Fort Davis National Historic Site is a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

National Historic Site located in the

unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...

community of Fort Davis, Jeff Davis County,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. Located within the

Davis Mountains The Davis Mountains, originally known as Limpia Mountains, are a range of mountains in West Texas, located near Fort Davis, after which they are named. The fort was named for then United States Secretary of War and later Confederate President J ...

West Texas West Texas is a loosely defined region in the U.S. state of Texas, generally encompassing the arid and semiarid lands west of a line drawn between the cities of Wichita Falls, Abilene, and Del Rio. No consensus exists on the boundary betwee ...

, the historic site was established in 1961 to protect one of the best remaining examples of a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

in the southwestern United States.

History

Established in October 1854 along the Limpia Creek at Painted Comanche Camp by Bvt. Maj. Gen. Persifor Frazer Smith, Fort Davis was named after Jefferson Davis who later became President of the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

.Wooster, R., Fort Davis, 1994, Austin: Texas State Historical Assoc.0876111398 "Hoping to protect the garrison from winter northers, Smith tucked the fort into a canyon flanked on three sides by sheer rock walls." Commanding the post was 8th Infantry Regiment commander Lt. Col. Washington Seawell. Other forts in the frontier fort system were Forts Griffin,

Concho Concha and Concho means "shell" in the Spanish and Portuguese languages. The word can also refer to: Places * Concho, Arizona, a frontier town now functioning as a retirement community in Apache County * Concho, Oklahoma * Concho County, Texas ...

, Belknap, Chadbourne, Stockton, Richardson,

Bliss BLISS is a system programming language developed at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) by W. A. Wulf, D. B. Russell, and A. N. Habermann around 1970. It was perhaps the best known system language until C debuted a few years later. Since then, C b ...

, McKavett,

Clark Clark is an English language surname, ultimately derived from the Latin with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educate ...

McIntosh McIntosh, Macintosh, or Mackintosh (Gaelic: ') may refer to: Products and brands * Mackintosh, a form of waterproof raincoat * Mackintosh's or John Mackintosh and Co., later Rowntree Mackintosh, former UK confectionery company now part of Nestl� ...

Inge Inge is a given name in various Germanic language, Germanic language-speaking cultures. In Swedish and Norwegian, it is mostly used as a masculine, but less often also as a feminine name, sometimes as a short form of Ingeborg, while in Danish, Est ...

, and Phantom Hill in Texas, and Fort Sill in Oklahoma. "Sub posts or intermediate stations" also were used, including Bothwick's Station on Salt Creek between Fort Richardson and Fort Belknap, Camp Wichita near Buffalo Springs between Fort Richardson and Red River Station, and Mountain Pass between Fort Concho and Fort Griffin. From 1854 to 1891, Fort Davis was strategically located to protect emigrants, mail coaches, and freight wagons on the trans-Pecos portion of the San Antonio-El Paso Road and the

Chihuahua Trail The Camino Real de Tierra Adentro ( en, Royal Road of the Interior Land), also known as the Silver Route, was a Spanish road between Mexico City and San Juan Pueblo (''Ohkay Owingeh''), New Mexico, USA, that was used from 1598 to 1882. It was ...

, and to control activities on the southern stem of the Great Comanche War Trail and Mescalero Apache war trails. The fort was evacuated in April 1861 under orders from General David E. Twiggs at the start of the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. During John R. Baylor's invasion of New Mexico, only 20

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

troops defended the fort. On the night of 4 August 1861,

Mescalero Mescalero or Mescalero Apache ( apm, Naa'dahéńdé) is an Apache tribe of Southern Athabaskan–speaking Native Americans. The tribe is federally recognized as the Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Apache Reservation, located in south-cen ...

Apaches raided a nearby cattle pen, and during the pursuit on 11 August, Lt. Reuben E. Mays and all but one of his 13-man patrol were killed in an ambush. This defeat convinced Baylor to staff the fort with three officers and 70 enlisted men. The Confederates evacuated the fort and all other posts west of Fort Clark in August 1862. Fort Davis is important in understanding the presence of African Americans in the West and in the frontier military because the 24th and 25th U.S. Infantry regiments and the 9th and 10th U.S. Cavalry regiments, all-black regiments (known as the

buffalo soldier Buffalo Soldiers originally were members of the 10th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army, formed on September 21, 1866, at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. This nickname was given to the Black Cavalry by Native American tribes who fought in th ...

s), which were established after the Civil War, were stationed at the post. Lt. Col.

Wesley Merritt Wesley Merritt (June 16, 1836December 3, 1910) was an American major general who served in the cavalry of the United States Army during the American Civil War, American Indian Wars The American Indian Wars, also known as the American Frontier ...

led Troops C, F, H, and I of the 9th Cavalry in reoccupying the fort on 29 June 1867. They rebuilt the fort, using limestone and adobe, outside the canyon walls.

Preservation

Today, 24 restored historic buildings and over 100 ruins and foundations are part of Fort Davis National Historic Site. Five of the historic buildings have been refurbished to the 1880s, making it easy for visitors to envision themselves being at the fort at the height of its development. A self-guided tour of the fort begins at the site's

visitor center A visitor center or centre (see American and British English spelling differences), visitor information center, tourist information center, is a physical location that provides tourist information to visitors. Types of visitor center A visi ...

Living history Living history is an activity that incorporates historical tools, activities and dress into an interactive presentation that seeks to give observers and participants a sense of stepping back in time. Although it does not necessarily seek to ree ...

demonstrations are common during the summer. Fort Davis National Historic Site was authorized as a unit of the

National Park System The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

in 1961, and was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1960. A memorial at Fort Davis honors the heroism of Indian Emily, the fictional subject of a popular legend. The actress

Jolene Brand Jolene Brand (born Jolene Marie Bufkin; July 31, 1934) is an American actress. She acted most in the 1950s and 1960s, and appeared in seven episodes of the Ernie Kovacs television shows. Career In 1958, she acted in the B-film '' Giant from the ...

portrayed "Indian Emily", who saved the fort from an Apache attack, in the 1959 episode of the same name on the

syndicated television Broadcast syndication is the practice of leasing the right to broadcasting television shows and radio programs to multiple television stations and radio stations, without going through a broadcast network. It is common in the United States where ...

anthology series An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a dif ...

, ''

Death Valley Days ''Death Valley Days'' is an American old-time radio and television anthology series featuring true accounts of the American Old West, particularly the Death Valley country of southeastern California. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program ...

'', hosted by

Stanley Andrews Stanley Andrews (born Stanley Martin Andrzejewski; August 28, 1891 – June 23, 1969) was an American actor perhaps best known as the voice of Daddy Warbucks on the radio program ''Little Orphan Annie'' and later as "The Old Ranger", the first ...

. Emily adopts the white man's ways but flees when a young officer, Tom Easton (

Burt Metcalfe Burton Denis Metcalfe (March 19, 1935 – July 27, 2022) was a Canadian-American film and television producer, director, screenwriter, and actor. Biography Burton Denis Metcalfe was born in Saskatoon, but grew up in Montreal and latterly in Lo ...

), whom she loves prepares to marry another. She returns to warn the fort of a pending Apache attack but dies of a gunshot wound fired in error.

Meg Wyllie Margaret Gillespie Wyllie (February 15, 1917 – January 1, 2002) was an American actress who appeared primarily on television. Best known as Mrs. Kissel in '' The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters'' (1963-1964). Early years Born in Honolulu, H ...

played Tom's compassionate mother, Mrs. Easton.

Gallery

Image:EntrancetoFortDavisnationalHistoricSite.JPG, Main entrance to the Fort Davis National Historic Site Image:EntrancetoFortDavisNationalHistoricSiteFromDavisMountainsStatePark.JPG, Entrance to the Fort Davis National Historic Site from the Davis Mountains State Park File:FortDavisCampaignMap.jpg , Fort Davis campaign map
A hand-drawn military map from the 1880 campaign against Victorio and his Chiricahua Apaches. Image from th
Special Collections of The University of Texas at Arlington Library.
USA Fort Davis pano TX

References

External links

Fort Davis National Historic Site

includes photo gallery
Photos of Fort Davis National Historic Site from the Portal to Texas History

Fort Davis, Texas
Handbook of Texas Online
San Antonio-El Paso Road

Fort Davis, fortwiki.comFilm footage of Fort Davis
from the

Texas Archive of the Moving Image The Texas Archive of the Moving Image (TAMI) is an independent 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2002 by film archivist and University of Texas at Austin professor Caroline Frick, PhD. TAMI's mission is to preserve, study, and exhibit Texas film h ...

{{authority control National Historic Landmarks in Texas Davis National Historic Sites in Texas Protected areas of Jeff Davis County, Texas Museums in Jeff Davis County, Texas Military and war museums in Texas Protected areas established in 1961 1961 establishments in Texas San Antonio–San Diego Mail Line San Antonio–El Paso Road Davis National Register of Historic Places in Jeff Davis County, Texas American Civil War on the National Register of Historic Places Stagecoach stops in the United States

History

Preservation

Gallery

See also

References

External links