Fort Duncan

Fort Duncan is a former U.S. Army post on the Rio Grande at Eagle Pass, Texas. Established on March 27, 1849, it was the fifth in a line of frontier forts meant to protect settlers from Indian attacks. It also watched over the Mexico trade crossing at Eagle Pass and the California road. The fort was given up in 1859, regarrisoned in 1860 during the Cortinas disturbances, and used as a Confederate supply point for munitions obtained in Mexico. Federal troops returned in 1868, and in 1870 the Seminole-Negro Indian Scouts were organized here. The post was reactivated in 1917 and finally abandoned in 1922. The city bought the land in 1938 and made it a park. The surviving buildings are load-bearing stone structures with rough ashlar walls, wood lintels and whitewashed surfaces. Their interiors have been altered, but they remain typical of mid-nineteenth century military construction on the frontier.