Fort Davis National Historic Site

 

Good morning, my friends. Be careful out there today. A prankster is lurking around every corner. Who would ever think the first full month of spring would be so full of danger? 

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, we had a day off for Easter Sunday. The kitties got into the swing of it right away. They spent their morning in synchronized napping.

I spent a good part of the afternoon cooking. I made a salad for last night's dinner. And then I made another salad for tomorrow night's dinner. And then I made dessert for our pleasure last night. This is one of two Carrot Cakes for two with Warm Cream Cheese Sauce. So yummy. They're about the size of a cupcake.

Those allowed me to use what remained of a partial pack of cream cheese. I'm still working on those shredded carrots. The strategizing continues.

When all the cooking was finished, I spent some time on my slow-stitching, filling my hoop.

Now I've moved the hoop to the right. It's a little less than half finished.

This being April 1st, I'm setting a goal to finish this for April's 

When I'm finished here, I'll head over to the party and link up.

And that's about all I have to say about yesterday. It was nice to just stay at the RV and relax. But I still have some sight-seeing pictures to show you. On Saturday, we visited Fort Davis National Historic Site. I thought we'd been here before, but I was mistaken. Also, I misspoke when I referred to the nearby state park as Fort Davis State Park. The park is actually "Davis Mountains State Park." 

When we stayed there nearly 20 years ago, we visited the little "village" associated with the park. I don't think we ever ventured down to the national historic site. Everything was new to us for our visit on Saturday.

Here's the skinny on Fort Davis.

The first structure we encountered was photographed from across the parade grounds. These are the enlisted men's quarters, now serving as both an exhibit, visitor center, and gift shop. There was a speaker broadcasting bugle calls (think Reveille and Taps) and the sounds of mustering troops. Even though I knew the sounds were being broadcast, I kept looking around for where the troops were lining up.

Fort Davis was a key post in the defense of West Texas and played a significant role in the history of the Southwest. It was established on the eastern side of the Davis Mountains in a box canyon near Limpia Creek, where wood, water, and grass were plentiful. The fort was originally garrisoned by Lt. Col. Washington Seawell and six companies of the Eighth US Infantry. During their time there (1854-1861), troops spent much of their time in the field pursuing native Americans who attacked travelers and mail stations. With the onset of the Civil War and Texas's secession from the Union, the federal government evacuated Fort Davis. It was occupied by Confederate troops from spring 1861 until the summer of 1862 when Union forces again took possession. They quickly abandoned the post, and Fort Davis lay deserted for the next five years.

Eventually, Lt. Col. Wesley Merritt and four companies of the newly-organized Ninth US Cavalry reoccupied Fort Davis in June, 1867. They began rebuilding the fort and by the end of 1869 had constructed officers' quarters and two enlisted men's barracks. There was also a guardhouse, temporary hospital, and storehouses. 

In July of 1866, Congress passed an act to increase the size of the Regular Army, stipulating that the new regiments created (two cavalry and four infantry units) "be composed of colored men."  They were known as the "Buffalo Soldiers." Some historians think the native Americans named the troops, comparing their hair to buffalo hair.

There were mules across the field and behind the Enlisted Men's quarters. I'm not sure if they were associated with the fort or whether they belonged to a nearby rancher. 

Perhaps they might have been used for this escort wagon.

These exhibits were all inside the Enlisted Men's quarters.

This was how they lived.

Checkers or poker, anyone?

They heated the building with wood fire. A volunteer stationed there said they probably gained as much heat from the chimney piping as they did from the woodstove itself.

This fort, like so many forts, was mostly deteriorated to only the foundations of buildings. The volunteer told us they were built from adobe. If the roof was lost, the rest of the building quickly crumbled.

In its heyday, it looked like this.

Here's another of the escort wagons.

Looking across from the Enlisted Men's quarters, we could see "Officer's Row."

The Commanding Officer's Quarters has been restored.

Doesn't this look like a comfy place to sit on a warm day? In fact, we both sat on that porch swing, and Mike rested there while I did a little more exploring of some of the structures to our right.

I used the Peeping Tom feature on my camera to peer through windows and take pictures. This is obviously the bedroom.

Here's another look from a different window. I was a little surprised there was no quilt on the bed.

Here is the dining room.

This was a parlor. To my right and outside the frame there was a piano.

And I knew you'd want to see the sewing machine.

Water was collected in this cistern.

Kitchens were kept separate in from the main house in those days.

Peering through the window again, this is what I could see.

The servant's quarters had a quilt on the bed.

Zooming in, you can see the pattern. I think I've made a quilt like this before. I can't remember the name of this block. It's a 16-patch set on point.

Outside...not much privacy for the "privy" these days. I'm really glad I was born after indoor plumbing was well established.

Walking to the far end of the fort, there were a couple of intact structures, although they were gutted on the inside.

Turning around, I could see this one.

From there, I walked back to where Mike was waiting and we headed back to the RV for the remainder of the day.

I saw a few things blooming on our way. I believe this one is called "Prairie Verbena."

I was excited to see this blooming "Claret Cup Cactus." The only other time I've seen one in bloom was on a visit to Capitol Reef National Park many years ago.

This next one is "Prairie Fleabane."

This next one is a kind of aster.

As we left, we were directly across from Herbert's Caboose Ice Cream Shop. Very tempting, but we resisted the urge.

From there, we drove through the tiny town of Fort Davis. It's the county seat of Jeff Davis County, and this is the county courthouse.

It's an old town with lots of historic buildings. This is the bank.

Here are some hotels and restaurants.

Heading back, I noticed the green of the cottonwood trees lining the banks of (one presumes) Limpia Creek. When you see a row of green cottonwoods like this, you know there's some sort of creek or river or stream running through.

And, of course, no visit can be considered complete until I've collected yet another refrigerator magnet. Sadly, I've found no shot glasses on this trip so far. 

Okay, and that was the end of our Saturday. We came back to the RV and relaxed for the rest of the day and, indeed, for the rest of our stay here at Prude Ranch.

Today we'll head on down the dusty trail again. Our drive is short...just about 100 miles to Fort Stockton, Texas. There isn't much going on in Fort Stockton. I selected it as a place to stop along the way. We're killing time now until the eclipse, although there are a couple of sight-seeing spots along the way. We'll have three days in Fort Stockton before moving on to Georgetown, Texas. There, we'll be seeing the Inner Space Cavern...something new to us.

We're in no hurry to get on the road this morning. We can hang around until checkout time at noon, and then check in at Fort Stockton when we arrive. That gives me some time for slow-stitching, and that's where I'll head next.