Day Trips: Lt. Henry O. Flipper
Former Buffalo Soldier helped establish mining in the border region.
By Gerald E. McLeod, Fri., April 29, 2016
Lt. Henry O. Flipper knew the frontier forts strung across Texas as well as anyone at the time. The former slave reported to Fort Sill in 1878 and then served at a series of Texas forts before being railroaded out of the service.
Born on a plantation in Georgia, Flipper was the first African-American cadet to graduate from West Point. He later became the first nonwhite officer to lead the Buffalo Soldiers of the 10th Cavalry and served at forts Elliott, Concho, Quitman, and Davis in Texas where he was involved in campaigns against the Comanche and Apache.
As an engineer, Flipper built roads and installed telegraph lines between forts. A ditch he designed to drain malarial swamps at Fort Sill, Okla., is still referred to as "Flipper's Ditch."
In 1880, his skills garnered him a promotion to quartermaster and commissary at the new fort in the Davis Mountains. The following year Flipper was court-martialed when post funds went missing.
Following his dismissal, Flipper went on to a distinguished career in surveying and mining engineering. He passed away in 1940 at age 84 and is buried in his hometown of Thomasville, Ga.
After a review of his case by the Army and Department of Justice, President Bill Clinton pardoned Lt. Flipper in 1999. Soon afterward a bronze bust of Flipper was placed in the theatre lobby at Fort Davis National Historic Site.
1,292nd in a series. Collect them all. Day Trips, Vol. 2, a book of "Day Trips," is available for $8.95, plus $3.05 for shipping, handling, and tax. Mail to: Day Trips, PO Box 40312, South Austin, TX 78704.
Follow "Day Trips & Beyond," a weekly travel blog, at austinchronicle.com/daily/travel.
