WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.440 --> 00:00:05.400 Forward to Fort Concho, Its, Why and Wherefore. This is 2 00:00:05.440 --> 00:00:10.039 a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. 3 00:00:10.480 --> 00:00:14.199 For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. 4 00:00:14.560 --> 00:00:19.000 Recording by David Wales. Fort Concho Its Why and Wherefore? 5 00:00:19.359 --> 00:00:25.239 By J. N. Gregory Forward. Many people who visit the 6 00:00:25.280 --> 00:00:28.280 Fort Concho Museum and look over the parade ground and 7 00:00:28.359 --> 00:00:32.799 buildings of old Fort Concho naturally ask the question, why 8 00:00:32.840 --> 00:00:35.840 did the United States Government build a ford in this place? 9 00:00:35.960 --> 00:00:39.240 And what did the fort accomplish. The object of this 10 00:00:39.359 --> 00:00:42.439 pamphlet is to answer that question and to present the 11 00:00:42.560 --> 00:00:46.679 answer to the inquiring visitor at as small a cost 12 00:00:46.799 --> 00:00:50.439 as the printer makes possible. Two maps of Texas will 13 00:00:50.479 --> 00:00:53.079 be found in the envelope at the back of the pamphlet. 14 00:00:53.439 --> 00:00:56.600 The smaller is a reproduction of one published in eighteen 15 00:00:56.679 --> 00:01:00.640 fifty six, not too accurate from a geographical ste standpoint, 16 00:01:01.000 --> 00:01:03.920 but as accurate as the knowledge of the times allowed. 17 00:01:04.359 --> 00:01:07.640 The other map, accurate from the geographic point of view, 18 00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:11.519 endeavors to show the locations of some thirty four forts 19 00:01:11.560 --> 00:01:14.680 and camps that were established and built by our War 20 00:01:14.760 --> 00:01:20.000 Department on the Texas frontier during the Indian days end 21 00:01:20.040 --> 00:01:29.319 a forward part one of Fort Concho, Its Why and 22 00:01:29.439 --> 00:01:33.840 Wherefore by J. N. Gregory. This LibriVox recording is in 23 00:01:33.920 --> 00:01:38.760 the public domain. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that brought 24 00:01:38.799 --> 00:01:41.239 to a close the war between the United States and 25 00:01:41.319 --> 00:01:46.480 Mexico February two, eighteen forty eight, and the subsequent Gadsden 26 00:01:46.519 --> 00:01:50.040 Purchase of eighteen fifty three set the plan for the 27 00:01:50.079 --> 00:01:54.959 present boundaries between the two countries. A vast area of plains, deserts, 28 00:01:54.959 --> 00:01:59.280 and mountains, an unmapped and untraveled wilderness, was now owned 29 00:01:59.319 --> 00:02:05.000 by the Northern Republic. It was inhabited mostly by Comanche, Apache, Kiowa, 30 00:02:05.040 --> 00:02:08.120 and other warlike Indian tribes, and it stretched from the 31 00:02:08.120 --> 00:02:11.280 settlements of South and East Texas and from the lower 32 00:02:11.319 --> 00:02:14.560 Missouri River area to the New American settlements on the 33 00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:18.120 Pacific Coast. Great events were in the making when in 34 00:02:18.199 --> 00:02:22.240 California in eighteen forty eight, gold nuggets were found in 35 00:02:22.319 --> 00:02:26.240 the tail race of Sutter's mill. The word passed around quickly, 36 00:02:26.520 --> 00:02:30.199 and the first modern international gold rush was on. It 37 00:02:30.280 --> 00:02:33.879 put the first sizeable amounts of precious metals into the 38 00:02:33.919 --> 00:02:36.879 coffers of the nations of the world since the Spanish 39 00:02:36.879 --> 00:02:42.000 Conquestidores ransacked the treasure houses of Peru and Mexico. It 40 00:02:42.039 --> 00:02:45.800 brought about modern mining practices, and before the end of 41 00:02:45.800 --> 00:02:49.120 the century the search for gold was so international and 42 00:02:49.280 --> 00:02:55.080 intense that comparable strikes had been made in South Africa, Australia, Canada, 43 00:02:55.159 --> 00:03:00.439 and Alaska, resulting in fresh redistribution of populations not only 44 00:03:00.479 --> 00:03:03.759 in the United States but also in other portions of 45 00:03:03.800 --> 00:03:08.599 the world. The problems accompanying such redistribution were plentiful, and 46 00:03:08.759 --> 00:03:11.919 they are still plaguing us to this day. But the 47 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:15.639 lure that led men to our west was not gold alone. 