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Welcome to the Hidden History of Texas. This is Episode 45 – Texas Frontier Forts 1848-1849 –  I’m your host and guide Hank Wilson. And as always, brought to you by Ashby Navis and Tennyson Media Publishers, producers of  a comprehensive catalog of  audiobooks and high-quality games, productivity, and mental health apps. Visit AshbyNavis.com for more information.

After and actually during the War with Mexico, the United States began the process of establishing Army posts or forts in Texas. The first of these  Fort Polk and Fort Brown had been established during the war against Mexico, almost at the mouth of the Rio Grande and the Gulf of Mexico.  In 1849 Maj. Gen. George Mercer Brooke,  assumed command of the Military Department for Texas and  began working on ensuring that Mexico understood the United States was claiming authority along the southern border of Texas. To do so, he placed Ringgold Barracks, Fort McIntosh, and Fort Duncan along the Rio Grande.

After those forts were in place, he then moved to protect the western frontier. In order to accomplish that he established Fort Inge, Fort Lincoln, Fort Martin Scott, Fort Croghan, Fort Gates, Fort Graham, and Fort Worth. In this episode I want to look at 4 of those forts, Fort Martin Scott (December 1848), Fort Inge (March 13, 1849), Fort Croghan (March 16, 1849), and Fort Worth (June 6, 1849).

The first of those, Fort Martin Scott, my favorite of all the forts, because my great-great grandfather was actually stationed there and it’s how part of my family came into existence in Texas.

Located in the heart of the Texas Hill Country just outside of Fredericksburg Texas, is Fort Martin Scott. It was founded on December 5, 1848, when Captain Seth Eastman of the 1^st U.S. Infantry, one of the 1^st U.S. Army post on the western frontier and named  it  Camp Houston. This fort served as protection for the mostly German settlers in the area and also helped protect the Fredericksburg – San Antonio Road. Eastman stayed at the camp until February of 1849 when he was sent to establish what was to become Fort Inge.

Fort Martin Scott, then  Camp Houston,  started with 2 companies of infantry and one of dragoons. In 1847 Germans who had settled the area had entered into peace treaties with the Comanches; however, those treaties were in danger as more Anglo settlers moved into the region. The camp was formally renamed to Fort Martin Scott in December of 1849 in memory of Major Martin Scott who was killed in action at the battle of Molina del Rey in 1847.  Over time the influx of white settlers led to an increase of tension between the parties and in 1850 several tribes met near the San Saba River. At that time Indian agent John Rollins, with an escort provided by Captain Hamilton W. Merrill met with the tribes and drew up the Fort Martin Scott Treaty.

Due to people moving further west Fort Martin Scott began to lose its tactical value and finally in 1853 Colonel W.G. Freeman recommended the fort be closed and in December 1853, the 8^th Military Department ordered that it be closed. The preserved fort can be visited and is now the property of the Fredericksburg Heritage Association.

Next to come into existence was Fort Inge, located on the east bank of the Leona River south of Uvalde. The area’s primary natural  identifier is a 140 foot volcanic plug of phonolite basalt. Some archeologists believe the area has been occupied by one group or another since around 6,000 BC. Several ranches also existed in the region during both the Spanish colonial and the Mexican periods of Texas.

On March 13,  1849, Captain Seth Eastman along with some 56 soldiers of the 1^st United States Infantry established a base camp on the Leona. In December of that year, the post was renamed Fort Inge in honor of Lt. Zebulon Inge, a West Point graduate who served in the U.S. Second Dragoons and had been killed during the Battle of Resaca de la Palma. This fort served to provide security for workers during the construction of the San Antonio – El Paso military road and escorted supply trains and mail carriers. The soldiers also offered some protection for settlers and stood guard over the boundary with Mexico. The fort served as a garrison until the  civil war when it was occupied by the confederates and then reoccupied in 1866 by federal troops. It was closed by the Federal Government in 1869, and the troops were transferred to Fort McKavett in the Menard area. The site was then used by the Texas Rangers until 1884. In 1961, it became Fort Inge Historical Site County Park.

If you move further north and still in Central Texas, you will reach Burnet County. It was in this part of the region that a frontier post called McCulloch’s Station had been established south of Hamilton Creek. The Texas Rangers had stationed Henry E. McCulloch and a group of rangers, and they used it as their headquarters until March 13, 1849, when Lt. C. H. Tyler and Company A of the 2^nd Dragoons arrived. The camp officially became a federal post on March 18 and remained until October 12, when the Army chose a new location 3 miles north of Hamilton Creek and named it Camp Croghan, then Camp Hamilton, and finally it became Fort Croghan. The fort became the headquarters of the 2^nd Dragoons in 1852, but by 1855 orders were issued to abandon the fort. The Burnet County Historical Society has restored many of the buildings and runs a wonderful museum with artifacts from that time period. Moving further north I want to look at Fort Worth, the fort that became a city.

The furthest you can go north to anchor a line that runs through Central Texas would be in what is now Fort Worth, the city. It started as the northernmost of the line of forts whose purpose was to separate the white settlers from the tribes. In May of 1849 Brigadier General William Harney ordered Major Ripley Arnold to take troops north from Fort Graham on the Brazos River and locate a spot for an Army camp on the Trinity River. After picking up some guides from Johnson’s Station (now Arlington, Texas) they discovered a bluff that overlooked the Clear Fork of the Trinity River. They took possession of the site on May 18^th and left 15 men to begin establishing the camp, while they travelled back to Fort Graham. They returned on June 6, 1849, and renamed the camp after their deceased William Jenkins Worth.

The fort was never  intended to be an independent fort but rather serve as an outpost and was always only manned by a handful of soldiers. The soldiers did improve the camp and tried to build it up, but it never achieved any sort of permanence. As with most of the camps along the Central Texas line, as settlers moved further west, the forts became less important. Finally, by September of 1853 sixty Dragoons, rode out of Fort Worth on their way to Fort Belknap. They left 9 soldiers behind with instructions to close the fort down.

Almost immediately, local citizens moved in and took possession of the buildings and scavenged all the timber that was considered usable. Unlike the other forts I’ve talked about, the only reminder that Fort Worth was a Fort is a granite market established in 1921 by the “Daughters of the American Revolution” near the Criminal Courts Building.

So that’s going to do it for this episode. Next episode I’ll continue the exploration of four more of the frontier forts.

Please subscribe to the podcast, I’m back and I’ll keep posting new episodes, sometimes though life gets in the way which is why there’s been a gap between episodes. If you want more information on Texas History, visit the website of the Texas State Historical Association. I also have four audiobooks on the Hidden History of Texas, The Spanish Bump Into Texas 1530s to 1820s,  Here Come The Anglos 1820s to 1830s, Years of Revolution 1830 to 1836. And, my latest A Failing Republic Becomes a State 1836-1850. You can find the books pretty much wherever you download or listen to audiobooks. Just do a search for the Hidden History of Texas by Hank Wilson and they’ll pop right up. Or visit my website https://arctx.org. By the way if you like audiobooks, visit my publisher’s website there’s an incredible selection of audiobooks there. In addition to mine you’ll find the classics, horror, science fiction, mental-health, and much more. Check it out visit https://ashbynavis.com

Thanks for listening y’all