Hill Country Frontier Forts

Ruins of the commanding officer’s quarters at Ft. McKavett – image by Joe Cooper.

There are many historic forts scattered across the Texas Hill Country that testify to the formidable presence of the army on the Texas frontier during the last half of the nineteenth century.

General Information

Many forts and military establishments were scattered across the Texas Hill Country along the frontier during the last half of the nineteenth century. These forts are now mostly ghostly ruins, but they represent the remnants of a formidable military presence that protected the settlers on the frontier. Some of the forts, such as Fort McKavett, have been painstakingly reconstructed and they provide an insight into the lives of the soldiers that lived and served in them. But these ruins are more than the remnants of a romanticized period of American history - they are enduring and visible reminders of the violent conflict that erupted as white settlement moved westward across the state and encroached on the domains of the Kiowas, Comanches, Apaches, and other Plains Indians.

The forts and the frontier served as a proving ground for such great commanders as Robert E. Lee of the U. S. Army, and also for the great Comanche chief, Quanah Parker. The stories of the frontier forts provide the drama which played out in the larger context of a half-century of conflict and warfare between two cultures that ultimately could not co-exist. The outcome of the conflict was never seriously in doubt. The European culture displaced the Native American culture and the character of the Texas Hill Country changed forever.

Fort	County	Location	Description
Camp Davis	Gillespie	Four miles from the junction of White Oak Creek and the Pedernales River	Camp Davis was a Confederate camp in Gillespie County approximately four miles from the junction of White Oak Creek and the Pedernales River. It was established in March of 1862 as a ranger station for the Frontier Regiment by James M. Norris.
Camp Verde	Kerr	FM 480 and Highway 173 just North of Bandera Pass 6 miles from Center Point, 10 miles from Kerrville and 10 miles from Bandera.	Camp Verde was authorized by an act of Congress in 1855 at the urging of Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, to serve as a camel post and provide frontier protection.
Fort Clark	Kinney	Brackettville	Fort Clark was established on June 20, 1852, at Las Moras Springs by companies C and E of the First Infantry under the command of Major Joseph H. LaMotte. The purpose of the fort was to guard the Mexican border, to protect the military road to El Paso, and to defend against Indian depredations arising from both sides of the Rio Grande. Recurrent Indian raids across the Rio Grande and other hostilities along the border kept Fort Clark in operation for almost one-hundred years under the leadership of legendary officers such as John L. Bullis and William "Pecos Bill" Shafter.
Fort Croghan	Burnet	Burnet	Fort Croghan was established at the site of a frontier post known as McCulloch's Station, on Hamilton Creek three miles south of the site of present town of Burnet. Henry E. McCulloch and his rangers were stationed there when the place was chosen for the fort on March 13, 1849.
Fort Duncan	Maverick	Eagle Pass	Fort Duncan, located on the east side of the Rio Grande above Eagle Pass (Paso Del Águila), was established on March 27, 1849, when Capt. Sidney Burbank occupied the site with companies A, B, and F of the First United States Infantry. On November 14, 1849, the temporary post was renamed Fort Duncan after Colonel James Duncan a hero of the Battle of Molino del Rey in the Mexican War on September 8, 1847. The fort was significant because of the trade crossing into Mexico at Eagle Pass, its location on the California Road, and its position for scouting against Indians in the 1850s. Fort Duncan was abandoned in May 1859, and troops were transferred to Camp Verde on June 18, 1859.
Fort Inge	Uvalde	Uvalde	Fort Inge was established in 1849 on the east bank of the Leona River, a mile south of Uvalde. Fort Inge was established as a part of the first federal line of frontier forts in Texas. The fort served as a base for troops assigned to protect the southern overland mail route from Indian raids. It was to serve as a base of operations for army troops and Texas militia. Fort Inge was closed for federal service on March 19, 1869, and the garrison transferred to Fort McKavett.
Fort Lancaster	Crockett	Sheffield	Fort Lancaster was established as Camp Lancaster on August 20, 1855, by Capt. Stephen D. Carpenter and manned by companies H and K of the First United States Infantry. The fort protected the lower road from San Antonio to El Paso in the years following the discovery of gold in California.
Fort Lincoln	Medina	FM Road 1796 on the west bank of Seco Creek two miles north D'Hanis in Medina County	Fort Lincoln was one of eight that formed the first line of permanent federal frontier defense in Texas from Eagle Pass on the Rio Grande to Coffee's Bend on the Red River. It was established on July 7, 1849 on on the west bank of Seco Creek a mile north of D'Hanis in west central Medina County, and was abandoned on July 20, 1852, because the frontier had moved westward.
Fort Martin Scott	Gillespie	Fredericksburg	Fort Martin Scott was established on December 5, 1848 by Captain Seth Eastman, who was the commander of Companies D and H, First United States Infantry. Originally established as Camp Houston but later renamed, it was one of the first United States Army posts on the western frontier of Texas. Fort Martin Scott is located two miles southeast of Fredericksburg on Barons Creek, and was part of the army's effort to protect Texan settlers and travelers on the Fredericksburg-San Antonio Road from Indian depredations.
Fort Mason	Mason	Mason	Fort Mason's location on Post Oak Hill near Comanche and Centennial creeks in the northern part of what was then called Gillespie County was chosen by Lt. Col. William J. Hardee on July 6, 1851. Originally established to protect settlements such as Castell that were farther east on the Llano River, the fort played an important part in settlement of the area. At first settlers stayed close to the fort, but as the military began to suppress the Indians new settlers located farther away.
Fort McKavett	Menard	Fort McKavett	Fort McKavett was established in March 1852, twenty-two miles southwest of Menard near the right bank of the San Saba River in southwestern Menard County. Several infantry companies were stationed at Fort McKavett in an effort to protect frontier settlers from Comanche Indians.
Fort Mclntosh	Webb	Laredo	Fort McIntosh at Laredo, Texas was established 1849 at the site of a former Spanish presidio on the Rio Grande near an old Spanish and Indian river crossing which was popularly known as “Indian Crossing”. Captain Mirabeau B. Lamar, the former President of the Republic of Texas, had warned of the importance and the precarious position the city of Laredo, and urged that steps be taken to insure the protection of the citizens and territory. American occupation of the site began in November 1846 when he took possession of it along with the Laredo Guard of the Texas Volunteers.