48 00:03:15.919 --> 00:03:19.159 The el Dorado of man's dreams, be it a gold vein, 49 00:03:19.319 --> 00:03:23.319 oil patch, store on main street, cattle ranch, or farm 50 00:03:23.360 --> 00:03:26.879 in peaceful valley, can very well lie in any new 51 00:03:27.039 --> 00:03:31.680 and unexplored lands. So it was then few men could 52 00:03:31.719 --> 00:03:35.960 afford for themselves, families, and belongings the cost of passage 53 00:03:36.039 --> 00:03:39.479 by sailing ship around the Horn, or by portage at 54 00:03:39.479 --> 00:03:44.800 the Isthmus of Panama from Boston, New York, Charlestown, New Orleans, Galveston, 55 00:03:45.240 --> 00:03:49.639 or Indianola to San Francisco. Besides that, a fellow who 56 00:03:49.680 --> 00:03:52.039 was spent on making a trip liked to look over 57 00:03:52.080 --> 00:03:56.960 the country lying between home and his proposed destination. So 58 00:03:57.479 --> 00:04:00.960 many found their El Dorado not on the Pacife, but 59 00:04:01.039 --> 00:04:04.759 along the trails between the Great River and the Pacific Ocean. 60 00:04:05.439 --> 00:04:08.360 The inhabitants of the crowded East and the folks of 61 00:04:08.400 --> 00:04:11.840 the South felt their race old urge to get on 62 00:04:11.960 --> 00:04:16.879 the move towards more freedom and opportunity. Old Windy Horace 63 00:04:16.959 --> 00:04:20.720 Greeley was soon to advise, go west, young man. So 64 00:04:21.120 --> 00:04:24.720 go west they did, young and old, first by small 65 00:04:24.759 --> 00:04:28.560 companies on horseback or in buck boards, then later by 66 00:04:28.639 --> 00:04:32.000 trains of covered wagons, which carried their families and all 67 00:04:32.040 --> 00:04:36.480 earthly possessions, grouped together for companionship as well as for 68 00:04:36.519 --> 00:04:41.040 protection against the Indians. Population movements in the United States 69 00:04:41.120 --> 00:04:44.519 have generally gone from east to west in parallel lines 70 00:04:44.759 --> 00:04:48.040 once the Atlantic Sea board was settled, and so this 71 00:04:48.199 --> 00:04:51.480 Great Gold movement from east to west brought settlement of 72 00:04:51.519 --> 00:04:55.160 the intermediate lands between the Mississippi River and the Pacific 73 00:04:55.199 --> 00:04:59.319 Ocean by the natural contrasting types of North South peoples. 74 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:03.079 Great Oregon and Santa Fe trails service the people of 75 00:05:03.120 --> 00:05:06.199 the more northerly parts of our country, But for those 76 00:05:06.240 --> 00:05:09.199 in the southern parts, a newer trail had to be found, 77 00:05:09.519 --> 00:05:13.199 and by simple geography, it had to cross Texas. You 78 00:05:13.360 --> 00:05:16.959 could enter the state from the sea at Galveston, Indianola 79 00:05:17.079 --> 00:05:20.360 or Corpus Christi, or by way of the land through 80 00:05:20.439 --> 00:05:24.319 Fort Smith in Arkansas, thence across the Indian Territory to 81 00:05:24.399 --> 00:05:28.360 the Red River, or directly from Louisiana through the fairly 82 00:05:28.399 --> 00:05:32.560 well settled and organized counties of East Texas. But no 83 00:05:32.639 --> 00:05:35.120 matter how you entered, there was only one way to 84 00:05:35.160 --> 00:05:38.720 get out, and so all trails converged on the Pazzo 85 00:05:38.920 --> 00:05:43.319 del Norte present El Paso. To get out of Texas 86 00:05:43.360 --> 00:05:46.399 south of El Paso would land you in Mexico. To 87 00:05:46.439 --> 00:05:49.240 get out north of El Paso would take you across 88 00:05:49.279 --> 00:05:53.639 the Yano Estacado, which in those days was considered a vast, 89 00:05:53.800 --> 00:05:59.000 dreeless plain, unbroken by any topographic changes, and completely devoid 90 00:05:59.040 --> 00:06:03.639 of waterholes. The accompanying map, published in eighteen fifty six 91 00:06:03.720 --> 00:06:08.160 in Yocum's History of Texas shows clearly the political subdivisions 92 00:06:08.160 --> 00:06:12.000 and settlements of Texas in those times. A substantial part 93 00:06:12.040 --> 00:06:14.480 of the state, from the Panhandle to the Upper Rio 94 00:06:14.519 --> 00:06:19.720 Grande appears to be completely uninhabited and therefore politically unorganized. 