DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker records, out here in Cochran County where the land itself was the danger. Now, the Texas frontier was no place for the faint of heart, and the men who held that line knew it better than anyone. African American troops — the ones history came to call Buffalo Soldiers — were vital in defending that frontier.
Vital. That word is in the record, and it earned its place there. It was July 26, 1877.
Buffalo Soldiers from Company A of the 10th Cavalry set out in pursuit of a Comanche party. And here's where the land becomes the villain of this story. The Comanches knew this country the way you know your own front porch.
They led those soldiers — deliberately, skillfully — away from the water holes. Through Cochran County and beyond, the expedition pushed on, the sun doing what a West Texas sun does, and the water... gone. Several days passed.
No water. Think on that for a moment out here in this heat. Several days.
Captain Nicholas Nolan made the call. He gathered his dehydrated soldiers and the animals that were still standing, and he turned them toward Double Lakes in Lynn County. They arrived on July 30th.
Eighty-six hours without water. Eighty-six hours. Some soldiers had left camp searching for water on their own.
Four men did not survive the expedition. Private John H. Bonds.
Private Isaac Derwin. Private John Isaacs. Private John T.
Gordon. Their names are on the marker, and they deserve to be said out loud. The frontier got defended.
The record says so. But out here in Cochran County, the ground remembers the price.
What the marker says
African American troops, known as Buffalo Soldiers, were vital in defending the Texas frontier. On July 26, 1877 Buffalo Soldiers from Co. A of the 10th Cavalry began to pursue a Comanche party. During the pursuit, the Comanches led the troops away from water holes as the expedition traveled through Cochran and other counties. After Several days without water, Capt. Nicholas Nolan led his dehydrated soldiers and remaining animals back to Double Lakes in Lynn County; they arrived on July 30, having gone 86 hours without water. Several soldiers left camp in search of water and four died during the expedition: Pvt. John H. Bonds; Pvt. Isaac Derwin; Pvt. John Isaacs; and Pvt. John T. Gordon. (2008)