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Saturday, November 23, 2024 at 12:02 PM
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Relive the Texas Frontier Days at Fort Martin Scott

Take a trip to Fort Matin Scott to see where the lives of Apache and Comanche tribes, Anglo settlers, U.S. Army soldiers and frontiersmen known as the Texas Rangers came together centuries ago.
Relive the Texas Frontier Days at Fort Martin Scott

Fort Martin Scott, on the old Pinta Trail, is operated by the Texas Rangers Heritage Center, located adjacent to the fort site.

In 1823, a group of frontiersmen formed to protect settlers on the Texas frontier and became known as the Texas Rangers. German settlers established Fredericksburg in 1846, and subsequently formed a cooperative society with the Comanches and the Rangers. The settlers and tribes signed a peace treaty in 1847, allowing for trade of food and supplies.

In 1848, U.S. Army units arrived and established Camp Houston on the Barons Creek site, the first of many frontier forts to protect pioneers moving west. The camp was renamed Fort Martin Scott in December 1849 after Lt. Col. Martin Scott, who died in the Mexican-American War.

In 1850, Indian Agent John Rollins, Army, and Rangers representatives and interpreters met with a group of chiefs on the banks of the San Saba River and forged the Fort Martin Scott Treaty of 1850. Today, the Treaty Stone recognizing the pact is displayed in the fort visitor center.

The Army moved west as the frontier expanded westward. Fort Martin Scott was abandoned in 1866, but its story was not over.

In 1870, John Braeutigam and his family bought acreage that included the fort, and they lived in the guardhouse for 90 years. He ran Braeutigam Gardens, which included a saloon, store, race track and the area’s first dance hall, and which hosted the first four Gillespie County fairs, until his death in 1884.

The City of Fredericksburg bought the land in 1949, and the Fredericksburg Heritage Federation started restoration of the fort that continues today.

Today, the fort includes a visitor center/barracks, restored officer’s quarters, the guardhouse (the only original building), a blacksmith shop and stone foundations of many of the buildings.

The fort comes alive with re-enactments, storytelling, education days for schools and special events.

Fort Martin Scott is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Self-guided tours can be taken other days of the week from dusk until dawn.

Fort Martin Scott is located on U.S. Highway 290 East, across from the Gillespie County Law Enforcement Center.

For more information on the fort’s historic site, call the center at 830-990-2018 or via email at [email protected].


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