Fort Martin Scott

Fort Martin Scott is a restored United States Army outpost near Fredericksburg in the Texas Hill Country, United States, that was active from 1848 until 1853. It was part of a line of frontier forts established to protect travelers and settlers within Texas.

Establishment
The fort was originally established as Camp Houston on December 5, 1848, and quartered Companies D and H, First United States Infantry. It was located two miles (3 km) southeast of Fredericksburg on Baron's Creek and eventually consisted of a complex of twenty-one buildings. The soldiers patrolled the Fredericksburg-San Antonio road and surrounding area. One mission of the outpost was to protect settlers from Indian depredations.

The Eighth Military Department renamed the camp in December 1849 for Major Martin Scott, who was killed at the Battle of Molino del Rey in the Mexican War in 1847. The forces stationed at the fort began alternating between a company of infantry and one of dragoons. As the settlers pushed farther west, Fort Martin Scott lost its strategic significance. In 1853, Army inspectors recommended that the fort be closed. The Eighth Military Department ordered that Fort Martin Scott close in December 1853.

Meusebach treaty
The full text of this treaty can be found at Meusebach–Comanche Treaty.

On May 9, 1847, prior to the establishment of Fort Martin Scott, an expedition under John O. Meusebach negotiated the non-government Treaty Between the Comanche and the German Immigration Company. The treaty was limited to the specific area between the Llano River and the San Saba River, and only addressed the relations between the Penateka Comanche and the immigrants who came under the aegis of the German Immigration Company.

Fort Martin Scott treaty
The full text of the treaty can be found at Fort Martin Scott Treaty.

The Fort Martin Scott Treaty was an unratified treaty, negotiated and signed on December 10, 1850 by Indian agent John Rollins, U. S. Army Captain Hamilton W. Merrill, Captain J.B. McGown of the Texas Mounted Volunteers (Texas Rangers), interpreters John Connor and Jesse Chisholm, as well as twelve Comanche chiefs, six Caddo chiefs, four Lipan chiefs, five Quapaw chiefs, four Tawakoni chiefs, and four Waco chiefs. The treaty was actually signed in San Saba County but named for the nearest military outpost. On December 25, 1850, General George M. Brooke sent a copy of the treaty to Texas Governor Peter Hansborough Bell, mentioning the treaty had not been approved by the government and was essentially binding only on the part of the Indian tribes.

This treaty put the signed tribes under the sole jurisdiction of the United States of America. It regulated commerce and prohibited supplying alcoholic beverages to the tribes. The tribes were required to remain at peace with each other and the United States government, and to be at peace with other tribes the government deemed at peace. The tribes were to return all stolen property and captives and to cease depredations. The government made it tribal responsibility to report any suspected activity that might violate the treaty, and to assist the government in recovering runaway slaves. In return, the government would establish trading posts and give the tribes blacksmiths and school teachers. The treaty also required the tribes to allow Christian preachers to minister to them, and to allow said preachers unrestrained travel through tribal territory.

Post Infantry years
The site was occupied intermittently by the Texas Rangers and then the Confederate States Army. In September 1866, General Philip H. Sheridan ordered elements of the Fourth United States Cavalry to Fort Martin Scott to secure the frontier once again from possible Indian attacks. By the end of 1866, the fort was permanently abandoned by military units. Many of the Martin Scott commanders fought in the American Civil War, including William R. Montgomery, William Steele, Edward D. Blake, James Longstreet, and Theodore Fink.

In the early 1880s, the fort was the location of the Gillespie County Fair. Owned from 1870–1959 by members of the Braeutigam family, Martin Scott was sold to the City of Fredericksburg in 1959. In 1986, the Fredericksburg Heritage Federation began extensive work of reconstructing the site as a tourist attraction.

Braeutigam family
Johann Wolfgang Braeutigam (1829–1884) emigrated with his family from Kaltenlengsfeld, Germany and arrived at Indianola on Dec 1845. Johann, his wife Christine and their nine children eventually settled in Fredericksburg. In 1870, the family moved into the abandoned Fort Martin Scott, from which Braeutigam operated a biergarten. On September 3, 1884, Braeutigam was murdered by four strangers in a robbery of the biergarten's cash box.

The city of Fredericksburg bought the Fort Martin Scott property from the Braeutigam family. Among highlights of the fort are the post commander’s quarters (formerly Braeutigam Garden), six buildings of officers’ housing, sutler’s store and warehouse, laundry, bakehouse with oven, military hospital, three sets of enlisted men’s barracks, quartermaster’s warehouse, a stable with barn, and a blacksmith shop. The guardhouse, made of cut limestone, is the only surviving building from the original fort, having been restored to its original design in the early 1990s. It was the Braeutigam’s homestead.

Historical site
Fort Martin Scott was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1936, Marker number 10039, and added to the National Register of Historic Places in Texas on January 20, 1980. The fort is operated by the city of Fredericksburg and offers self-guided walking tours, pre-scheduled guided tours and school tours. Located at 1606 East Main Street (Highway 290), the site is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Donations.

As of October 8, 2010, the Former Texas Rangers Association is moving forward with a plan approved by the Fredericksburg City Council to build a 41350 sqft Texas Rangers Heritage Center adjacent to Fort Martin Scott. The plans are for an educational complex that will focus on the heritage of not only the Texas Rangers but also Fort Martin Scott and Gillespie County. Scheduled ground breaking on the multi-million dollar center is for October 2011.