The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 51, July 1947 - April, 1948 Page: 355
406 p. : ill., ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Notes and Documents
attached, at the rate of $18o per month. This building and premises
are occupied as Quartermaster's and Commissary's storerooms and
offices, Paymaster's Office, Asst. Adjt. Genl.'s Office, Dispensary, Chief
Commissary's (8th Dept.) office, saddler's shop, wharf and yard. An
adjoining house of three rooms is also rented, at $20o per month, and
used as a wheelwright's shop, and quarters and cook house for four-
teen soldiers employed on extra duty at the Depot. The blacksmith's
shop, owned by the United States, stands on a City lot, and is liable
to be removed at any time, besides being at an inconvenient distance
from the other buildings.
All supplies for this depot, and for most of the posts dependent
on it, are furnished from New Orleans. They are generally sent by
sailing vessels to Aransas, subject to lighterage to the depot at the
expense of the carrier. Steamers have occasionally brought freight to
Aransas, but the liability to detention, owing to a scarcity of lighter-
age, makes this an expensive mode of conveyance. A Government
steamer might, possibly, be employed in this service to advantage if
a warehouse were constructed on St. Joseph's Island [as they did
when the Morgan Line was started] as in that case expensive delays,
awaiting lighterage, would be avoided.
The supplies forwarded hence to the interior consist principally
of subsistence and hospital stores and clothing, Fort Merrill being
the only post to which forage is sent. The posts thus supplied are
Forts Merrill, Ewell, McIntosh, Duncan and Clark. Thirty-two wagons
(six mule teams each) belonging to the depot, aided by the post
transportation (viz. Fort Ewell, to wagons-McIntosh, 5-Duncan,
11, and Clark, 7) are constantly employed in this service. I have only
travelled over limited portions of the roads from Corpus Christi to
Forts McIntosh, Duncan and Clark-the roads to Forts Merrill and
Ewell have been already described-and my information of the coun-
try traversed is derived from others. The road to Fort McIntosh is
said to be 140 miles long, and generally good, direction nearly west,
water and grazing sufficient, average trip of wagons 7 days. There
are two roads to Fort Duncan-one, direct, the other through Fort
McIntosh. The latter is that usually travelled, there being no cer-
tainty of water on the other. If the route via Fort McIntosh (from
which Fort Duncan is distant 110 miles N. N. W.) be followed, the
journey occupies 14 days, with a sufficiency of water and grazing for
the animals. The direct road is some 205 miles, and the distance can
be accomplished in ten days. The road to Fort Clark passes by Fort
Duncan, and is fifty-five miles longer, being three days travel for
wagons. It is said to be very rough, though practicable. The posts
have all been supplied during the present year by the public wagons
without calling in the aid of hired transportation.355
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 51, July 1947 - April, 1948, periodical, 1948; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101119/m1/449/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.