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REFERENCES

· Gibson, Joe A. Forts and Treasure Trails of West Texas. San Angelo, Texas: Educator Books, Inc., 1969.

· Frontier Forts of Texas, Waco, Texas: Texian Press, 1966.

· TBH WebTeam. 30 June 2003. Nineteenth-Century Forts and the Clash of Cultures on the Texas Frontier. Texas Beyond History, The University of Texas at Austin. http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/forts/index.html (accessed August 17,2007).

· TBH WebTeam. 30 June 2003. Texas Frontier Timeline 1836-1844. Texas Beyond History, The University of Texas at Austin. http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/forts/36-44.html (accessed August 17,2007).

· TBH WebTeam. 30 June 2003. Texas Frontier Timeline 1845-1855. Texas Beyond History, The University of Texas at Austin. http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/forts/45-55.html (accessed August 17,2007).

· TBH WebTeam. 30 June 2003. Texas Frontier Timeline 1856-1865. Texas Beyond History, The University of Texas at Austin. http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/forts/45-55.html (accessed August 17,2007).

· TBH WebTeam. 30 June 2003. Texas Frontier Timeline 1866-1875. Texas Beyond History, The University of Texas at Austin. http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/forts/66-75.html (accessed August 17,2007).

· TBH WebTeam. 30 June 2003. Texas Frontier Timeline 1876-1882. Texas Beyond History, The University of Texas at Austin. http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/forts/76-82.html (accessed August 17,2007).

Compiled from various sources by

Joe Cooper

Voices of the Texas Hills

Kendall County, Texas

Created: August 17, 2007

Updated: August 22, 2010