As we drove along I-10 in west Texas, I saw a historical marker for a “Fort Lancaster” which was upcoming. As we’d been driving for a while, and it was about time to stretch our legs, we decided to risk it and take the exit (ok, I have to admit that after we got off the highway and I saw that the site was 11 miles away, I almost changed my mind, but Cheryl still wanted to try it — so I agreed to go ahead. I really did think a stop would be good, but I figured this would cost us at least an hour, and I began to see my Mexican dinner at a famous hole-in-the-wall in El Paso — which closes at 9:00 — going up in smoke!)
But this was a good choice. For one, the drive down to the fort has a spectacular view of a canyon along the way. The fort is actually surrounded by hills and mesas. It is very desolate, and we wondered if this bypath was going to be worth the effort. It was to us! After passing a metal building (“I sure hope THIS isn’t it!”) we came up to the visitors center, which had a small bookstore with Texas history books, and a brief display telling the history of the fort. The first map spoke volumes to me, and put Fort Lancaster in its context: it portrayed the settlement of Texas in the 1800’s. The government put a chain of forts along the edge of the development, as well as some along the San Antonio/El Paso road. Fort Lancaster was further out than civilization (even then!) but was along the route west, protecting travelers from some of the more aggressive Indians, like the Mescalero Apaches.
One display related an intriguing incident: the Indians attacked a mail train one day, killing several in the train. The soldiers responded from Ft. Lancaster the next day — only they disguised themselves by coming out as a supply train, with 80 armed soldiers inside! Sure enough the Indians attacked, and the soldiers surprised them, killing several of them after a spirited battle!
After we read up on the history of the fort in the visitors center, we went out to the grounds. I anticipated one “fort” structure, but it was actually a complex of buildings, and mostly stones and ruins. This was not a disappointment, as the outline of most of the buildings was discernible, along with several of the chimneys. (I hope to include some pictures on my blog and on Facebook.)
The temperature outside was right at 100 — but as the old expression goes, “it was a dry heat”, and it was not uncomfortable. Louisiana in the 90’s with high humidity is much worse. I personally really enjoyed the “baking” feel of that heat; it was nice.
We slowly walked probably a mile around the circuit containing the several different ruins: officers’ quarters, bakery, corral, laundress’ quarters (I found it striking how many buildings were devoted to laundress’ quarters; not quite sure what was up with that?!). Cheryl, who is much more observant than I am, called Michael & I back: “a snake skin!”. We went back, and sure enough, a fairly large snake skin had been shed there — I am virtually certain that it was a rattlesnake skin, though I must claim ignorance of these things generally … (however I will say that the docent inside the visitor center later lended some more credibility to my belief!)
I loved visiting Fort Lancaster. In fact, its ruins were very reminiscent of Hadrian’s Wall in England — albeit 1800 years newer — but an interesting part of our own country’s history. One needn’t cross the ocean to find such treasures, as they may be found virtually in our own back yards — as our family has seen repeatedly in our our own state of Louisiana’s historical places.
Fort Lancaster is also a living example of one of the great national political issues of our age: the tension between the benefits of history/education and fiscal responsibility. This fort was located in the middle of NOWHERE — and we were THE only guests present. I totally enjoyed the site, but in a time when our nation is facing dire budgetary challenges, how many of these national treasures can we afford? Hard choices are going to have to be made. I would be hard-pressed to make this one.
Fort Lancaster was an “oasis” of sorts in the West Texas wilderness; I loved it … even if I do miss my Mexican dinner in El Paso tonight!