Part 4-Buffalo Soldiers-Victorio’s War: Legends of the Old West

Matthew Kerns
12 minutes ago
2 min read

Episode 4 in a 6 part Legends of the Old West series which I wrote on Buffalo Soldiers. The Trans-Pecos desert of West Texas in 1880 was a blistering furnace, a land of jagged ridges and dry basins where survival was measured in drops of water. For over a year, the legendary Apache chief Victorio had turned this punishing landscape into a weapon, striking with lightning speed before vanishing back into the mountains. He was a master strategist who knew every hidden wash and canyon, leading thousands of U.S. and Mexican troops on a desperate chase across three borders while maintaining the survival of his people. To the Army, he was the most dangerous Apache alive; to his people, he was the last hope for freedom from the "hell" of the San Carlos Reservation.

In the summer of 1880, the Buffalo Soldiers of the 10th Cavalry and 24th Infantry set out to do the impossible: pin Victorio down by seizing the desert's most precious resource—its waterholes. This high-stakes strategy led to a climactic confrontation at Rattlesnake Springs, where the exhaustion of a hundred-mile pursuit met the ferocity of open battle. It was here that the soldiers intended to force a decision, turning the very terrain Victorio loved against him to finally end his long war of resistance.

Amidst the smoke and chaos of the springs, the legend of Sergeant Thomas Boyne was forged. A veteran of the 9th Cavalry, Boyne became the steady heart of the skirmish line, refusing to yield even after being struck twice by Apache rifle fire. His blood-stained defiance served as a revelation to his men; if Boyne could keep fighting while wounded and bloodied, so could they. This episode explores the grit of the Buffalo Soldiers, the tragic fall of a great Apache leader at Tres Castillos, and the hard-won Medal of Honor that eventually recognized Boyne’s unyielding courage in the face of certain death.

🎧 Listen now to "Buffalo Soldiers: Victorio's War" on your favorite podcast platform.

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/_f-zcHjCd0s?si=iir4i-CInhm_wJLR

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