95 00:06:20.160 --> 00:06:23.560 In a vague manner, this vast area might be assumed 96 00:06:23.720 --> 00:06:28.000 to be an unannexed portion of the counties of Bexar, 97 00:06:28.160 --> 00:06:32.319 El Paso, Presidio, and Travis. This map does not speak 98 00:06:32.360 --> 00:06:36.839 approvingly of the Yano Estacado staked plains some called it. 99 00:06:37.279 --> 00:06:40.839 From eighteen forty eight on to the recent past, various 100 00:06:40.879 --> 00:06:45.199 trail drivers, army officers, and railroaders laid out trails from 101 00:06:45.240 --> 00:06:48.279 the settled parts of Texas to the Paso del Noe, 102 00:06:48.720 --> 00:06:52.519 always taking advantage of springs and water holes and avoiding 103 00:06:52.560 --> 00:06:56.319 the Yono Esticado and the great limestone canyons of the 104 00:06:56.399 --> 00:06:59.839 Rio Grande and its tributaries. That is all did but 105 00:07:00.120 --> 00:07:03.560 the builders of the Southern Pacific Railroad. They came later, 106 00:07:03.959 --> 00:07:06.839 but yet too early to have the know how of 107 00:07:06.879 --> 00:07:11.600 an Arthur Edward stillwell, but that is another story. A 108 00:07:11.720 --> 00:07:15.519 north south trade route had existed for some two hundred years, 109 00:07:15.839 --> 00:07:19.680 connecting Spanish Santa Fe far north toward the headwaters of 110 00:07:19.680 --> 00:07:22.959 the Rio Grande south through the Paso del Note to 111 00:07:23.079 --> 00:07:26.560 the settlements of the mother country of Mexico. The Santa 112 00:07:26.600 --> 00:07:30.399 Fe trail extended to California would cross this trade route 113 00:07:30.439 --> 00:07:33.920 at Santa Fe, well up in the Rocky Mountains, while 114 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:36.680 the route through Texas would cross it at El Paso. 115 00:07:37.240 --> 00:07:40.360 And so these two places became the supply dumps where 116 00:07:40.360 --> 00:07:43.680 the great wagon trains took on horses, mules, beef, and 117 00:07:43.839 --> 00:07:47.160 other supplies that would see them across the final leg 118 00:07:47.240 --> 00:07:50.279 of the journey west. It was a great opportunity for 119 00:07:50.360 --> 00:07:54.600 traders who had the supplies to sell, and the procuring middleman, 120 00:07:54.920 --> 00:07:58.600 the one who contacted both producer and merchant, was a 121 00:07:58.639 --> 00:08:02.879 man with great savvy and ability, known as the Comanche Indian. 122 00:08:03.519 --> 00:08:07.279 The Comanche despised walking. It was not adaptable to his 123 00:08:07.360 --> 00:08:10.199 method of making a living. He was a Plains Indian, 124 00:08:10.399 --> 00:08:14.120 and somewhere back in the sixteenth or seventeenth century, had 125 00:08:14.120 --> 00:08:18.959 somehow accumulated his first mustangs from offsprings of those horses 126 00:08:19.000 --> 00:08:23.439 lost by the Conquistadores from Spain. Prior to the arrival 127 00:08:23.480 --> 00:08:26.680 of the Spaniards in America, there were no horses as 128 00:08:26.720 --> 00:08:31.040 we recognized them now on either of the American continents. Now, 129 00:08:31.160 --> 00:08:34.279 the Comanche, as a mounted man probably roamed the Great 130 00:08:34.320 --> 00:08:38.759 Plains from present Wyoming to Durango, Mexico. It was easy 131 00:08:38.759 --> 00:08:41.399 to make a living on such a range. It abounded 132 00:08:41.399 --> 00:08:45.000 in Buffalo, and the wise Comanche knew all the water holes. 133 00:08:45.399 --> 00:08:48.279 He drove the wily Apaches to the south until they 134 00:08:48.360 --> 00:08:51.600 crossed the Rio Grande and settled in a quasi peaceful 135 00:08:51.639 --> 00:08:55.840 manner in Mexico, or later chose Arizona and New Mexico 136 00:08:56.240 --> 00:09:00.879 and preyed on the settlers, immigrants, and prospectors. From the records, 137 00:09:01.000 --> 00:09:03.480 the Comanche does not appear to have been a breeder 138 00:09:03.519 --> 00:09:07.360 of horses, cattle, or sheep, but as a procureur of 139 00:09:07.399 --> 00:09:11.960 such livestock he had no peer. Many years before Lewis 140 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:15.279 and Clark were sent to evaluate the northwestern part of 141 00:09:15.440 --> 00:09:18.960 the Louisiana Purchase lands that mister Jefferson had bought from 142 00:09:19.039 --> 00:09:23.279 Napoleon Bonaparte in eighteen o three, the Comanche had learned 143 00:09:23.320 --> 00:09:27.039 to find his greatest pleasure and profit during his daring 144 00:09:27.159 --> 00:09:31.000 raids into the settlements of Mexico, raiding in great force 145 00:09:31.159 --> 00:09:34.879 as far as south as the cities of Chihuahua and Durango. 146 00:09:35.559 --> 00:09:39.799 The emotional inspiration for such forays on peaceful people was 147 00:09:39.840 --> 00:09:43.960 regarded as pure cussedness. But a more profound study shows 148 00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:47.679 that the trophies of such raids, excepting the scalps taken, 149 00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:52.159 were horses, cattle, sheep, and slaves. Many of the stolen 150 00:09:52.200 --> 00:09:55.480 horses were for the comanche's personal use, because it took 151 00:09:55.519 --> 00:09:58.759 many animals to make the great raid during the Mexican Moon. 152 00:09:59.240 --> 00:10:02.120 The balance of the s trophies was used for barter. 