Fort Davis National Historic Site

Fort Davis National Historic Site in Fort Davis, Texas

Another one of our off the beaten path places to visit was Fort Davis, Texas.  We spent a couple of hours there on our way to a tour of McDonald Observatory, which is about 30 minutes “up the hill.”

Fort Davis National Historic Site in Fort Davis, Texas
Fort Davis National Historic Site in Fort Davis, Texas
Fort Davis National Historic Site in Fort Davis, Texas

Fort Davis is one of the best surviving examples of an Indian Wars’ frontier military post in the Southwest. From 1854 to 1891, Fort Davis was strategically located to protect emigrants, mail coaches, and freight wagons on the Trans-Pecos portion of the San Antonio-El Paso Road and on the Chihuahua Trail.

Fort Davis National Historic Site in Fort Davis, Texas
Fort Davis National Historic Site in Fort Davis, Texas
Fort Davis National Historic Site in Fort Davis, Texas
Fort Davis National Historic Site in Fort Davis, Texas
Fort Davis National Historic Site in Fort Davis, Texas
Fort Davis National Historic Site in Fort Davis, Texas
Fort Davis National Historic Site in Fort Davis, Texas
Fort Davis National Historic Site in Fort Davis, Texas

Many of the buildings have been restored to close to their original condition, and for others only the foundations remain. We’ve enjoyed visiting these different forts, understanding the role they played in American history and in the expansion and settlement of the west.

Fort Davis National Historic Site in Fort Davis, Texas
Fort Davis National Historic Site in Fort Davis, Texas
Fort Davis National Historic Site in Fort Davis, Texas

5 thoughts on “Fort Davis National Historic Site”

  1. Must have been horrible duty in the heat of the summer months; wool uniforms, no A/C, bad food, rot-gut whiskey, nasty roommates.

    1. Not to mention all the tourists…. 😉

      I agree, however the thing we forget is that, having likely never known the comforts of air conditioning, good food, decent whisky or agreeable roommates, most of them weren’t any worse off than they might have been at home.

  2. Joe mentioned something I’d not even thought about but you cleared that up. For some of these men the living conditions were much better than where they came from.

Comments are closed.