Iron Riders: A Living History Demonstration

In honor of Black History Month, Gateway Arch National Park is hosting several events and programs, including Iron Riders: A Living History Demonstration.

The event, held in the education classroom in the Visitor Center at the Gateway Arch, features reenactor Kevin Smith from Missouri State Parks, who will give visitors a first-person account of the trials and triumphs faced by the Iron Riders.

In 1897, the Iron Riders, a group of 23 men (20 Black soldiers, also known as Buffalo Soldiers, and three white men), journeyed almost 2,000 miles from Missoula, Montana, to St. Louis, Missouri, on bicycles. The trek was part of a U.S. Army experiment to determine the effectiveness of moving troops by bicycle.

The soldiers endured conditions that would have daunted even the most avid modern-day cyclists, including severe weather events, food and water shortages, illness from alkali poisoning and racism and hostility from residents.