Today Ulysses Davis and his aging horse, Abraham are both retired. But together they used to ride back through time.
For eight years Davis and his horses traveled all over Texas, researching and giving educational performances on the history of the Buffalo Soldiers.
Abraham was one of three horses Davis would ride throughout his career, as they performed for rodeos, churches and school children.
Native Americans coined the phrase "Buffalo Soldier," though it eventually came to be used by many to refer to African-American civil war soldiers, some who even served as slaves.
"A lot of people don't know about it," said Grant. "A lot of black people don't know black history. I think people should know."
Grant's grandfather was born a slave in Virginia. He died in 1960 at the age of 105.
"I knew him personally, I was five years old when he died," said Davis who recently celebrated his 59th birthday.
Davis' efforts to preserve their memory even earned him a place in their history. In 1999 he former-postal employee had a mold made of his face which would later become the template for the Buffalo Soldier statue at Fort Bliss.
It's a permanent reminder of a history he almost forgot.
A 2003 ATV accident damaged Davis' memory.
"Anything I need, or anywhere I'm going, I write it down," said Davis pulling out a notebook. "Because I if I don't I'll forget."
Today, he still has difficulty making new memories. The walls of his New Braunfels home are full of memorabilia from his performance career, including paintings from various artists featuring him in uniform.
Davis even has an entire scrapbook of the clippings and write-ups from those years, though he says he rarely looks at it. He doesn't need pictures to remember the past.
He says he's thankful his long term memory is still intact.
"If I forget everything, that would have been bad. It would have been sad," said Davis.
Because he says the Buffalo Soldiers, are still important. For a man sometimes lost in the present, he says he still knows the value of the past.
