, 1935-11-17

in the forests and upon the bosoms
OF the prair1es. When he shall have
done this, ne can form an approx
mate conception Of the privation
and perils endured by the pioneers
who reclaimed Texas from the
dominion Of the Indians and made
II the abode Of civilized man"
Act Provides Trading Posts
On January IA, 1643, the Texas
Congress passed a law providing for
a better and more friendly under
standing with the Indians. This
act provided for the establishment
and maintenance Of a series of trad
ing posts extending from the Red
river 10 tie Rio Grande, the first
post to be situated near the South
Fork Of the Trinity, the present site
Of Fort Worth.
Indian Commissioners Gen. K. II.
Tarrant and Geo. w. Terrell made
a treaty with the Indians called the
Treaty OF l843. Present were rep
reSentatives from the TehuancanoS,
Keechis, WacoS, CaddoS, Anadar-
kos, IoniS, DelawareS, and 40 iSol-
ated CherokeeS who pledged their
tribes TO the treaty. An agree
ment was reached on September 20,
l843, and the Stipulations Of the
treaty agreed with the act approv-
ed January IA, 1S43. 1t was agreed
that the colonistS should not 20
farther west than this line Of trad
ing posts.
Gen. Sam Houston was President
Of the Republic of Texas and en-
couraged peace with the Indians.
Treaty Provides Protection
On the annexation Of Texas to
the United States in 1845, all fer
tulcatlonS, barracks. and arms were
ceded TO the United States. leaving
to the state only the MANAGEMENT
Of her civil affairs
One Of the provisions OF the
peace treaty between the United
States and Mexico, at the close OF
the Mexican War. entailed upon the
former country the obligation OF
protecting the inhabitants Of the
coded territory from Indian at
lacks. This obligation, together with
the travel to California because Of
The recent gold discoveries. and 9TH
er developments OF the Southwest.
causd tn stablishmnt OF MANY mill
tary posts in thi section. of
country. During the Civil War.
some additional posts came into be
ing. Gradually as the West devel-
oped, these forts we're abandoned.
and now many Of them are only
memories.
There have been from time TO
time 30 army posts established in
Texas, more than In any other
state. These were built along the
outer rim Of settlement. During
the Civil War this frontier fell back
slightly, owing to the withdrawal of
troops from the posts; but after the
war, 1t again pushed forward and
a new line Of forts was established
farther west and the old ones aban-
doned.
Forts Built
After the Mexican War, Major r.
A. Reynolds, with one thousand men,
was left to establish, build and gar
rlSon forts from the Red River TO
the Rio Grande. These were: Forts
Worth, Graham, Gates, Croghan,
Mason, Martin, Scott, Lincoln and
Inge. This line Of defense was i'm
portant in that it was the beginning
and that II protected the post road
from the Red river to the Rio
Grande. This road was originally
an Indian trail. The peace treaty
Of 1643 took place at Birds Fort.
near Fort Worth, which lasted only
iour years; and the troopS were
then transferred to Fort Richard
son and then to Fort Belnap.
Civilization pushed West, and a
new line Of forts was built: Forts
Richardson, Belnap, Griffin, Phan-
tom Hill, Chadbourne, Concho, Nc
kavett and Clark, some built be-
fore the Civil War. and some after.
OF these, Forts Richardson and Bel
nap had the longest lives.
Fort Richardson, on Lost Greek,
near Jacksboro, was first called Fort
~Jacksporo, and was nothing more
than a delapidated store building
and a rawhice house. II was estab-
lished In 1867 by Colonel Starr. The
Tort later built was of logs standing
upright with a thatc led roof whose
architectural charac sristic was OF
raining inside 48 hours after il did
outside. Two six-company regi-
mentS under Colonel Starr went to
Fort Buffalo Springs and stayed
Two summers az cost Of Sl00, 10000:
and 1t was abandoned in 1867. They
went back to Jacksboro, but the
name vas changed to Fort Rich
ardson.
Here as stationed the Fourth
Cavalry under Gen. Mckenzie. The
tort was very gay. There we're two
companies OF negroes who did the
work. Both white and black troops
had bands. The officers were
unusualy well educated with unusual
literary talent. II. II. Mcconnell
established q news paper at Jacks
boro, first called the Joker. and
then published in Weatherford as
the Flea. II attracted much at
tention, and exchanged with the big
dalies. Il was first written on
fools cap paper and read until it was
worm out.
Congress made a generous ap-
preparation, and had the plan been
carried out 1t would have been the
biggest fort In the United States.
Socially, it was much like our forts
Fort Belnap
Fort Belnap, on the Salt Greek
the BrazcS, in Young county,
near Graham, and about 80 miles
from Fort Griffin, was established
IN 1851 by the Second Dragons,
and named for Lieut.. w. O. Bel
nap, United States Infantry, who
In the Mexican War. In
1855, he personally laid out the fort.
The post was then garrisoned BY the
hen new Second Cavalry OF which