Fort Clark, Texas

Fort Clark was a frontier fort located just off U.S. Route 90 near Bracketville, in the county of Kinney, in the U.S. state of Texas. It later became the headquarters for the 2nd Cavalry Division. The Fort Clark Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places listings in Kinney County, Texas on December 6, 1979. The Commanding Officer's Quarters at Fort Clark was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1988. The Fort Clark Guardhouse became a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1962. The Fort Clark Officers' Row Quarters was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1991.

Founding
The land that became Fort Clark was owned by Samuel A. Maverick at the time its potential for military development was recognized by William H.C. Whiting and William F. Smith in 1849. Whiting and Smith were actually engaged in surveying the path of the San Antonio-El Paso Road when they came upon the Las Moras Springs ("Mulberry Springs") at the headwaters of Las Moras Creek. They told their superiors that they believed the high ground above the springs would be an appropriate placement for a fort.

On June 20, 1852, the military made use of it, placing Companies C and E of the 1st US Infantry Regiment and a detachment of riflemen of the U.S. Mounted Rifles on the post they initially called Fort Riley, after retired General Bennett C. Riley. Riley himself requested that the fort be named instead for Major John B. Clark, an officer of the 1st Infantry who died during the Mexican-American War on August 23, 1847. It was accordingly renamed on July 15 of that year, and on July 30, 1852, the United States officially leased the land from Maverick, through signatory Lieutenant-Colonel D.C. Tompkins, to permit development of a fort. After soldiers and officers quarters were constructed in 1853 and 1854, the fort was expanded with a hospital and a two-story storehouse in 1855. Stone quarters for the commanding officer, recorded as near completion in the summer of 1857, were converted to the post headquarters in 1873.

Brackettville
The nearby village of Las Moras was founded in 1852 by local dry-goods merchant Oscar B. Brackett. The town was renamed Brackett in his honor in 1856 and renamed Brackettville in 1873 upon receiving a government post office. It became a stop on the San Antonio-El Paso Road stagecoach. In 1876, a visitor to the town described it as "the liveliest burg in West Texas, where the night life could only be compared to the saloons and gambling places that existed the early days of the gold excitement of California and the Klondike. Its flow of travellers later dried up when the railroad bypassed it by ten miles.

Civil War
On March 19, 1861, Captain Trevanion T. Teel, leader of 18 Confederate troops, accepted the surrender of the fort from then-Captain George Sykes, who was garrisoned there with four companies. The surrender took place without military engagement, but not without tension. The Union soldiers garrisoned at the base cut the halliard of the flag-pole after the Federal flag was removed in order to prevent the Confederate flag being raised. They then set fire to the barracks as they were withdrawing. Sykes took quick action to aid in extinguishing the fire to preserve the barracks and nearby buildings.

Indian Wars
The Seminole-Negro Indian Scouts were headquartered at Fort Clark from 1870 to 1914. A Seminole community settled near the fort in 1872 and its descendants are still to be found in Brackettville and the surrounding areas.

Colonel Ranald Mackenzie and the 4th US Cavalry were based here in 1873-1876 and 1878-1879.

Other forts in the frontier fort system were Forts Griffin, Concho, Belknap, Chadbourne, Fort Stockton, Fort Davis, Fort Bliss, McKavett, Richardson, Fort McIntosh, Fort Inge and Phantom Hill in Texas, and Fort Sill in Oklahoma. There were "sub posts or intermediate stations" including Bothwick's Station on Salt Creek between Fort Richardson and Fort Belknap, Camp Wichita near Buffalo Springs between Fort Richardson and Red River Station, and Mountain Pass between Fort Concho and Fort Griffin.

World War 2
In 1941, the 112th Cavalry Regiment (Horse) Texas National Guard was posted here.

In the spring and summer of 1943, the 3rd Cavalry Brigade (made up of the 9th and 27th US Cavalry Regiments) was trained and stationed here. Its parent unit, the 2nd Cavalry Division, was headquartered here until their deployment overseas on February, 1944.

Closure
Cavalry training at the fort ceased in January, 1944. In 1944, the US Army deactivated the Cavalry Branch and merged it with the Armor branch. The base was deactivated in 1946.

Famous People Associated with Fort Clark

 * Lieutenant (later General) John Lapham Bullis commanded the Seminole-Negro Indian Scouts from 1873-1881. Camp Bullis, Texas is named after him.
 * Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie used it has his headquarters in 1873 and as a base of operations in 1874-1875 and 1879.

References and bibliography

 * "Fort Clark, Fort Tours. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
 * Texas Forts of the Old West - Page 3
 * Texas Forts of the Old West - Page 3