Fort Elliott

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Fort Elliott was a United States Army post in the state of Texas, operational between 1875 and 1890 and named for Major Joel H. Elliott, a casualty of the Battle of Washita River.[1]:6

The decision to establish Fort Elliott in what was to become Wheeler County, Texas was made in December 1874 by Col. Nelson A. Miles as an advance supply post during the campaign to clear the Texas Panhandle of American Indians after the Second Battle of Adobe Walls. Major James Biddle established a temporary post on 3 February 1875 with four troops of the 6th US Cavalry and 4 companies of the 5th Infantry and the permanent location of the fort on 5 June 1875, 27 miles west of Indian Territory near the headwaters of Sweetwater Creek.[1]:5 African-American troops, familiarly called Buffalo Soldiers, served in this area. In subsequent years, the fort was garrisoned to protect the Panhandle's borders with Indian Territory, and the cattle drives from Texas to Kansas[2] and the town of Mobeetie, Texas grew beside it.

Among the troops serving there was Lt. Henry O. Flipper, the first black graduate of West Point Military Academy, Capt. Emerson H. Liscum and Lt. Frederick Dent Grant.[1]:9-10

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Crimmins, M.L., 1947, Fort Elliott, Texas, in The West Texas Historical Association Year Book, Vol. XXIII, October 1947, Abilene
  2. ↑ Kyvig, David E. "Fort Elliott". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved April 30, 2011. 

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