Fort Grant is a state prison and a former

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

fortification A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

in the U.S. state of

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

. Fort Grant is located on the southwestern slope of Mount Graham in what is now Graham County. The post is named for

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...

, the 18th President of the United States.

History

Fort Grant began its life in August 1860 in the

Arizona Territory The Territory of Arizona, commonly known as the Arizona Territory, was a territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863, until February 14, 1912, when the remaining extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the ...

as an

Old West The American frontier, also known as the Old West, and popularly known as the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that bega ...

outpost named Fort Breckinridge, at the junction of Aravaipa Creek and the San Pedro River. Fort Breckinridge was destroyed and the site was abandoned in 1861, following removal of the Union garrison at the start of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. The site of Fort Breckinridge was reoccupied as Fort Stanford, or Camp Stanford, from 1862 to 1865 by troops of the

California Column The California Column was a force of Union volunteers sent to Arizona and New Mexico during the American Civil War. The command marched over from California through Arizona and New Mexico Territory to the Rio Grande and as far east as El Paso, ...

. When the U.S. Army proper finally reoccupied the site, it was renamed Camp Grant between 1865 and 1872. In 1872, after the Camp Grant Massacre, the United States Army post at "old" Camp Grant (at the confluence of Aravaipa Creek and the San Pedro River) was relocated to the southwestern slope of Mount Graham in what is now Graham County. The new fort was strategically placed so as to protect settlers who were constantly harassed by

Apache The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...

warriors. It played a prominent role in the

Apache Wars The Apache Wars were a series of armed conflicts between the United States Army and various Apache tribal confederations fought in the Southwestern United States, southwest between 1849 and 1886, though minor hostilities continued until as l ...

of the 1880s. Henry McCarty, better known as "

Billy the Kid Henry McCarty (September 17 or November 23, 1859July 14, 1881), alias William H. Bonney, better known as Billy the Kid, was an American outlaw and gunfighter of the Old West who was linked to nine murders: four for which he was solely res ...

", reportedly settled in the vicinity of Fort Grant in 1876, working as a ranch hand and tending sheep nearby. In 1877, McCarty killed a local blacksmith at a saloon and gambling house that is now called the Bonita Store, located a few miles from Fort Grant. McCarty was taken into custody at the Fort Grant stockade, but escaped to the

New Mexico Territory The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912. It was created from the U.S. provisional government of New Mexico, as a result of '' Nuevo México'' becomi ...

before he could be tried. Fort Grant was also the departure point for the pay wagons carrying currency during the Wham Paymaster robbery of 1889.

Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American writer, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best known for creating the characters Tarzan (who appeared in ...

was stationed at Fort Grant in 1896 as an enlisted man after failing the entrance exam for the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

at West Point. He was discharged in 1897 after being diagnosed with a heart condition that made him ineligible for a commission. The fort was repurposed in 1900 as a staging point for soldiers going to the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

to fight in the

Philippine–American War The Philippine–American War, known alternatively as the Philippine Insurrection, Filipino–American War, or Tagalog Insurgency, emerged following the conclusion of the Spanish–American War in December 1898 when the United States annexed th ...

. Fort Grant was abandoned by the Army in 1905, which transferred all troops to

Fort Huachuca Fort Huachuca is a United States Army military base, installation, in Cochise County, Arizona, Cochise County in southeast Arizona, approximately north of the Mexico–United States border, border with Mexico and at the northern end of the Huac ...

and left the fort unoccupied except for a caretaker. In 1912, Arizona gained

statehood A state is a political entity that regulates society and the population within a definite territory. Government is considered to form the fundamental apparatus of contemporary states. A country often has a single state, with various administrat ...

, and the fort was occupied by the State Industrial School for Wayward Boys and Girls, which modernized most of the buildings. In 1968, the state of Arizona officially assigned the site to the

Department of Corrections In criminal justice, particularly in North America, correction, corrections, and correctional, are umbrella terms describing a variety of functions typically carried out by government agencies, and involving the punishment, treatment, and su ...

, and in 1973, Fort Grant became a state prison for male convicts. In 1997, the prison became a unit of an Arizona State Prison complex headquartered in Safford. The main road to and from Fort Grant is Arizona State Route 266. An abandoned general-aviation airport, Angel Field, is immediately south of the prison.

Fort Grant Historical Museum

The Fort Grant Historical Museum was once located in the lobby of the administration building, outside the prison grounds. The museum featured artifacts and photos about the fort's military history up through its history as a state reformatory and later as a state prison. Fort Grant no longer has a visitor area or museum. Visitors are not allowed on prison property unless it is to visit an incarcerated inmate. The administration building has been closed and has no known plans to reopen.

Climate

According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

, Fort Grant has a

semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of se ...

, ''BSk' on climate maps.Climate Summary for Fort Grant, Arizona
/ref>

References

Historic FortsFort Grant History
(

Arizona Department of Corrections The Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation & Reentry (ADCRR), commonly and formerly referred to as simply the Arizona Department of Corrections, is the statutory law enforcement agency responsible for the incarceration of inmates in 13 ...

)
Angel Field, Fort Grant, AZAerial View, Google Maps
{{Authority control 1872 establishments in Arizona Territory 1905 disestablishments in Arizona Territory Arizona Territory Buildings and structures in Graham County, Arizona Grant Fort Grant Museums in Graham County, Arizona Military and war museums in Arizona Military history of Arizona

History

Fort Grant Historical Museum

Climate

See also

References