Item Number: M00486

Item Title: US belt plate with puppy paw hooks from Fort Leavenworth -- Buffalo Solider relic?

Price: $225

Shipping: Not included

Provenance: US

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Description:Beautiful dug US belt plate from Fort Leavenworth.

Today we think of Fort Leavenworth as a prison, but it was built in 1827. It is the second oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C., and the oldest permanent settlement in Kansas.

Fort Leavenworth was also the base of African-American soldiers of the U.S. 10th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army, formed on 21 September 1866 at Fort Leavenworth. They became known as Buffalo Soldiers, nicknamed by the Native American tribes whom they fought. The term eventually was applied to all of the African-American regiments formed in 1866.

During the country's westward expansion, Fort Leavenworth was a forward destination for thousands of soldiers, surveyors, immigrants, American Indians, preachers and settlers who passed through. On August 1, 1846, a Mormon Battalion, led by Col. James Allen, arrived at Fort Leavenworth. Colonel Allen became ill and died at the fort. A headstone marks his grave at the Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery.