Fort Davis
The California Gold Rush of 1848 prompted the need for a reliable route from San Antonio to El Paso and beyond. The stretch across West Texas was especially perilous because of the lack of water and the hostility of the Native Americans who occupied the area. Several attempts were made before a group in 1850 mapped a trail that jumped from spring to spring across the desert and skirted the Davis Mountains on the southern side. The water issue resolved, the problem with the hostile natives was addressed by the establishment of a series of forts along the route. Fort Davis was founded at the mouth of a box canyon along Limpia Creek in 1854, later abandoned during the Civil War, and then re-established after the war in 1867. The fort operated until it was decommissioned in 1891.
The short 25 mile drive from Alpine to Fort Davis takes us into the Davis Mountains.
A row of rocks etch a jagged line into the view and at their feet sits the small town that grew southeast of the fort and took the name of Fort Davis.
Fort Davis is a small town of about 1,200 people that serves as the county seat of Presidio County and the jumping off point for tourists exploring the Davis Mountains. Due to the high elevation the climate is much cooler than the surrounding desert. The economy of the town never really survived the closing of the fort and with the exception of a small grocery store, the few businesses in town are targeted towards tourists. Residents head 25 miles southeast to Alpine for most of their needs. The town focuses on a small two block area around the county courthouse. Built in 1910 the imposing building is by far the most impressive structure in town. It also possesses the only patch of green grass that I have seen in weeks…
Across the street from the courthouse is a kind of plaza, surrounded by three local landmarks: the Limpia Hotel, the Jeff Davis library, and the Fort Davis State Bank. This picture from 1915 was taken standing on the steps of the warehouse that is now the library. The hotel is on the right, the courthouse center, and the bank on the left.
Things haven’t changed much, here are the bank and hotel today. The other building in the photograph of the hotel is a historic warehouse, currently repurposed as the Jeff Davis County Library.
The library building started life as a warehouse and general store, evolving into the Union Trading Company. The current stone structure was built in 1906 and housed the general store, a gentlemen’s club, feed store, the first electric company and telephone exchange in the area. Today the interior clearly reflects those origins.
The Limpia Hotel, built in 1912, anchors the east side of the town center (which is only one block adjacent to the courthouse.) The original brick structure is now augmented by several other buildings along the street housing additional rooms, a restaurant and bar.
The west side of the street houses a couple of shops targeted to tourists and a couple of small hotels. The Drugstore & Hotel houses a restaurant on the first floor.
The attractions that draw tourists to the area (other than the cool weather) are the Davis Mountains and McDonald Observatory, the Chihuahuan Desert Botanical Gardens, and, of course, the fort.
McDonald Observatory
Just north of town the highway splits and the left fork heads into the heart of the Davis Mountains. The high desert mountains rise up in waves from the desert floor.
The McDonald Observatory consists of a number of domes on Mt. Locke and Mt. Fowlkes about 15 miles northwest of Fort Davis. Texas banker William McDonald left a legacy to the University of Texas to endow an astronomical observatory. In 1939 the second largest telescope in the world was constructed on the top of Mt. Locke.
A climb up the mountain brings one to a visitor’s center, which houses a model of the telescope.
The size of the Lunch Box precludes me visiting the actual dome so I turn around and head back to Fort Davis and about five miles beyond to the Chihuanhuan Desert Nature Center and Botanical Garden.
Chihuanhuan Desert Nature Center and Botanical Garden
The center has about 500 acres of grounds that includes hiking trails, gardens and a display about the mining history of the area. It’s a pleasant day as I walk around the site and enjoy the desert views.
Numerous small mines dotted the Big Bend as the riches of the land were exploited. None lasted very long…
Back in Fort Davis, the fort awaits!
