August 23: Officer Rufus Daniels And Lee Sparks

On the morning of August 23, Officers Rufus Daniels and Lee Sparks who are known for their brutal treatment of blacks throughout Houston, assaulted and dragged a partial clothed black women out of her home in front of her five children (Holley). Both Daniels and Sparks accused the woman of hiding a dice player-which whom they were looking for in the neighborhood- in her home. At the time Houston had the largest black community in the state of Texas, with a police force that was particularly aggressive towards black people. During the altercation Alonso Edwards, a soldier from the 24th Infantry tried to intervene and help the woman, but was beaten and arrested too (Gray). Corporal Charles Baltimore, a military policeman from the 3rd Battalion took it upon himself to investigate the arrest of

However, word had already gotten back to Camp Logan that Corporal Baltimore was possibly murdered (Holley). This rumor resulted in over one hundred angry soldiers who were not Southerners and not used to segregation to march to the Houston Police Station. They were led by Sergeant Vida Henry to Houston to put an end to the unjustified beatings and arrest against blacks. They crossed Buffalo Bayou at Shepherd’s Dam Bridge, then turned east on San Felipe to get the station, willing to kill every policeman that crossed in their path (Holley). The soldiers were confronted by armed police and civilians but that didn’t scare them off. Armed with guns they took from the tents and rage, the soldiers started the killings. Over the next two hours March to Houston, twenty people were killed – four soldiers, four police officers, and twelve civilians. The soldiers had passed a point of no return with sixteen whites and four black men dead. Including, Officer Rufus Daniels, who was involved with the beating and arrest of a young woman, soldier Edwards and Corporal Baltimore earlier that day- was