Fort Griffin
Fort Griffin, now a Texas state historic site as Fort Griffin State Historic Site, was a US Cavalry fort established 31 July 1867 by four companies of the Sixth Cavalry, U.S. Army under the command of Lt. Col. S. D. Sturgis,: 64 in the western part of North Texas, specifically northwestern Shackelford County, to give settlers protection from early Comanche and Kiowa raids. Originally called Camp Wilson after Henry Hamilton Wilson, a recently deceased lieutenant and son of Republican senator and later vice president, Henry Wilson, it was later named for Charles Griffin, a former Civil War Union general who had commanded, as de facto military governor, the Department of Texas during the early years of Reconstruction.: 65
Fort Griffin | |
U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
Texas State Historic Site
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Texas State Antiquities Landmark | |
Fort Griffin State Historic Site in 2009 | |
Fort Griffin Fort Griffin | |
| Nearest city | Albany, Texas |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 32°55′38″N 99°13′56″W |
| Area | 204.6 acres (82.8 ha) |
| Built | 1867 |
| NRHP reference No. | 71000962 |
| TSAL No. | 8200000559 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | March 11, 1971 |
| Designated TSHS | December 21, 1935 |
| Designated TSAL | January 1, 1983 |
Other forts in the southwestern frontier fort system were Lancaster, Richardson, Concho, Belknap, Chadbourne, Stockton, Davis, Bliss, McKavett, Clark, McIntosh, Inge, and Phantom Hill in Texas, and Fort Sill in Oklahoma. There were "sub posts or intermediate stations" including Bothwick's Station on Salt Creek between Fort Richardson and Fort Belknap, Camp Wichita, near Buffalo Springs between Fort Richardson and Red River Station, and Mountain Pass between Fort Concho and Fort Griffin.