Youngsholm

The final stop of our trip to the Buckeye State was Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument in Wilberforce. Because this unit was only designated in 2013, it's still a work in progress. They aren't open for regular visitation, so several weeks ago I made arrangements for us to visit the site at 10:00AM today.

Charles Young was born in Kentucky to enslaved parents in 1864. He entered the U.S. Military Academy in 1884, and in 1889, he became only the third African-American to graduate from West Point. It would be almost fifty years before there would be another. 

Commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant, Young served with the 9th Cavalry out on the western frontier. The all-black regiments were called "buffalo soldiers" by the American Indians because their dark, curly hair resembled its mane and because they fought with the same bravery and spirit as the buffalo. In 1903, he was assigned to Sequoia and General Grant (now Kings Canyon) National Parks, making him the first African-American superintendent of a national park. He directed his Buffalo Soldiers to build roads, cut trails, map the region, and protect the parks from fires, livestock, poachers, and loggers.

Young also served as military attaché to Haiti and the Dominican Republic, as well as Liberia, eventually rising to the rank of colonel before his death in 1922. In addition, he taught military science at Wilberforce University. It was during his tenure here that he married and bought the house that he called "Youngsholm."

Aside from the park film and a few displays, there wasn't much to see here. The intern who took us through the house is currently a student at Wilberforce University. It will be interesting to see how the National Park Service develops the presentation of the story of Charles Young and the Buffalo Soldiers here at this unit in the years to come.

From here, we headed north to catch I-70 and stopped for an early lunch at a Steak 'n Shake just off the interstate. This one was disappointing because the service was slow, and my chili mac wasn't prepared very well. Boo. 

We made another pit stop at a Dairy Queen off I-65 near Rensselaer mid-afternoon, and then crawled our way through traffic as we approached Chicago on I-80 and I-94. The downpour started by the time we got to Addison St., so my California boys were treated to a Midwestern thunderstorm-and-lightning show. Those last few miles took forever. We met R at his aunties' two-flat, so our family was whole again in time for dinner. Yay!