Post by bubbabod on Apr 20, 2007 9:00:45 GMT -5
Hi. For the last four days I was out by myself on a four day Texas history trip. I covered Fannin's battle at Coleto Creek, where he surrendered to the Mexicans. I went to Goliad to the mission where Fannin and his 300+ men were executed after their surrender. I went to Bracketville, where John Wayne built his Alamo fortress used in his movie in about 1960, as well as the Alamo Village a couple hundred yards away which served as San Antonio for his movie. I went to the Alamo for a few pictures, and finished my trip yesterday touring the San Jacinto Battlefield on Buffalo Bayou near Houston.
But the purpose of this post is to tell you about a place I stumbled on that I'd never heard of before: Ft. Clark. It's in Bracketville and dates back to 1852 when it was first occupied by the Army. Before that it served for decades as a rest stop/watering hole for raiding Comanche and Apache tribes. It's an oasis out in the soutwest Texas prairies.
Of note, Ranald Mackenzie once commanded, along with Wesley Merritt and Patton. Mackenzie made raids into Mexico and put an end to Comanche raids by doing so, as well as his famous battle at Palo Duro Canyon when he drove Quannah Parker's Comanches out of there.
One thing I'd never heard of was the Seminole-black troops stationed there who were so instrumental in helping Mackenzie put an end to the Comanche raids. Four of them won the Medal of Honor for their service. They are not to be confused with the Buffalo Soldiers, who were 100% African-Americans, but rather were slaves who fled to Florida, were taken in by the Seminoles, intermixed and later wound up in Oklahoma and serving for the Army.
If you're ever traveling Highway 90 in southwest Texas, if you take the time to stop off and visit Ft. Clark and John Wayne's Alamo, you'll be glad you did.
Two nights ago I slept in what had been the cavalry barracks built in about the 1870's and have been converted into a modern motel.
Also, many of the scenes in The Alamo were actually filmed at the fort, as well as in an old hangar for some indoor scenes, as well as Sam Houston's camp on the river was filmed there.
I'm attaching the web site. If you're interested in learning more about this fort and its history, take a look. One thing I love about driving all over this country is discovering places like this and their history:
www.fortclark.com/