Fort Lancaster
Encyclopedia
Fort Lancaster, one in a series of forts erected along the western Texas frontier, is located in the Pecos River Valley
in Crockett County, Texas, United States
. The fort was established by Captain Stephen Decatur Carpenter
on August 20, 1855, to guard the military supplies, commercial shipments, and immigrants moving along the San Antonio-El Paso Road
. The 82 acre site, now operated by the Texas Historical Commission
as Fort Lancaster State Historic Site, contains the ruins of twenty-nine buildings that made up the fort and a visitor center with a museum
about the heritage
of the fort.
When it was initially constructed in August, 1855 as Camp Lancaster, the buildings were simple shelters covered with canvas
. A short time later pre-fabricated parts of experimental modular buildings, U.S. Army “Turnley Portable Cottages”, were hauled by wagon from the railhead in San Antonio and erected at the site. Camp Lancaster became Fort Lancaster on August 21, 1856. By 1858 it housed approximately 150 men, a commanding officer, and one commissioned officer for each of the companies H and K of the First United States Infantry. Company H left the fort on April 12, 1859 to take post at Fort Stockton, to the northwest. By 1860 most of the buildings were made of stone or adobe
. In June 1860, the U.S. Camel Corps stopped at the fort, then continued westward.
Fort Lancaster was abandoned by the U.S. Army in March 1861, after Texas
seceded on March 19, 1861 from the Union
. U.S. troops and their dependants (a few families, including enlisted men’s wives serving as laundresses) and the contract sutler were allowed by Texas State Troops to leave the fort with their arms, equipment, horses, draft animals, wagons, and personal belongings; they went to San Antonio, boarded trains for the Texas coast, and sailed away on U.S. ships. After declaration of war the fort was garrison
ed by Company F, Second Regiment of the Texas Mounted Rifles, recently taken into the Confederate States Army
, from December 1861 through April 1862. When the Civil War ended the fort was abandoned by Texas troops and the buildings began to deteriorate from vandalism and the harsh climate.
When the Civil War ended the U.S. Army occupied Texas; Texas was under U.S. Army administration until 1875. During the occupation several other frontier forts were established in Texas. Various companies of the 9th Cavalry rotated through Fort Lancaster and gradually the outpost was rebuilt. These soldiers escorted stagecoach
es westward and fought skirmishes with Apaches. In December 1867 the U.S. 9th Cavalry’s Company K, a unit of African American cavalrymen with white commissioned officers, was stationed at the fort. These were seasoned “horse soldiers” including Civil War veteran non-commissioned officers. Largely because white cavalry units objected to designating them as “U.S. Cavalry”, they were furnished with “saddle mules" and horses inferior to those of other U.S. cavalry units; sometimes they were issued outdated arms and other such second-rate equipment. Despite their equally dangerous and arduous duties they were officially called “mounted infantry.” A motto ascribed to them was "forty miles a day on beans and hay." On December 26, 1867, a large band of Kickapoo and Comanchero
raiders attacked the fort to steal horses. The company repelled the attack but lost 38 horses and mules. Some of the raiders returned two days later; they were unsuccessful in taking the remaining animals. The fort was not challenged by the renegades again.
In 1871 the fort's troops were active in dealing with the Kiowa
-Comanche
uprising. After the trouble subsided the fort was completely abandoned in 1873 or 1874. During the following decades much of the building material from the fort was used for buildings in the vicinity, particularly in Sheffield
, about seven miles (8.4 km) west.
(TPWD) on April 16, 1968. TPWD architects attempted the first interpretative restoration at the site with modern cement mortar to stabilize the remaining stone walls and cement-fortified adobe
s to simulate the original plain-mud adobes of the enlisted men’s mess-hall. Associated with the 1974-1976 archeological investigations and as a preservation measure the archeologists in 1976 made adobes from untempered mud dug on site with hand tools. These adobes, sized to duplicate the original adobe bricks, were laid atop remaining original adobe walls at some of the officer’s quarters on the north side of the parade ground. Remains of these adobes still formed a protective preservative layer as late as April, 2010. A budget shortfall prompted the State to yield management of the site to Texas Rural Communities, Incorporated, in 1993. On January 1, 2008, operational control of the site was transferred from TPWD to the Texas Historical Commission, which agency now manages preservation and public visitation of the site.
