One of the best-preserved frontier military posts in the American West, Fort Davis served as the regimental headquarters for the 9th and 10th Cavalry and 24th and 25th Infantry — the Buffalo Soldiers — from 1867 to 1885. These Black regiments protected settlers, built roads, strung telegraph lines, and mapped vast stretches of West Texas terrain, often receiving lower pay and inferior equipment than white units despite equal or superior performance.