Our Past Is Present July 9, 2018

July 9, 2018

            You are reading “Our Past Is Present” from the Geary County Historical Society.

            Today’s story is about Willie Tarkington, who was a Buffalo Soldier in the 9^th Cavalry.  Willie was born in 1907 in Homer, Louisiana.  He left home at the age of 15 to join the United States Army.  Willie was first sent to a post in Arkansas, before he was assigned to the “F” Troop of the 9^th Cavalry at Fort Riley.  He stayed at Fort Riley until he retired, except for some overseas duty during WWII.

            While stationed at Fort Riley, Willie Tarkington was a blacksmith and veterinarian for the Cavalry.  His son remembered that when Willie came back to Fort Riley from having served overseas, Willie decided the Army had changed too much when it went to a mechanized unit with tanks instead of horses and that was why Willie decided to get out of the Army. 

            Willie retired from the Army and he and his brother-in-law went into business together.  They bought a night club on the corner of 14^th and Washington Streets in Junction City called the 49 Club.  In fact, Willie’s brother-in-law, Starks, became one of the first black millionaires in Junction City.

            Sgt. Willie Tarkington passed away in 1961 while still living in Junction City. His son, Rockne, remembered his father when he shared thoughts like: “I was proud of my father and the 9^th Cavalry and my heritage as the son of a Cavalryman – a Buffalo Soldier, who has the blood of many different cultures mixing through my veins.  And when things got tough – during those discouraging times when it seemed that a break would never come – if I could remember my father riding that bucking cavalry horse and coming back to pick up the guidon again, I knew I could succeed if I could just hang on.  My heritage has shaped my life.”

            And…. that’s today’s story on “Our Past Is Present” from the Geary County Historical Society.