The Presidio’s Cavalry Stables and the Buffalo Soldiers
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Five red brick stables with slate roofs still stand in the Presidio of San Francisco. The Army built them in 1914, each one for 102 horses, enough to mount a full company. They are the most visible reminder that this post was once a cavalry post, and that some of its best known horsemen were the Black regulars called Buffalo Soldiers.
The 9th Cavalry arrives
1866. Congress creates six all-Black Army regiments.
1899. Companies from all four of the remaining Black regiments pass through the Presidio on their way to the Philippines.
October 1902. The 3rd Squadron of the 9th Cavalry reports for duty at the Presidio, the first Black unit assigned to the post. Four troops serve there for the next two years.
May 1903. Two troops of the 9th ride as President Theodore Roosevelt's escort during his two days in San Francisco. The National Park Service says it was the first time Black troops were given that role.
From the Presidio to the Sierra
Before there was a National Park Service, Army cavalry patrolled the first national parks. In the spring of 1903 Captain Charles Young led 9th Cavalry troops out of the Presidio toward the Sierra Nevada. Troops K and L went to Yosemite. Troops I and M went to Sequoia. It was the first time Black soldiers held the park patrol for a whole summer. Buffalo Soldiers guarded Yosemite and Sequoia in 1899, 1903 and 1904.
The stables that came after
The brick stables were built a decade after the 9th Cavalry's stay, so those troopers never used them. The earlier stables stood on the flat that later became Crissy Field. Buffalo Soldier regiments rotating to and from the Philippines in later years did use the 1914 stables for short periods.
The horse cavalry was phased out after World War I. The stables went on to house the Army's K-9 Corps and a veterinary hospital.
What you can see today
The five cavalry stables, with exhibits, in the Presidio.
San Francisco National Cemetery, where more than 400 Buffalo Soldiers are buried.
This is one entry in the full Bay Area horse history timeline.