Ft. Davis National Historic Site

 

Woke up to a nice sunrise.  The stars and moon were beautiful last night.  Had breakfast at the motorhome before heading out.  We decided to go further on the Skyline Scenic Drive.

We found this stone picnic shelter that the CCC had built back in the 1930's.  Several of the structures in this park were built by the CCC.

I took this picture and the bottom from the above structure. There was another lady taking pictures and she remarked that this view was beautiful.  I agreed and said "And this is Texas?" meaning that I was surprised.  She told me that she was a fourth generation Texan and the state is filled with beautiful views.  We stood there and talked and found out that she was going to the same resort by Big Bend in which we were camping.  She told us that her husband was a member of a "Shelby Mustang" car club that was having a rally at that resort.  She gave us suggestions of places to visit around Big Bend.  Her name was Debbie and maybe we will run into her at Maverick Ranch.

This was our destination for the morning.  We put on our masks (required in federal buildings like visitor's centers) and stepped inside.  My mask was an Illini orange and blue.  The volunteer saw my mask and said, "You are from Illinois!  What part of Illinois are from?"  I told her Decatur and she said, "I am from Decatur, too!"  It is a small world!  We talked about Decatur and her family.

Ft. Davis was established in 1854.  The troops there protected settlers, freighters, mail coaches, and travelers on the  San Antonio-El Paso Road.  In 1861 when Texas became a part of the Confederacy, federal troops abandoned the fort.  The Indians tore down buildings to the foundation believing that this would keep troops from returning.  It didn't work because when the war was over, troops came back and rebuilt the fort and occupied it until 1891.

This is what is left of the church on the grounds of the fort.

Reproduction of the commissary.

This was what the pharmacy looked like.

Married officer's quarters.

The middle building was where the commander of the fort and his family lived.

This was the bakery.  On a daily basis 500 loaves of bread where baked in this oven.

The aspens are beginning to turn colors.

This was the hospital.

One view from the fort.

We spent over two hours walking the grounds of the fort.  One thing that we found interesting was that Henry Flipper of the Tenth US Cavalry was the first black graduate of West Point. He served at Fort Davis in 1880-1881.  He was tried in a controversial court-martial and dismissed from the army.  In 1976, after reviewing his case, the Army posthumously gave him an honorable discharge.  In 1999 he received a full presidential pardon.  There were two regiment of black cavalry troops that served at Ft. Davis.

This church is in the city of Ft. David.  I thought it was a pretty building.

We decided to eat lunch at one of the local cafe in Ft. Davis.  We ate at Ft. Davis Drug Store.  It a neat building because it had been a drug store.  The floors, ceiling, soda bar looked original.  The food was delicious.  Carol's hamburger was at least a half inch thick.  I got chicken strips and potato chips.  The chips were from scratch potato chips.  I raved about the food but the downside was the fact it took over 45 minutes to get the food.

It was after 2:00 when we finally left the cafe.  We had planned to visit the McDonald Observatory but was out of the mood so we went back to camp.  We tried to sit outside but the wind was blowing so hard and blowing grit into our faces that we had to go inside.

We went to the top of the Skyline Scenic drive to watch the sun set.  It was worth it because it was beautiful. 

It has been a wonderful two nights and day.  We learned more history and saw beautiful Davis Mountains.  We also met some nice people.  Carol and I talked about all the places we have camped this trip.   For the most part, we feel sad when we leave them because we enjoyed being there.  We only have 150 miles to Big Bend.