Site of Fort Stockton

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna give it to you straight. This is the site of Fort Stockton, out in Pecos County, and the story starts on a single date: March 23, 1859. That's the day the fort was established, right on the Comanche Trail, put there for one purpose: to protect the San Antonio to San Diego mail route.

Think about what that means. Letters, dispatches, news from one end of the continent pushing toward the other, and the only thing standing between that mail and the wide open country was this post on the Comanche Trail. The fort was named in honor of Commodore Robert Field Stockton, born 1795, died 1866, the man the marker credits with capturing California for the United States.

That's the name this ground carries. Before the fort was even fully established as a military post, the location was already serving the San Diego Line as a stage stand, from 1858 to 1861. Coaches rolling through, dust hanging in the air, the mail moving.

Then the Civil War arrived, and the federal troops evacuated. Just like that, the fort went quiet. But it didn't stay quiet.

In July of 1867, federal troops reoccupied the post. Fort Stockton came back to life, back on watch, back on the Comanche Trail. And it held on.

For years it held on. Until June 30, 1886, when the fort was permanently abandoned. That's the last entry in the ledger.

Not a battle, not a fire. Just a date, and silence settling back over the trail.

What the marker says

Established on the Comanche Trail March 23, 1859, as a protection to the San Antonio-San Diego mail route. Named in honor of Commodore Robert Field Stockton, 1795-1866, who captured California for the United States. A stage stand on the San Diego Line, 1858-1861. Evacuated by federal troops during the civil war, reoccupied July, 1867. Permanently abandoned June 30, 1886.