the Administration Building and changed the name of West Texas Museum to
Fort Concho Museum.
The history of Fort Concho since its abandonment in 1889, when the
garrison lowered the flag for the last time, and marched away, its band
playing “The Girl I Left Behind Me,” had not been spectacular. It could
easily have become a rock quarry, as had Lancaster, Mason and others.
Actually, some of the barracks buildings on the North Side of the
Quadrangle did suffer that inglorious fate. But the houses on Officer’s
Row, the Administration Building, Hospital and Chapel were, for many
years, the finest buildings in the surrounding area. In 1905, the Concho
Realty Company was formed by certain citizens of San Angelo, and the
fort grounds, with all the structures were bought by the company from
the Adams and Wickes Estate for $15,000.00. A real estate addition was
then organized and the various buildings sold to private individuals.
The most elaborate of these had been the Post Hospital. It occupied a
position outside, and just off the Southeast corner of the Quadrangle.
This building burned in 1910, and some years later its remaining stone
walls, partitions and chimneys were cleared away.
The Fort Concho Museum Board, a group of citizens, works to purchase,
preserve and restore the buildings of the Fort, and collect the display
items of interest that pertain to pioneer days in the Southwest.
Up to the present time the accomplishments of the Board have been
considerable. The items relating to pioneers have overflowed the
Administration Building. Further space has been gained for them by the
restoration of two Barracks Buildings and their Mess Halls on the North
side of the Quadrangle. The Powder House, once located on the banks of
the Concho River, has been removed and rebuilt, stone by stone, at a
position just North of the restored Barracks. The Post Chapel,
beautifully preserved, and a part of the Museum, stands at the Eastern
end of Officer’s Row. Six of the original nine Officer’s homes have been
bought by the Board with money contributed by individuals and from small
Museum revenues. The old Parade Ground, occupying the center of the
Quadrangle is marred and hidden from view by recent structures on its
Western end and a large 1907 school house now occupies its center. A
Comanche war-party (assuming one existed today, one bent on the
destruction of Fort Concho) would return baffled to its portable village
for the simple reason that the Indians, like any other visitors, could
not find Fort Concho, even though years back having been designated a
National Historic Landmark.
There are other fort buildings standing nearby that are owned and used
today as warehouses by different San Angelo firms. Their beautiful stone
is usually covered by applications of various colored stucco, but you
can still identify them by their alignments and shapes.
Some years back the Santa Fe Railroad presented the City with one of its
steam locomotives. This “Iron Horse” of bygone days is now resting on
its rails near one of the restored Barracks. It is a part of the Museum,
and is a valuable item; therefore, it is hoped that its longevity
against the ravages of rust will be secured by the erection of a
suitable structure over and around it.
Now take your time and browse through the Fort Concho Museum. Drive
through the City over streets that bear the names of Beauregard,
Mackenzie, Shafter, Grierson and Chadbourne. It is all worth it, because
without it, there would soon be little to show us of the comparative
life that existed in our Southwest only a few short years ago.
Footnotes
[1]Comancheros: Renegade Mexicans, half breeds and outlaw Americans who
lived in Mexican settlements in New Mexico, from whence they
traveled in small bands, usually by wagon or oxcart, to the Llano
Estacado where they met the Comanches, Kiowas or other Indians and
traded guns, ammunition, whiskey and other desirable items for the
products of the raids. (Robert T. Neill, San Angelo, Texas.)
[2]Perhaps this was Limpia Creek.—Dr. R. T. Hill.
[3]On June 19, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger, U.S.A., landed at
Galveston and issued a general order declaring that “in accordance
with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all
slaves are free.”
[4]The Negro regiments on the Texas frontier during these Indian times
were the 9th and 10th Cavalry and the 24th and 25th Infantry.
[5]During the Civil War the cattle on the open Texas ranges increased
many fold with the loss by the Confederacy of control of the
Mississippi River. After that war they so far exceeded local demand
that cattle drives on a much larger scale than ever before
attempted, got under way. The Chisholm and Western Trails, “from
anywhere in Texas,” on north through the western part of the Indian
Territory entrained cattle in Kansas for the Eastern feedlots. The
Goodnight-Loving Trail running west along the Middle Concho River,
thence north along the Pecos and on parallel to the Front Ranges,
supplied cattle for the new ranches being opened from New Mexico to
the Canadian Border.
Obviously the Comanche and Kiowa did not overlook this opportunity
for cattle rustling.
[6]Captain Lewis Johnson, 24th Infantry, related, “That was the year in
which I changed stations twice, marching from Fort Stockton all the
way to Fort Brown. On my way,—in March, 1872, I think, occurred an
attack on a freight-train at Howard’s Well. (Grierson Springs,
Reagan County). It was a train from San Antonio, intended for Fort
Stockton.” Testimony before House Committee on Military Affairs,
45th Congress, 2nd Session, Washington, D.C., Dec. 4, 1877.
[7]The Salt Creek Massacre took place near the town of Graham.
[8]When, at the Battle of the Little Big Horn in present Montana, June
25, 1876, General George A. Custer and his entire command were
massacred by the Sioux Indians, that command was composed of
elements of the 7th United States Cavalry. The massacre took place
about three years after the 7th marched into Fort Richardson. There
is no evidence of Custer having been at Richardson. At this time, he
was probably somewhere on the Missouri River.
[9]This action was not a pursuit following a “fresh trail” into Mexico.
It was a carefully planned attack on Indian villages in that
country, the locations of which had been accurately ascertained
beforehand.
Later on, during 1876 and 1877, Lt. John L. Bullis acting under the
command of Colonel Shafter, conducted six such raids into Mexico,
all on the upper Rio Grande from Laredo to points southwest of the
mouth of the Pecos River. Bullis was a very brave and competent
soldier and was awarded a sword by the Texas Legislature. Camp
Bullis, near San Antonio, was named for him in 1917.
[10]A regiment of cavalry on the Texas frontier after the Civil War
could, at maximum strength, muster about 929 men. A company of
maximum strength could muster about 90 men.
A regiment of infantry varied in number more than a similar cavalry
unit, and was smaller, mustering generally about 460 men, while a
company varied from 25 or 30 men, on up to 60 or 65 men.
[11]“A large trade has sprung up in Western Texas in cattle, which are
driven up into Kansas to the railroad at or near Fort Dodge. They go
up by what is termed the Pan Handle of Texas—. Fort Elliott is
established there for the purpose of aiding cattle merchants who buy
cattle in Texas and drive them up to the railroad; and thence the
cattle are taken to Ohio or Illinois and fed until spring, when they
are sent East. The trade amounts to two or three hundred thousand
annually.” Statement of General W. T. Sherman, November 21, 1877,
before the Committee on Military Affairs, in relation to the Texas
Border Troubles, House of Representatives, 45th Congress, 2d
Session.
[Illustration: The Federal Forts In Texas During the Indian Era,
1845-1889]
[Illustration: Texas, 1856]
[Illustration: Fort Concho]
Transcriber’s Notes
—Silently corrected a few typos.
—Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook
is public-domain in the country of publication.
—In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by
_underscores_.