Description from HiBid
Much like our European cousins in the 1880s, the U.S. Army started to adopt spiked pith helmets, often in white, with all brass mounts and occasionally plumes. These saw active service in the Spanish American War of 1898 especially in the tropical climate in Cuba. While often referred to as "pith helmets" in the broad sense, it was made from cork, like many European variants, such as the Wolseley pattern used by the British. This helmet dates to the 1880s, and it really is quite striking. This is not the type of helmet that was worn in the field, but instead one intended for use with the "dress" uniform for ceremonial occasions. It is beautifully made from cork covered with white fabric for summer use. There is a size 6 3/4 label sticker. The Helmet plate displays the Great Seal of the United States, with the American Eagle with a banner in its beak stating: E PLURIBUS UNUM. The "crossed cavalry" behind the shield indicates that it is for a cavalry unit, and the number 9 in the center of the "shield" is for the 9th Cavalry Regiment. The overall condition of the helmet is fantastic given its age. In July 1867 the 9th Cavalry was ordered to western and southwestern Texas, to maintain law and order between the Rio Grande and Concho Rivers along a 630-mile line with seven forts from Fort Clark to Fort Quitman near present-day El Paso (the forts ended up including Fort Quitman, Fort Davis, Fort Stockton, Fort Lancaster, Fort Clark, Fort Duncan, Fort McKavett, and Fort Concho). Regimental Headquarters and Troops A, B, E and K, under Col. Hatch, were stationed at Fort Stockton; Troops C, D, F, G, H and I, under Lt. Col. Wesley Merritt were at Fort Davis. Troops L and M under 1st Lt. Hamilton had previously been sent to Brownsville. The 9th remained in Texas for eight years, nearly all of it in the field. While in Texas, the troops battled intermittently with Apaches, Kiowas, and Comanches, escorted mail, and rescued civilians from Native American captivity. On 26 December 1867, K Troop lost three troopers at Fort Lancaster in an encounter with an estimated force of 900 Native Americans and white outlaws. The regiment next went to the New Mexico Military District, which covered parts of New Mexico, Colorado, and Texas, participating in the Apache Wars between 1875 and 1881. Headquarters were at Fort Union. While in New Mexico, their duties included constructing barracks and stables, caring for the horses, scouting for hostile Native Americans, escorting the mail, surveying uncharted land, and constructing roads. That service also included the Battle of Tularosa with Chiricahua Apache warriors led by Victorio in May 1880. In 1881 the 9th Cavalry was transferred to Fort Riley, Kansas, and to Fort Robinson, Nebraska, in 1885. On 5 November 1887, Company H, of the 9th Cavalry fought in the Battle of Crow Agency during the Crow War, in Montana. The regiment also patrolled during the Ghost Dance War with the Sioux about the time of the Wounded Knee Massacre and was the last regiment to leave the Pine Ridge Reservation in the Winter of 1890–1891, after the massacre. Range wars: The 9th Cavalry Regiment participated in two of the largest range conflicts in the American Old West. Range wars were battles fought between large cattle ranchers against smaller ranchers and farmers who competed for land, water, and livestock in the open range. Many of these conflicts resulted in military intervention to pacify and maintain peace. The 9th Cavalry's participated in the Colfax County War in Colfax County, New Mexico in 1873. Buffalo soldiers were among the units sent, and on one occasion, some of them had a shootout with a group of Texas cowboys in the St. James Hotel. On March 24, 1876, Three soldiers (Privates George Small, Anthony Harvey, and John Hanson, were killed and an unnamed trooper was wounded) died during the shootout and a few months later one of the cowboys, Davy Crockett, who was involved, was killed by the local sheriffs. One garbled version of the triple shooting had gunfighter Clay Allison shot and killed a black sergeant and four soldiers in a bar where he was drinking. Allison was arrested but released when it could not be proved he had been involved in the shooting. The 9th cavalry had a much larger participation in the fabled Johnson County War in Johnson County, Wyoming. It culminated in a lengthy shootout between local farmers, a band of hired killers, and a sheriff's posse. The 6th Cavalry was ordered in by President Benjamin Harrison to quell the violence and capture the band of hired killers. Soon afterward, the 9th Cavalry was specifically called on to replace the 6th. The 6th Cavalry was swaying under the local political and social pressures and was unable to keep the peace in the tense environment. The Buffalo Soldiers responded within about two weeks from Nebraska, and moved the men to the rail town of Suggs, Wyoming, creating "Camp Bettens" despite a hostile local population. One soldier was killed a
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