Texas Almanac, 1968-1969 Page: 82
[706] p. : ill. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this book.
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Historic Sites
FORT DAVIS AREA.. . ... ....a~ 5 g~ t ' v ' "z * A -
f,Mile-high, scenic Fort Davis and its en-
virons were the scene of some of Texas' most
exciting history, with raids by Comanche
and Apache warriors, campaigns by U.S.
troops, camel caravans, and the adventures
of gold seekers and travelers by stagecoach.
As early as 1583 Spanish explorers were
passing through this mountainous region, but
there was very little attempt to settle the
rugged country for more than two centuries.
Even though relatively few Indians lived
here, this contained the favorite routes of
their raiding parties. It was not until the
rush to California gold, and the rising inter-
est in the vast territory to the west, acquired
in the Mexican War, that much effort was
made to provide military protection on this
frontier.
Fort Davis was established In 1854, and
named for Jefferson Davis. A number of
other forts were set up In the 1850s, as the
accompanying map shows. This map is re-
produced from "Fort Davis," National Park
Service Historical Handbook.
From its establishment until 1881, when
the final fights with raiding Indians took
place, Fort Davis was a major military es-
tablishment, kept busy protecting travelers.
U.S. troops manned the fort, except duringthe Civil War, until June, 1891, when it was
ordered abandoned.
One of the unique episodes was when its
soldiers were escorting the camels which
then Secretary of War Jefferson Davis of
the United States-later President of the Con-
federacy-brought Into the country in an ef-
fort to solve transportation problems of the
West. The experiment was abandoned.
Indians became bolder in their raids after
the Civil War and the postwar era brought
frequent skirmishes with bands which came
across the Rio Grande from Mexico. The
last of the Indian fights in which Fort Davis
participated was in January, 1881, when a
few survivors of former raiding parties
stopped a stagecoach in Quitman Canyon and
killed its occupants. Rangers surprised the
Apache band, killed 16 out of 20 members,
and on Jan. 29, 1881, the Indian raids had
been ended in Texas. Fort Davis, however,
continued to operate for another decade.
On Sept. 8, 1961, a bill made Fort Davis
a National Historic Site and part of the Na-
tional Park System. In addition to the fort,
itself, the surrounding area contains many
mountains, canyons and other points of in-
terest, and the rugged Big Bend National
Park is to the south.wtiS 1F4S 1F\i TEXS.
FORTI S 184189
PFranliNo FOR
OWest Texas QUITrails 1851850-60 ,
P i d1854
Presidio del N *i"t
West Texas Trails 1850-60
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Texas Almanac, 1968-1969, book, 1967; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth113809/m1/84/: accessed May 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.