Fort Richardson, Texas

Infobox_nrhp_map | name =Fort Richardson
nrhp_type = nhl


image_size = 250px
caption = Looking across Fort Richardson's parade ground toward the hospital. The bakery, guardhouse and magazine are visible in the background.
nearest_city = Jacksboro, Texas
area =
built =1867
architect= Unknown
architecture= No Style Listed
designated= November 27, 1963cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=624&ResourceType=Building |title= Fort Richardson |accessdate=2008-06-26|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service]
added = October 15, 1966cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2008-04-15|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]
governing_body = State
refnum=66000816
mapcaption = Fort Richardson's location in Texas
locmapin = Texas
maplabel = Fort Richardson
maplabelsize = 77
maplabelpos = bottom
lat_degrees = 33
lat_minutes = 12
lat_seconds = 29
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 98
long_minutes = 9
long_seconds = 53
long_direction = W

Fort Richardson was an United States Army installation located one mile south of Jacksboro, Texas. Named in honor of Union General Israel B. Richardson, who died in the Battle of Antietam during the American Civil War, it was active from 1867 to 1878.

History

As much as any frontier army installation, Fort Richardson was responsible for the Anglo settlement in north central Texas. It was one installation in a system of forts along the Texas frontier to protect and encourage settlement in north central and west Texas. Other forts in the frontier fort system were Forts Griffin, Concho, Belknap, Chadbourne, McKavett, Clark, and Phantom Hill in Texas, and Fort Sill in Oklahoma.

The original site selection was ordered for a location near Buffalo Springs in Clay County approximately convert|20|mi|km north of Fort Richardson. The location proved untenable and unfit for the establishment of a semi-permanent installation. The area lacked timber, adequate water resources, and was still completely hostile territory, with Native Americans often wreaking havoc in the area. In 1862, the entire town of Henrietta, Texas, northwest of Buffalo Springs, was abandoned due to lack of security. In short, the area was more than inhospitable. As a result, the Sixth United States Cavalry moved south to the present location of Fort Richardson.

In 1867, construction began on the convert|300|acre|km2|sing=on site along Lost Creek at a cost of $800,000. It became the anchor of the frontier fort system, and the last army outpost in north Texas along the military road to Fort Sill. In 1872, with a population of 666 officers and men, it was listed as the largest U.S. Army installation in the United States.cite web|url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/FF/qbf41.html|title=Handbook of Texas Online - Fort Richardson|accessdate=2008-08-30]

Units that occupied the fort included the U.S. 6th Cavalry Regiment, U.S. 4th Cavalry Regiment, and the U.S. 11th Infantry Regiment, along with elements of the U.S. 10th Cavalry Regiment and 24th Infantry Regiment (United States), both Buffalo Soldier regiments.

Life was hard for a soldier at Fort Richardson, and routine duties included long, arduous patrols along the Texas frontier from Clay and Jack counties west to Palo Duro Canyon near present-day Amarillo. Battles with Comanche and Kiowa Indians became commonplace as the cavalry and infantry units sought to prove their ability to repel Indian attacks and allow settlement.

In 1871 while on a tour of the frontier fort system, General William T. Sherman stayed at Fort Richardson and narrowly missed the Warren Wagon Train Raid. Once General Sherman arrived at Fort Sill, he arrested Kiowa chiefs Satanta and Big Tree and had them sent to Jacksboro to stand trial for their role in the massacre. In July 1871, they were tried, convicted, and sentenced to death, which was later commuted to life in prison. They were the first Indians tried and convicted in the Texas civil court system.

Following these events, General Sherman authorized the commander of the Fourth Cavalry, Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie, to begin offensive operations against Comanches and Kiowas in the Texas Panhandle. One of these scouting parties fought the Battle of Palo Duro Canyon in September 1874, an absolute U.S victory that ended the Red River War with Quanah Parker's Comanches and Red Warbonnet's Kiowas. The cavalry captured so much of the tribes' provisions, they were forced to move back to the reservations in Oklahoma before winter. This battle and the total victory for MacKenzie's forces are largely responsible for the end to Comanche and Kiowa violence along the Texas northern frontier.

Abandonment and Reuse

Following this decisive victory, the army no longer saw a need to maintain Fort Richardson and abandoned the post in May 1878. The 55 buildings, many made of stone and cottonwood lumber, fell into disrepair. Thanks to an intrepid group of Jacksboro residents, the fort was declared a state historic site in 1963 and came under the management of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. In 1968 extensive renovations began and in 1973, the fort reopened as the Fort Richardson State Historic Park. Today it is called Fort Richardson State Park, Historic Site & Lost Creek Reservoir State Trailway. [cite web|url=http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/fort_richardson/|title=TPWD:Ft. Richardson State Park, Historic Site & Lost Creek Reservoir State Trailway|accessdate=2008-08-30]

References

External links

* [http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/fort_richardson/ Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Fort Richardson site]
* [http://www.forttours.com/pages/enjack.asp Fort Tours]
* [http://www.jacksboro-tx.com City of Jacksboro Chamber of Commerce]
* [http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/FF/qbf41.html Fort Richardson] Handbook of Texas Online