DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, if you're standin' at Fort Belknap and you're wonderin' which building has outlasted everything else out here on this windswept stretch of Young County — well, you're lookin' at it. The Old Fort Belknap Powder Magazine.
Best preserved of all the original structures. Let that sink in a moment. Of everything that once stood here, this is the one that endured.
The federal government planted Fort Belknap along a line of frontier posts running all the way from the Red River down to the Rio Grande — a chain of protection strung across the land not long after Texas joined the Union, meant to guard settlers from Indian raids on that raw and restless frontier edge. The fort itself was named for its builder, Brigadier General W. G.
Belknap, who lived from 1794 to 1851. By 1853, this place had grown into something real — nine stone structures and seven picket houses standing on the site. Nine stone, seven picket.
That's a proper post. And this powder magazine, right here, was among them. Now most of those structures have gone the way of weather and time and neglect, the way things do out on the frontier when the frontier moves on.
But this one held. And in 1936, the State of Texas stepped in and restored it, making sure the story wouldn't crumble away with the mortar. The best preserved original structure at Fort Belknap — still standin', still keepin' its secrets, just like a powder magazine ought to.
What the marker says
Best preserved of the original structures at Fort Belknap. The Fort, named for its builder, Brig. Gen. W. G. Belknap (1794-1851), was one of the frontier posts placed by the Federal government along a line from the Red River to the Rio Grande to guard settlers from Indians, soon after Texas joined the Union. This was one of 9 stone and 7 picket houses on the site by 1853. Restored by the State of Texas in 1936. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1962