This morning we packed up and drove to Fort Davis, north of Alpine, TX. The town of Fort Davis grew up adjoining the cavalry fort of the same name established in the 1800s to protect the Overland Trail from Indian attack and provide some semblance of law and order to the frontier.
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| Officer's Quarters |
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| Looking from parade field to ruins of stables. |
The Buffalo Soldiers, African American soldiers under the command of white officers, staffed it. You do not hear much of these units, but they should get more recognition. Of course, most of what we know of this time frame we picked up in the movies. Those are not known for correct historical portrayals, are they? A quick read of “I Left My Heart At Broken Knee” will show how poorly the movies portray the expansion of the west.
The fort is on the original road that linked San Antonio and El
Paso.
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| Original road to El Paso. |
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| And San Antonio is 400 miles the other way. |
We plan to see more of the area tomorrow and visit Davis Mountain
State Park. Oh, the fort and town were named in honor of Jefferson Davis while
he was secretary of war.
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