Fort Grant, Arizona

Fort Grant, located in the U.S. state of Arizona, is a state prison and a former United States Army fortification. Fort Grant began its life as an Old West outpost in Arizona Territory, built in 1860 at the junction of Aravaipa Creek and the San Pedro River, which was originally known as Fort Breckinridge (1860 to 1866), then Camp Grant (1862 to 1872).

History


In 1872 after the Camp Grant Massacre, the United States Army post at "old" Camp Grant, at the confluence of Aravaipa Creek and the San Pedro River, was relocated to the southwestern slope of Graham Mountain in what is now Graham County. The new fort was strategically placed so as to protect settlers who were constantly harassed by Apache warriors. It played a prominent role in the Apache Wars of the 1880s. It was reproposed in 1900 as a staging point for soldiers going to the Philippines to fight in the Philippine–American War.

Henry McCarty or (McCarthy), William Antrim, Henry Antrim, William McCarty, William Bonney, and William H. Bonney, or better known as, "Billy the Kid," reportedly settled in the vicinity of Fort Grant in 1876 working as a ranch hand and tending sheep nearby. In 1877 McCarty killed a local blacksmith at a saloon and gambling house that is now called the Bonita Store, located a few miles from Fort Grant. McCarty was taken into custody at the Fort Grant stockade, but escaped to New Mexico before he could be tried.

Edgar Rice Burroughs was stationed at Fort Grant in 1896 as an enlisted man after failing the exam for entrance to West Point. He was discharged in 1897 after being diagnosed with a heart condition that made him ineligible for a commission.

Fort Grant was abandoned in 1905 by the Army, which transferred all troops to Fort Huachuca and left the fort unoccupied except for a caretaker. In 1912, Arizona gained statehood, and the fort was occupied by the State Industrial School for Wayward Boys and Girls, which modernized most of the buildings.

In 1968, the state of Arizona officially assigned the site to the Department of Corrections, and in 1973 Fort Grant became a state prison for male convicts. In 1997 the prison became a unit of an Arizona State Prison complex headquartered in Safford.

The main road to and from Fort Grant is Arizona State Route 266. There is an abandoned general-aviation airport, Angel Field, immediately south of the prison.