The men of the 9th Cavalry were all veterans of the Spanish-American War, whereas the soldiers of the 24th Infantry disembarked for the Philippines after their service in the Sierra. These soldiers traveled from their winter garrison (Presidio of San Francisco in 1899, 1903/Ord Barracks at Monterey in 1904) along a route first laid down in 1891. The duties of these buffalo soldiers were the same as for their white counterparts. This involved extensive patrols of park roads and trails. Both park residents and visitors encountered these men on their travels.

Very little is presently known about the interactions between these "Colored" soldiers and the mostly white populace, but one can imagine what such encounters were like.