Sharon:
I just knew you'd stick in your oar.
What are your thoughts re what I just posted on Indians not always using the name buffalo as a term of respect.

Look, I think Mrs Roe, if she did write a letter in June of 72, and the folks who talked to the letter writer to the Nation got it right--
some Indians saw an obvious visial/physical link between the appearance (the hair) of black troops and the mat of fur/hair on the head of a bison. No insult--just an obvious connection. But also no term of honor-no praise for the supposed "fierce fighting ability" of black troops.

Too bad we don't have any extant material on what black regulars called the Indians--and I'd bet that "Mr. Lo" was the mildest of the bunch.