Two days later, and acting on rumors that the murderer had been released, the soldiers returned and attacked the Nimitz Hotel, where he was rumored to be staying. [18], After Mackenzie and Hatch met with General Christopher C. Augur, Commander of the Department of Texas, Mackenzie and McLaughlen, commanding Companies D and I, departed from their respective installations on 17 June. Like Porter, Rendlebrock employed civilian masons and carpenters, mostly German immigrants from Fredericksburg. Constructed for the most part of native limestone, Fort Concho consisted of at least forty buildings and covered more than 1600 acres. As at other forts, they also built temporary timber frame or picket buildings lined with canvas insulation. There are no guided tours at this time due to Covid-19 so we self-toured. At full strength Fort Concho supported 400-500 men made up of companies of infantry and troops of cavalry, staff officers and support personnel. This building may also have been first of the officers' residences to be completed, in 1870. Over the next twenty years, its buildings were used as residences or recycled for their material in the nearby town of San Angelo. That year, he embarked on another campaign, this time against the Kickapoo based across the Rio Grande in Mexico. During Fort Concho's military operation, its hospital served both military and civilian patients but had few supplies and was unsanitary. In the 1690s, the Jumanos were driven out of the region by the Apache, who themselves were pushed southwest by the Comanche in the mid-18th century. McLaughlen set out again with two companies of the 4th Cavalry and one of the 11th Infantry to verify Ortiz's information and confirmed it. The headquarters building was used in various capacities in the twenty years after the US Army left Fort Concho. The captured man, Apalonio Ortiz, revealed that there was water in the Staked Plains and the location of a large Comanche settlement and base of trade for the Comancheros at Mushaway Peak. Group Tours (10+): Please contact the Visitor Services Department at 325-657-4444 to arrange for a private group tour.
On 28 November 1867, the 4th Cavalry's H Company departed from Fort Chadbourne for the site to establish the outpost. Over the course of the war, Mackenzie chased the Comanche until he found their base of operations in the Palo Duro Canyon and destroyed it on 28 September.
When not on construction details, the garrison patrolled, scouted, and escorted wagon trains on the Butterfield Overland Trail and San Antonio–El Paso Road and cattle herds. The structure was begun in November 1872 as another officer's residence, but only the foundation and basement of the kitchen were completed. Company I and McLaughlen again joined Mackenzie in the field for his attack into Coahuila, Mexico on 18 May 1873. Fort Concho offers Guided and Self-Guided tours for visitors to enjoy. ready for visitors. Only one family was visiting at the same time that we were there.
Six troops of 4th Cavalry's I Company, commanded by Captain Napoleon B. McLaughlen, joined the rest of the regiment at the Little Wichita River in pursuit of the Kiowa but turned back for Fort Concho in September after the raiders escaped. [25], On 17 June 1880, Nolan and a battalion of the 10th Cavalry at Fort Sill returned to Fort Concho by Grierson's order. 310 E. Washington San Angelo, TX 76903 The fort was working 1867 to 1889, on the Butterfield Overland Mail Route and Goodnight–Loving Trail. By the end of 1875, the library had grown to 720 books. Self-tours normally cost adult $3.00, military $2.00, senior (60+) $2.00, students (7-17) $1.50, children (6 & Under) free but all admission was free due to covid-19. [2] Fort Chadbourne, like other Texas forts, was abandoned by Federal troops until the surrender of the Confederacy. His expedition, which had also mapped some of the Staked Plains, returned on 13 May. Barracks 1 is currently the visitor's center while Barracks 2 is a display space housing wagons and replica artillery pieces such as a Gatling gun. Porter, also responsible for constructing Forts Griffin and Richardson, was replaced in March by Major George C. Cram, who built a temporary guardhouse. Encounters with hostile Native Americans were rare. Over 1868, Cram began a dispute with Major Ben Ficklin, the regional mail line superintendent, that resulted in Cram's having Ficklin arrested. Barracks 5 and 6 are living history spaces and are furnished to appear as they would have during Fort Concho's military career. [29] From 