Heritage, Volume 15, Number 3, Summer 1997 Page: 20
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MagazineOfficer's
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Permanent Commissary
Storehouse* Cistern
Adjutant Office & * , ' ,
Reading Room , -
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Guardhouse
Company Quarters
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* Existing Historic Fort Structures
O Site of Historic Fort Structures
- - Old Roads Trail
Map Nor To ScaleThis map, from the Fort Phantom Foundation, is a sketch of the fort structures and those that still exist today.
Phantom Hill. Too much cannot be said
for its beauty. The country around is alive
with deer, turkey, and bear." However,
soon the reality of the situation became
clear. One week later he wrote: "When I
say to you that we have a beautiful valley to
look upon, I have said everything favorable
that could be said of this place. We are
camped in a grove of blackjack two or
three hundred yards off the creek which is
salt. Everybody is disgusted. Like the Dove
after the Deluge, not one green sprig can
we find to indicate this was ever intended
by man to inhabit. Indeed I cannot imagine
that God ever intended for white man
to occupy such a barren waste."
The troops set to work to construct the
post. They secured stone for the chimneys
and a few of the buildings from a quarry two
miles south on the east bank of Elm Creek.
The wood for the construction of the hospital
and officers' quarters was brought from
as far away as 40 miles by ox-drawn wagon.The company quarters and other buildings
were ofjacal construction with stone chimneys,
walls of mud-chinked branches, and
thatched roofs. The only stone buildings
were the magazine, guardhouse, and permanent
commissary storehouse.
Water was an immediate problem. The
Clear Fork of the Brazos turned out to be
brackish and barely drinkable. In addition, it
required a long haul to bring water to the site.
Nearby Elm Creek was often dry. The men
hand dug an 80-foot well, 20 feet in diameter,
which struck water but was unreliable.
Soon after the forces arrived at Phantom
Hill, on November 20, the Comanche Chief
Buffalo Hump arrived with his band of warriors
and four of his wives. He was upset that
the post was being constructed, but caused
no trouble.This was the first of many visits
by peaceful Indians, Lipans, Kiowas, and
Kickapoos, as well as Comanches, who came
to the fort for food and trading. The post
surgeon, Alex B. Hasson, noted that thend
0
0Hospital Complex
Post Surgeontribes were shrinking because of disease.
Consumption, rheumatism, venereal disease,
and childbirth deaths were devastating
the Indian population, and many of the
visitors had with them captured Mexican
"slaves" whom they incorporated into their
culture and treated well.
The conditions continued to be difficult
at the new "Post on the Clear Fork", as
it was called. Hasson's garden failed because
of drought even though he reported
that the rainfall was greater than usual. He
noted that the men gathered the wild plums
and wild spring onions to supplement their
diet but even these were not in season for
long. He observed that rattlesnakes were
more numerous than buffalo. (Strangely,
there was a shift in the migration of the
buffalo about 1837 to the late 1850s, probably
due to the drought that caused the
discomfort of the men at Fort Phantom.
The buffalo later returned by the millions.)
On April 27, 1852, Colonel Abercrombie
turned command of the post over
to Lt. Col. Carlos A. Waite. Soon after, Lt.
Col. W.C. Freeman arrived for an inspection
of the fort.
Freeman reported that "the troops presented
a sorry sight." There were one hundred
and twenty-three raw recruits and a
few old men. They were all poorly clad.
The men had only fatigues, which were
overalls and shirts. These were clean, Col.
Freeman said, but were ill fitting. He criticized
the living conditions at the fort with
"officers living in pole tents built in the
early part of last year. They are now in a
dilapidated condition". Historian Juanita
Zachry wrote that "...at least fifty recruits
appeared without arms, and there were
none in the company store for issue. Four of
the five companies were partially armed
with percussion muskets and the fifth with
musktoons." Water continued to be a problem.
Records indicate that by mid-summer
of 1853, only 9.44 inches of water had
fallen since January.
On the 24th of September, Lt. Col.
C.A. Waite was succeeded by Major H.H.
Sibley. Four of the five companies stationed
at Fort Phantom Hill had been
withdrawn, and Company I of the second
Dragoons reinforced the remaining men,
leaving the fort with a total of 139 men.
By the end of 1853, the Indians were
being moved to reservations and the needfor the continued existence of the fort
diminished. On November 4, General Cooper,
the Adjunct General wrote Major General
Smith in Corpus Christi recommend20 HERITAGE -SUMMER 1997
II
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Texas Historical Foundation. Heritage, Volume 15, Number 3, Summer 1997, periodical, Summer 1997; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth45401/m1/20/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Historical Foundation.