Fort Davis National Historic Site on the edge of Fort Davis looks pretty impressive from the heights of the Scenic Overlook Trail. From this advantage, you can hear the recorded bugle call from the visitor center in the valley below while Sleeping Lion Mountain stands guard on the horizon.
Considered state-of-the-art when it was built, the fort housed troops protecting traffic on the San Antonio-to-El Paso Road. The base hospital was a fine affair for its time as were the officers’ houses in a neat row facing the parade ground.
The fort doesn’t look like the Western forts depicted in old movies. Instead of log walls, it was surrounded by the cliffs of a box canyon on three sides.
Soldiers occupied the fort from 1854 to 1891. From 1867 to 1885, Fort Davis was Regimental Headquarters for the four Buffalo Soldier regiments serving in the West. When not chasing renegade bands of Apache or bandits, the soldiers helped build roads and telegraph lines.
After the military left, civilians moved into many of the buildings. The new occupants helped preserve the officers’ quarters, hospital, and enlisted men’s barracks. President Johnson turned it into a 460-acre national historic site administered by the National Park Service in 1963.
Fort Davis National Historic Site is on the northern edge of the town of Fort Davis. The site opens daily from 8am to 5pm. Your $7 admission fee helps maintain the interpretative programs and four miles of hiking trails.
1,269th in a series. Collect them all. Day Trips, Vol. 2, a book of “Day Trips,” is available for $8.95, plus $3.05 for shipping, handling, and tax. Mail to: Day Trips, PO Box 40312, South Austin, TX 78704.
This article appears in November 20 • 2015.
