Fort Vancouver history talk features Buffalo Soldiers

Greg Shine will discuss Buffalo Soldiers in Vancouver and Portland on Feb. 3 at the Fort Vancouver Visitor Center, 1501 E. Evergreen Blvd.

The 2 p.m. presentation is free.

Company B from the Army’s 24th Infantry, one of four African-American regiments, arrived at Vancouver Barracks in 1899. Respect for troops known as Buffalo Soldiers was buoyed by their success in the Spanish-American War in Cuba.

While in the Northwest, they participated in military, political and social activities. They also introduced many residents of Oregon, Washington and Idaho to blacks and raised local awareness of the national policies and practices beleaguering African-Americans.

Shine will present new information based on two decades of research of their story and of racial issues and the military in the American West.

Shine was chief ranger and historian at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site for 14 years before becoming a public affairs specialist for the Bureau of Land Management in Oregon and Washington.

He is a lecturer in the Portland State University history department and a member of the editorial board of the Oregon Encyclopedia.