153 00:10:02.879 --> 00:10:05.840 Years before the purchase of eighteen o three, he was 154 00:10:05.879 --> 00:10:09.759 trading his stolen stock and possibly his slaves to the 155 00:10:09.799 --> 00:10:14.440 French traders from the Spanish French border near Old Nacotish 156 00:10:14.480 --> 00:10:18.919 pronounced Nacotish on the Lower Red River or in later times. 157 00:10:19.000 --> 00:10:22.159 Upon return from a successful raid, he roared out of 158 00:10:22.200 --> 00:10:25.440 Mexico and across the Rio Grande into Texas, south of 159 00:10:25.480 --> 00:10:29.600 the Chizos Mountains. If short of war paint, he replenished 160 00:10:29.600 --> 00:10:33.279 his favorite red color from the outcroppings of Cinnabar near 161 00:10:33.399 --> 00:10:37.919 Terlingua Creek. Then headed through the bad lands and out 162 00:10:38.000 --> 00:10:42.000 upon the Range country by way of Persimmon Gap. From 163 00:10:42.000 --> 00:10:45.720 the gap, he went to Camanche Springs present Fort Stockton, 164 00:10:46.159 --> 00:10:50.519 crossed the Pecos River at Horsehead Crossing, then rode north 165 00:10:50.559 --> 00:10:54.200 to the sand dunes to water a famishing flock, after 166 00:10:54.240 --> 00:10:57.320 which he headed east to the Sofur and the Big Spring. 167 00:10:57.840 --> 00:11:01.120 Then he turned northward around the camp that marks the 168 00:11:01.159 --> 00:11:05.879 eastern extremity of the terrible Yano Estacado, to proceed on 169 00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:10.399 north until he actually scrambled out upon the plateau. Then 170 00:11:10.519 --> 00:11:15.039 he proceeded towards Santa Fe to meet somewhere, possibly at 171 00:11:15.039 --> 00:11:19.799 Casa Amarias in that then desolate region the common ceros 172 00:11:20.039 --> 00:11:23.720 or middlemen, between himself and the Mexican settlers of the 173 00:11:23.720 --> 00:11:30.200 Apo Rio Grande Valley near Santa Fe. Footnote One commonchero's 174 00:11:30.480 --> 00:11:34.720 renegade Mexicans, half breeds and outlaw Americans who lived in 175 00:11:34.799 --> 00:11:38.519 Mexican settlements in New Mexico from whence they traveled in 176 00:11:38.600 --> 00:11:42.320 small bands, usually by wagon or ox cart, to the 177 00:11:42.399 --> 00:11:46.360 Yano Esticado, where they met the Comanches, Caiowas, or other 178 00:11:46.399 --> 00:11:51.080 Indians and traded guns, ammunition, whiskey, and other desirable items 179 00:11:51.240 --> 00:11:54.519 for the products of the raids. Robert T. Niels and 180 00:11:54.639 --> 00:11:59.600 Angelo Texas and footnote. He traded his trophies to the 181 00:11:59.639 --> 00:12:04.519 common canchero's for guns, ammunition, or other less practical adjuncts 182 00:12:04.519 --> 00:12:07.559 that might suit his fancy of the moment. His Mexican 183 00:12:07.639 --> 00:12:10.960 moon was then over, and he returned to his portable village, 184 00:12:11.159 --> 00:12:14.279 which he had left in some waters canyon that cut 185 00:12:14.399 --> 00:12:19.159 down eastward from the Yano Estacado. The route, as followed 186 00:12:19.159 --> 00:12:22.080 by these Indians was a well marked trail, and during 187 00:12:22.120 --> 00:12:25.240 the time of our westward migration it was well known 188 00:12:25.360 --> 00:12:28.440 and appears on the maps of the times. Another route 189 00:12:28.480 --> 00:12:31.559 into Mexico broke off the Western Trail at the Big 190 00:12:31.600 --> 00:12:34.919 Spring and ran down the valley of the North Concho River, 191 00:12:35.240 --> 00:12:38.919 across the Edwards Plateau, then through the passes of the 192 00:12:38.960 --> 00:12:43.039 Balcony's escarpment to cross the Rio Grande into Mexico near 193 00:12:43.080 --> 00:12:47.240 the present city of Eagle Pass. Mister Ebbetts Hailey refers 194 00:12:47.279 --> 00:12:50.360 to these trails as the Great Comanche War Trail and 195 00:12:50.440 --> 00:12:53.840 gives a wonderful description of the activity on them in 196 00:12:54.000 --> 00:12:58.600 his recent book Fort Concho and the Texas Frontier. An 197 00:12:58.600 --> 00:13:01.720 old map from the Army fires in the National Archives 198 00:13:01.840 --> 00:13:05.600 hauls the western branch the Grand Comanche War Trail. But 199 00:13:05.960 --> 00:13:08.440 all the trails what you may, they were still a 200 00:13:08.519 --> 00:13:11.600 stiff pain in the neck to anyone crossing them, and 201 00:13:11.679 --> 00:13:15.279 for the wagon trains and cattle herds going west, crossing 202 00:13:15.519 --> 00:13:19.720 was inevitable. The greater raids into Mexico appeared to have 203 00:13:19.720 --> 00:13:23.759 occurred rather regularly in September, when the weather was most 204 00:13:23.759 --> 00:13:27.600 favorable and the chief objectives could be struck during the 205 00:13:27.679 --> 00:13:30.919 light of a full moon. Thus, to the unhappy but 206 00:13:31.120 --> 00:13:35.480 fully expectant Mexicans, the September full moon was known as 207 00:13:35.679 --> 00:13:39.639 the Comanche moon. At this time. Mars, the red god 208 00:13:39.720 --> 00:13:43.080 of war, hangs low and molten in the late summer 209 00:13:43.159 --> 00:13:46.639 night sky and reflects a light that is as red 210 00:13:46.720 --> 00:13:50.159 as the sand and clay soils of the Indian territory. 211 00:13:51.080 --> 00:13:55.000 Another favorite trick of these versatile middlemen was to raid 212 00:13:55.039 --> 00:13:58.279 the settlements down the Rio Grande Valley south from Santa 213 00:13:58.320 --> 00:14:01.320 Fe and drive off the sad stock to a rendezvous 214 00:14:01.360 --> 00:14:04.360 with the common ceros, who in turn traded them to 215 00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:08.159 unknowing Mexican settlers at other points on the river. During 216 00:14:08.240 --> 00:14:12.039 such raids, it was deemed ethical but unprofitable to kill 217 00:14:12.080 --> 00:14:15.120 the settlers, since without them there would be no stock 218 00:14:15.200 --> 00:14:18.519 to drive off in a later raid. Besides, these Mexican 219 00:14:18.559 --> 00:14:24.080 settlers did not seriously molest the buffalo. Such business sagacity, however, 220 00:14:24.159 --> 00:14:27.279 did not apply in later times. To the Republic of Texas, 221 00:14:27.519 --> 00:14:31.399 where each succeeding year saw new settlers break ground and 222 00:14:31.559 --> 00:14:35.080 homestead farther up the river valleys, whose streams had their 223 00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:38.960 origins in the motherland plains of the Comanche and Kiowa. 224 00:14:39.679 --> 00:14:43.559 After its establishment in eighteen thirty six, the infant Republic 225 00:14:43.639 --> 00:14:46.799 found itself fighting a hot war on two fronts. The 226 00:14:46.799 --> 00:14:49.600 settlers near the Rio Grande from Del Rio to the 227 00:14:49.639 --> 00:14:53.320 mouth of that river near Brownsville suffered from raids out 228 00:14:53.320 --> 00:14:57.360 of Mexico by both Mexicans and Indians, while the northern 229 00:14:57.360 --> 00:14:59.919 prongs of the new settlements were exposed to the com 230 00:15:00.039 --> 00:15:04.080 Ranches and Caiowa's. It was a bitter struggle fought generally 231 00:15:04.200 --> 00:15:08.600 in small, isolated settlements, where the determined Anglo Saxon fought 232 00:15:08.600 --> 00:15:12.720 for his new home against an equally determined Indian fighting 233 00:15:12.759 --> 00:15:17.559 to preserve his ancient homeland and range a Saxon scalp 234 00:15:17.720 --> 00:15:21.320 decorating a Comanche's war shield might be avenged by an 235 00:15:21.399 --> 00:15:27.480 Indian's entire skin decorating a rude barn door. Matters were 236 00:15:27.480 --> 00:15:31.000 better controlled after the annexation of Texas by the United 237 00:15:31.080 --> 00:15:34.320 States than after the close of the Mexican War. But 238 00:15:34.399 --> 00:15:37.879 it took manpower and supplies to do it, something the 239 00:15:37.960 --> 00:15:41.480 New Republic had been slow in acquiring. The Treaty of 240 00:15:41.480 --> 00:15:45.960 Guadalupe Hidalgo provided, among other things, that the United States 241 00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:48.919 would make every effort to keep the Indians from raiding 242 00:15:48.960 --> 00:15:52.919 into Mexico. So in about eighteen forty nine, the United 243 00:15:52.919 --> 00:15:59.559 States Army, mostly cavalry and mounted infantrymen dragoons, moved into Texas. 244 00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:03.039 They proceeded to establish a string of forts and camps 245 00:16:03.159 --> 00:16:06.159 from previously established Brown near the mouth of the Rio 246 00:16:06.279 --> 00:16:11.279 Grande to Duncan near Eagle Pass. For the upper Rio Grande. 247 00:16:11.279 --> 00:16:13.559 In Texas, they set up what was later to be 248 00:16:13.679 --> 00:16:17.919 Fort Bliss El Paso as a northern line of defense 249 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:22.679 for the settlers. They established, starting with Fort Duncan, the 250 00:16:22.679 --> 00:16:32.960 forts of Lincoln, Donnis, Martin, Scott, Fredericksburg, Crogan, Burnett, Gates, Gatesville, Graham, Hillsborough, 251 00:16:33.440 --> 00:16:37.360 and Worth Fort Worth. Only a few of the forts 252 00:16:37.399 --> 00:16:41.080 were ever protected by stockades. The war was one of movement. 