History Colorado’s latest public lecture explored the story of John Taylor, a freed black man who enlisted as a Buffalo Soldier following the Civil War and was sent west. Louis Gregory McAllister, professor of Ethnic Studies at Northern Arizona University, discussed the history of how Taylor settled in southwestern Colorado, where he claimed to be “the first white man in the Pine River Valley.” Taylor eventually married Kitty Cloud (Ute) and had four children before passing away in 1934 at the age of ninety-four. 

This lecture is part of the buildup to the opening of buffalo soldiers: reVision at Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center, Saturday, June 24. This new exhibit is being created in partnership with eight independent artists and unpacks themes of race, land, and the harm unleashed by westward expansion while providing an emotional testament to the difficult choices the all-Black Buffalo Soldiers regiments faced. 

Louis Gregory McAllister holds a M.A in History from the Northern Arizona University and is a professor of Ethnic Studies at Northern Arizona University. McAllister’s specializations include: Race relations in the United State Southwest Borderlands; African American History; American Indian-Black relations in American History; Racial formation in American History; and Integrating film, art, music and literature into the fields of History and Ethnic Studies. 

These events are free and open to the public, but registration is required. 

The stories told in the Borderlands of Southern Colorado exhibitions are getting richer. Join authors, artists, scholars, and activists from around the country this fall for the Borderlands of Southern Colorado lecture series as they deepen discussions and complicate narratives on various Borderlands topics.