Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
OGDEN — Sometimes you don't have to go to a museum or crack a book for a history lesson.
Last month, Jeremy Peterson found a seeming piece of African American military history linked to the Spanish-American War of 1898 between the first-floor ceiling and second-story floor of the old Ogden home he's renovating. He's not sure what exactly led to the placement of the hardtack, button and bullets inside a small box in the space, but it has him curious.
"It's like an Easter egg put in the house," he said. "I was totally surprised."
Written on the hardtack — military rations of yore that look like extra-thick saltine crackers — are several messages handwritten in pencil. One reads, line by line: "Rufus / Brown / 24 Inf / Co. A / 9/30/98." Another reads: "in the Battle / at San Juan / Hill July / (unintelligible)." Another reads: "Home / Pittsburg / Pa." Accompanying the hardtack were three live bullets, items Peterson thinks were used to clean guns and a brass button, perhaps from a military uniform, depicting an eagle clutching arrows and an olive branch, as featured in the Great Seal of the United States, the $1 bill and more.
Based on his sleuthing, Peterson — a real estate broker and former member of the Utah House — surmises that Brown served in Company A of the U.S. Army's all-Black 24th Regiment. He thinks he served in the Spanish-American War in Cuba in 1898, taking part in the Battle of San Juan Hill on July 1,1898, one of the last fights of the conflict.
Of course it's hard to say exactly what it all means, but the hardtack scribblings and a review of online historical reports related to the 24th Regiment, the Spanish-American War and more, gives credence to Peterson's suppositions. "I got tingles when I was opening this thing up. I thought, 'this is a cool piece of history,' like someone speaking from the grave," he said.
Prior to the Spanish-American war, starting in 1896, the 24th Regiment served at Fort Douglas in Salt Lake City, according to a historical account on the Utah Department of Cultural and Community Engagement website. Thus, there's a Utah connection.
"When the regiment was ordered to Cuba and the Philippines during the Spanish-American War, local residents, both black and white, saw them off at the railroad station and welcomed them back to the city at the end of their tour of duty abroad. Several members of the 24th liked Salt Lake City well enough to make it their permanent home," the account reads.
Several historical accounts note that the 24th Regiment had a key role in the Battle of San Juan Hill, which featured the heroics of Theodore Roosevelt. During the Spanish-American War, Roosevelt led the Rough Riders, a U.S. Calvary regiment, and later served as the 26th U.S. president.
"The Battle of San Juan Hill brought fame to Col. Theodore Roosevelt and his Rough Riders. But if not for the charge of the 10th Cavalry and 24th Infantry regiments, Roosevelt's troops might have been defeated," reads an account by the Smithsonian Institution accompanying a print depicting the battle.
The National Museum of the United States Army at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, offers a similarly praiseworthy account of the various Black soldiers who helped secure San Juan and Kettle hills in Santiago de Cuba during the war. Black soldiers were historically known as "buffalo soldiers."
"The 24th Infantry Regiment, despite horrific losses, pushed aside several stalled regiments to continue the charge up San Juan Hill. After taking both hills by the afternoon of July 1 and beating off a counterattack, the buffalo soldiers joined in the siege of Santiago to bring the war in Cuba to a close," it reads.
In addition to that, an online database of information on the Spanish-American War called the Spanish-American War Centennial Website contains a list of 24th Regiment soldiers, compiled by historian Anthony Powell. Among the many soldiers identified is Rufus Brown, who served as a private.
Why Brown may have been in Ogden and why he wrote a message on hardtack, of all things, is hard to say. Peterson thinks Brown, back in the civilian workforce after the war, may have been part of the crew that built the home where he found the items. The permit to build the home at the northeast corner of 24th Street and Jefferson Avenue was pulled in 1895, meaning actual construction followed sometime after that.
"My hunch is it got put up in (the ceiling) when they were building the house somehow," said Peterson, who served as the District 9 Utah representative for four terms through 2018.
Though the large, three-story home was renovated around 1950 into a six-unit apartment building, it apparently hasn't ever undergone the sort of rigorous restoration Peterson is giving it. It's now stripped to its studs, and the ceiling Peterson removed in finding the hidden items featured lath and plaster construction, not used regularly since the 1940s, according to TV remodeler Bob Vila.
"Somehow this got here," said Peterson, who hopes to eventually move into the house. "It's piqued our curiosity."
