Institute -- Leading this morning's homecoming parade at West Virginia State University was a group of motorcycle riders with a rich history. The "Buffalo Soldiers" dates back to the 1860's. Today they are the largest African-American Motorcycle club in the world.

These days they ride iron horses as opposed to the real horses they rode nearly 150 years ago to help pave the way for the Western Expansion of the United States. Part of their mission today is to encourage folks to overcome their obstacles just like their fellow members did in the 18-hundreds.

"But yet the military, the government trusted in them to lead and to protect dignitaries whenever the Buffalo Soldiers would go out across the west," says Bryant Cyrus,a member of the Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club.

Besides leading the homecoming parade at West Virginia State University, the group has two other reasons for being here in the Kanawha Valley.

"Simpson Memorial United Methodist Church is having their 142 anniversary, which coincidentally, will take us back to back to 1866 which is the year the Buffalo Soldiers started," says Thomas Costley, National President of the Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club.

The group will also get a glimpse of their history through an exhibit at the Clay Center entitled "For The Love of Liberty: The African Soldier" -- which goes along with their mission.

"Citizens who are community-minded, and believe in maintaining a history and exposing it to different people," says Anthony Kinser of the West Virginia Center for African-American Culture.

The Clay Center exhibit will be open until November 2nd.

In February, the group will take part in a Civil Rights ride in Montgomery, Alabama. They will follow the exact path of the Voter's Right's March of 1965 that was led by Doctor Martin Luther King junior.