Houston Museums: Buffalo Soldiers Museum In Houston

A groundbreaking joint effort between Houston museums and several Houston organizations may have created a new art form, because of the breathtaking exhibit detailing a piece of Black History. The Buffalo Soldiers Museum was one of the museums consulted after 39 well-preserved remains presumed to be Buffalo Soldiers were discovered in New Mexico.

Historical Art and Science Exhibit

The scientist from the Smithsonian Institute National Museum of Natural History along with some local engineers and other scientists went over the the bones with more that just the usual fine tooth comb. The museum exhibit combines art, technology, engineering and forensic science to unlock some lost military history and life at Fort Craig, New Mexico in the mid-1860's.

Modern technology afforded the use of microscopes, CT scanners, X-ray machines and digital measuring devices to reveal the true identities of the Black American soldiers. They unraveled clues to the rugged, isolated and often difficult conditions for soldiers at Fort Craig. These 21st Century tools enabled the scientists to positively identify 3 of the soldiers by comparing the details of their remains with the military enlistment records.

Black History Exhibit In February



The results is an exhibit of how forensic science can paint an accurate picture by pulling together small pieces of information to tell a story. This one of a kind, behind the scene look gives visitors insight into forensic anthropology and the techniques that are used to recover and assess important information such as the age, sex, stature, ancestry of skeletal remains.

It'll reveals for the first time publicly the intricate work that sculptors must do to capture the minute details needed to put a face on unidentifiable human remains. It's thought to be bold attempt to render the first known facial reconstruction of a Buffalo soldier. The face will be reconstructed in front of visitors during the Houston Museums, February Black History exhibit.

Buffalo Soldiers Museum In Houston

There have been two good by-products from the discovery of these remains. Something is finally being done to prevent the widespread looting of national treasures, remote burial sites like Fort Craig and old cemeteries, by relic hunters. And the bodies of these Buffalo soldiers were moved to a fitting and secure final resting place in the Santa Fe National Cemetery.

This incredible blending of art and science will bring some much needed attention and admiration to a group of once lost, but never forgotten African American soldiers and the Buffalo Soldier Museum.