Pecos River
The headwaters of the Pecos River are located north of Pecos, New Mexico, United States, at an elevation of over 12,000 feet on the western slope of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range in Mora County. The river flows for through the eastern portion of that state and neighboring Texas before it...
in Crockett County, Texas, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The fort was established by Captain Stephen Decatur Carpenter
Stephen Decatur Carpenter
Stephen Decatur Carpenter was a United States military officer from Maine. He served from 1840 to his death on the last day of 1862, through four major conflicts and one minor conflict.-West Point:...
on August 20, 1855, to guard the military supplies, commercial shipments, and immigrants moving along the San Antonio-El Paso Road
San Antonio-El Paso Road
The San Antonio-El Paso Road also known as the Lower Emigrant Road or Military Road was an economically important trade route between the Texas cities of San Antonio and El Paso between 1849 and 1882...
. The 82 acre site, now operated by the Texas Historical Commission
Texas Historical Commission
The Texas Historical Commission is an agency dedicated to historic preservation within the state of Texas. It administers the National Register of Historic Places for sites in Texas....
as Fort Lancaster State Historic Site, contains the ruins of twenty-nine buildings that made up the fort and a visitor center with a museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
about the heritage
Cultural heritage
Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations...
of the fort.
When it was initially constructed in August, 1855 as Camp Lancaster, the buildings were simple shelters covered with canvas
Canvas
Canvas is an extremely heavy-duty plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, and other items for which sturdiness is required. It is also popularly used by artists as a painting surface, typically stretched across a wooden frame...
. A short time later pre-fabricated parts of experimental modular buildings, U.S. Army “Turnley Portable Cottages”, were hauled by wagon from the railhead in San Antonio and erected at the site. Camp Lancaster became Fort Lancaster on August 21, 1856. By 1858 it housed approximately 150 men, a commanding officer, and one commissioned officer for each of the companies H and K of the First United States Infantry. Company H left the fort on April 12, 1859 to take post at Fort Stockton, to the northwest. By 1860 most of the buildings were made of stone or adobe
Adobe
Adobe is a natural building material made from sand, clay, water, and some kind of fibrous or organic material , which the builders shape into bricks using frames and dry in the sun. Adobe buildings are similar to cob and mudbrick buildings. Adobe structures are extremely durable, and account for...
. In June 1860, the U.S. Camel Corps stopped at the fort, then continued westward.
Fort Lancaster was abandoned by the U.S. Army in March 1861, after Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
seceded on March 19, 1861 from the Union
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
. U.S. troops and their dependants (a few families, including enlisted men’s wives serving as laundresses) and the contract sutler were allowed by Texas State Troops to leave the fort with their arms, equipment, horses, draft animals, wagons, and personal belongings; they went to San Antonio, boarded trains for the Texas coast, and sailed away on U.S. ships. After declaration of war the fort was garrison
Garrison
Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....
ed by Company F, Second Regiment of the Texas Mounted Rifles, recently taken into the Confederate States Army
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
, from December 1861 through April 1862. When the Civil War ended the fort was abandoned by Texas troops and the buildings began to deteriorate from vandalism and the harsh climate.
When the Civil War ended the U.S. Army occupied Texas; Texas was under U.S. Army administration until 1875. During the occupation several other frontier forts were established in Texas. Various companies of the 9th Cavalry rotated through Fort Lancaster and gradually the outpost was rebuilt. These soldiers escorted stagecoach
Stagecoach
A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...
