What I’ve Learned About Black History In The Outdoors

I remember the first time I told family and friends that I wanted to go hiking and camping. “Isn’t that a white thing?” They would respond. Our community had been given this narrative that Black people didn’t go outdoors. However, after entering the hiking community, I realized that belief couldn’t be farther from the truth.

How It Started

Black Americans had always been “outdoorsy.” They were forced to learn much about the colonies (and later country) that they were forced to help create and tend to through agriculture.

From 1810 to 1850, approximately 100,000 enslaved people were ushered by abolitionists such as Harriet Tubman from the American South to the North. They traveled by boat, wagons, and by foot to freedom. However, the majority of Black people, both free and enslaved, still resided in the south.

Many Black Americans were tasked with protecting the nation’s westward expansion by building roads and participating in significant military actions, such as the Red River War from 1874 to 1875 and the Battle of San Juan Hill during the Spanish American War in 1898. Buffalo Soldiers, as they were nicknamed, also served among the first national park rangers.

There were plenty of Black Americans around the country responsible for…