Marking Off Two Ohio NPS sites
We had to cancel/postpone our planned Canadian Rockies trip due to some unexpected medical issues for Scott that precluded him from going to elevation for awhile. Instead, we changed our plans and went to Ohio and Western Pennsylvania instead. Not exactly the best trade, but we worked within the parameters we had. This allowed me to check off a number of quest items, starting with two new NPS sites: Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument and William Howard Taft National Historic Site.
Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument. Charles Young, an African American graduate of West Point in 1889, went on to lead the 9th Cavalry, often referred to as the Buffalo Soldiers. He fought in the Spanish American War, as well as in the Philippines. After teaching at a military school in Ohio, he went on to become the first African American National Park Superintendent, for the Sequoia and General Grant parks, and supervised the building of many roadways still used today in those parks. He also served as a military attache in Haiti and Liberia. He wanted to serve as a commanding officer during WWI, but the Army involuntarily retired him instead. He was sent back to Liberia as an attache, and eventually got sick and died in Nigeria in 1922. He's buried in Arlington National Cemetery. In 2021, he was posthumously promoted to Brigadier General. His home outside Dayton, Ohio, is a national park unit.
William Howard Taft NHS. William Taft served as our 27th President and then later as our 10th Chief Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. I found his history to be quite remarkable. He began his career serving in several different appointments, including on the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. President McKinley appointed him the Governor General of the Philippines in 1900, which he took very seriously. Taft did remarkable things for the Philippines, establishing a civilian government and upgrading their infrastructure. Interesting that Charles Young fought there during the war, and Taft then took over after the war ended and the Philippines became a U.S. territory.
Taft then served as Secretory of War for President T. Roosevelt, only then to run for and win the Presidency against T. Roosevelt in 1908. Taft, however, was only a one-term president, having lost the 1912 election to Wilson. Taft didn't fade away into presidential retirement after his term ended. He accepted an appointment of Chief Justice on the Supreme Court in 1921, where he continued to serve the country until his death in 1930.
The NPS unit is Taft's childhood home, and not much inside is original. The desk in the first picture was his. And the portrait below, as well as his Cabinet Chair (used when he was Secretary of War), are originals.
