First, a thumbnail sketch of Teddy Roosevelt, the youngest and most popular president in the history of the country.
He was a living whirlwind, once described as "a steam engine in trousers," and "a one-man circus parade followed by a steam calliope." An intellectual who read a book a day and quoted poetry on the hour, Roosevelt's interior life did not live up to the hyper-male image he chose to project. He was a sickly child, and looked upon life as one long continuous field of battle. Born a patrician and raised to believe he was a notch above other people (his mother was from the south, and grew up surrounded by slaves), Roosevelt nevertheless tried to cope with fear by fighting for progressive causes in rough and tumble public life.
Theodore Roosevelt, commonly referred to as "T.R.," liked war. Compensating for his own real or perceived weakness, from childhood on he was constantly trying to prove himself a man. Glorifying war was sure to win him votes in turn of the century America, and T.R. would use the Spanish-American War to make himself a hero. His reckless charge leading his Rough Riders up San Juan Hill in Cuba would prove his ticket to the White House. It was after such a battle in Cuba that Roosevelt and his men found themselves without rations.
Enter one Mingo Sanders, Sergeant in the Twenty-Fifth Colored Cycling Corps of the United States, referred to today as "The Buffalo Soldiers'' (Read the Story of the Twenty-Fifths famous ride from Fort Missoula, Montana to Yellowstone and back in 1896, and the nearly two thousand mile ride from Fort Missoula to St. Louis in 1897 that accompanies my Buffalo Soldier bicycle featured elsewhere on this site). Mingo Sanders was every bit as important to the success of the Buffalo Soldiers' historic ride as was Lt. Moss, the white commander of the infantry. Sanders provided both the necessary discipline and spiritual inspiration to complete that grueling ride. And it was Mingo Sanders who shared his hardtack with Roosevelt and his men on that historic day in Cuba.
Fast forward, as they say, to the town of Brownsville, Texas in 1906. The First Battalion, Twenty-fFfth Infantry, including Mingo Sanders, was sent to Fort Brown in Brownsville, where racial discrimination was commonplace. On August 13, 1906, a white bartender was killed and a police officer injured in a shooting incident. There were no witnesses to identify a single suspect, but the Twenty-Fifth was accused of the crime. Although the Twenty-Fifths white commanding officers confirmed that the black soldiers were confined to their barracks at the time of the shooting, the white residents of Brownsville claimed they saw blacks firing rifles. There was no trial, no hearing, and the soldiers of the Twenty-Fifth were unable to confront their accusers.
A white South Carolinian was assigned to investigate the incident. Although the Buffalo Soldiers had been abused and insulted by the citizens of Brownsville, Texas, and a Texas Grand Jury failed to indict any of the black soldiers, when Mingo Sanders appealed to Theodore Roosevelt for clemency, he and 167 soldiers of the Twenty-Fifth Infantry were dishonorably discharged from the army. Roosevelt justified his decision based on what he called the black soldiers' "conspiracy of silence." Six recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor and Mingo Sanders were drummed out of the service. Sanders was seventeen months from retirement. Although Roosevelt is credited with being the first American president to invite an African-American to dine in the White House, T.R. publicly proclaimed that "It would take black people many thousands of years to match the intellectual powers of white people," and refused to reverse his decision. Historian Clay Jenkinson says "This is without question the most dishonorable moment of Roosevelt's long and extraordinary career."
Roosevelt waited until blacks had cast their vote for his congressional candidates across the north before he dismissed all 167 men from the service, and would make no mention of the case in his autobiography. Mingo Sanders, who fought alongside T.R. in Cuba and shared his rations with Roosevelt's Rough Riders after the Battle of Las Guasimas would be condemned to a series of menial jobs for the rest of his life.
Here are two bicycles that when juxtaposed tell the story of America:
He was a living whirlwind, once described as "a steam engine in trousers," and "a one-man circus parade followed by a steam calliope." An intellectual who read a book a day and quoted poetry on the hour, Roosevelt's interior life did not live up to the hyper-male image he chose to project. He was a sickly child, and looked upon life as one long continuous field of battle. Born a patrician and raised to believe he was a notch above other people (his mother was from the south, and grew up surrounded by slaves), Roosevelt nevertheless tried to cope with fear by fighting for progressive causes in rough and tumble public life.
Theodore Roosevelt, commonly referred to as "T.R.," liked war. Compensating for his own real or perceived weakness, from childhood on he was constantly trying to prove himself a man. Glorifying war was sure to win him votes in turn of the century America, and T.R. would use the Spanish-American War to make himself a hero. His reckless charge leading his Rough Riders up San Juan Hill in Cuba would prove his ticket to the White House. It was after such a battle in Cuba that Roosevelt and his men found themselves without rations.
Enter one Mingo Sanders, Sergeant in the Twenty-Fifth Colored Cycling Corps of the United States, referred to today as "The Buffalo Soldiers'' (Read the Story of the Twenty-Fifths famous ride from Fort Missoula, Montana to Yellowstone and back in 1896, and the nearly two thousand mile ride from Fort Missoula to St. Louis in 1897 that accompanies my Buffalo Soldier bicycle featured elsewhere on this site). Mingo Sanders was every bit as important to the success of the Buffalo Soldiers' historic ride as was Lt. Moss, the white commander of the infantry. Sanders provided both the necessary discipline and spiritual inspiration to complete that grueling ride. And it was Mingo Sanders who shared his hardtack with Roosevelt and his men on that historic day in Cuba.
Fast forward, as they say, to the town of Brownsville, Texas in 1906. The First Battalion, Twenty-fFfth Infantry, including Mingo Sanders, was sent to Fort Brown in Brownsville, where racial discrimination was commonplace. On August 13, 1906, a white bartender was killed and a police officer injured in a shooting incident. There were no witnesses to identify a single suspect, but the Twenty-Fifth was accused of the crime. Although the Twenty-Fifths white commanding officers confirmed that the black soldiers were confined to their barracks at the time of the shooting, the white residents of Brownsville claimed they saw blacks firing rifles. There was no trial, no hearing, and the soldiers of the Twenty-Fifth were unable to confront their accusers.
A white South Carolinian was assigned to investigate the incident. Although the Buffalo Soldiers had been abused and insulted by the citizens of Brownsville, Texas, and a Texas Grand Jury failed to indict any of the black soldiers, when Mingo Sanders appealed to Theodore Roosevelt for clemency, he and 167 soldiers of the Twenty-Fifth Infantry were dishonorably discharged from the army. Roosevelt justified his decision based on what he called the black soldiers' "conspiracy of silence." Six recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor and Mingo Sanders were drummed out of the service. Sanders was seventeen months from retirement. Although Roosevelt is credited with being the first American president to invite an African-American to dine in the White House, T.R. publicly proclaimed that "It would take black people many thousands of years to match the intellectual powers of white people," and refused to reverse his decision. Historian Clay Jenkinson says "This is without question the most dishonorable moment of Roosevelt's long and extraordinary career."
Roosevelt waited until blacks had cast their vote for his congressional candidates across the north before he dismissed all 167 men from the service, and would make no mention of the case in his autobiography. Mingo Sanders, who fought alongside T.R. in Cuba and shared his rations with Roosevelt's Rough Riders after the Battle of Las Guasimas would be condemned to a series of menial jobs for the rest of his life.
Here are two bicycles that when juxtaposed tell the story of America:
The Story of America In Two Bicycles ©Daniel Dahlquist