es westward and fought skirmishes with Apaches. In December 1867 the U.S. 9th Cavalry’s Company K, a unit of African American cavalrymen with white commissioned officers, was stationed at the fort. These were seasoned “horse soldiers” including Civil War veteran non-commissioned officers. Largely because white cavalry units objected to designating them as “U.S. Cavalry”, they were furnished with “saddle mules" and horses inferior to those of other U.S. cavalry units; sometimes they were issued outdated arms and other such second-rate equipment. Despite their equally dangerous and arduous duties they were officially called “mounted infantry.” A motto ascribed to them was "forty miles a day on beans and hay." On December 26, 1867, a large band of Kickapoo and Comanchero
Comanchero
The Comancheros were primarily New Mexican hispanic traders in northern and central New Mexico who made their living by trading with the nomadic plains tribes, in northeastern New Mexico and west Texas. Comancheros were so named because the Comanches, in whose territory they traded, were considered...
raiders attacked the fort to steal horses. The company repelled the attack but lost 38 horses and mules. Some of the raiders returned two days later; they were unsuccessful in taking the remaining animals. The fort was not challenged by the renegades again.
In 1871 the fort's troops were active in dealing with the Kiowa
Kiowa
The Kiowa are a nation of American Indians and indigenous people of the Great Plains. They migrated from the northern plains to the southern plains in the late 17th century. In 1867, the Kiowa moved to a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma...
-Comanche
Comanche
The Comanche are a Native American ethnic group whose historic range consisted of present-day eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, all of Oklahoma, and most of northwest Texas. Historically, the Comanches were hunter-gatherers, with a typical Plains Indian...
uprising. After the trouble subsided the fort was completely abandoned in 1873 or 1874. During the following decades much of the building material from the fort was used for buildings in the vicinity, particularly in Sheffield
Sheffield, Texas
Sheffield is an unincorporated community in Pecos County, Texas, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had an estimated population of 600 in 2000.-Geography:...
, about seven miles (8.4 km) west.
Archeology
Within 40 years after being built the wooden-frame superstructures of some buildings at the fort burned. "Only a few partially extant walls, a chimney, and numerous wall foundations remained in 1912." This was the general condition of the site when the first scientific archeological investigations were conducted in 1966. Archeological excavations were again conducted in 1971. and the site was mapped and test excavations were done. Archeological investigations in 1974 revealed that officers' quarters buildings had wood-plank floors, thresholds, and door jambs fitted with iron pintels; the assumbtion is that doors were also of wood. These carbonized remains were left in situ after being exposed during archeological investigations, photographed, and recorded by measured drawings using grid systems tied to "modern" architectural features of the park facilities. The excavation units were stabilized by careful backfilling with soil removed from those units to protect the remains for anticipated future public display. Subsequent archeology in 1975 and 1976 revealed that wooden superstructure and flooring of site's commanding officer's residence and the sutler's store had likewise been destroyed by fire. Architectural details of buildings investigated by archeological excavation 1974-1976 indicate that before the buildings burned they were all similar in design and construction, as would be expected of military engineering.Preservation
Fort Lancaster was deeded to Crockett County in 1968 by private owners for its preservation and public use. Title to the land subsequently was transferred to Texas Parks and Wildlife DepartmentTexas Parks and Wildlife Department
The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department is a Texas state agency that oversees and protects wildlife and their habitats. In addition, the agency is responsible for managing the state's parks and historical areas...
(TPWD) on April 16, 1968. TPWD architects attempted the first interpretative restoration at the site with modern cement mortar to stabilize the remaining stone walls and cement-fortified adobe
Adobe
Adobe is a natural building material made from sand, clay, water, and some kind of fibrous or organic material , which the builders shape into bricks using frames and dry in the sun. Adobe buildings are similar to cob and mudbrick buildings. Adobe structures are extremely durable, and account for...
s to simulate the original plain-mud adobes of the enlisted men’s mess-hall. Associated with the 1974-1976 archeological investigations and as a preservation measure the archeologists in 1976 made adobes from untempered mud dug on site with hand tools. These adobes, sized to duplicate the original adobe bricks, were laid atop remaining original adobe walls at some of the officer’s quarters on the north side of the parade ground. Remains of these adobes still formed a protective preservative layer as late as April, 2010. A budget shortfall prompted the State to yield management of the site to Texas Rural Communities, Incorporated, in 1993. On January 1, 2008, operational control of the site was transferred from TPWD to the Texas Historical Commission, which agency now manages preservation and public visitation of the site.