253 00:16:41.440 --> 00:16:44.679 The places were supposed to be strategically located and manned 254 00:16:44.679 --> 00:16:49.320 by several companies of cavalry and some infantry, places from 255 00:16:49.360 --> 00:16:53.960 where punitive expeditions could set out establish supply bases and 256 00:16:54.039 --> 00:16:57.679 then try to run down the Indian raiders. The standing 257 00:16:57.799 --> 00:17:00.480 army of the United States during the eighteen three fifties 258 00:17:00.559 --> 00:17:03.919 was numbered at about fifteen thousand men, and the personnel 259 00:17:03.960 --> 00:17:07.400 of the Texas Forts accounted for about from one fifth 260 00:17:07.440 --> 00:17:10.680 to one third of that number. Many of the officers 261 00:17:10.680 --> 00:17:14.039 and men were veterans of the Mexican War, the forts 262 00:17:14.160 --> 00:17:17.359 usually being named in honor of American soldiers who lost 263 00:17:17.400 --> 00:17:21.240 their lives in that war. Many Civil War leaders, both 264 00:17:21.279 --> 00:17:25.599 Confederate and Union, received much field training from eighteen forty 265 00:17:25.680 --> 00:17:28.640 nine to the outbreak of that war in eighteen sixty one, 266 00:17:29.160 --> 00:17:34.000 building and manning the forts, chasing but seldom catching the Indians, 267 00:17:34.400 --> 00:17:37.839 guarding the wagon trains and mail bags, and exploring the 268 00:17:37.839 --> 00:17:42.119 wilderness for better trails and water holes. There is a record, 269 00:17:42.359 --> 00:17:45.480 one of many left by the famous Captain Jack Hayes 270 00:17:45.519 --> 00:17:49.200 of the Texas Rangers. It tells how he was hired 271 00:17:49.240 --> 00:17:52.480 by certain merchants of San Antonio who were anxious to 272 00:17:52.519 --> 00:17:56.720 trade with the merchants of Chihuahua, Mexico. His assignment was 273 00:17:56.759 --> 00:17:59.599 to find, in eighteen forty eight a route from San 274 00:17:59.640 --> 00:18:03.799 Antoineo to privately owned Fort Leeton, where the Conscios River 275 00:18:03.880 --> 00:18:07.440 of Mexico meets the Rio Grand and from which point 276 00:18:07.480 --> 00:18:11.160 to Chihuahua the going would be reasonably good. Hayes and 277 00:18:11.240 --> 00:18:14.319 his mounted company of frontiersmen managed to make it to 278 00:18:14.440 --> 00:18:17.599 Leton and back to San Antonio, but they found the 279 00:18:17.640 --> 00:18:20.440 going so rough that the journey took them three and 280 00:18:20.559 --> 00:18:24.960 one half months present Southern Pacific Railway west to Alpine. 281 00:18:25.720 --> 00:18:29.119 There were too many deep canyons along the tributaries of 282 00:18:29.160 --> 00:18:33.400 the Rio Grand. The decade following eighteen forty nine was 283 00:18:33.559 --> 00:18:38.240 most active. The army detachments under capable officers explored to 284 00:18:38.319 --> 00:18:42.000 find routes from East Texas and from San Antonio to 285 00:18:42.119 --> 00:18:45.039 El Paso, but the wagon trains did not wait for 286 00:18:45.119 --> 00:18:48.960 their findings. They often made their own way and did 287 00:18:49.119 --> 00:18:53.680 their well known, creditable job. Mister Jefferson Davis, Secretary of 288 00:18:53.759 --> 00:18:57.400 War and himself a distinguished veteran of the Mexican War, 289 00:18:57.839 --> 00:19:00.640 did about all in his power to aid the new 290 00:19:00.680 --> 00:19:05.039 State of Texas, the Mexican settlements, and the immigrant trains. 291 00:19:05.079 --> 00:19:08.799 He made treaties with the Indians and arranged reservations for them. 292 00:19:09.279 --> 00:19:13.720 This latter deal was not too successful. Friendly East Texas, 293 00:19:13.759 --> 00:19:17.960 Indians almost starved on the reservations and the more warlike plains. 294 00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:21.480 Indians had no idea of staying there, even when they 295 00:19:21.519 --> 00:19:25.119 agreed to move in. The old men's tales of conquest 296 00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:28.319 and horse dealing were more than the young bucks could take. 297 00:19:29.119 --> 00:19:33.079 Mister Davis built new forts, and, recognizing the great problems 298 00:19:33.079 --> 00:19:37.759 of communications that existed between such far flung positions, sought 299 00:19:37.799 --> 00:19:41.799 to remedy those by importing in eighteen fifty six through 300 00:19:41.839 --> 00:19:47.200 the seaport of Indianola camels and their Arabian drivers. The 301 00:19:47.240 --> 00:19:51.039 camels were concentrated at Camp Verde in southern Kerr County, 302 00:19:51.440 --> 00:19:54.920 and breeding and testing immediately proceeded at a good pace. 303 00:19:55.440 --> 00:19:58.960 Tests for their strength and endurance carried the caravans across 304 00:19:59.000 --> 00:20:02.839 the continental divice and back, and the results were very gratifying. 