In 1885, as black cowboys trailed cattle, or Buffalo soldiers stood guard on lonely outposts, far more African American women and men moved to Denver, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle in search of jobs in the urban economy. These contrasting images of soldiers, cowboys and urban workers remind us that multiple 'Wests' often existed side by side. The communities these African Americans created, the campaigns they waged and the troubles they endured helped forge the contemporary African American urban enclaves in all of the major cities of the West.
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Quintard Taylor, Jr., Scott and Dorothy Bullitt Professor of American History, University of Washington
Rusty Barcelo, vice president and vice provost, Minority Affairs and Diversity, University of Washington
http://www.blackpast.org
http://faculty.washington.edu/qtaylor
01/31/2006
