western sunset.

D.T. Lee is a freelance writer.

COPYRIGHT 2001 Cox, Matthews & Associates
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group