Fort Martin Scott Fort Martin Scott is a restored United States Army outpost near Fredericksburg in the Texas Hill Country , United States , that was active from 1848 until 1853 . It was part of a line of frontier forts established to protect travelers and settlers within Texas . Establishment . The fort was originally established as Camp Houston on December 5 , 1848 , and quartered Companies D and H , First United States Infantry . It was located two miles ( 3 km ) southeast of Fredericksburg on Baron ' s Creek and eventually consisted of a complex of twenty - one buildings . The soldiers patrolled the Fredericksburg - San Antonio road and surrounding area . One mission of the outpost was to protect settlers from Indian depredations . The Eighth Military Department renamed the camp in December 1849 for Major Martin Scott , who was killed at the Battle of Molino del Rey in the Mexican War in 1847 . The forces stationed at the fort began alternating between a company of infantry and one of dragoon s . As the settlers pushed farther west , Fort Martin Scott lost its strategic significance . In 1853 , Army inspectors recommended that the fort be closed . The Eighth Military Department ordered that Fort Martin Scott close in December 1853 . Treaties . Meusebach treaty . The full text of this treaty can be found at Meusebach – Comanche Treaty . On May 9 , 1847 , prior to the establishment of Fort Martin Scott , an expedition under John O . Meusebach negotiated the non - government Treaty Between the Comanche and the German Immigration Company . The treaty was limited to the specific area between the Llano River and the San Saba River , and only addressed the relations between the Penateka Comanche and the immigrants who came under the aegis of the German Immigration Company . Fort Martin Scott treaty . The full text of the treaty can be found at Fort Martin Scott Treaty . The Fort Martin Scott Treaty was an unratified treaty , negotiated and signed on December 10 , 1850 by Indian agent John Rollins , U . S . Army Captain Hamilton W . Merrill , Captain J . B . McGown of the Texas Mounted Volunteers ( Texas Rangers ) , interpreters John Connor and Jesse Chisholm , as well as twelve Comanche chiefs , six Caddo chiefs , four Lipan chiefs , five Quapaw chiefs , four Tawakoni chiefs , and four Waco chiefs . The treaty was actually signed in San Saba County but named for the nearest military outpost . On December 25 , 1850 , General George M . Brooke sent a copy of the treaty to Texas Governor Peter Hansborough Bell , mentioning the treaty had not been approved by the government and was essentially binding only on the part of the Indian tribes . This treaty put the signed tribes under the sole jurisdiction of the United States of America . It regulated commerce and prohibited supplying alcoholic beverages to the tribes . The tribes were required to remain at peace with each other and the United States government , and to be at peace with other tribes the government deemed at peace . The tribes were to return all stolen property and captives and to cease depredations . The government made it tribal responsibility to report any suspected activity that might violate the treaty , and to assist the government in recovering runaway slaves . In return , the government would establish trading posts and give the tribes blacksmiths and school teachers . The treaty also required the tribes to allow Christian preachers to minister to them , and to allow said preachers unrestrained travel through tribal territory . Post Infantry years . The site was occupied intermittently by the Texas Rangers and then the Confederate States Army . In September 1866 , General Philip H . Sheridan ordered elements of the Fourth United States Cavalry to Fort Martin Scott to secure the frontier once again from possible Indian attacks . By the end of 1866 , the fort was permanently abandoned by military units . Many of the Martin Scott commanders fought in the American Civil War , including William R . Montgomery , William Steele , Edward D . Blake , James Longstreet , and Theodore Fink . In the early 1880s , the fort was the location of the Gillespie County Fair . Owned from 1870 – 1959 by members of the Braeutigam family , Martin Scott was sold to the City of Fredericksburg in 1959 . In 1986 , the Fredericksburg Heritage Federation began extensive work of reconstructing the site as a tourist attraction . Braeutigam family . Johann Wolfgang Braeutigam ( 1829 – 1884 ) emigrated with his family from Kaltenlengsfeld , Germany and arrived at Indianola on Dec 1845 . Johann , his wife Christine and their nine children eventually settled in Fredericksburg . In 1870 , the family moved into the abandoned Fort Martin Scott , from which Braeutigam operated a biergarten . On September 3 , 1884 , Braeutigam was murdered by four strangers in a robbery of the biergarten ' s cash box . The city of Fredericksburg bought the Fort Martin Scott property from the Braeutigam family . Among highlights of the fort are the post commander ’ s quarters ( formerly Braeutigam Garden ) , six buildings of officers ’ housing , sutler ’ s store and warehouse , laundry , bakehouse with oven , military hospital , three sets of enlisted men ’ s barracks , quartermaster ’ s warehouse , a stable with barn , and a blacksmith shop . The guardhouse , made of cut limestone , is the only surviving building from the original fort , having been restored to its original design in the early 1990s . It was the Braeutigam ’ s homestead . Historical site . Fort Martin Scott was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1936 , Marker number 10039 , and added to the National Register of Historic Places in Texas on January 20 , 1980 . The fort is operated by the city of Fredericksburg and offers self - guided walking tours , pre - scheduled guided tours and school tours . Located at 1606 East Main Street ( Highway 290 ) , the site is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a . m . to 5 p . m . Donations . As of October 8 , 2010 , the Former Texas Rangers Association is moving forward with a plan approved by the Fredericksburg City Council to build a Texas Rangers Heritage Center adjacent to Fort Martin Scott . The plans are for an educational complex that will focus on the heritage of not only the Texas Rangers but also Fort Martin Scott and Gillespie County . Scheduled ground breaking on the multi - million dollar center is for October 2011 .