Fort Stockton protected travelers on overland routes in West Texas

Fort Stockton

Long before it was a military post, Comanche Springs in what is now West Texas, was a watering hole for Indians. They camped there while traversing the Comanche Trail to Chihuahua, Mexico.

The U.S. Army discovered it in 1949 and 10 years later established a post there, calling it Camp Stockton after  Robert Field Stockton, a Navy commodore who helped capture California during the Mexicans-American War.  Since several major overland routes passed through the area, it made an ideal place for the Army to protect travelers on these routes. Besides the Comanche Trail, the routes included the Butterfield Mail route and the El-Paso-San Antonio road.

Fort Stockton

The original camp was built near where the Pecos County courthouse now stands. When the Civil War broke out, soldiers were called to the east, and it was eventually taken over by the Confederate Army. Not much was left of the camp in 1867, so it was moved about a half-mile away to its present location on what is now East Third Street in the town of Fort Stockton. Eventually 35 buildings were constructed, all but two of adobe; the others were limestone. During the first couple of decades at the new location, the compound was staffed mainly by Buffalo Soldiers.

The community that sprang up around the Army post was named Fort Stockton in 1881. The Army abandoned the post in 1886.

Historic Fort Stockton

Today only four of the original buildings remain. They are the guardhouse and three officers’ quarters.  Other buildings have been reconstructed. The fort is on the National Register of Historic Places.