1882 until the fort's final closure, it served primarily as a base for troops awaiting transfer elsewhere in Texas. On 27 June 1874, more than 200 Comanche warriors attacked a group of buffalo hunters camped at Adobe Walls, beginning the Red River War. [42] Restorations followed in the 1970s,[41] culminating in a 1980 plan by an Austin-based architectural firm. Fort Concho Elementary. Please choose a different date. I put my money in the donation box. After the US Army left, the building continued functioning as a schoolhouse and, at one point, a private home. On 20 June 1889, the men of K Company lowered the flag over the fort for the final time and left the next morning. If you are a resident of another country or region, please select the appropriate version of Tripadvisor for your country or region in the drop-down menu. A committee of officers including Hatch surveyed the North and Middle Concho rivers in September 1867 and chose a plateau at the junction of the three Conchos for its grazing grounds, the abundance of nearby limestone, and inexhaustible supply of fresh water. After the fort's deactivation the hospital was used as a rooming house and for storage until it was destroyed by fire in 1911. [46], Fort Concho was constructed from limestone quarried south of the fort, which supplied lime for the mortar mixture also used in its construction. [42], The enlisted men's barracks were some of the first buildings erected at Fort Concho, from 1869 to 1872. Later that same year, on 17 September, the Santa Fe Railroad reached San Angelo. On 28 March, his patrol fought a group of Comancheros, half-Native and Hispanic traders, and captured one of their number. He divided the area into plots to build a town, which he named Saint Angela (changed to San Angelo in 1881) after his wife, Carolina Angela de la Garza. Over its 22-year career as a US Army base, Fort Concho housed elements of fifteen US Cavalry and Infantry regiments, most prominently the "Buffalo Soldiers" of the 9th and 10th Cavalry and 24th and 25th Infantry regiments.
The fort was abandoned in June 1889 and fell into civilian hands. This is a must see. The 10th Cavalry took up the duties the 4th Cavalry previously held: patrolling the frontier, escorting wagons and settlers, and mounting expeditions. After almost twenty-two years Fort Concho’s role in the settling of the Texas frontier was over. The enlisted men often spent and money in the town, but its inhabitants treated the garrison's black soldiers with racist disdain and violence.
Over 1930, she moved the museum into the building and renamed it the Fort Concho Museum. Fort Concho rental facilities may be viewed during business hours, Monday-Saturday 9:00 am- 3:30 pm and Sunday 1:00 pm- 3:30 pm.
A notable exception was a patrol carried out by Sergeant William Wilson from 26 to 29 March 1872.
They remained in captivity at the fort until the Department of Texas ordered the release of the Comanche hostages on 14 April 1873. Another addition was a library of 292 books established by Chaplain Norman Badger in late 1873. The fort was working 1867 to 1889, on the Butterfield Overland Mail Route and Goodnight–Loving Trail. Sorry, there are no tours or activities available to book online for the date(s) you selected. Fort Concho Elementary. Fort Concho is a former United States Army installation located in San Angelo, Texas. A few of the old buildings were used by businesses. It is located on 40 acres in downtown San Angelo. [40][41] Fort Concho was named a National Historic Landmark on 4 July 1961,[43] bringing federal resources and trained professionals to Fort Concho. [34] The Texas Rangers arrived to help calm the situation and did this by issuing threats to attack the fort and to shoot any soldier that crossed the Concho River in a ten-day period. By then, San Angelo was a collection of saloons and brothels and had a reputation befitting that. [28], On 27 January 1881, the Texas Rangers fought and defeated what was left of Victorio's band in the final battle of the American Indian Wars fought in Texas. Both structures are unique in having sally ports in the middle of the structures to allow the soldiers to lead their horses through, rather than around, the barracks to reach the stables, located behind the buildings. [33] Some of the sutlers that supplied Fort Concho's troops were William S. Veck, one of the organizers of Tom Green County and owner of San Angelo's first bank, and James L. Millspaugh, another county commissioner who helped bring the railroad to San Angelo.