Old Fort Davis C. S. A.

Duane's take

The way this marker tells it, here's the story of Old Fort Davis, C.S.A. Now, Fort Davis sits out there in Jeff Davis County, and most folks know the name from the U.S. Army post.

But there's another chapter to this place: a shorter one, a harder one, and one that left a mystery buried in the earth that nobody has solved to this day. The year was 1861. The U.S.

Army surrendered the fort, and before long a detachment of the 2nd Texas Mounted Rifles moved in and took it over. Fort Davis became a Confederate supply point and frontier outpost on the great military road running from San Antonio all the way out to El Paso. That road was a lifeline, and Fort Davis sat right along it.

But the frontier does not care whose flag you're flying. In August of 1861, Apaches ambushed a patrol out of the fort under Lieutenant Mays, out in the Big Bend area. The land was as dangerous as it had ever been, no matter what uniform a man wore.

And the mission those Confederate troops were tasked with was no small thing. Texas forces were moving through Fort Davis on their way to and from a campaign in New Mexico and Arizona; a campaign aimed at stopping the flow of gold to the North and gaining access to the Pacific. Think about that for a moment.

Gold. The Pacific. The stakes could not have been higher.

The campaign came and went. And here is where the story takes a turn that still keeps treasure hunters up at night. On the return, two cannons were buried somewhere nearby.

Two cannons, put into the ground and never retrieved. Never found. They are, as far as anyone knows, still out there.

By August of 1862, California Union Cavalry occupied the fort briefly, and the Confederate chapter of Fort Davis closed. Just over a year (1861 to 1862) but packed with enough ambush, gold, campaign, and buried iron to fill a lifetime of campfire stories. The State of Texas erected this marker in 1963 as a memorial to the Texans who served the Confederacy here.

The cannons got no such memorial. They're still waiting on one, somewhere under the West Texas soil.

What the marker says

(Star and Wreath) Confederate supply point and frontier outpost on great military road from San Antonio to El Paso 1861-62. After surrendered by U. S. Army, occupied by detachment 2nd Texas Mounted Rifles. Apaches ambushed patrol from fort under Lt. Mays in Big Bend area August 1861. Used by Texas Confederate troops en route to and from New Mexico-Arizona campaign to stop flow of Gold to North and gain access to Pacific. Two cannons buried nearby on return have never been found. Occupied briefly California Union Cavalry, August 1862. A memorial to Texans who served the Confederacy. Erected by the State of Texas 1963