Reexamining a buffalo soldier's story in Denver

State of play: The Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library in Denver's Five Points neighborhood will host a conversation Saturday focusing on Cathay Williams, often regarded as the only woman to serve as a buffalo soldier.

• The name behind the all-Black regime is said to have originated from Native Americans, who likened the soldiers' dark hair and texture to bison.

Context: Williams enlisted in November 1866, serving as a man before living in Colorado as a woman after her military time ended, per the Denver Public Library.

Between the lines: The Denver event, co-sponsored by The Center on Colfax, will explore new research suggesting Williams identified as transgender by examining historical records and current nonbinary gender identity expressions.

Flashback: Following the end of the American Civil War, buffalo soldiers were dispatched across the American frontier, including to sites in modern-day Colorado like Fort Garland, Fort Lyons and Fort Lewis.

Yes, but: The soldiers established forts and protected mail and stagecoach routes while engaging in skirmishes with Native Americans — something that complicates their often-venerated legacy, per the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.

If you go: Saturday's historiographic talk on Williams runs from 2-3:30pm.