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Nvmagpie
March 17, 2021

Fort Davis Historical Site

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This page is used as a pocket for the brochures and for a place to put so much journaling - most of it taken from the brochure. Sorry the second photo is blurry - just wanted to show the brochures. Doodled around edges.

Journaling: We got up Monday with no real plans except that we had to get some groceries and propane. We saw the Fort Davis Historical Site and decided to stop by after our errands.
Fort Davis was a key post in the defense system of west Texas and played a major role in the history of the Southwest. From 1854 to 1891, troops stationed at the post protected emigrants, freighters, nail coaches, and travelers on the San Antonio-El Paso Road. A major link along the most southern route to California, the road experienced an upsurge of travel in the early 1850s following the discovery of gold in California. As travel along the road increased, so did Comanche, Kiowa, and Apache raids into Mexico. Emigrants, mail carriers and merchants journeyed in constant fear of the raiding warriors who traveled between Mexico and their homelands to the north. Today is it one of the best remaining examples of a frontier military post and a vivid reminder of the significant role played by the military in the settlement and development of the western frontier.
The first Fort Davis consisted of primitive structures and was located behind the present day Officers’ Row. The fort was named after the Secretary of War, Jefferson Davis, and was first garrisoned by 6 companies of the Eighth Infantry. In 1855-1856, Fort Davis boasted over 400 enlisted men and officers. At the time, it was deemed one of the largest posts on the frontier. Yet, in spite of its size, the task of insuring the safety of those traveling on the San Antonio-El Paso Road proved an almost insurmountable task for the infantrymen. Troops from the post engaged in numerous scouting patrols and expeditions, but encounters with Comanches and Apaches were rare. The ever-increasing traffic on the road proved to be inviting prey for the elusive Indians, and the foot soldiers had little success in exerting control over them.

The fort was occupied by Confederate forces - companies of the Second Texas Mounted Rifles. Confederates served at the post for a little over a year. In August of 1862, Union forces regained control of the post but did not occupy it. Fort Davis remained abandoned from September of 1862 until June of 1867. When federal troops reestablished the post, they chose to move the location to the flat area east of the canyon. This is the site of the second and present fort.
Few of the fort’s structures remained when Lt. Col. Wesley Merritt and four companies of the newly organized Ninth US Cavalry reoccupied Fort Davis in June 1867. Building a new post, began and by the end of 1869, a number of officers’ quarters, two enlisted men’s barracks, a guardhouse, temporary hospital, and storehouses had been erected. Construction continued through the 1880s. By then Fort Davis had become a major installation with over 100 structures and quarters for over 400 soldiers.
With the end of the Indian Wars in west Texas, garrison life at the fort became more routine. Soldiers occasionally escorted railroad survey parties, repaired roads and telegraph lines, and pursued bandits. In June 1891, as a result of the army’s efforts to consolidate its frontier garrisons, Fort Davis was ordered abandoned, having “outlived its usefulness.”



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