305 00:20:03.279 --> 00:20:06.200 The Civil War put an end to the experiments. The 306 00:20:06.279 --> 00:20:10.200 last camel herd before final sellouts to the Carnivals, was 307 00:20:10.279 --> 00:20:14.920 privately owned near Austin in the early eighteen eighties. By 308 00:20:14.960 --> 00:20:18.000 the time the Civil War broke out in eighteen sixty one, 309 00:20:18.119 --> 00:20:21.200 the War Department had finally followed the advice of such 310 00:20:21.279 --> 00:20:25.440 able soldiers as Joe Johnston and Chase Whiting. The forts 311 00:20:25.480 --> 00:20:29.079 received a new alignment and were manned mostly by cavalry. 312 00:20:29.480 --> 00:20:33.759 Supplies were sent in as before from bases like San Antonio. 313 00:20:34.119 --> 00:20:37.720 The wagons, pulled by oxen or mules, were well guarded 314 00:20:37.759 --> 00:20:42.319 in most instances by soldiers. The contracts for furnishing the 315 00:20:42.359 --> 00:20:46.799 supplies and their transportation were let to civilians. The new 316 00:20:46.960 --> 00:20:51.839 alignment caused the abandonment of some interior forts and camps. 317 00:20:52.240 --> 00:20:55.039 The line on the lower Rio Grande was extended up 318 00:20:55.079 --> 00:20:58.240 the river by building Fort Hudson near the Devil's River, 319 00:20:58.559 --> 00:21:01.680 about thirty miles north of the San Philippe out In 320 00:21:01.799 --> 00:21:05.400 far western Texas, they built Fort Quitman down the river 321 00:21:05.519 --> 00:21:09.160 from El Paso. Several things were done to discourage the 322 00:21:09.160 --> 00:21:13.279 Comanche and Kiowa, whose depredations along the Grand War Trail 323 00:21:13.400 --> 00:21:16.799 had been greatly stepped up. The War Department flanked the 324 00:21:16.839 --> 00:21:19.240 trail on the west by the building of a sizeable 325 00:21:19.400 --> 00:21:23.799 establishment in a beautiful and romantic spot in the Davis Mountains, 326 00:21:24.039 --> 00:21:26.920 and named it Fort Davis in honor of the Secretary. 327 00:21:27.640 --> 00:21:31.119 Near this spot, more than three hundred years before, had 328 00:21:31.160 --> 00:21:36.200 passed the shipwreck, unhorsed and enslaved, but still valiant Spaniard 329 00:21:36.319 --> 00:21:40.240 Capezza Dabacca. He would later write in his report to 330 00:21:40.319 --> 00:21:44.480 his Viceroy describing his journey after leaving the Great Arid 331 00:21:44.559 --> 00:21:47.759 Plains to the north of a valley through which flowed 332 00:21:48.039 --> 00:21:54.559 limpid waters footnote too. Perhaps this was Lympia Creek, Doctor R. 333 00:21:54.640 --> 00:21:59.839 T Hill and footnote. After Fort Davis, the Department un 334 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:04.680 veiled Fort Lancaster, Western Crockett County, as a flanker to 335 00:22:04.799 --> 00:22:08.119 the east of the trail. It was cozily situated in 336 00:22:08.160 --> 00:22:12.000 the mass, not far from the Pecos River and beside 337 00:22:12.200 --> 00:22:17.000 live Oak Creek that flows delightful spring water. Then the 338 00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:21.400 War Department built Fort Stockton Paycos County, smack in the 339 00:22:21.400 --> 00:22:24.440 middle of the Grand Trail and right beside the best 340 00:22:24.519 --> 00:22:28.920 spring water on its entire route. Now to further protect 341 00:22:29.000 --> 00:22:32.240 immigrants and mail bags on the route west, and to 342 00:22:32.319 --> 00:22:35.920 protect settlers of central and Northern Texas who were still 343 00:22:35.960 --> 00:22:39.160 moving higher up the river valleys, it set up Fort 344 00:22:39.240 --> 00:22:43.200 Chadbourne as a pivot between the new Western line and 345 00:22:43.400 --> 00:22:47.880 the lower Rio Grande Valley line. From Fort Chadbourne on 346 00:22:48.240 --> 00:22:53.920 northeasterly to the Indian Territory were Fort's Phantom Hill, Abilene 347 00:22:54.160 --> 00:22:59.039 and Belknap Newcastle, but Chadbourne was a near miss because 348 00:22:59.039 --> 00:23:02.119 it was not well located and its water supply was 349 00:23:02.200 --> 00:23:05.799 not adequate. However, not until the Civil War was over 350 00:23:06.119 --> 00:23:09.519 was it finally abandoned in eighteen sixty seven and a 351 00:23:09.599 --> 00:23:13.279 new site chosen for its replacement, at the confluence of 352 00:23:13.319 --> 00:23:17.400 the North, South and Middle Concho Rivers. This new position 353 00:23:17.599 --> 00:23:21.359 would be called Fort Concho, and here eventually would be 354 00:23:21.400 --> 00:23:25.680 built the city of San Angelo. As the decade preceding 355 00:23:25.720 --> 00:23:28.799 the outbreak of the Civil War was closing, the great 356 00:23:28.839 --> 00:23:32.519 wagon trails from San Antonio and East Texas to al 357 00:23:32.559 --> 00:23:36.119 Paso must have been a site to behold. Most of 358 00:23:36.160 --> 00:23:39.680 them converged on Castle Gap and the horsehead crossing of 359 00:23:39.720 --> 00:23:42.279 the Pecos River, from where they had a choice of 360 00:23:42.359 --> 00:23:48.119 two routes to al Paso. The California Overland Mayo Butterfield Overland. 361 00:23:48.200 --> 00:23:52.279 Mail two thousand, seven hundred ninety five miles from Saint 362 00:23:52.359 --> 00:23:57.440 Louis to San Francisco entered Texas by way of Fort Smith, Arkansas, 363 00:23:57.920 --> 00:24:02.200 followed the line of Fort's southwesterly to the middel Concho River, 364 00:24:02.599 --> 00:24:06.680 then turned westerly up that valley, then through Castle Gap 365 00:24:06.759 --> 00:24:10.680 to Horsehead Crossing. From here, the early route followed up 366 00:24:10.680 --> 00:24:13.920 the Pecos River to Pope's Crossing near the present Red 367 00:24:13.920 --> 00:24:18.480 Bluff Reservoir, thence westward to El Paso by way of 368 00:24:18.519 --> 00:24:22.720 Delaware Creek and Wakecoat Tanks. A more southerly route from 369 00:24:22.799 --> 00:24:26.440 Horsehead Crossing was probably a better choice. It went from 370 00:24:26.480 --> 00:24:32.880 the crossing direct to Fort Stockton, Leyon Springs, Toyavale, Fort Davis, 371 00:24:32.920 --> 00:24:36.960 thence to Van Hornswell and El Paso. It also had 372 00:24:37.000 --> 00:24:40.720 the advantage of servicing the westerly line of forts. The 373 00:24:40.759 --> 00:24:44.599 original run over this new mail route to California was 374 00:24:44.640 --> 00:24:47.480 made in eighteen fifty eight, and the New York Herald 375 00:24:47.519 --> 00:24:52.079 sent a special news correspondent, one W. L. Ormsby, to 376 00:24:52.160 --> 00:24:55.279 be a through passenger on the mule drong Coat, so 377 00:24:55.319 --> 00:24:58.200 that he could report the trip. The poor fellow was 378 00:24:58.240 --> 00:25:01.599 only twenty three years old, age being in his favor, 379 00:25:01.880 --> 00:25:05.000 he lived through it all. His description of the trail 380 00:25:05.079 --> 00:25:08.119 from between the upper waterholes of the Middle Concho River 381 00:25:08.480 --> 00:25:12.400 near present Stiles to Castle Gap and the Horsehead Crossing 382 00:25:12.799 --> 00:25:16.880 is most illuminating. Quote strewn along the road and far 383 00:25:16.960 --> 00:25:20.160 as the eye could reach along the plane decayed and 384 00:25:20.319 --> 00:25:24.000 decaying animals. The bones of cattle and sometimes of men, 385 00:25:24.440 --> 00:25:27.839 the hide drying on the skin in the arid atmosphere, 386 00:25:28.319 --> 00:25:31.839 all told a fearful story of anguish and terrific death 387 00:25:31.880 --> 00:25:35.400 from the pangs of thirst. For miles and miles, these 388 00:25:35.440 --> 00:25:40.799 bones strew the plane end. It appears from this on 389 00:25:40.880 --> 00:25:45.200 the spot observation that the trails across level plains country 390 00:25:45.359 --> 00:25:48.839 were very wide. The wagon trains did not move in 391 00:25:48.960 --> 00:25:52.880 single file that would expose them too much to Indian attacks, 392 00:25:53.119 --> 00:25:56.039 and besides, the longer the line, the worse the dust. 393 00:25:56.519 --> 00:25:59.839 The old wagon wheel ruts, still noticeable to this day 394 00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:03.720 along the route described above by Ormsby cover a wide 395 00:26:03.799 --> 00:26:07.160 area on the plains east of Castle Gap before they 396 00:26:07.200 --> 00:26:11.359 converge on that narrow pass. These can be seen west 397 00:26:11.359 --> 00:26:15.079 of the China Ponds, where they moved westerly, about three 398 00:26:15.200 --> 00:26:19.000 miles south of the land grants known as the Alphabet blocks, 399 00:26:19.200 --> 00:26:22.920 given later by the State of Texas to the Corpus Christi, 400 00:26:23.160 --> 00:26:27.920 San Diego and Rio Grande Narrow Gage Railroad. Try painting 401 00:26:28.000 --> 00:26:31.559