Fort Davis National Historic Site
Fort Davis was established in 1854 at the mouth of a box canyon where Limpia Creek provided plenty of water and the grass was plentiful. Named after Jefferson Davis, then President Franklin Pierce’s Secretary of War, the fort provided a home for cavalry who battled Comanche and Apache attackers of traffic along the San Antonio-El Paso Road. The fort was abandoned during the Civil War and the buildings fell into disarray until 1867 when the 9th Cavalry returned to the fort and built a new fort just east of the old site. For the next 20+ years the fort was key to the settlement of West Texas, growing to include some 100 buildings. The last major military campaign involving troops from Fort Davis was in 1880 and the fort was decommissioned in 1891. Civilians moved into some of the housing and their maintenance, along with a private owner’s upkeep, combined with the relatively dry high desert environment, allowed many of the structures to avoid total decay. In 1963 the fort became a national historic site and the National Park Service began a restoration process that continues to this day.
The fort is set back about a quarter of a mile from the highway.
A photograph from 1880 taken from the top of the cliffs in the background shows the layout of the fort eleven years before it was decommissioned in 1891.
The visitor’s center is housed in the first of the two large enlisted men’s barracks on the east side of the parade grounds. This 1938 photograph shows the extent of the deterioration of the buildings contrasted to their appearance now.
The first barracks contains displays about the life and equipment of the typical foot soldier. The troops stationed at Fort Davis were “Buffalo Soldiers”, segregated troops formed of black men with white officers after the Civil War. Buffalo Soldiers served at forts throughout Texas in the post-Civil War years.
The second barracks is set up as it might have looked when the troops where in residence.
Northeast of the barracks are ruins of several buildings as well as the commissary which served as the base distribution point for supplies. Items flowed into the post from San Antonio (400 miles to the east) and El Paso (200 miles to the west.)
The guard house stood at the north end of the parade grounds with housing for married officers in the background. I was surprised at the size of the individual cells. It’s hard to tell from the picture but they are only about 6 feet by 4 feet.
The west side of the parade grounds is lined with officer’s housing. Most were shared, with either two officers or a family and a single inhabiting the same structure which is divided by a central hall into essentially two apartments.
The two room apartment on the left housed a married officer and his family. The photographs have some glare as one is not able to actually enter the room but look through a glass barrier.
The central hall was used as a joint dining room and the one-room apartment on the right housed a single officer.
Out back the kitchen and servant’s quarters are in a separate building. Many of the servants were actually enlisted men who volunteered for the position in addition to their regular tasks as it paid a bit more. Women servants seldom lasted long as they were quickly courted by the soldiers and soon married.
Most of the houses on Officer’s Row are not restored on the interior but the commander’s home, in the center of the row, is open to the public and furnished with a number of original items. Colonel Benjamin Grierson and his family lived here from 1882-1885 and kept extensive journals that assisted in the restoration. The floor plan is essentially the same as that of the other officer’s housing with the exception of an addition on the back of the right which served the Grierson’s sons and addition to the back of the left which served as a family gathering place.
The central hall divides the house and allowed the breeze to pass through.
The front left is the site of the formal parlor, used for entertaining official guests; the front right is the master bedroom.
A small room in the back was used for bathing as well as household tasks and beyond is the boys’ bedroom. Note the frontier bath tub. One sat or stood and poured water over oneself from a bucket.
Children were not allowed in the formal parlor, the back parlor served the role that a modern family room serves for family gathering, games, music, etc.
Out back, a cistern (now filled in) helped capture rainwater for use by the household.
Set farther back from the rest of the fort is the base hospital. Given the nature of the fort’s tasks, men seldom needed attention for war wounds but rather from disease and other illness. The hospital is a work in progress and a good opportunity to see a restoration in progress.
The original building was built in 1876, the south addition on the left was added in 1884. Most of the rooms on the interior have not yet been restored but work is in progress in one of them.
One of the surgery rooms is complete.
Another of those 1880 photographs shows the hospital complex at that time.
As I head back to the visitor’s center and the exit two horses and a goat wander across my path. This is a very large complex, the golf carts are available by reservation for those in need (not me, yet!)
As an example of how large the fort is, I tried getting the whole thing in one picture and couldn’t. This view is from the south end (which is where the creek ran) looking across the parade ground to the north. The enlisted barracks are on the east (right) and officer’s quarters on the left (west).
Fort Davis Historic Site is one of the informative and interesting restorations that I have ever seen.
Next up: Water and Oil
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