26 April 2024 – Trip Day 26 by Meagan
The drive to Fort Davis took all of five minutes from the campground. The first Fort Davis was constructed in 1854 to provide security to to settlers moving along the El Paso-San Antonio Road including those bound for gold. It had been constricted and abandoned and reconstructed. We could see low ruins of buildings as we drove into the park along with many brick structures. The park sits in a small basin with the town of Fort Davis across from it. There were a number of large cottonwood trees and a few surprisingly green pastures where four horses grazed. The steep hills behind the park had me regretting my shoe choice for the day. After seeing the hikes were all under a mile, I had lazily decided not to switch my insoles and I had my thinner white New Balance shoes instead of my super cushioned 990s. Oops.
We checked in at the Visitor Center and the volunteer gave us a recommended tour plan. The kids got their Junior Ranger books. I took a quick look and saw that the books required a potential Junior Ranger to go to many different locations in the park and collect information. So far all the Junior Ranger programs on this trip have been high quality.
We took a look at the small museum in the Visitor Center, then moved on to the Enlisted Barracks display. A Ranger joined us there and talked about the artillery pieces. There was a carriage mounted Gatling gun that never saw any use due to the base commander being unwilling to pay for the expensive ammunition. That ended up being good thing for the men as it was a very difficult piece to clean and move around. It was meant to be pulled by four horses or mules. The cannons saw limited use due to the Apache and Comanche raiding tactics. By the time artillery could be set up, the raiders would already have completed their attack and been on their way.
We viewed a detailed reconstruction of a barracks room as it would have been in the 1860’s. We then walked to Officer’s Row. There were ten officer houses complete with kitchen, sitting room, office, dining room, bedroom and separate kitchen and servant’s bedroom. The hospital was the next stop. The stories of five patients were posted on a display as I walked closer to the hospital, giving a few more details with each stop. The patients were a lieutenant with dysentery, a cavalryman with a knee kicked by a horse, a woman with indigestion, an infantryman with a hernia, and a little girl with diphtheria. I had to reach the hospital to discover their fates.
The kids were busy spinning the wheel of ailments and treatments for their books. I walked around and looked for the outcomes of the unfortunate five. The lieutenant was treated for dysentery at the hospital, but died after a few days. The man with the hurt knee was sent on bed rest for three weeks, but when he was put back on duty his leg gave out and he fractured his patella. He ended up being medically discharged. This was very common for soldiers who didn’t heal in a timely manner as it was expensive to keep paying them so it’s kinda like it is today. The woman was given tonic and mercury for her indigestion which were the latest and greatest treatments for the time. The hernia infantryman was given bed rest and an abdominal wrap, but he didn’t heal fast enough and couldn’t do any lifting so he was medically discharged as well. The little girl died of diphtheria which was a common death for children of the Fort. One family lost all seven of their children to the disease. I can’t even imagine that level of sorrow. That couple ended up adopting two children found alone in the desert.
We continued on our Junior Ranger tour and found ourselves at the trail head for the Tall Grass trail. In a rare spare moment, I’d actually downloaded the hiking trails before and picked this one. It was only point eight miles and it was a loop. Piece of cake! The babies were already in the packs, so we left the wagon in the shade and started up the trail.
It was quickly obvious that this trail was in need of some TLC. Loose rock made up most of the footing and not cute little gravel rocks, but fist sized ankle wreckers. Not needing any more foot problems, I took careful little steps and kept my eyes on the path.
We made our way up the steep crumbling trail under the burning sun. I took full advantage of the benches at the rest stops and took some extra stops under what little shade the stunted trees offered. It was quite an exhausting little trail.
Aside from my foot problems, I’m also 40 pounds overweight and we were above 5,000 feet, so this trail was kicking my butt. I turned to Alan and said, “Point eight miles she said! It will be a quick 20 minute trail she said. I’m an idiot.”
At the top, I felt better about the whole experience.
The breeze was quite pleasant and the view showed the entire fort and many miles around. Jarek said it was the hardest hike he’d ever done. Oh sweet summer child, you have so much to look forward to.
The path down was even rockier than the way up. It led into a series of switchbacks, thankfully with handrails and stone steps. Thank goodness we went up the other way first. Alan thought this way would have been better to go up first, but I was glad we hadn’t. These were steep, but I would have twisted an ankle for sure going down the other way. We made our way back to the wagon and I refilled my water. After that experience, we were ready to head out and eat our lunch, but we had to make a few more stops for the junior ranger books. This included the kitchen, with a herb garden with the biggest rosemary bush I’d ever seen.
Last task complete, we all returned to the Visitor Center with only minutes to spare before closing time. The Ranger checked their work, complimented Jarek on his handwriting, and gave them their badges. It was now 4:30 and the newest Fort Davis Junior Rangers were ready to head out and eat. We decided to skip the 100+ degree picnic shelters and enjoyed our sandwiches in the car. We made a quick stop at the market where I ran in for some groceries and then we headed home.
