Oregon Historical Society [OrHi 24847]

African Americans were among the settlers living in small, nineteenth century urban outposts such as Dodge City, Kansas, and Virginia City, Nevada. By 1870, issues of African-American political life had reached the American West. Black citizens of Virginia City celebrated the ratification of the fifteenth Amendment with a parade. The African-American women in the community had sewn a flag for the occasion. On one side it read, "Justice is slow, but sure."