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_Old_ FORT GARLAND STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF COLORADO, DENVER
Old Fort Garland]
Army bugle]
IN MEMORY OF EDGAR C. McMECHEN
Map]
Copyright, 1954, by State Historical Society of Colorado Denver, Colorado All Rights Reserved
Artwork for this booklet by Paul Rossi
_A Soldier’s Journal of_ Life at Old Fort Garland 1860-1883
By James T. Forrest
(Author’s note: This is a brief history of Fort Garland, Colorado, as itmight have been told by a soldier present during most of the fort’sactive years. The soldier and his journal never existed, but the factscontained in the journal are basically true. The information in thisstory is a product of research through most of the available documentsconcerning Fort Garland. In places, fiction has been introduced to givethe journal color, but all important events or facts occurred asdescribed.) J.T.F.
Banner with decorative letter “F”]
Fort Garland, July 29th, 1860. Arrived here yesterday with my company,Company F of the U. S. 10th Infantry. Our outfit just limped in from a640 mile march from Camp Floyd, Utah Territory. Took us most a month.Our commander’s name is Major (E.R.S.) Canby. It’s good to bunk downsome place indoors for a change and to wash some of the dust out of mythroat and off my trail-weary feet. Too tired to look around new posttoday.
Fort Garland, August 10th, 1860. Getting settled. Guess my company willbe here awhile. Major Canby and Company A left a few days ago to quietsome outlaw Indians (Navajos) somewhere southwest of here. Companies Fand H of the 10th remained.
Looked into the past of this fort. Named for Brevet Brigadier GeneralJohn Garland, commanding the Department of New Mexico. It was built in1858 by Captain Tom Duncan and his Mounted Riflemen, with a company(Company A) of the 3rd Infantry. Seems Fort Massachusetts, north of heresome six miles, was built in 1852 to protect this area from the Indians.After a few years on this frontier with bands of Ute Indians all aroundthey decided the old fort was too close under the mountains to be safeagainst surprise attack, so the command was moved down here on the openplain. Guess if the wind doesn’t blow us all away, the post will stickit out here until the last Indian is dead or put off somewhere on thedesert to eat sand and yucca.
September 12, 1860. Got a promotion today. We all fell out for firstcall at 5 a.m. and lined up to be read off. “Here,” we called out,hardly more’n awake. “All present or accounted for,” said the sergeantto the Lieutenant, “All except those on wood pile or water detail inCompany F will fall out for company drill immediately after morningmess.” The sergeant paused and looked down the line until he spotted me.“Special order,” he continued. “Private O’Connor, Timothy, will reportto the orderly room to serve as chief clerk. O’Connor!” “Yo,” Ianswered. “O’Connor, you’re now a corporal. Get those stripes sewed on.”
September 14, 1860. Discovered why I was made clerk. Seems I’m one ofthe few in my company who can write so’s anybody can read what’s beenwrit. That schooling back in Indiana might have been some good afterall. Thing about being clerk is that I get to know most of what’s goingto happen afore it happens. Company H clerk told me yesterday that heput himself in for a promotion last week.
The post is getting to seem like home to most of us by now. Pretty fairplace. The buildings are made of mud, or what people around here calladobe. The adobes are made of brown clay and baked in the sun, thenstuck together with the same mud after they’re baked hard. The twobarracks face the parade ground from the east and from the west. Theyare both about 119 feet long and 33 feet wide; the roofs are nearlyflat, with a slight slope toward the parade. The inside of each barrackis divided into several rooms, including: company office, store room,two squad-rooms and a kitchen. The latter is used also for mess. Thewalls are the same adobe, white-washed. Each barrack was built to houseone company. The squad rooms are heated by open fireplaces—looks likewe’ll freeze come winter, except when we’re backed up to the fireburning our pants.
The officer’s quarters are also of adobe, as is everything around theseparts, and are built along the north end of the parade. There arequarters for seven officers and their families, but a man’d have to bepretty brave to bring his family out here. The officer’s rooms areceiled with boards and plastered with mud, then whitewashed. Even haveboard floor in these quarters, with bear skin and Indian blanketsscattered here and there. Some of the quarters have furniture broughtfrom the East, but most of the things are like the benches and tablesand bunks we soldiers have—made right here at the fort of cottonwood orpine.
On the south end of the parade are two long buildings used for officesand store rooms. The guard house is in one of these two, but I don’tcare to learn of the interior of that place. I’m told that it’s poorlyventilated, having no windows. In winter there’s no heat in the cells.The guards have a fireplace in their area, but the men in the cells haveto wear their blankets like Indians from morning ’til night to keepwarm. At night there’s no sleeping, it’s that cold. Not many men gettingin trouble during the cold months, I’m told.
Evening Muster. Cavalry troop in formation.]
Old Fort Garland From an early drawing in _Harper’s New Monthly_.]
The stables are located some 120 paces due east of the east barrack andare strong smelling quarters, consisting of three long corrals built ofthe same old adobe. The corrals contain sheds for the common horses andenclosed stables for the officers’ mounts.
The post gets its water from the Ute Creek and water from this streamflows in a ditch completely around the parade. The water is cold andfresh the entire year, maybe because it comes from the snows of MountBlanca to the north.
The post has a garden of about six acres, in which all of us must take atour of duty. In this plot the men try to grow about everything, butonly those vegetables or grains which will ripen or mature in our shortseason are successful.
I discovered only today that this fort is on a reservation coveringabout six square miles, with the post buildings smack in the center.Back in Indiana that would be a considerable piece of land, but out herethat’s no more’n enough to feed one good-sized jack rabbit.
December 26, 1860. Christmas come and gone for another year. I’ve neverseen such a feast as we had here yesterday. The weather was toughoutside, with wind and snow, but inside there was nothing but cheer. Thedinner consisted of every kind of meat that can be had in this part ofthe Territory. We had smoked bear, roast deer, elk and antelope; we hadtrout, wild duck, and every breed of bird that walks or flys withinfifty miles of this place. One of the favorite pastimes of men at ourpost is hunting—everything from bear to wild cats and coyotes. OurIndian friends tell us we’re driving off the game, but that seemsunlikely, at least not for the next hundred years. Christmas was not alleating; those who didn’t get sick from eating too much got into evenworse shape from too much whiskey. We all figured we might as wellcelebrate, seeing that we’re soon to have a new president, Abe Lincoln.Some say that the South is so opposed to Abe and the North in generalthat they’ll pack up and leave the Union. Some say they won’t. I figurewe got enough troubles out here just trying to keep these Indians fromrunning loose.
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br /> May 3, 1861. Whole series of Indian uprisings in Territory. A number ofchiefs, including Chief Uray[1] of the Tabequache Utes, stopped off hereto pow wow with our commander. Indians not happy with rations issued byIndian Agent at Conejos. A band of them left here and marched towardDenver City.
June 1, 1861. Word just reached Garland that Lincoln has called for75,000 volunteers to serve three months until trouble with the South canbe settled. Southerners here say it won’t be over that soon, unless theSouth wins. Some of the boys from the Southern States havedeserted—struck out for Texas.
Horseman with cavalry standard.]
August 4, 1861. Back East it seems the North and South had a big battleat a place called “Bull Run.” Most of the two outfits here at Garlandare preparing to leave for New Mexico, some say Fort Craig. We’ve beengetting squad and company drill every day since the war started. Lastmonth we had two sham battles. Seems us Indian fighters have got tolearn all over again how to fight Rebs. All the non-coms and theofficers have been staying up nights studying _Hardee’s